Three Gender-Free Fantastic Art Activity Kits

Finding arts and crafts activities that will appeal to both boys and girls can be challenging since so many kits are so gender-specific.

Here are three from our Platinum List that will appeal to everyone!

Creativity for Little Kids Finger Paints (Creativity for Kids)

Crayola Crayon Maker (Crayola)

Money Monster Banks (Creativity for Kids)

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.

Pick of the Day: Bejeweled Bead Chest from Bead Bazaar

A truly special gift for school age girls who will love both the wood chest and the painted wooden beads that come with it. Read our review.  This company makes lovely sets that always appeal to our tween, teen and adult testers.

Bejeweled Bead Chest from Bead Bazaar

Pick of the Day: Mattel’s MindFlex

Mattel's MindFlex Game

The first time we saw this game was at toy fair.  Now in all fairness, when we go to toy fair, we’re a pretty silly group.  So when the demonstrator for MindFlex at the Mattel showroom was trying his best to show us this super cool toy, we kept distracting him.  At one point, he even seemed a little anxious about not being able to perform his toy demonstrator duties.

He wore a headgear that had two clips that he attached to his earlobes.  From there he told us that he could control the little blue ball with his mind-making it go up and down and through the obstacle course.  To be absolutely honest here, I was sure we were being punked.  I kept looking around to see if this was a joke.  They assured me that it was for real–and that normally when people allow the guy to do his thing it really works.

Ok, ok…sometimes we don’t behave well.  I wrote down the toy as  something we’d love to see but then I stopped thinking about it.  Last month while I was at the Today Show, Dave– one of the best stage managers ever– showed me a clip of his son working the MindFlex. ( What would we all do without our iphone video clips?)  Anyway…he could not say enough great things about this toy.  How it appealed to both of his boys and that it  helped with working on concentration as a skill.

With that great recommendation, we asked for one to be sent right away.  Sure enough this is one of the coolest toys we’ve tested, period. We’ve added it to this year’s Oppenheim Toy Portfolio Platinum Award List.

The other amazing aspect of the toy is that it appeals to tweens, teens and adults.  My dad, a spry guy in his late 70s, also took a run at the toy.  He was surprised , as was every adult that has tried it, that he could make it work.  It really is so futuristic — makes me wonder what kind of toys I’ll be reviewing down the road.

So if you’ve seen an ad or a commercial – know that this is for real and loads of fun.  The platform has interchangeable parts so that you can challenge yourself and others to different obstacle courses.  Such a great design aspect–making this a more open-ended play experience. And if you’re looking for something to buy a video game addicted teen, here you go.
Click here to read our full review…and watch the video.

 

Five Great Color Concept Toys/Games for Preschoolers

If you’re working on color concepts in your house, playing games can be a fun way to reinforce the concepts.  Here five favorites:

Candy Land Castle Game (Milton Bradley)

eeBoo Preschool Color Memory Game (eeBoo)

Hot Wheels Color Shifters Blaster (Mattel)

Color Wonder Paper and Markers (Crayola)

Lego Duplo (Lego Systems)

Complete reviews are on our site www.toyportfolio.com

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.

Encourage Curiosity about Nature with Discovery Box

My grandfather used to take us rock hunting at a quarry in Franklin, New Jersey.  These adventures with my grandparents (my grandmother went along for the ride, but did not share my grandfather’s enthusiasm for the rocks)…were part of our childhood.  After finding our rocks, we would then go into the dark room with our black light (along with other rock folks) and see if we had found any with fluorescent substances.  Pretty cool right?  Kick in a guaranteed trip for ice cream cones–and you could see how much fun this would be.  My grandfather (an engineer by training) sold the first tv in their area (in upstate New York).  My mother recalls that when there was a big fight or important event on tv, that people would gather to watch it in front of their appliance store.  His backroom was always fun to visit because there was always something to look at including his great collection of rocks.  He always encouraged us to build our own collections.  One of my last road trips with him before he died was to a rock show.  He was still delighted that I was interested (I was 17).  Truth be told, I just really enjoyed being with him.

World Discovery Box with a sampling the treasures

So when I first came across World Discovery Box, it made me think of my Grandfather.  The focus of the company is to help build your child’s own collection of nature and science collectibles. Of course, you could do this yourself if you were so inclined but I really love the quality of the materials and boxes you can order. The wooden boxes and artifacts range in price from $69 to $199.  You can add to your child’s collection from their site – making this  a gift that you can add to as your child grows.

I also like the idea of using the box as a starting point.  Adding treasures you may find together-from a trip to the beach, on a walk in your own neighborhood.  Maybe because of my own experience, I think this is a great present for grandparents to give since it starts a dialogue. The only aspect of this product that could use some beefing up–the limited reading materials about the insects, minerals, shells, fossils that comes with the box.  (It’s just a folded guide). For the money,  I would have thought it would be paired with a book  about these topics and maybe some tools for your own rock, fossil and bug collecting adventures. In any case, it’s something you can add on your own.

Two great books:

Smithsonian Rock & Fossil Hunter

Smithsonian Bug Hunter

Bug tools:

Insect Lore Big Bug Magnifier

Creature Peeper

Toyportfolio.com: Top Ten Toys for Babies and Toddlers Under $20

Sassy Crib & Floor Mirror

With budgets tight, it’s important to bring home things that really count – and there is no reason to break the bank!  Here are some of our top picks for 2009 — all under $20.  Read the full reviews on our site.

Sassy Crib & Floor Mirror (Sassy)

Infantino Wall Mounted  Mobile Mirror (Step 2)

Stack ‘n Surprise Blocks Blockity-Pop Caterpillar (Fisher-Price)

Baby Deglingos Dog, Rabbit, Hedgehog or Cow (All New Materials)

Satin Ears Bear Security Cozy (North American Bear Co.)

Infantino Spiral Spin Top (Step 2)

Kids Preferred Nutbrown Hare or Peter Rabbit Hand Puppet (Kids Preferred)

Bright Starts Bees & Blooms Balls (Kids II)

Earlyears Zippy Zoomer (International Playthings)

Leapfrog Counting Candles (Leapfrog)

Barbie Doll’d Up Nail Digital Nail Printer

Barbie Doll'd Up Nail Digital Nail Printer

I’m not sure why this product captured my interest so much, but as soon as I saw it at toy fair, I really wanted to try it.  While I was particularly tom-boyish during my middle school years, I did have one set of nail decals–they were of an apple that progressively gets closer to the core as you go from your thumb to your pinky. Very old school.  So maybe that’s where my interest comes from.  I’m also oddly fascinated by the elaborate nail designs that many women sport in new york–they really are like moving pieces of art.

Usually when we get a toy, we have lots of time to try it with various kids and families and we don’t have to return it.  For this machine, we agreed to try it quickly and return it since there are limited samples.  Sadly when the toy arrived, I discovered that the toy is only PC compatible.  I’m a MAC person living in a predominately MAC world — so I needed to enlist my son Matthew (and his PC) to help me install the software and test the nail design studio.  His friend Daniel–who usually builds all of the advanced LEGO and K’NEX sets for us–was also part of our team.   We also decided to tape our trial runs–with the agreement that none of us would be shown on the video tape…it seemed like a fair deal.  Who could blame two teenage boys for not wanting to be taped with a Barbie nail salon…and I wasn’t have a great hair day…so we were all happy.

I can’t tell you how much fun we had.  We had several failed attempts…you really do need to read the directions to make sure that you have all the steps in order.  There was so much laughing –  interrupting our video attempts several times.   Our failures really inspired them to help me get it right…and then we all got excited about the possibilities…there are over 1,000 plus possibilities with this machine.  Like Jorge Posada* of the New York Yankees, I kept adding more and more white nail polish so that we could try it again!

Ultimately-do I think anyone needs an expensive digital nail printer?  Not really.  But if you’re techy  and looking for something different and fun, this machine is fun and it does work.

If you’re planning on using this for a group, I suggest you really know how it works ahead of time so that you’re up and running and in the groove…it’s fun as long as it works!

Here’s how it works (or watch the video).  Follow the instructions for setting up the printer ( just like an ordinary printer, you must install the software on your computer, load the ink, etc.). You can either use your own nail polish as a base or use their white polish.  Let that dry and then add a layer of Pre-print polish–it’s clear.  You then put your finger in the machine and take a picture of your nail.  This is where the alignment issues arose.   (I was sticking my finger too far into the machine, so it was printing on my finger, not my nail.)   Once you get that step down, you remove your finger from the machine and then you can play around with the software to design your own nail design.  This part is lots of fun — there are seasonal designs, classic Barbie motifs, fruits, sweets, cupcakes and you can even import your own designs. You then re-insert your finger and then push print…the design is printed on your finger! They provide top coat to seal the design.

Adding the white coat that comes with the printer

Given the current climate, it feels off suggesting that anyone spend this much on this type of product. In the past, this machine would have definitely made our Big Ticket Item List for those over-the-top kind of gifts.  The machine is marked 8 & up…and while most girls are aging out of Barbie earlier, I’m sure this will be a hit with tween, teens and their moms.  In fact, I suspect that many 20 somethings would LOVE being invited to try this machine out.

You'll need a PC computer to work with the printer

We went with the Classic Barbie Head

To see the finished product…one nail with Barbie’s Head, one with an “S” and one with a pineapple….

Watch Our Video

*Major league catchers often put white nail polish on so that their pitchers can see their signals better.

Oh by the way, the band-aid on my finger is not from this toy.  In fact one of the reasons I insisted on trying this myself is that you do have to stick your finger in a machine…so I wanted to do it before I suggested that any child do the same. It doesn’t hurt at all and, in fact it’s very cool.

Pick of the Day: VTech’s Kidizoom Digital Camera Plus

If you’re looking for a sturdy digital camera for your child (4 & up), our testers really gave high marks to VTech’s Kidizoom Digital Camera Plus. Read the review. It won an Oppenheim Toy Portfolio Platinum Award for 2009.