TDmonthly's ToyFair 2006 Preview--Creative Activities Product Category

Four Kings Jigsaw Puzzle by SERENDIPITY PUZZLE COMPANY

1000 Piece Jigsaw Puzzle. 2/25/2008 (Price: $14.99) [Add to my Inquiry Basket][?]

Monarchs Delight Jigsaw Puzzle by SERENDIPITY PUZZLE COMPANY

150 Piece Puzzle with JUMBO GRIP featuring large pieces for easy handling. 2/25/2008 (Price: $12.99) [Add to my Inquiry Basket][?]

Mandala Coloring Book by SPIRALING HEARTS

Mandala art is a circular design, and can be used as a meditative practice, by drawing the eye inward. The 21-page coloring book allows children to relax and meditate as they create  their own beautiful, colorful works of art. Launch date: 2008. 2/21/2008 (Price: $9.95) [Add to my Inquiry Basket][?]

Complete The Picture Math by THE CRITICAL THINKING CO.

Complete the Picture Math develops a wide variety of math, reading, visual, and spatial reasoning skills. Children solve an engaging word problem that focuses on reading comprehension and mathematical reasoning before completing and coloring an animal picture. This is an ideal product to motivate your child to improve his or her math skills. These quick, boredom-busting activities can be used in the classroom, after school, at home, and on trips to stimulate developing minds. Includes teaching suggestions and easy-to-follow directions. Just add your soon-to-be math whiz and crayons! Series includes three titles for Grades 1-3. 2/19/2008 [Add to my Inquiry Basket][?]

100 Circles - Animal Tangrams by TOP SHELF HOLDINGS LLC

This set of 100 colorful discs brings nature to life, with 10 adorable animal faces and plenty of fun shapes and patterns to help construct animal tangrams or "discover" new species of their own. Each set includes 100 discs in four different diameters ranging from 1.5" to 5.25".  The product is made from soft and safe EVA foam. Launch date: April 1, 2008. 2/18/2008 (Price: $19.95)

GrassHoppers Sea Life Activity Capers by TOP SHELF HOLDINGS LLC

Worn on a child's back, these five sea life capes are great for nature walks and family outings, party favors, educational activities and dress-up pretend-play at home. The packaging features a wealth of fun facts about each species of aquatic life. Made from soft and safe EVA foam, the product is also available in a school assortment of 20 capes (item #552), perfect for team activities and chaperoned field trips. Launch date: April 1, 2008. 2/18/2008 (Price: $14.95)

Paper Factory by ALEX BRANDS

Giving kids the chance to make recycled paper by hand, this kit includes construction paper, a papermaking tray, two screens, two boards, six poster paints, ribbons, wooden beads and additional accessories.
— Owner of The Toy Shop in Lexington, Ky., and Erica Welton, manager of Bedford Falls Toy Shop in Charlotte, N.C., both told TDmonthly in early 2008 that Alex’s craft kits for older kids are the best-sellers in their store. ( Watch Video) 2/18/2008 [Add to my Inquiry Basket][?]

Forster Woodsies Motorized Engraving Tool & Wood Set by LOEW-CORNELL INC.

This set comes with assorted wood shapes and a special tool that allows children to customize their projects with three different engraving heads. Launch date: 2008. 2/18/2008

Shrinky Dinks® Tiki Island Party Pack by JOOBLI STUDIO

Suitable for up to eight people, this party pack includes a themed color poster that doubles as a photo frame, eight sheets of Frosted Ruff-N'-Ready shrinkable plastic, at least 32 line-art images for tracing, eight invitations and envelopes, and eight key chains for bag tag favors. It also comes with "Make-&-Bake" instructions. ( Watch Video) 2/18/2008 (Price: $17.99) [Add to my Inquiry Basket][?]

My First Painting – Music by ALEX BRANDS

The painting set features four preprinted 6” x 6” canvases. The set includes eight 0.4 fl. oz. tubes of acrylic paint, four brushes, a mixing palette and a painting guide. Launch date: 2008. 2/14/2008 [Add to my Inquiry Basket][?]

GrassHoppers Insect Activity Capers by TOP SHELF HOLDINGS LLC

This set of five colorful insect capes will create quite a "buzz" on a nature walk or family outing. Great for indoor and outdoor play, as party favors, or as costumes for an educational play, these fun capes inspire the imagination. The packaging features a wealth of fun facts about each insect species. They are made from soft and safe EVA foam and are also available in a school assortment of 20 capes (item #551), perfect for team activities and chaperoned field trips. Launch date: July 1, 2008. 2/13/2008 (Price: $14.95)

FeltTales™ All Dressed Up by BABALU INC.

The game invites children to play dress up with fun items such as a yellow jacket, a purple leopard print sweater or an orange dress. The set includes over 20 pieces of brightly colored felt with silk-screened details, a vinyl storage back and a felt board. Numerous titles are available. Launch date: Spring 2008.
— Babalu Felt Tales is most recognized by parents and toy expert for being travel friendly. It has received an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars, based on combined reviews from Amazon.com and etoys.com, also due to its ability to bring out the creative side of children as they build and tell their own stories. One concern is the small parts, which can easily be lost, torn, or swallowed by children under 3. (09.08.08) 2/13/2008 (Price: $19.99) [Add to my Inquiry Basket][?]

FeltTales™ Happy Tails by BABALU INC.

Kids at TLC Pampered Pet Care get to imagine taking their pet to the vet or pet hotel. The felt pieces include silk-screened details and come with a vinyl storage pack. The game also includes story starter felt board that is specific to the pet theme to promote interaction and inspire imagination. Launch date: Spring 2008. 2/12/2008 (Price: $19.99) [Add to my Inquiry Basket][?]

Glow-in-the-Dark PlayFoam Six-Pack by EDUCATIONAL INSIGHTS INC.

The neon-colored foam glows when the lights are turned off. The foam sculpting beads are reusable, lightweight, non-toxic and won’t dry, harden or stick to surfaces, providing hours of mess-free fun. The pack includes six neon bricks in white, green, pink, yellow, blue and orange.
— “PlayFoam has been selling extremely well for about the last two years,” said Owner Melodie Ingwersen of Creative Kids Toy Shop in Columbia, S.C., in early spring 2008.
— “Our No. 1 activity set is PlayFoam,” Ingwersen reiterated in April 2008.
— In April 2008, four of 50 retailers named play foam as a best-selling item, while two of the four named Educational Insight’s product as the best-selling kit their stores. 2/12/2008 (Price: $10.99) [Add to my Inquiry Basket][?]

Sphereplay™: Playing in the Multisphere by TRYOUT TOYS ENTERTAINMENT, LLC

The interactive and comprehensive double disc guide will teach viewers over 100 moves and concepts with two to five spheres. Viewers will learn how to spin and roll multiple spheres in their hands, which will improve their finger dexterity and fluidity and harmonize the left and right sides of their body. The total running time is almost four hours. ( Watch Video) 1/31/2008

Simplymini Fashion Stickers Variety Set by AK TOY COMPANY INC.

This modern version of Colorforms features detailed fashion stickers for mix-and-match fun. Girls can peel the designs on and off, adding shoes, hair, bags and other accessories to the scenes shown in the included booklets. The collectible series of books and stickers are produced in limited quantities. “Our product is colorful, high quality, multi-cultural, imaginative and educational. [It’s] great for developing fine motor skills, imaginative play, sharing, collecting and learning,” Founder Anne Kim of AK Toy Company told TDmonthly. “Simplymini … is not available in large retail stores and [is] currently sold in over 25 specialty stores in the Northeast and Midwest.” 1/30/2008 (Price: $15.99)

Puzzibits™ Flexible 3D Puzzle Art™ - Ocean Depths by MANHATTAN TOY

The 150 flexible, interlocking pieces included in this set can be used to create three 3D designs — a turtle, a seahorse and an octopus. ( Watch Video) 1/30/2008 [Add to my Inquiry Basket][?]

The American Handy Game for Boys by UNIVERSITY GAMES

Players spin the spinner and will have anywhere from 30 seconds to one minute to successfully perform a specific test or correctly answer a series of questions. The first player to successfully master eight activities wins the game. Boys will learn how to perform magic tricks, tie knots, skip rocks and much more. Launch date: Spring 2008. 1/29/2008 [Add to my Inquiry Basket][?]

Fancy Nancy Dress-Up Game by UNIVERSITY GAMES

Based on the Fancy Nancy books by Jane O’Connor, players in this dress-up game help Nancy become “Fancy” by dressing her with six stick-on accessories: a wand, a tiara, a handbag, a boa, a bow and sunglasses. The game comes with a spinner, four Fancy Nancy dolls with stands and 24 Colorforms Stick-Ons. Launch date: Spring 2008. 1/29/2008 [Add to my Inquiry Basket][?]

Digital Arts & Crafts Studio by FISHER-PRICE INC.

This set allows kids to play and create works of art on their computer. They can use the included stylus as a pencil, a paintbrush, a crayon, a stamper and more. The digital studio comes with a USB cable connection and software installation CD-ROM. Additional arts and crafts projects are available on other Digital Arts & Crafts Studio software. This program is compatible with Microsoft Windows Vista, Windows 2000 and Windows XP. 1/29/2008 (Price: $50.00)

The Original Fortamajig Two-Color Reversible Model by THE HAPPY KID COMPANY

This patent-pending product gives kids the ability to create customizable playspaces anytime, anywhere. The reversible design features a closeable mesh window, a flap door and eight corner pockets. It has adjustable Velcro loops on the interior and exterior edges that can be connected to trees, chairs, doorknobs and more. It also comes with "extendo wraps" for extra versatility. The washable, one-piece playspace is portable and comes with a handled carrying bag. “This inventive rendition of a classic childhood play theme is designed to be an heirloom quality toy that kids will adore and parents will appreciate,” Co-founder Katherine Huck of The Happy Kid Company told TDmonthly. Launch date: February 2007. ( Watch Video) 1/24/2008 (Price: $79.95) [Add to my Inquiry Basket][?]

Frigits Deluxe by THINK OF IT!

Turn a plain refrigerator into a kinetic playground for marbles and magnets! Chutes, rails, spinning buckets, and funnels are the conduit for marble surfing on the vertical plain. This award-winning line will send a marble through the space program as it tests for inertia, gravity and accuracy! 1/23/2008 (Price: $32.00) [Add to my Inquiry Basket][?]

Guess What I Am!™ by TECHNO SOURCE

This tabletop game has players place their face through the space of the mystery card and transform into one of 30 silly characters. The player then rolls the die and asks other players questions such as “Do I play sports?” or “Do I have fur?” to narrow down the list of possible characters. The first player to guess correctly wins. Guess What I Am!™ features four games in one and is simple enough for kids to play alone or with their friends. Launch date: Fall 2008. ( Watch Video) 1/18/2008 (Price: $17.99) [Add to my Inquiry Basket][?]

What Am I? by DOWLING MAGNETS

This game introduces a twist on the traditional game of charades. Players select a drawing from the picture book and then use the foam game pieces to “draw” the creation while the other players guess. There are over 60 picture cards, including a few blanks so that players can add their own. Launch date: February 2008. 1/18/2008 (Price: $14.95) [Add to my Inquiry Basket][?]

Craft DIY by RED STAR HOLDINGS LTD.

The instruction booklet includes step-by-step directions and illustrations on how to crochet. Learn to crochet anything from headbands to necklaces to bracelets. 1/17/2008 [Add to my Inquiry Basket][?]