Gift Guide2007
From toys that stand the test of time to board games that are anything but boring, we found the best products for each grade that will build your child's brain as well as being chock full of fun. Our list of loot is kid-tested, teacher approved, and full of options for any family, so get wrappin'!
The Thief Lord
Mix the magic of Harry Potter with a taste of Oliver Twist, and you'll have some notion of the yarn that awaits young readers with this book. Two orphaned brothers arrive in Venice, attempting to escape from the nasty couple who want to adopt them. They're sheltered by a band of young urchins and ...
Butterfly Canopy
This is a toy with a shelf-life, but that’s okay — your kids will continue to talk about the experience long after the butterflies have fluttered away. It all starts with a box containing a canopy, instructions, and a caterpillar order form. Once your adopted larvae arrive (for the ...
Peep and the Big Wide World DVD Set
This newly hatched chicken and his best friends, a robin and a duck, are pure preschool magic. For young children, science is all about hands-on exploration, and this series plays to the innate wonder of everyday objects and events. Each half-hour episode contains two animated stories which ...
The BFG
Considered one of Dahl's most imaginative works, The BFG tells the story of the Big Friendly Giant who blows good dreams into the bedrooms of children. One night he takes an orphan girl named Sophie from her bed and brings her to the world of Giants. The other Giants, with names like ...
Meade Telescope
If your knowledge of astronomy begins and ends with finding the Big Dipper, but you want to spur your child on to greater heights, never fear. This 80 mm-telescope is easy to put together. The instruction manual explains how to use each feature of the telescope to get your child up close and ...
Fantacolor Tecno
This unique toy gives "learning the nuts and bolts" new meaning. Using a multicolored assortment of plastic screws, wrenches, nuts, bolts, and screwdrivers, kids can create designs by attaching and detaching a slew of shapes to the special board (which folds up to become a handy carry-all for the ...
Plan Toys Parking Garage
To most parents, spending hours navigating a crowded parking garage sounds like a living hell, but for kindergarteners it can be a little slice of heaven. A three-level parking structure, complete with elevator, helipad, car and parking attendant, this play set is crafted of quality wooden ...
Zingo
(2 or more players) Ready for Bingo, with a twist? This game helps kids practice shape and pattern recognition, memory, and concentration, as they attempt to fill their card with matching picture tiles before anyone else beats them to it. There's nothing revolutionary here-- it's basically the ...
Jewelry Design Studio
Beading isn't just sissy stuff, it's actually grounded in math curriculum and promotes constructive creativity. Sequencing lays the foundation for understanding number sense and patterns, while the act of measuring helps to practice geometric concepts. And, as any nine-year-old girl will tell you, ...
iKaraoke for iPod
With this unique iPod attachment, belting out favorite songs karaoke-style has never been more convenient. The lightweight microphone is about the size and shape of a fountain pen. Would-be singers just plug it into an iPod, select whether they'd like to connect to the stereo or over FM radio, ...
Woodkins
Little girls just can't put Woodkins down! These wooden versions of "paper dolls" are a wholesome alternative to blinking electronic toys. Place squares of brightly colored cloth beneath the doll's surrounding frame and your child can create socks, pants, shirts, dresses, and belts. Woodkins also ...
A Pizza the Size of the Sun
Got a kid who claims to hate poetry? Sic this collection on her, and try to suppress your smile as she devours the thing. From Improbable Emporiums stocked with fur umbrellas and hippo dental floss, to pizzas that take a year and a half to bake, this book is chock-full of fun-loving absurdity. A ...
Mixed-Up Politician
This little toy puts a whole new spin on the term "politically incorrect." The box contains 200 magnetized, scrambled words that make up famous quotes uttered by politicians. Can your teen put the quotes together correctly, or perhaps mix them up in hilarious combinations? "I believe a thousand ...
Super Fort
This toy provides all the straight-up fun of a home-grown fort, but without the mess of misplaced sheets, chairs, and pillows. Using flexible foam tubes, many-sided magnetic connectors, and multi-colored fabric panels, kids can build just about any kind of lair they want, whether it's a tug-boat, ...
Half Magic
In this charming and classic story, four siblings are set to spend a hot, boring summer in the care of a babysitter, when they come upon a coin on the sidewalk. They soon realize that the coin has special powers, but in the classic tradition of wish fulfillment gone awry, it only does half the ...
Apples to Apples
By the time they are in fourth grade, most kids will be the first to tell you: they can read and write lots of words. But what they're just learning is how words can stretch beyond concrete definitions and into all sorts of delightful meanings. At this exciting stage, we can think of few cooler ...
