Educational toys & games
for children (and babies) give them a HUGE head start in life...

Leap Frog, Emeryville, Calif., which a few years back revolutionized educational toys with its LeapPad line of computerized notebooks, is at it again. This season's groundbreaking innovations include the "Quantum Leap Line," ushering in an entirely new way to study for grade- and middle-school students. These tools transform old drill-and-kill study methods into action-packed games and activities that make preparing for class more fun, fast, and effective.

Heading the list is the Quantu ...
Author: USA Today (Society for the Advancement of Education)
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The coolest source of educational science demonstrations I've encountered is this very book-like website written and run by Simon Field. Field has thirty nifty toys and gadgets that can be made quickly, cheaply and will amaze adults as well as kids. This is the only place I've seen that tells you how to make a magnetic linear accelerator, also known as a Gauss Rifle--it uses magnetism to shoot tiny steel balls. The secret to Field's method is that his demos are very small, requiring small amo ...
Author: Whole Earth
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Nearly half of shoppers surveyed--49 percent--said they would buy toys this holiday season, according to the NPD Group. More good news for chain drug retailers is that many of those toys ring in at comfortable price points for drug store shoppers, including Mattel's Barbie as Princess Anneliese and Erika for $19.99 and Jakks Pacific TV Games for $20, both listed on Toy Wishes magazine's Hot Dozen list for 2004. Each year, the magazine's editors select the toys they believe will be the hardest ...
Author: Drug Store News
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Go ahead. Call me a bleeding heart retail lover. I deserve it. Over the holidays, I brought my son and daughter to the local mall where we did all of our toy shopping at FAO Schwarz. And after we dropped a couple hundred dollars, my kids were ecstatic--and I was feeling pretty good about myself, having done my part to support an ailing retailer.

It's a funny thing with me. Like people who feel compelled to bring in stray dogs or call the police when an suspicious vehicle circles the nei ...
Author: DSN Retailing Today
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Low prices and a wide selection of merchandise has made Wal-Mart the nation's top retailer in both toys and sporting goods and the company should add to its market share in 2004 as it continues to pressure specialty retailers in both industries.

With large toy sections in its approximately 3,500 U.S. stores, Wal-Mart has been the nation's leading toy retailer since the late 1990s when it surpassed Toys "R" Us. Despite a soft toy industry that's hovered around $20 billion in annual reven ...
Author: DSN Retailing Today
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One night, not long after Christmas, my pacifist friends Jay Levy and Su Zuniga quietly crept down to the basement with a hammer while their three-year-old daughter, Samantha, slept. There, they methodically banged on the belly of her brand-new mechanical dog until it stopped yapping.

Another friend's daughter received a Victorian makeup table for her fourth birthday. "It's plastic, it's ugly, and it's huge. It's totally inappropriate for a four year old. Not to mention that my daughter ...
Author: Mothering
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Play is essential for learning in children, and toys are the tools of play. Which play materials are provided and how they are used are equally important, according to a clinical report published by the American Academy of Pediatrics. "Selecting Appropriate Toys for Young Children" appears in the April 2003 issue of Pediatrics and is available online at www.aap.org/policy.

Adults caring for children should be reminded that toys facilitate but do not substitute for the most important asp ...
Author: American Family Physician
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NATIONWIDE DSN REPORT -- A child's education tops the growing concerns of today's time-starved parents, many of whom are going to great lengths to provide their little ones with fun-filled products that encourage learning and discovery. Toy manufacturers keenly aware of this dilemma have responded by transforming their educational toy lines--a category once reserved primarily for specialty chains--and tailoring them to fit within the merchandise mix of mass retailers such as Toys "R" Us and W ...
Author: DSN Retailing Today
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YOUR INTEREST IN THE TOY INDUSTRY SURVIVED THE RECESSION. NOW HOW DO YOU MAKE THE MOST OF THE RECOVERY?

Cabbage Patch Dolls, Tickle Me Elmo, Razor Scooter. Toys that set the toy world on its ear and made consumers rush the stores. But lately, the products coming out of the toy industry seem, well, boring. Where has all the innovation gone?

To start, 2001 wasn't a great year for the toy industry. Though $25 billion in sales meant an increase of 1.7 percent over 2000, that's a downe ...
Author: Entrepreneur
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DESPITE the uncertainty of the times, Christmas and Kwanzaa 2001 should be loads of fun for good girls and boys. Why? Because this year there is a wide variety of books, toys, games, action figures, high-tech toys and videos aimed at African-American children, and because experts say every effort should be made to provide a normal and traditional atmosphere for young people.

Technology is having a strong impact on children. Industry experts note that more than 60 percent of American hou ...
Author: Ebony
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Vendor News--Warner Home Video has signed a multi-title DVD distribution agreement with LeapFrog Enterprise, an industry leader in educational toys. Warner will release preschool learning home videos produced by LeapFrog. The first two titles will be released Dec. 9.

FOR BABY

(Newborn and up)

ABC Stacking Blocks Eeboo Toys $20

These beautifully illustrated stacking cubes--which also fit inside one another--teach size and sequence. Baby road test: Ivy, 15 months, could build a tower with a little help--and, of course, knock it down again (her favorite part). 6 months and up. www.geniusbabies.com.

Sunshine Symphony Neurosmith $40

Cause and effect are demonstrated with baby's touch; each pat prompts a piece of classical music. S ...
Author: Fit Pregnancy
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THE land of fun and imagination moves a step closer to reality and relevance for African-American children this season. A multitude of brown-skinned superheroes, pride-driven games and puzzles and dolls the color of the Black rainbow, will probably give a needed boost to the self-esteem of Black children.

Responding to the pleas of Black parents who want more culturally sound toys and gift items on the holiday shelves, an increasing number of toy manufacturers and major retailers, such ...
Author: Ebony
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We can give our youngsters a head start in the classroom by buying toys and games that enhance their learning at each stage of development. But what are the characteristics of each developmental stage and which products should we choose? We asked Dr. Susan Ginsberg, an associate dean at the Bank Street College of Education in New York City and Dr. Cynthia Whitfield, an expert in child development in Oakland, for their opinions.

There's a world of difference between 4- and 6-year-olds, s ...
Author: Essence
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Educational toys and games are hot, as any merchant this season will tell you. But are kids clamoring for these toys that teach, or are well-intentioned parents buying them only to have them sit in the back of the closet until the next garage sale? If you shop wisely, you can buy a toy that is fun while it helps the child learn something or develop a skill.

Toys and games have to be fun, says Joanne Oppenheim, child development specialist and coauthor of The Best Toys, Books and Videos ...
Author: Better Homes & Gardens
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The best and brightest of the people who create and evaluate educational toys know the truth: A common set of wooden building blocks teaches and charms, as always. But there are new kids around those blocks. The market is delivering toys that can simulate a lifesaving surgery, monitor the progress of a caterpillar's journey to flight, or teach about dinosaurs.

"At any age, a good educational toy arouses a child's curiosity, entices her to discover all the things she can do with it, and ...
Author: Better Homes & Gardens
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THAT SPECIAL PRESENT...

1. The Green Machine: What's Christmas without a new bike under the tree Back in the 1970s, the Green Machine was the Jaguar of Big Wheels, a sleek green bike that could do impressive skids end spinouts. Huffy's new model can do all that, only now it's made of sturdy metal tubing with a rubber front tire, instead of the breakable, all-plastic affair of 30 years ago. $99.99, from Huffy Bicycle Co.; www.huffybikes.com or 937/743-5011.

DOLLS AND ACTION FIGURES ...
Author: Better Homes & Gardens
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Every year, it seems kids' holiday wish lists get longer as more new toys and retooled old favorites hit the shelves. That's why Better Homes and Gardens[R] and its crack team of testers spent weeks choosing the most creative, engaging, and stimulating playsets, games, books, and more. Here's your guide to the season's best toys.

GET MOVING

Even in the winter, kids can get a workout with the right toys. Instead of video games that keep them in front of the TV, look for active toys ...
Author: Better Homes & Gardens
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Parents often search for intellectually stimulating toys for holiday gift giving. However, a child psychologist at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas maintains that the best toy is one that fosters parent-child interaction. "Learning and play experiences take place when the toy is more interactive, and, more importantly, the parent takes time to [engage] the child while he [or she] plays," asserts Peter Stavinoha, assistant professor of psychiatry. "Stimulating your ...
Author: USA Today (Society for the Advancement of Education)
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Educational toys should generate solid sales during the holidays, but it remains to be seen whether the closing of the two largest learning toy retailers will have a big impact on the sector.

Industry leaders, such as Fisher-Price, LeapFrog and fast-growing Publications International, all have a new slate of products rolling out this month for the holiday shopping season, which should be as good or better than last year.

"There's going to be more competition than ever," said indus ...
Author: DSN Retailing Today
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Toy sales had another down year in 2004, falling nearly 3% to $20.1 billion, but that wasn't the case for learning and educational toys, which posted an unexpected and welcome resurgence. While retailers watched sales fall in most toy categories, sales of educational toys surged nearly 19%, helped in large part by products that target preschool kids.

According to research firm The NPD Group, the "learning and exploration" toy category rang up $510.4 million in sales last year compared t ...
Author: DSN Retailing Today
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There's a brain wave hitting retail, as more mainstream manufacturers than ever are selling kids and parents the healthy and lucrative concept that learning is fun.

While computer and CD-ROM educational products for the home are pushing this surge of interest in knowledge, the brain wave is also causing a surge in low-tech educational toys.

Manufacturers and retailers are targeting busy parents who hope that playtime will pay off in better grades and more quality time at home. Lik ...
Author: Drug Store News
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When children start to walk more steadily, run, push, pull, climb and grab things - they are growing from infants to toddlers. Between their first and second birthdays, they are self centered and get busy doing various things like - to flip light switches, pour things in and out of containers, unwrap packages and empty drawers. The toddler stage is very important in a child's life. It is the time between infancy and childhood when a child learns and grows in many ways. Everything that happens ...
Author: Barbara De Oliveira
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