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

Rocky the Talking Truck and Monty T-Rex Dance it Out!

Talking Truck dances with Roaring T-Rex….watch the video.

So after I got done video taping these guys, I went back to work in the other room.  But it turns out they didn’t need me to keep going…here are two photos taking about 20 minutes apart…they are quite able to entertain themselves…and move about! In the second photo it looks like Monty is leading a Congo line!

Matchbox Rocky the Talking Truck Makes Friends

Matchbox Rocky the Talking Truck

Decided to introduce Matchbox Rocky the Talking Truck (click here for full review)…to some of our friends in the office. Watch the video.

Fur Real Biscuit welcomes Monty T-Rex to the office

Hasbro’s Fur Real Friends Biscuit My Lovin Pup is one of our favorite toys from last toy season. He’s still hanging out with us in the office and is always a favorite for our visiting toy testers (young and old).  So we decided to introduce him to Playskool’s new Monty T-Rex.  I was alittle worried about Monty–thinking his roar would be over the top scary for our testers. So we sent him to the same family that tested Fisher-Price’s Spike the Ultra Dinosaur.  As you may recall, our five and three year old testers made  Spike their house pet…and now they report that Monty has become the spouse of last year’s dino (they  have renamed him Lizzy).  They actually LOVE that Monty will roar back at them. They also report that Monty is easier to make work than Spike. (Spike is controlled with a remote control–Monty works by touching one of his touch points to activate walking, roaring, chomping, etc.) So you’ll have to decide if this type of safe scare is right on target for your child–or whether this toy will end up at the back of some closet.  Watch the video.

G.I. JOE: The Rise of Cobra

If the toys are any indication, G.I. JOE has some seriously bad ass opponents in the upcoming movie. Snake Eyes Ninja Commando scares me –even in his packaging.  By my count he comes complete with seven weapons.  Wait! …According to the box he trains the G.I. Joe team…that’s a relief, he’s on our side? His preferred weapon is the “Hand-Forged Steel Heirloom Katana Sword”…do you think the elves from Lord of the Rings helped him out with the forging?

Oh yes–according to the packaging this toy is not recommended for kids under 3. For more G.I. Joe vs. Cobra games and items, you can visit GIJOE.com.

Can you smell it? : Strawberry Shortcake

One of my assistant toy testers this summer commented that the box he was opening really smelled…there was pink tissue paper…I didn’t even need to cross the room to know what the box contained.  For a generation of moms that grew up with Strawberry Shortcake, they can now share the smelly play experience with their kids. The new line from Hasbro offers a wide variety of large play settings like the Berry Cafe…to miniature dolls (move over Polly Pockets)…all with that strawberriest of smells.

I missed the Strawberry Shortcake scene–and truth be told even if I had been of that generation, I wasn’t big on doll play.

Let me know your thoughts–and memories….

Our favorite dogs…

Now that Bo has happily arrived at the White House…here are some of favorite toy dogs just in case bringing home the real thing isn’t in the cards…

Biscuit was on our Platinum List last year and still keeps us company in the office.  He’s extremely sweet but still pretty pricey.

New for Spring, from the same Furreal line is a smaller and much more affordable Lil’ Patter Pup.  If  the Gabor sisters were going to have a  toy dog, this would be it…of course that dates me…so if you’re Paris Hilton…you get the idea. There is a Shih-Tsu and a Pomeranian…both bark and unlike Biscuit, they do walk!  At $29.99 they are  a good buy.

We also still love Lucky–who is bigger than Lil’ Patter Pup and does many of the same tricks as Biscuit. Lucky is from Zizzle.

And if a low tech pup will do the trick, we love the new Spot from Kids Preferred. This oversized delicious doll is $29.99.

And if you’re looking for a great book on dogs…I’m biased but I highly recommend my mom’s Have You Seen Dogs?

Pick of the Day: Tonka Wheel Pals Round-About Railway

One of the hardest categories to fill each year are small vehicles that are safe for the 3 and under crowd.  Many parents just hope for the best and give their kids small Hot Wheels, Matchbox and wooden trains–the problem with them of course is that they do have small parts that are potentially dangerous.  Playskool’s new Wheel Pals line is meant to answer that issue.  The cars are  small in scale – with everything safely anchored.  Our testers loved the new Round About Railway. If you’re looking for a setting that your toddler will enjoy (and not sit on)…look no further.  You put the train at the top of the setting and then your child can either hit the plunger (which activates the train sound)…or just push the train down the track. The vehicle moves slowly enough so that your toddler can track the vehicle, a plus. We thought the Railway works much better than the Fold ‘n Go Garage (we found that some of the ramps did not lock in sufficiently well).

“You Sunk my Battleship!”

I’m a big fan of Battleship.  I used to sit next to my big brothers on the porch while they would play–and it was a really big deal when I finally got old enough to play a round.  So when the new version came in this month–we were pretty excited.  Unfortunately this vertical edition (where you are playing on opposite sides of the same vertical board) -doesn’t quite work as well as the original.  Our testers loved it during a recent game day–but then they discovered that if you bump the board, the pieces fall out and then you’re really out of luck.  We hope they find a way of securing the peg pieces more effectively.