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.

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

Looking at all of the nominees for our Green Toy List!  So happy that there are so many choices this year!

ABC's Richard Davies trying MindFlex

When we first started the Oppenheim Toy Portfolio, one of the first major media placements we got was with ABC’s Richard Davies.  For that first interview, Richard traveled down to our office (a corner of my apartment) and did the interview at my dining room table with a cassette player and microphone.  Our interview was peppered with my son Adam (a toddler at the time) breaking out of the other room and running up to Richard.  He was fascinated with the microphone and Richard is the kind of guy kids relate to right away.  Ever since that first interview, the holidays don’t happen without going to talk to Richard (we now go to his studio).

Richard knows toys and kids–so our conversations are always fun and informed.  He doesn’t look at us the way many adults do when we say we play with toys for a living.  He gets what we do. Each interview session  always starts with a catch up on our respective kids (a conversation that has moved from their favorite toys and video games to what high schools, what colleges, and first jobs, oh my!).

Today there were many more people there–so as everyone was getting the technical aspects of the webcast going, I had Richard try out the new MindFlex– a very futurist toy.  Regrettably we didn’t put this on video–because it was really fun to watch Richard try his hand, or should I say mind, with this new toy. To see our demo, click here.

During the interview, I started talking about having several of the interactive toys play together and that I’ve had a good time filming them interact.  Richard thought I was crazy…and my mother sort of agreed that my new fascination with filming these toys together is a little out of control.

After any interview, you always have regrets about what you didn’t say.  And as much as I do like mixing it up and experimenting with different platforms for discussing toys, I do take toys and play seriously.

What I didn’t say today–is that I think what we do has more meaning than ever before.  Dollars are tight and as much as we all want to delight our kids with toys, the days of filling up the cart without care are over.  We started the toyportfolio during the recession of the early 90s…and our mission remains the same.  We do try all the new toys so that we can save parents time and money.  Our reviews are informed by our backgrounds in child development–so not only do we recommend products that work and that are engaging–but we give the underpinnings about why this particular type of play is important to your child’s development.  OK, there I said it.

Richard commented “you used to be so serious.”  During the past few years with all of the safety issues surrounding toyland, I was extremely serious.   This year, things are almost back to normal in toyland.  So maybe that reflects some of my silliness today–although I was completely vindicated once I shared my videos with Richard and his gang — after all toys dancing together is pretty funny stuff.  My favorite youtube video so far is   Rocky the Talking Truck Makes Friends.

Joanne in the ABC Studio

So we were delighted to be Richard’s first “webcast” guests for his new show, Shopping for Kids,  that will air on-line  (more details to come).  Of course this meant that we needed to be “camera” ready and that we could bring toys that did not make noise.  In the past, we only brought things that made “good radio”–the more noise  the better. We wish Richard the best with his new show!

Not sure what to do tonight without the World Series…sleep might be a good idea!  All of this baseball reminded me of one our Platinum Award winners, Testing the Ice, A True Story About Jackie Robinson written by his daughter Sharon (published by Scholastic) . Read our review.

One of  my sons just asked me where the turkey club sandwich comes from…here’s a suggestion. So far the best turkey club I’ve ever had was at the Loews Vanderbilt Hotel in Nashville.   Getting hungry just thinking about it.

“I write the last sentence first” – now there’s a concept. Really interesting interview on Bonnie Hunt.

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.

Jimmy Choo Jedd Ankle Boot

Open-toed boots.  Seems like an oxymoron to me.  This pair of Jimmy Choo boots will set you back $1250 at Saks .

This afternoon I caught Oprah’s big shoe episode and I just had this expectation that Oprah would call someone out on the silliness of the open-toed boots.  She lives in Chicago after all.  But no, not a word.  They were trotted out as one of the big trends of the season.  In fact, the expert pointed out that these could be “age-appropriate” as she showed them on a woman in her 50s.  Of course she was wearing dark toe nail polish–it’s open-toed after all.

You might think it’s twenty degrees outside, I’m wearing boots–so I could put on a pair of tights, no?  NO.  Open-toed means just that–of course you’re also suppose to wear leggings (no matter what your legs look like) but you have to be sure that they are toe-less leggings so that your dark colored toe nail polish can be seen.

I really love many things about this show.  Oprah has made it really cool to read and discuss books– think about the number of people who have done that. She’s made a whole host of taboo topics – speakable (domestic violence, bodily functions, incest, bra fittings).

So I was disappointed today.  The only “true that”  remark was that many of the shoes being shown required a cab or car service.   Oprah looked somewhat embarrassed by the doctor giving walking lessons in stiletto heels.  It was really odd.  (I know we all like Mad Men, but I thought these types of womanly lessons were behind us.)  And Oprah did own up to the fact that she carries her high heels  down to the studio. Anyone watching lately  knows that she is a sitting ad for Christian Louboutin (we can see their signature red heels when she crosses her legs).  Her admission today explains why the red looks unblemished!

In interest of full disclosure, I have my own collection of tv shoes.  Katie Couric led the way on the Today Show for wearing really sexy shoes.   There are articles dedicated to her great legs and shoes.  In some ways she made it acceptable for smart women to wear sexy footwear on air.  I can’t remember one pair of Jane Pauley’s shoes, can you?

I walk through many of these shoe departments now and just laugh.   I keep waiting for some group of women to scream “We won’t take it anymore!” I love high heels as much as the next shoe-obsessed American woman, but  have we gone too far? We talk about encouraging positive body images with our girls (e.g. Dove’s Campaign for Real Beauty), but somehow that all goes out the window when we get to the shoe department. The higher the better.  (After all, SITC’s Carrie Bradshaw really can’t kiss Mr. Big without her signature Manolo Blanik.) All of our advances at the work place, for equal pay, breaking the glass ceiling…have no sway in this department.  Maybe we think we need the spikes to break the ceiling.

I wonder who designs the “guaranteed bunyon-producing, can’t-walk-to-the-car,  five inch heel stilettos”  anyway?  Could  he be related to the person who designed the mammogram machine?