A very snuggly companion, this ultra-soft plush Pooh Bear was the delight of all the children and adults to whom we introduced him. Light-weight and easy to cuddle for even very young ones, this classic Pooh makes a wonderful addition to every toy collection. Warning: your child and this Classic Plush Pooh will be inseparable.

Created by two mothers, both of whom are educators, Air Play fits easily over most airplane tray tables and provides ample means to engage and entertain a young child, reducing travel time stress for everyone. Loaded with fun activities and designed in bright, eye-catching colors, Air Play immediately drew the attention of any child placed in the same room with it during testing. The abundance of activities, (quiet) sounds, buttons, pockets, zipper, and soft, velcro-detachable shapes make Air Play a veritable tactile-and-auditory wonderland that can keep your child happy and absorbed in most any situation. An added nice touch is that Air Play is reversible (putting all the goodies on the inside) with cloth carrying handles, making it a snap to bring along anywhere at a moment's notice.

This cleverly designed 108-card deck comes with instructions for six excellent games. Each card contains an image of either a bead or pendant that comes in various shapes, colors and patterns. Each of the six quick, easy-to-learn games involves using your bead and/or pendant cards to create strings, by using pairs (two cards that share 2 of the 3 bead qualities), or perfect pairs (two identical cards). Our testers had a great time with all six games, but our personal favorite was Beadominoes, which had a habit of surprising players who thought they were about to win by getting rid of their last card, only to suddenly find their hand growing fat with cards again to their opponents' pleasure.

Cahootie is a quick, easy, very social game for 2 or more players. This modern version of the home-made folded paper fortune-telling game many of us played as children contains bright, colorful graphics, positive girl-empowering themes, and overall high quality craftsmanship. It comes with 40 reusable stickers, 8 of which can be loaded into the Cahootie for play on a given turn. Stickers contain either a fortune, trivia, or a challenge, and are geared toward sparking interesting and often playful conversation among players. This is a fun, welcome update to a classic game!

As with all the CitiBlocs wooden building sets, part of the beauty of the new Green & Turquoise blocks stems from the way they kick-start a child's imagination. Kids' hands seem to start flying at the mere sight of them, and the speed with which they can be used to construct an almost limitless variety of structures is at times stunning. Made with the same precision cut, high quality wood as in the past, these new blocks come colored with a non-toxic water-based stain, expanding the creative palette by allowing for color in all the right places. The perfect add on to the other CitiBlocs sets, and, as always, no fuss, no muss - just wildly creative fun!

Construction Plate is a great way to make eating more fun for young children. The surface of this brightly designed, dishwasher-and-microwave safe plate is compartmentalized, creating nifty places for various foods and utensils to go. Certain of the plate's features work well with Constructive's Tillywig Award-winning Eating Utensils. Down the hatch!

Make eating fun with these utensils fashioned as construction vehicles - Forklift Fork, Frontloader Spoon, and Bulldozer Pusher, all playfully designed to get the food where it needs to go - into your child's belly. Getting young children to settle in for eating can sometimes seem a chore. Why not actively engage their imaginations in the process and turn mealtime into a playful attraction? Rugged, light, and dishwasher safe, the Constructive Eating Utensils are brightly colored and comfortable for hands of all sizes.

Presto change-o! This transforming plush toy allows kids to see evolution in action. Just unzip the pouch on Dimetrodon's belly, and out comes Cynognathus, the creature Dimetrodon evolved into over the course of 35 million years or so. The two animals are attached at the stomach, and each can be tucked and zipped into the other's belly. This is a very neat concept that not only results in two toys in one, but more importantly, offers insight into the changes wrought by evolution at two distinct points in time. This plush toy comes with a card bearing interesting facts about each of the two ancient animals.

There's nothing quite like a fun activity that produces great end results! This easy-to-use tie dye kit is great for ages 5 and up (with adult supervision). The kit comes with pre-measured dye in red, blue, and yellow, and the entire process consists of 3 easy steps: 1) Wet the fabric and tie with rubber bands or string. 2) Soak in soda ash (provided) for at least 20 minutes while mixing the dyes with tap water. 3) Apply the dye, wait 24 hours, then rinse, wash, dry, and enjoy! The kit contains everything you need to create up to 5 adult t-shirts, but can also be used on heavier items such as jeans. The instructions provide methods for several different patterns (bunching, spiral, vertical stripe, geometric design) and encourages creative experimentation. This is a gift that keeps on giving.

For ages 4 and up (with adult supervision), this kit contains everything you need for hours of creative fun and artistic expression. It comes with 3 stretched silk hoops, 3 primary color Dye-Na-Flow paints (which you can mix to create a broad spectrum of colors), and supplies and instructions for four splendid techniques. The Watercolor technique allows colors to blend freely on the silk, creating a look similar to a watercolor painting. The Resist technique involves applying a water-based substance (provided) to the silk to act as a boundary between colors, allowing for a fair amount of intricacy in your artwork. The Salt technique uses Silk Salt (provided) to create starbursts of color, and the Sunprinting technique enables the use of small objects and sunlight to create interesting impressions on your artwork. These four techniques can be easily combined to inspire and create truly dazzling art!

This is a finely made and well thought-out toy. There are several Kimochi characters in addition to Kimochi Cat - the toy we tested - each one quite distinct from the others, but no less adorable. Kimochi Cat is a 13-inch tall plush animal with a pouch who comes with three small pillows (called Kimochis, each with a feeling printed on one side and a corresponding facial expression on the other) that can be placed in that pouch. Children learn to identify and express their feelings in a fun and comfortable way using the Kimochi character and its feelings. The feeling pillows look like sweet little creatures, and it's easy to see how the act of choosing one and tucking it into the pouch creates a positive context for expressing any type of feeling. Also includes a well-written 48-page Feel Guide and 5 cloth bandages adorned with hearts for soothing hurt feelings.

This kit combines several elements - touch, sight, sound, movement, and storytelling - to actively engage children in the processes of exploring colors, enhancing motor control abilities, and actively using their imaginations. The kit includes Dr. Seuss' My Many Colored Days board book, 10 different colored sheer nylon scarves, a CD with many beautiful well-known music selections chosen for the moods they convey, and a velcro strip for hanging the scarves. These elements can be combined and explored by parents and children in an almost endless variety of ways. The soft, flowing, 27-inch square scarves, when moved through the air to the accompanying music, create a mesmerizing attraction for the eyes and the spirit.

This is an Action product, with a capital A. The Shred Sled combines elements of skateboarding, snowboarding, and surfing. Inexperienced boarders may initially need time to get the hang of balancing, like riding a bike for the first time. But once you do, boy can that thing sing! It's fast and sleek, made with high quality components, and the flexible connector linking the fore and rear plates allows them to rotate both vertically and horizontally, enabling some sizzling tricks. The 4 wheels allow for a surprisingly smooth ride on even rough surfaces, and the Shred Sled gets the entire body activated - muscles, tendons, and flexors, working together like there's no tomorrow. As with any other skating or boarding activity, don all your safety gear before jumping on board and soaring off into the sunset.

For 2 to 4 players, Treasure Pools is a game that not only creates enjoyable family time, but also provides interesting and fun facts regarding the tidal pool animals on the cards players must collect in order to win the game. For example, we learned that Sea Urchins eat red algae, sea lettuce, and the occasional dead fish. Players' pieces move around the outside path of the board seeking opportunities to enter the tidal pool paths, where opportunities to collect the animal cards can be found. A player must collect either all 6 animal cards or 5 animal cards and a Treasure Pool card in order to win.

For 2 or more players - If we gave an award for clarity of instructions and the speed with which one can zip through them and let the fun begin, Wise Alec would win it! Add to that the fact that this game of facts is highly playful, fast-moving, and enjoyable, and you've got a winning combination. The three main categories of play - History, Science, Spelling - determined by the space on which you land, give you the choice on your turn of going for a hard question (7 points) or easy (3 points). There are also spaces which allow you to choose your own category, as well as Wise Alec cards that throw funny and creative curve balls throughout the game.

This game quickly got the creative juices and silly streaks kicked into high gear for the players who tested it on our watch. Given a made-up word, a silly category, and a doodle sheet, players race against time to write and/or draw their own definition of the word. For example, one might be given the word 'quib,' the category 'something slimy,' and a doodle sheet containing a starter doodle of 3 slightly curved lines. The category and starter doodle help kick-start the imagination and take it in surprising directions, and there were strange and wonderful things coming out of players' minds and mouths in no time. The player chosen by the judge as having the best definition collects the word card, and three word cards wins you the game. A spinner gizmo called the Spindoodler throws wild curve balls during play, making this an unpredictable play-fest of epic proportions.

This highly energetic disc contains a diverse set of songs by the wonderful Rebecca Frezza & Big Truck, music that will get just about anyone up on their feet, boppin' and groovin' and singin' along. Our personal favorite was Hey-O, an irresistible song with call-and-response listener participation, sung with special guest Roscoe Orman (Gordon from Sesame Street). Big Truck, Rock Like This, and Motorcycle Boy provide rock-solid rock 'n roll, with great guitar work by Ivan Max, while the acoustic guitar and lovely melody on the slower paced Smiling Moon allow Rebecca Frezza's beautiful voice to shine through with crystal clarity. The rest of the disc, which includes colorful instrumentation, great backing vocals, and a bonus music video, is excellent as well.

This portrayal of friendship in the face of hardship, set during the Great Depression, focuses on 10-year-old Allie, who is uprooted along with her family when her father finds a new job. Author Mary Ann Hoberman's writing style is aptly simple and effective, artfully communicating themes that transcend childhood or time period.

We found this educational video game for the Nintendo DS to be an effective and enjoyable way to engage kids while helping to establish and enhance their reading skills. The game is broken into three main sections: The Books/Library section has several different stories to choose from, and modes that allow books to either be read aloud by the virtual tutor, explored for reading comprehension, or to be read by the player. In each instance, the game is interactive, providing easy help, puzzles, and games that reinforce learning. The Phonics section contains a variety of excellent mini-games such as selecting words said by the tutor, words that contain or start with a certain letter, or words that rhyme with the one the tutor says. The Quiz section includes plenty of games and questions. The prizes, fun factor, and strongly encouraging feel will keep your child coming back for more.