In addition to offering a rich landscape for imaginative play, this doll and playset is chockfull of surprises. Sandy comes to life when placed at any of several MagicPoints around the playset, speaking fun phrases, triggering sound effects, and expressing her personality and sense of adventure. She also wears a light-up charm that, when pressed, produces similar effects. Children respond with glee, exploring, interactin...Read more

A great way for kids to spend any day, Forest Friends Paper Bag Craft Kit keeps young hands and minds absorbed for hours on end, happily immersed in creative play. With the 70+ pieces in this kit, children create a variety of delightful animal puppets - foxes, raccoons, owls, bunnies, and more. As a helpful guide, illustrations of several finished puppets are included. But most kids enjoy veering off, crafting sweet anima...Read more

With science kits, the assembly is often half the fun. This kit offers a particularly satisfying experience in that regard, in part because of the stripped down nature of the Hover Racer. It has the look and feel of something designed for optimal functionality - not a bit of excess to be found anywhere. Which is to say, it's pretty cool-looking. Once you switch on the motor, air from the high-powered propeller is split in...Read more

Insectoid is another innovative educational kit from 4M that promotes creativity, curiosity, and makes learning fun for kids. The product's intriguing name is more than enough to arouse a child's interest, but the photograph on the box, of a robotic bug sporting curved metal antennae and legs, with gears, links, and wires plainly visible, whets their appetite to begin building and learning in a hurry. The instructions are...Read more

Watch the way kids react when they lay eyes on a YOXO building set and the excitement is palpable. Fyre, a new 61 piece building toy from YOXO certainly has that effect. The ease and snugness with which the distinctive Y-, O-, and X-shaped pieces (hence the name, pronounced 'yock-so') fit together opens wide the door to creativity. There are other components as well, some bearing vivid colors and dramatic illustrations th...Read more

Glitter Petz Dixie is an endearingly pretty pony that fits in the palm of your hand. She's pink, with a white snout and nicely defined head, body, tail, and mane that start out pretty and become ever more beautiful as kids decorate her. Dixie comes with two sets of eyes and 100 gems kids use to bring her to life, adorning her with pretty patterns that dazzle and glitter. The gems are self-adhering and come in a variety of...Read more

Talk about beautiful doll clothes! This luxuriously soft, white, satin sleeveless ruche bodice with tulle layer skirt causes jaws to drop and tongues to wag. Upon laying eyes on this outfit, at least one mom lamented that it far surpassed what she had worn on her own wedding day. The dress is accompanied by a diaphanous veil (with decorated lace headband) and a detachable sash bearing a lovely floral ornament. Together, t...Read more

The ability of this playset to be connected and arranged in numerous ways is one of several integrated factors that promote creativity and learning. Another is the technology triggered whenever Reggie the Rooster is rolled onto any of several stations located throughout the set. Kids are more than a little tickled each time he lights up, sings songs, produces sound effects, and speaks fun phrases specific to that location...Read more

Go! Go! Smart Friends uses MagicPoint technology to bring the characters and playsets to life. The playset in this case is a three-story house with detailed room furnishings, an open-and-close front door, a backyard slide, swing set, dog house, and more. Those plentiful physical features inspire kids to actively use their hands in play. The technology comes in when you place the Miss Norah figure on any of the nine MagicP...Read more

Kids find this toy to be a feast for the eyes, ears, and hands, resulting in an unusually high rate of SPM (smiles per minute). Play begins by assembling the race track, a visually detailed, 3-dimensional smorgasbord of colors and action zones that is nothing less than a mini amusement park. The remote-controlled Smartpoint Racer passes through 4 Action Zones each time around - a Starting Line with swinging flags, a Pit S...Read more

Infants are non-stop explorers, experimenting, learning, and drawing conclusions based on interactions with their physical environment. The design of this combination blankie/teether serves those needs well, putting an assortment of rich, stimulating experiences at babies' fingertips. The star-shaped blankie has a knot at the tip of each of its five points that provide easy gripping and added tactile variety and can be we...Read more

Great products designed for very young children sometimes have a beauty that stems from their ingenious simplicity. These colorful stacking boats are a fine example. Each of the four boats is a different size and color. When stacked largest to smallest, each nests perfectly within the one just larger than it. Since their bottoms are smaller than their tops, they can actually be stacked in any order and right-side up or up...Read more

Each of the five teethers in this teething and stacking toy offers a unique sensory experience. Taken together, they form an impressively rich learning adventure, an ongoing visual and tactile exploration that builds motor skills, soothes gums, and stimulates the brain to understand differences and relationships in the physical world. That such an array of benefits is delivered by so seemingly simple a toy is a credit to ...Read more

This colorful stacking toy is like an amusement park for toddlers, and a banana-split themed one at that! Kids can't keep their hands off of it. Their eyes light up, hands reach out, and little fingers immediately start roaming and rearranging. Those young minds kick into gear, trying out every combination imaginable. This three-stackers-in-one toy is made with wood from sustainable forests, and the colors and designs on ...Read more