@Mattel

At Toy Fair last year, one of the coolest toys I saw were the Hot Wheels Wall Tracks by Mattel. These plastic tracks adhere to any wall surface with Command 3M velcro tabs, allowing the brackets that hold the tracks to be removed with the pull of a tab. I really liked the concept of bringing the toys off the floor and up onto a totally different play surface, especially since I live in a smaller home where we are short on floor space.

Kids can place their Hot Wheels cars on the tracks and watch them complete stunts as they fly down the interconnecting ramps to the floor. There are also different buttons that can change the direction of the car route. My son is only 2 and much younger than the recommended age range which is 4 and up, but he was mesmerized by them, trying to bring every car he had to the tracks to see if it would fit. The ramps are fairly delicate in that they come apart pretty easily, so keep that in mind when using it with the younger age group.

We tried a non-conventional installation and my husband decided we’d hang it on a wall we have that is covered with IdeaPaint. IdeaPaint is whiteboard paint that is used to turn any ordinary wall into a whiteboard. After a search for the biggest whiteboard we could find, without any real luck, we found this alternative and it’s our lifeline for organization in the office. My husband Derek thought it would make a cool backdrop for the tracks and after he installed it he enjoyed drawing all sorts of trees, boats and mountains to turn our Wall Tracks really into a masterpiece of art. In the end, using the IdeaPaint surface was not the best idea, because one of the brackets got stuck because the 3M Command tab broke during removal.   About a two inch area of sheetrock came off with the bracket, leaving us with quite a repair job in ahead of us. However, in the suggested installation, I’m hopeful that this would not happen. You can view Derek’s video here of the Wall Tracks Installation on our wall. It took him about 10 minutes start to finish.

Mattel provided Wall Tracks free to facilitate this review. The opinions are my own.

The Fisher-Price iXL Learning System is a portable, hand held learning tool for children ages 3 – 7. This is a combination device! It will play downloaded music, store individual photos, read digital story books and allows children to practice writing letters, words and numbers on the notepad. The drawing stylus allows children to draw and stamp on their own download pictures. There are learning games that promote academic skills of reading comprehension, counting, creativity, phonics, math, vocabulary and spelling. Even better, there is a headphone jack (though headphones are not included), so this is a great portable device for travel. An internet connection and computer operating system (Windows or MAC) is required to download the pictures, music and additional software. Other educational software programs with character licenses such as Dora, Sponge Bob, Disney Princess, Handy Manny, and Toy Story 3 can be downloaded on to the device. The basic device is rather simplistic and I would recommend purchasing some additional titles for your children to learn and explore from to keep their interest. You will need to install computer software to download additional titles and also access printable learning activities.

Fisher-Price provided the iXL free to facilitate this review. The opinions in this blog post are purely the bloggers own.

On Monday November 22nd I had a blast appearing on a segment of Digital Dads with C.C. Chapman on the Pulse Network! We talked about all sorts of holiday toys for different age groups Dads might like to purchase for their kids! Toys featured included Leap Frog Twinkle Twinkle Little Scout, Leap Frog Fix & Learn Speedy, Whiplash Scooter, Air Hogs Hawk Eye Helicopter from Spinmaster, Bakugan Dragonoid Collossus by Spinmaster, Zoobles by Spinmaster, U-Build Games by Hasbro, Mega Bloks Musical Pirate Ship, Rubik’s Slide, Tron by Disney, Helmtops, Sassy Baby Rattles, Lego Games, Paper Jamz, Stinky the Garbage Truck by Mattel, Zhu Zhu Pets by Cepia, Sumo Ham Slam by Gamewright, Battlestrikers by Mega Brands, Squinkies!

Here is an updated link to imagery for Helmtops and the Mega Bloks Pirate Ship!

Fisher-Price Little People Wheelies Stand and Play Rampway.

Fisher-Price, BigFoot the Monster will be a sought after remote controlled dinosaur toy for preschoolers this holiday season. He has multiple emotions that include sad and angry. He exercises, flips, and walks forward. Recommended for kids 3-10.

Mattel Sing-A-Ma-Jigs these soft fun collectable creatures will make you smile with every squeeze of their belly. They come in four different colors. For kids ages 36 months to 6 years old.

Keriann Wilmot from ToyQueen.com, pediatric occupational therapist, shares photos and videos of some of her favorite products showcased at Time to Play Magazine’s Holiday Showcase in NYC on Tuesday Septemer 28th, 2010. Products included from companies such as Leap Frog, Mega Brands, Lego, Disney Consumer Products, Blip Toys, Mattel, Hasbro, Jazwares, Jakks Pacific, Spinmaster, PlaSmart, VTech, Pinkalicious, Learning Curve.

There are 3 toys per category including Infants, Toddlers, Preschoolers, and Elementary School Age.

Birth to 12 months

1. Fisher-Price Stack & Roll Cups

For infants, not only do these cups stack and nest, put them together to make a rolling ball! When children get older, these cups would make great sand and tub toys!

2. Crayola Drop & See

A great infant toy that combines a marble track with a fine motor activity box!

3. Mega Bloks Lil Dump Truck

What infant doesn’t love dump and fill play, with the ability to generate early social skills by pushing the truck back and forth to a parent or sibling? Trucks will always last a lifetime!

12 months through 2 years

4. Cranium Cariboo

Toddler’s will initially enjoy using the key to open all the boxes to work on foundational skills such as turn taking and vocabulary development.  As their thinking skills improve, this game advances with them to teach skills such as color and number recognition into the preschool years.

5. CAT Ride-On by Mega Bloks

This is a 3 in 1 toy that is a stable push toy for children learning to walk and a ride-on toy for older children. Children can drive their blocks to different locations before stacking them up and crashing them over.

6. Crayola Color Me a Song

Children love to scribble and color, but do not always have the attention span to do so for long. This product incorporates coloring along to music where the music will speed up and slow down based on how fast or slow the child is coloring.  It comes with triangular crayons which are great to enhance grasp development.

Preschool Age (3-5 years)                                                          

7. Leap Frog Tag/Tag Jr.

Depending on  your child’s abilities, either the Tag or Tag Jr. is a great way to foster reading, vocabulary development, the ability to answer questions and to develop reading comprehension.  The Tag Jr. Book Pal is appropriate for children up to 4, the Tag Reading System is geared for children 4-8.  I’ve successfully heard many times that parents have used the Tag with younger children, though they require more supervision and assistance. If you are looking for an independent toy for a young child, the Tag Jr. incorporates board books with a more basic level of operation.

8. Zippity by Leap Frog

Jump and move with your favorite Disney characters! I am a huge fan of the moving to learn concept. There are multiple games with multiple levels included in the console, which becomes more difficult as children advance their skills. You can also purchase other games more specific to the child’s interest.

9. Uno Moo by Mattel

This preschool game involves color matching with round barnyard animals that can be played with separately from the game but builds on the skills needed for Uno at an older age.

Elementary School Age (5 & up)

10. Goblet Jr. by Blue Orange

Awesome take on Tic-Tac-Toe that involves strategy as you can gobble up your opponents so the game can continue with a different strategy. Kids and adults love this game!

11. 1,2,3 Stomp by Wild Planet

Number and math game that pops the pieces all over to incorporate speed and movement!

12. Candyland Sweet Celebrations by Hasbro

New version of Candyland with the same concept of turn taking and color recognition but children can constantly change the game board to play differently every time!

Dr. Michael Shore from Mattel is interviewed by ToyQueen, Keri Wilmot regarding some of the developmental aspects that have been included in Mattel’s process of toy creation and development to promote emotional benefits, imagination, empowerment, and the sense of discovery in the design process. Toys featured include the Fisher-Price Trio Building Set, Preschool game Uno Moo and Matchbox’s Rocky the Robot Truck.

The Trio Building System, for 3-5 year olds, was engineered with concepts in mind such as the auditory feedback that is provided when the blocks are successfully snapped or connected together.

Uno Moo was developed to make a compelling game for young children, that were not able to hold a large deck of cards. It’s a matching game that incorporates color and animal matching with manipulatives that are more appropriate for the preschool age. Game play sessions were created to be brief, it’s active and comes in a nice storage container.

Rocky the Robot Truck is a fully interactive truck, great for boys ages 3-6. This type of construction vehicle play brings a whole new magic to the truck, as Rocky was developed with a personality and movement. Rocky makes over 80 statements, that are rewarding and encouraging, that also invite children into the play pattern. The children are also able to activate many of the features themselves through the use of buttons, etc.

For preschool and elementary school aged children, Hasbro has created a 60th anniversary edition of Candyland, called the Candyland Sweet Celebration game. How exciting is it that your child now has the power to create a unique Candyland adventure every time, as the pieces snap together like a puzzle to create the gameboard! What a great addition to such a classic game!

For young toddler boys who love their dumptrucks, Mattel/Matchbox has created Rocky the Robot Dump Truck. Not only does Rocky function as a regular dump truck, but he has been developed with a personality! We had the pleasure of interviewing Dr. Michael Shore, who discussed all the behind the scenes work that Mattel does for research to bring products to children that are developmentally sound, especially with regard to Rocky. It’s no wonder their toys are always among my personal favorites!

Lastly, Wild Planet has paired up with Crayola to create Crayola Town. There are different sets to purchase such as a zoo, ranch, house, and airport. The child first colors in the mat and puts together 3D aspects of the play mat. There are a few play mats included in each set, though there is an opportunity to download more online for free. Each set comes with different pieces as well, to turn your child’s crayons into animals, cars, etc. so that after they are finished coloring, they can make their pictures come to life with a pretend play experience!

I know my mind has not yet focused specifically on the holiday season, but hopefully these three suggestions may make the stress of creating your gift buying list a little easier!