July 2010 Notable Toys — Educational

Peppy Five is a wooden educational toy designed with natural dyes and lac finish. This colorful five-stem stacker helps children learn counting and understand number concepts. In playing with this toy, children learn about increasing and decreasing quantities and color matching.

First launched in the UK, About Time USA edition has all the features of the original board game plus new American content. The objective is to be the team that guesses closest to the actual date (year) of an historical event. Categories include Heroes & Villains, The Arts, Everyday Life, Innovation, Word & Thought and State & Nation. It features more than 1,600 original questions on American history and culture and world events up to and including 2009. Player pieces are historical characters including Queen Elizabeth I, Napoleon and Shakespeare. The game is for two to eight players or teams and lasts between 25 and 90 minutes.

Biloid is an educational robot kit with which one can build various robots including the autonomous exploration robot, quadruped puppy robot, hexapod spider robot, dinosaur robot, and bipedal humanoid robot. Launch date: 2010.

The 4D Vision Dolphin Anatomy Kit from Tedco Inc. includes 18 detachable parts, display platform and illustrated guidebook. A transparent cutaway design shows the inner details of the dolphin's anatomy. Launch date: 2010.

This 4D Vision Frog kit from Tedco Inc. has 31 detachable organs and body parts with finely detailed sculpting and hand-painted parts. A display platform and illustrated guide book are included.  Launch date: 2010.
Product Features:
    * Anatomically-correct model
    * 31 organs and body parts
    * Includes display stand and assembly guide
    * Museum quality model
    * 5.5" long

The 4D Vision Human Head Model from Tedco Inc. consists of 14 detachable parts in a transparent cutaway design that shows the inner details of the human head. The anatomy model comes with a display platform and illustrated guidebook. Launch date: 2010.
4D Human Head Anatomy Model features:
    * Human Head Model Toy with New Puzzle Concept
    * Up to Medical Educational Quality
    * Fine Detailed Sculpturing with hand painted parts
    * Product Size: 11.44 cm Tall

An inspiring story about responsibility and young entrepreneurs. A boy and his sister, their love of horses, and an idea—all come together in this delightful and educational story of the entrepreneurial spirit of American youth today.

Everything in life starts out with one idea. A child, a summer on Nantucket Island, and an idea—all come together in this beautifully illustrated and inspiring story of the entrepreneurial spirit of American youth today.

An inspiring story of a boy with a dream who learned skills that would last a lifetime. A boy takes his love of fishing and turns it into an adventure, learning skills that would stay with him forever and turn his passion into profit.

In this game, children work together to solve world and human problems presented in a simplified way. Players are divided into simulated social groups (tribes, nations, etc.). Each group gets World Problem Cards and a share of Solution Cards. Through discussion, trade agreements and world councils, the players try to solve all the problems facing them. The debriefing session at the end allows for everyone to learn from each other. Together includes two decks of cards, grouping tokens and rules for teacher preparation, interaction and final evaluation. Launch date: 1971.

In this game, six "Nations" must solve internal affairs without creating conflicts within their own borders. As the game progresses, hot spots can develop — and by game’s end several or all of the Nations may be at war. The game is then lost. Each Nation creates a balanced territory so that a balanced world results in which population does not exceed land and resources and work is available for everyone. On the religious, cultural and political side, all sectors are also in balance with no particular sector dominating another. The key to achieving this balance is Right Education, in which intelligence and compassion are nurtured. How well the players use Right Education and deploy the other factors within their borders while making trades to assist each other across borders will determine the degree of success in establishing firm and lasting peace in our time. The game includes six nation charts, two sets of cards (110 total) consisting of population, land/resources, work/technology, religion/culture, politics/military and right education, one die, and rules of play. Launch date: 2006.

This game is designed to nurture imagination, listening, self-expression, collaboration and clear thinking, using a story-telling format. The setting is science-fictional and the issues presented everyday and real, tackled by players with role-playing, values discussions, dialogue, problem-solving, and creative writing. Not an Island is adaptable to any group situation and includes 55 situation cards, 55 resource cards, six life force markers, two booklets of scenarios, and rules for basic, medium and hard levels of play. Launch date: 2003.

In this cooperative game, players try to develop a series of balanced patterns. The moving principles are simple, but the variations and complexities of play are almost infinite. This is a game for those who like abstract, meditative endeavors. A simpler game, Clarity, is included for the beginner or younger players. The game also includes a 12" x 12" board, three sets of colored "pebbles," and scoring sheets. Launch date: 1973.

This values-oriented, moral-dilemma game of discussion and evaluation presents challenges an individual encounters from childhood to old age. The situations and questions appear on cards with choices to make. Players can create their own responses and more situations to enter into the game. This game is a useful tool to stimulate values discussion in a non-competitive framework and includes a 14" x 18" play pad, four sets of questions (for childhood, adolescence, middle years and old age), mover, die, game and complete rules. Launch date: 1976.

Starwords is a cooperative word game in which players make words to cover as many Star Spaces as they can. Each word must be about what players see in the picture. The picture changes, letters get recycled, and letters are given away. Players can discuss, share and compare ideas in a natural, friendly way. Word wizards can play the Advanced Version in which dice are rolled to see what kind of word has to be formed. The game includes a 13" x 17" board, die, reference chart, 100 letter tokens, and a collection of unusual pictures. Jim Deacove, president of Family Pastimes, told TDmonthly, "Our games foster the spirit of cooperation. Players help each other climb a mountain, make a community, bring in the harvest, complete a space exploration... They are never against each other." Launch date: 1983.

"The children sing everywhere" in this French CD featuring artist Jack Grunsky, accompanied by guitar and percussion.  It includes 20 tracks. Awards: 2009 National Parenting Publications Honors Award.

With more than 60 activities, this set can serve as a great introduction to the wonders of science. It allows kids to set up their own science lab and investigate activities in chemistry, physics, biology, geology, weather, magnets and electricity. Activities include Insta-Snow , the Geyser Tube (Mentos and diet soda geyser), Water Gel, Gravity Goo, Windbags, Twister Tube and more.  "We have billed it as “the best of Be Amazing!” since it contains many of our signature science activities," Renee Whitney, president of Be Amazing Toys, told TDmonthly. Launch date: June 2010.

To help kids pass the time traveling, this Travel Kit includes fun activities, mini crayons and three draw-your-own postcards. Shelley Dieterichs of Good Buddy Notes told TDmonthly the Here We Go! Travel Kit's best features are its "price point, convenient size and packaging for travel." Launch date: 2008.

Children start by joining the puzzle bases together and then twist the shapes on the appropriate post. Children can make up their own way to play this stacking and sorting activity that triples as a puzzle, too. Designed with solid baltic birch bases, the Creative Peg Puzzle posts have elasticized bases in case a child falls onto the post. Multiple bases allow for more than one child to play at the same time. Launch date: February 2010.

This anatomically correct, all-vinyl baby doll drinks and wets and loves to take a bath. Emma is a potty-training aid, too, and is recommended by Potty Training Pro Teri Crane. At 14", she comes complete with four accessories: pink potty, pacifier, feeding bottle and disposable diaper. Liza Grando, Account Executive at Moss-Tucker Associates, told TDmonthly, "Corolle dolls are set apart from all others by their sweet, expressive faces, quality materials and construction, creative fashions and a soft, subtle scent of vanilla." Awards: 2007 Oppenheim Toy Portfolio Gold Seal; 2006 ASTRA 100 Best Children's Products; 2006 ASTRA 10 Best Socially Responsible Toys; 2005 Grandparents Magazine Best Doll. Launch date: 2005.

Children can prepare a cup of joe for themselves or a guest with this modern coffee maker and sugar and cream. They can insert the single-serve coffee filter in the basket and push the button to pretend the coffee is brewing. This product is constructed with a combination baltic birch plywood and maple. Robin Lehnert, Marketing Manager at Hape, told TDmonthly this product features a "modern realistic design in lifestyle colors." Launch date: Feb. 2010.

A retailer can carry over 5,000 names in a space as small as a counter display. This retail-friendly personalized music CD uses a child´s name to be the main character and is personalized in other ways at home by the customer using "grab and go" internet technology. No rack system and no special equipment or mass amounts of inventory are required. The CDs come pre-packed in a colorful and informative countertop display with built-in audio samples. Company President Kurt Penberg told TDmonthly, "Kids Juke Box is the only company in the world that offers Any Name personalized music. No other product gives a better return on space than Kids Juke Box." Launch date: Dec. 25, 2008.

This 14-page, colorful board book contains four fold-out flaps in the quest to find Pete's Potty. Launch date: May 2010.

Suitable for babies 6 months to a year old, this 7" x 7" book features a teddy bear touching his toes, nose, tummy and more. It's a touch-and-feel book with the highlighted body parts in set apart with some kind of fabric or fur. Launch date: May 2010.