Pick of the Day: Mega Bloks Play’n Go Table

Love this activity table just right for toddlers!  Read our full review.

Five Fantastic Construction Toys

Construction toys should be part of every* child’s toy experience.   You’ll find that kids develop preferences to building materials–go with it.  Our advice is always to start with smaller sets –building your child’s confidence about what they can do rather than frustrating them with a bigger set.

Here are five of our favorites. Click on the toy name to read our full review from    www.toyportfolio.com

Lego Star Wars Collection Lego Systems

Plan Toys Build n Spin (Plan Toys)

Wedgits Pink & Purple Activity Tote (ImagAbility)

Lego Racers (Lego Systems)

Citiblocs (Citiblocs)

*Here’s my daily plug about bringing home building sets to girls…it’s important for their math skills down the road.  We want them to excel in math and engineering…it starts with building with construction toys.

Five Perfect Toys for Toddlers

Finding toys for toddlers can be super challenging! They’ve outgrown their baby toys–but not quite ready yet for more complex toys geared to preschoolers.  The toys need to match their new found mobility and desire to do things again and again!

Here are just five of my favorites:

Little People Load ‘n Go Wagon (Fisher-Price)

Step 2 Basic Rhythms Piano (Step 2)

Playskool Clipo Creativity Table (Playskool)

Schylling Color Roller (Schylling)

Rollipop Toddler Starter and Advanced Sets (Edushape)

The full reviews are on our site, www.toyportfolio.com.

Behind the Scenes at the TODAY SHOW

The whole gang during the segment

I actually love doing segments with lots of kids. I think it adds to the energy of the piece – but I do have to say last night I had this momentary thought “eight babies!, really?!…what were you thinking!”

The kids had a  long wait until it was time to go into the studio–and one thing I’ve learned over the years, never show kids toys long before they go on air – especially when you’re talking about babies and toddlers. To expect them to be engaged with toys for more than 10 minutes in any given setting, just isn’t reasonable in real life, much less in a tv studio with so many people, lights and cameras around. So we had some other related toys for them to play with in their separate “green room”…but at a certain point, they all started moving about the lower concourse — to say this particular group of kids were cute, is an understatement.  The kids were all in what I call that “cupcake” stage where they are just full of pure joy.  (At least at that moment!)

Once we got to the set, I was happy.  The kids and their parents were engaged with all the toys we had selected.  (You can hear them throughout!)  Doing segments with Natalie is also fun because she’s  in the middle of this zone with her two sons…so she gets it.

This is a picture of Matthew (4 months old)…enjoying  hanging out on the Infantino Twist & Fold mat.

And here’s a pic with Natalie after the segment is over….To watch the segment, click here.

Natalie Morales and Stephanie Oppenheim

Pick of the Day: Dressable Madeline from Kids Preferred

I’ve been playing with a lot of talking toys lately…they’re fun to videotape.  The whole “look what the toy can do thing” is pretty seductive.  Rocky the Talking Truck is  a conversation starter…even with the other toys, he knows how to get the games started.  He is really much like the cool, “it” kid from elementary school.  The one you wanted to pick you for his kickball team.  Ok, maybe that’s stretching it…but there is something that happens when these high tech toys are around.  I’m reminded of our own warning to bring home toys that do not dictate the play..your child should always be at the center of her play experiences.

Dressable Madeline

Which brings me to Madeline…she’s back from Kids Preferred.  If you’re in the Madeline book zone…the doll makes  a lovely present.  She’s well-crafted and even though this particular doll doesn’t talk…just watch her with your child…she’ll have plenty to say.

For a full review, visit www.toyportfolio.com

Remember Steiff?

While I was shopping yesterday… the store was playing the theme from Knots Landing. I started laughing.  The young woman offering to help me asked me if I knew what the song was from…”Yes, but you’re not old enough to!”…. She laughed…I gave the whole background…Knots Landing…spin off…Dallas…

There are more moments like this as we get older—generational markers– where you realize that you’re in a business meeting and that no one knows the reference to the original Batman tv show. Of course we get this with our kids.  My boys only knew Paul Newman from salad dressing (sad–and prompted a Paul Newman mini-movie marathon).

In any case, Steiff, best known for producing the first “Teddy” bear…after President Roosevelt – has missed a few generations of kids.  As a very young child, I had a Steiff pony…really one of my all time favorite toys.  I’ve written about him before–but he was really magical. He had wheels so I would have great adventures with him in our playroom…zooming around.  Here he is on the day I got him…(with my brother).

Since we’ve started the toyportfolio–my mother and I would pass the Steiff booth at toy fair.  We would always discuss my pony and the little teddy bear that sat near the kitchen window.  Sadly –both were destroyed by the fire that took our family home. We would stop and look but not go in–knowing that Steiff was really more about collectors and not something for our testers.

So we were pretty excited to receive a decidedly soft teddy bear from Steiff…it came in a lovely box – complete with the signature metal button in his ear.  The company has a renewed commitment to making dolls that are affordable ($28 and up)…so we’re looking forward to seeing the new products.  Of course there are still going to be deliciously over the top little treasures like this bunny …complete with a cashmere sweater (yes, she’s pretty price..over $100)…but still…

Best Green Toy of the Week: Citiblocs (Addictive on the coffee table)

Sometimes we get toys that are marketed to kids and yet we find that almost every grown-up that comes near them  just starts playing with them.  Since playing is good at any age, I feel it’s very important to write about these types of products.  You may remember that the magnetic building sets that burst onto the market several years ago had that appeal – making them a great choice to just have  on the coffee table for some open-ended play time for anyone so inclined. Research also indicates that type of activity for adults is great for keeping those brain neurons firing.

This year’s winner in this category is Citiblocs by Citiblocs.  At first you might think a box of equally- sized precision cut wooden pieces wouldn’t be that enthralling – at any age…but once you get building, it’s just fun to see how many different variations you can make.  The pieces are very smooth and are made of Radiata Pine from certified renewable forests in New Zealand – making them not only fun, but onto our Green Toy list as well.

Each set comes with ideas for building…they are marked 3 & up, we’d say more like 5 & up and & up and & up!

One of our tester moms (an architect) — LOVED this product.  Somehow we knew she would.

Rubik’s Cube…new site “www.youcandothecube.com”

The makers of Rubik’s Cube are aiming to help kids master the cube…and use that skill as a positive message for life. Having thrown my fair share of Rubik’s Cubes across the room as a kid….I could have used a little help!  (My brother figured it out the first afternoon, put it down in front of me and said… “there, not so hard” and left the room.  The site is www.youcandothecube.com.  I’m still a big fan of the original…our testers did not like new 360 Edition…where you have a sphere to contend with…even our best brain teaser experts felt it wasn’t the same “skill” experience.

Sometimes rules are really hard…

Ok, so one of our rules about bath toys for kids is no squirters.  Yes, yes…squirters are really fun. But here’s the thing–if you don’t get all of the water out of them…and your child has taken a bath, it can pose a a problem.  (Maybe it’s a little OCD of us–but would you take a bath and then save some of the water, only to squirt it potentially in your mouth the next night?)   I guess if you really washed them out-and made sure they’re really, really empty and completely dry…

As a result, we’ve passed on lots of fun bath toys…ALEX entices us every year with new sets of squirters…and one of Corolle’s lines of dolls also come with these squirters.  We pass on them too. There is no government regulation–just our concern that used bathwater needs to go completely bye bye.

Which is why it completely pains us to pass on the new Gotz Maxy Aquini 16″ Bath Baby Doll. We love her sundress (really, I would wear it to the beach)…and her purple crocs are wonderfully hip.  Because we can’t crawl in the box and implore you throw out the froggy squirter (he’s pretty cute too)..we can’t give this doll an award–otherwise she’d be a clear winner. Really–look at her feet!

Best Bubble Toys

As we’re wading through all of the new toys that will be vying for your toy dollar come December, I was just thinking how much fun blowing bubbles can be.  I’m not sure why I keep focusing on bubbles, but for the past few days, I’ve really wanted to play with some bubbles.

When you’re really little there’s the excitement of watching bubbles being blown by others and chasing them down–and as you get a bit older there’s the ultimate satisfaction of making your own bubbles. Now I find it really pleasing because it is such a pure play experience-no batteries, no instructions…you’re good to go.   Come to think of it, that’s probably why it’s on my mind so much–many of the toys we’ve been looking at this week are very high tech. Not that there’s anything wrong with high tech toys–but none of them deliver what bubbles do.  You make something so beautiful and then, in a matter of moments, watch it as it floats away….lovely really.

I loved the pink and blue plastic jars of bubbles –with the wand. Remember those?   The way the bubble solution always found it’s way to my hands…it was just fun- unless of course I knocked it over…and then there were tears! The picture below is from one of my birthday parties (my brother James is on the left). That is not me in the background, but I do remember that ride-on.

For this new generation, bubbles are a whole new experience–thanks in large part to the folks at Little Kids–the inventors of the No Spill Bubble Tumbler…no more tears from an accidential spill.  No more sticky fingers from trying to get the wand out of the solution.They have them now in all sizes–the little ones make  great party favors!

Now for super big bubbles–I’m a huge fan of the BeeBoo Big Bubble Mix Kit from Extreme Bubbles, Inc. You can watch my demo on the TODAY SHOW last year.  I’ve also noticed that it doesn’t matter how old people are–they love trying this toy out. Even my most reserved teen age (and mostly retired) toy testers love this product.