education.com

Blue Man Group Keyboard

This wild conglomeration of musical toys, aptly named "Keyboard Experience," was inspired by the antics of the Blue Man Group, who are featured banging stuff, blowing through convoluted tubes, and prancing around with light tricks in an accompanying DVD. A synthesizer keyboard with 9 instruments features motion sensitive "music control tubes." By waving their hands across the tube openings, the musician controls volume, tempo, and the balance of instruments. With a flourish, they can send out extra jazz tones, orchestral harmonies, and more. This musical toy also includes a port for iPod or MP3 hookup. And if noise becomes a problem for grownups, the manufacturers have even included a handy set of earphones! (Manley, $79.99)

Toss Your Cookies

Essentially a fun-fueled kiddie version of the well-known card game "Gin," Toss Your Cookies has winning players crowing "Snickerdoodle!" An easy-to-play game that is long on silliness and smiles, children build matching, sorting, and memory skills while passing (or sometimes tossing) cardboard "cookies" back and forth. Be the first to collect five matching cookies and the cup of milk and you're the winner! This game gets bonus points for being entertaining for children as young as six and as old as eleven. Sibling quibbles melt into giggles and good-natured fun. What could be a better gift than that? (Gamewright, 3-8 players, $11.99)

Fizzy Foamy Science

With this beginner's chemistry kit, your child can measure, predict, and investigate common household phenomenons like rising bread and fizzing soda. There are six separate activities for kids to try a number of different ways, laying the groundwork for observation, experimentation, and drawing conclusions--all key components of the scientific method. Though this set keeps the experiments nice and simple, without acids or chemicals, parents should still be on hand for safety, reading instructions and mess control. Give your child a jumpstart on science, along with some hands-on fun! (Scientific Explorer, $19.99)

Lego Creator House

Got a budding architect under the roof? Give her the tools to build the house of her dreams. This kit comes equipped with over 700 pieces and instructions for three very different models. The houses are quite complex-- with everything from hinged garages, to rain gutters and dormer windows. Kids not only practice counting, sequencing, and fine motor skills, they'll also absorb lessons in symmetry and spacial reasoning, so that they can imagine their own models. It's fun and challenging for kids-- just try to keep those parental paws off of it! (Lego, $49.99)

Monster Maker Card Game

Everybody loves a goofy monster. In this combination puzzle/card game kids race to see who can collect the right parts cards to make their monster whole. Players can pick from the deck, the garbage pile, or trade cards with other players. The act of trading is a great lesson in taking turns, sharing and negotiation. Children will love the biographical facts in the "Meet the Monsters" book, and parents will love the educational value of the puzzle, which helps practice problem solving and deductive reasoning skills. (Buffalo Games, 2-5 players, $6.95)

JumpStart World

This educational computer game takes virtual learning to a new level. The game teaches art, reading, math and critical thinking skills through a cast of colorful characters and exciting challenges. The program tailors itself to your child's personal skill level and learning style, so the content really hits home. And, with its cool 3D design and immersive play format, JumpStart World looks and feels like an adventure waiting to happen. Want to know how it's going? Download the game onto your computer and you'll receive personalized progress reports and activity tips. (Knowledge Adventure, $17.99)

Trapecolo

What can you do with a pile of colorful trapezoid-shaped tiles? Leave it to your child's imagination and you'll both be delighted with the resulting patterns, shapes, 3-D designs... the possibilities are endless! This isn't just arts and crafts: Trapecolo requires visualization, spatial reasoning, and geometric modeling skills. Children can enjoy this toy on their own, or working collaboratively with friends and family. (Hape International, multiple participants, $24.99)

Create Your Own Pop Up Book

Create a passion for books by encouraging your child to make one of her own! With this creative kit, kids instantly become writer, illustrator, editor and publisher. And, because it's a pop-up book in the making, your child will be practicing crafts that require high-level creativity, as well as fine motor skills. The kit includes two hardcover books, markers, easy to create pop-ups, a brainstorming worksheet, and a variety of colorful stickers. So, let your child's imagination run wild: her creativity is sure to rise to the occasion! (Creativity for Kids, $15.95)

Rat-a-Tat Cat Deluxe 10th Anniversary Edition

Rat-a-Tat Cat is a fun, fast-paced game that manages to be simple enough for a second grader to enjoy, while boasting enough versatility to keep parents engaged right along with the kids. This is a card game that relies on rudimentary strategy, basic math, memory skills, and a lot of luck. But, the addition of "power cards" that allow you to peek at what other players are holding, and the special "Rat Scanner" adds an irresistible level of silliness that will have the whole family fighting to shout "Rat-a-Tat Cat!" (Gamewright, 2-6 players, $11.99)

Pieceless Puzzle

Until now, picture puzzles have been pretty self-explanatory. They're fun, challenging, and develop visual and spatial reasoning skills that will serve kids well in the long run. But with their small, irregular pieces, puzzles also equal messy play spaces and lost pieces. Until now! The "pieceless puzzle" is as good as its word. Dump it out, and you'll find one big interconnected mass of flexible puzzle waiting to be solved. The puzzle is two-sided, and since each strand is twisted and twirled around the others, kids will need their wits, as well as their eyes and hands, to make the picture whole. Easy clean-up and portability make this a top pick for puzzle enthusiasts, and parents, too! (Ceaco, $11.99)

Color Scheme

An interesting riff on Milton Bradley's popular Connect Four game, Color Scheme challenges players to form a row of three secondary colors by layering primary-colored tiles within the specially designed grid. In addition to being a rainbow of fun, this game puts kids' strategic thinking and problem-solving skills into overdrive. (Educational Insights, 2 players, $29.99)

Tinkertoy Classic Jumbo Set

This classic canister of goodies is back on the market, proving to parents that simple, vintage toys can cause just as much excitement and learning as any high-tech game. This set features 102 large wooden spools, connectors, and brightly colored dowels--let your child's imagination do the rest. Kids have a blast building props and structures out of these pieces, such as lollipops, ice cream cones, balloons, and microphones. The wooden manipulatives are also great for fine motor skills practice. Why is this game so well-remembered? Because when you reach adulthood you realize all great projects start with a bit of tinkering around! (Hasbro, $26.99)

Password & Password Junior

Remember that "Password" TV show when you were a kid? Well, bring that up to date with cool "decoder cases" and "password cards", but keep the old fashioned word play, and you've got a great game that clearly supports elementary reading skills. This game is best played in two teams of two each. Each team gets a set of "password cards"; one team member sees the words using the "decoder," and must give clues until a partner guesses the word. "Password" builds reading, vocabulary, and teamwork skills. Note: This game is quite challenging for its youngest players. Make sure you check out the extra directions for the adaptation, "Password Junior". (Endless Games, 4-6 players, $11.99)

Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle

by Betty MacDonald

This title character is everything a child wants--she's the widow of a pirate and lives in an upside down house which always smells of freshly baked cookies. Parents love her because she has a cure for everything, including the "Slow Eater Tiny Bite Taker" and "Won't-Pick-Up-Toys-itis." It's an easily digested chapter book with a light-hearted tone, and chock full of helpful messages for parents and kids alike. (HarperTrophy, $5.99)

Mr. Popper's Penguins

by Richard Atwater

This story of a humble house painter who receives a surprise package straight from the South Pole is one of the funniest early chapter books we've ever read. Kids will delight in the mayhem that ensues as a pack of penguins takes over the apartment-- tobogganing down the kitchen stairs, building nests in the icebox, and skating around the snowdrifts that have formed in the cellar. A truly silly story-perfect for this age group, but also a great jumping off point for discussions about early exploration and discovery at Antarctica. (Little, Brown Young Readers, $6.99)

Nate the Great

by Marjorie Weinman Sharmat and Marc Simont

Nate the Great, a pancake loving, Sam Spade spouting, grade school private eye has a bravado perfect for this age set, who don't want books for "little kids" anymore. Still, underneath the swagger, the short chapters and simple words are just right for blossoming readers. Case closed. (Yearling, $4.50)

Whirl-O Magnetic Spinning Top

It's a top. It's a yo-yo. It's a Whirl-O! With a flick of the wrist, the magnetic top will whirl around a tin track. Tap it on a hard flat surface and the top will fly off and spin on its own. This funky toy combines all the fun and hand-eye coordination of a yo-yo, without that stringy mess. And magnetism introduces scientific concepts like gravity and centrifugal force. The absence of plastic and colorful designs make this simple, retro toy a fun topper to any stocking. (Rocket USA, $5.95)