Toy Conversations

Have Toys, Will Travel: Playthings You Can Pack Up and Take

2010-02-17T12:49:00.000-08:00

As we wrap up Toy Fair 2010, I wanted to send you off with a little something for the road ahead. Which is precisely why I’ve selected four fabulous fold-‘n’-go toys that’ll keep those kids—be they tykes or teens—busy in the backseat during your next road trip. So without further ado, I bring you my top travel toys of 2010:

Crayola Dry Erase Travel Activity Center. First of all, dry-erase kit racks up major cool points for its ease of portability—but aside from that, it’s also a marvelous educational tool. Interchangeable templates help children write, draw, count or just play different games—whether that’s at the kitchen table or in the car.

Zingo Travel Game. Think Fun brings you a way to keep between two and eight kids occupied with this game that’s reminiscent of Bingo: Your kids will have race each other to be the first to fill their cards with a set of matching picture tiles.

Animal Soup Card Game. Why not distract your little ones with a quick card game in the back of the SUV? Enter Briarpatch's Animal Soup, which challenges children ages 5 and up to match up the crazy critters they spot on the cards!

Travel Around the World Teddy Bear. What better way to gallop the globe than with a plush and portable teddy? Aurora has just the one, and he even comes with in a carrying case the size of a lunch box and with a map so your kid can discover where his or her travelmate is from.

That’s all, peeps! Farewell from the floor of Toy Fair 2010—and thanks for sharing a cyber-conversation that we will certainly continue throughout the year. Happy toy trails!

America Loves TOTY 2010: Congrats to the Winners!

2010-02-17T10:53:00.000-08:00

The votes are all counted for the first-ever American Loves TOTY Sweepstakes—and if you’re just now joining us for the party, let me fill you in.

Leading up to this month’s Toy of the Year awards—the Oscars of the toy biz in which industry leaders select the finest playthings in all of the land—the Toy Industry Association (TIA) asked Americans to tell us their faves. Ballots were cast both online and via snail mail, and in total—please hold your applause, ladies and gentlemen—exactly 9,162 of you made your voices heard!

Here’s the best part: All those who voted had the chance to become part of a drawing, for a chance to win every toy in any one of the eleven prize categories of their choosing. So the TIA has finally carried out its (random!) drawing and, ta-dah, these are eleven grand-prize winners:

Activity Toy of the Year  • Jason C.—submitted online

Boy Toy of the Year  • Anna S., Cleveland, OH

Educational Toy of the Year  • Katherine M.—submitted online

Electronic Entertainment Toy of the Year  • Gina S.—submitted online

Game of the Year •  Janette V., West Jefferson, OH

Girl Toy of the Year  • Linda C., Westbrook, ME

Infant Toy of the Year  • Sylvia H., Lacey, WA

Most Innovative Toy of the Year • Kindra R.—submitted online

Outdoor Toy of the Year  • Thomas S., Norwich, CT

Preschool Toy of the Year • Dianne C., Blackstone, MA

Specialty Toy of the Year  • Rita Jean M., Fountain Hills, AZ

Let me be among the first to raise a glass to our winners—and to thank you all for talkin’ ‘bout toys with TIA!

A $10,000 Bear Stirs Up Quite a Buzz

2010-02-17T09:15:00.000-08:00

You could call it one very expensive squeeze: a limited edition Gund Snuffles bear made of white alpaca fur, black Tahitian pearls as eyes, and sporting a 10-carat diamond attached to a white-gold chain made his debut at Toy Fair 2010. Why so iced down? Because the bear is celebrating its 30th birthday this year—and just to be sure that ogglers don’t spoil the party, a security guard is standing by Mr. Snuffles’ enclosed case, which is even behind a velvet rope.

The one-of-a-kind plush bear is valued at an astounding $10,000—not exactly the kind of pocket change one might usually carry around at a trade show fair. But this special bear is decked out for a good cause: The bear will be put up for an auction sometime in 2010, and all proceeds—which will surely exceed the ten grand the bear is estimated to be worth—will be donated to charity.

But for now, the display of the diamond-clad Snuffles is just a clever way to build some show buzz—which is apparently working since I actually had to elbow my way up to the bear’s case at the Gund booth (733). After eyeballing Gund’s other offerings (check them out on www.gund.com), I even left with a proud reminder of my visit—a sticker that reads “I Hugged Snuffles.” I would’ve preferred to leave with a sticker that said this: “I borrowed Snuffles’ necklace.” Oh, well—maybe next year.

Toys After Tears: Toy Industry Foundation Restores Smiles to the Children of Haiti

2010-02-17T08:26:00.000-08:00

At 4pm today as the 2010 Toy Fair exhibitors tear down their booths, you’ll suddenly spot a sea of fluorescent orange: Dozens of volunteers from the Toy Industry Foundation (TIF) are collecting toys for charity—but not just any charity. This year, the children of Haiti who endured a 7.0 magnitude earthquake on January 12, 2010 will be the recipients of the toy industry's random act of kindness. I asked Foundation Manager Amanda McDorman to give me the latest on how TIF is restoring hope, and perhaps even a little happiness, to the little ones of Haiti—one free toy at a time.
Michelle Burford: How is the Toy Industry Foundation (TIF) helping out with the Haitian relief effort this year?

Amanda McDorman: At the end of the show today, the Toy Industry Foundation—which is the philanthropic arm of the North American Toy Industry Association (TIA)—is collecting toys for Haitian children, as well as for the Toy Bank, a year-round product donation program. Today’s toy collection at the fair is the largest in-person collection event. About 85 volunteers will hit the floor to collect the toys from exhibitors’ booths, starting at 4:01pm!

MB: How many toys does TIF typically collect?

AM: Each year, we end up with between $250,000 and $300,000 in fair market value worth of toys. We usually give them to various charities, but with the recent devastation in Haiti, we decided that we wanted to be part of that relief effort this year. Our charity partner is Kids in Distressed Situations (K.I.D.S), and they’ve helped us recruit the volunteers and handle logistics on the ground. Even before the quake, K.I.D.S. was already doing work in Haiti, like donating blankets and children’s clothing—but not toys necessarily. Obviously, everyone’s first priority is to make sure that the Haitian people can get food and clothing. So in March—once the first round of necessities has been addressed--we will send a portion of the toys that are collected today to Haiti.

MB: Why is it important to for kids to have toys to play with amid such a crisis?

AM: Many of these kids lost their parents in the earthquake, and I think that play is going to be particularly important in providing these children with comfort and sense of normalcy. A toy can become a trusted friend, a safety blanket, and after a trauma, toys can bring back the everyday joy. In some of the news footage I’ve viewed about Haiti, I’ve noticed that the kids are the ones who are still running around or dancing in the streets. It’s a reminder that, even though they’re handling this tragedy, they’re still kids—and we want to make sure that these kids have toys.

MB: Won't the volunteer collectors be wearing some insane shade of orange?

AM: Yes! They’ll be wearing these ridiculously orange shirts so that you can’t miss them on the floor! We’ve recently re-designed our shirt to celebrate a milestone we hit in late 2009: 50 million dollars worth of toys have been donated to the Toy Bank since its inception. We’re excited to share that with everyone, because it says a lot about what the toy community does for kids in need.

Let the Games Begin: Four Decent Reasons to Haul Out That Board

2010-02-16T14:26:00.000-08:00

As high-tech gadgets have claimed so much of the media spotlight in recent times, one decidedly low-tech option suddenly sounds like a great escape from our stimuli-a-minute e-world: The board game. I know, I know: for some of you, board gaming sounds like a snore—the kind of activity that blue-haired senior citizens sit playing after they’ve pulled on their nightcaps. But this year’s crop of board games isn’t just for Granny. In fact, there are oodles of products that will bring the entire family together for giggles and good times. Here are four family games that I recommend:

1. Nab It: Family Game of Stolen Words. Manufacturing giant Hasbro (www.hasbro.com) returns to Toy Fair with a game created by the makers of Scrabble. With this game, up to four people can turn any surface into their board for creating words with colored tiles. Tiles can be fashioned into a crossword and even staked to make new words.

2. Quelf. Imagination Games brings us a product that does double duty: it’s great for pulling together families as well as making your next party a laugh-out-loud hit. As players move around the game board as one of eight characters, things suddenly get a bit wacky—thanks to the fact that you’ve gotta answer trivia questions, perform stunts, and obey silly rules (like wrapping your face in toilet paper). It might sound ludicrous at first, but 30 minutes into it, you realize you haven’t cracked up so much since...well, never. Learn more about this game at www.imaginationgames.com

3. Sort It Out! Which is faster: a cheetah or a helicopter? That’s exactly the kind of puzzle you’ll have to piece together in a speed-round of this game (University Games). To win this game, you’ll need to keep your wits about you—and pull out the little knowledge you likely have on a vast array of topics. PS: Sort It Out was hailed as Game of the Year at the 2010 Toy of the Year (TOTY) awards.

4. The Office Monopoly Collectors’ Edition. This game is a twist on the classic Monopoly game, from USAopoloy (www.usaopoloy.com). Based on the NBC sitcom “The Office,” the game includes characters from the popular series, as well as most of the same components that first made the basic Monopoly set to popular when it was released (drumroll, please…) 75 years ago. Talk about staying power.

Here is what’s so amazing about games: Once you buy one of them, it can provide you with a new experience every time you play, making it one of the most cost-effective ways to use your funds during a cash shortage. And besides: It glues together moms, dads, tots, teens—and yes, even grannies—for more face time…and less Facebook time.

Wheel Power: Bright Lights Save Lives

2010-02-16T12:58:00.000-08:00

Richard Barnes would like us all to lighten up—especially if we’re in the habit of bike riding after dusk. When MIT braniac Dave Hock first approached Barnes about marketing Hokey Spokes—a bike lighting system designed to make post-dark pedaling less potentially treacherous—Barnes immediately spotted the brilliance in the inventor’s product. So Barnes eventually bought Hokey Spokes from Barnes, and after some impressive sales both here and abroad (each light sells for $29.99), Barnes is unveiling Hokey Spokes right here at Toy Fair 2010. That makes Barnes a bona fide TF newbie—which gave me enough of a reason to swing by his booth to chitchat about how his award-winning product is saving lives.

Michelle Burford: So tell me, Richard—what’s so great about Hokey Spokes?

Richard Barnes: Hokey Spokes was conceived and built as a bicycle safety light---to provide protection to the rider from the right and the left. It has 16 LED lights, and it is pre-programmed to display changing graphic patterns every 10 seconds. We manufactured the first bunch of Hokey Spokes in 2001. The product relies on the persistence of vision: It has a strobe-light effect.

MB: What prompted the idea for the product?

RB: Dave Hock, an MIT graduate and a very bright may, originally came up with the idea. He’s an avid cyclist, and he was aware of the safety issues that come up when you ride at night.

MB: What size wheel does Hokey Spokes fit on?

RB: The wheels must be at least 24-inch wheels or larger.

MB: What is your bestselling light color?

RB: They come in seven colors, and 35 percent of our sales are for the rainbow lights. We think that’s because people can’t make up their minds about which color to choose! You can use school colors. We sell a lot of red, white, and blues to military bases.

MB: Can Hokey Spokes be mounted on other products, aside from bikes?

RB: Yes—we also put them on wheelchairs. Again, it provides safety when someone is crossing the street. One woman put Hokey Spokes on the wheelchair of her 7-year-old son, and she told us that kids were coming up and talking to him! Hokey Spokes became a conversation starter: “Those are neat lights. Where’d you get them?” A lot of times, people in wheelchairs are invisible. Other don’t talk to them, they’re not at eye level. So Hokey Spokes brings them some attention.

MB: Have any lives actually been saved as a result of Hokey Spokes?

RB: One woman reported that she had a close encounter while she was biking: She was almost nailed by an SUV. She says that Hokey Spokes saved her from an accident.

MB: Has your product sold well?

RB: Yes—and 40 percent of our sales are overseas, with a heavy concentration in Europe. We have dealers on every continent now. We even recently got a call from the Togo Islands!

MB: Anything else interesting you can tell me about Hokey Spokes?

RB: It came in second place at the World Exhibit of Innovation Research and New Technologies in Brussels. The first place spot was claimed by a robot that disarmed bombs, so we thought second place was a pretty good finish!

MB: Hokey Spokes isn’t really a toy. So why are you exhibiting at the Toy Fair?

RB: Because the product is fun! Customers constantly report to us that when others spot them with Hokey Spokes, they stop them and ask, “What are those called and where do you get ‘em?” Cars will even stop and pull them over! So when we send out an order for Hokey Spokes, we also include our business cards for our customers to pass out. We’ve had several customers contact us and say, “I’ve run out! Send me more!” When my wife and I rode our bikes through a resort area in Missouri, some kids left a basketball court to chase us down the street. They were yelling, “Come back here! What are those! We want them!” All you have to do is put Hokey Spokes on your bike and ride down the road—you’ll start hearing comments from those passing on the sidewalk. It’s just a good, sound product.

For more information on Hokey Spokes, go to Booth 5154 or visit www.hokeyspokes.com

How Does a Hamster Get to Be So Hot?

2010-02-16T10:11:00.000-08:00

Long before Zhu Zhu pet hamsters swept the 2010 Toy of the Year (TOTY) awards last Saturday night, these interactive, battery-operated critters were scurrying off shelves at a dizzying pace. During the most recent holiday season, the Zhu Zhu craze hit such a zenith that some retailers had to actually limit the number of pets to one per family—and this happened during our nation’s worst economic downturn since the Great Depression.

Now, here’s the latest from the rapidly expanding Zhu-niverse: On Tuesday morning at Toy Fair 2010, Cepia President Russ Hornsby announced that his company will soon cause quite a stir among its followers with the new “Kung-Zhu” battle hamster series. And yet here’s what I’m curious about: How could it be that a hamster is apparently more desirable than, say, the throngs of chronically unhitched singles who’d do just about anything to ensnare the attention of a would-be sweetheart?

First of all, let me remind everyone that the hamster we’re all crooning about is fake—and, granted, though that means it doesn’t poop or stink, it should also mean that it ranks lower than a human being on the babe-o-meter. Second (and this is the part that really confounds me) we’ve somehow made a cultural cutie-pie out of a rodent that’s a first cousin to the rat—a disgustingly filthy creature that breeds on unfinished candy bars in the subway gutter. In a word, ick. Lastly, the nocturnal hamster can hold half its weight in food inside of its cheek pouches. That’s not exactly what I’d call attractive.

And yet even with all the hamster trash-talking I’ve indulged in lately, I can’t deny that I was fascinated the first time I actually held my very first Zhu Zhu pet. How can anyone resist a toy that's cool enough to drive around in its own little car, swoosh up ramps, and gallop on its hamster wheel? And then there are the grin-inducing sounds it delivers—from the toilet-flushing to the tooth-brushing. For a paltry eight bucks, that ain’t bad entertainment on a lonely Friday night. Maybe our world’s not-quite-hot singles can actually learn something from their little Zhu Zhu counterparts: To garner any real sustained attention, you’ve gotta shake your backside and boogie.

Toys for Tots: Top Picks for the Pint-Sized Set

2010-02-16T08:38:00.000-08:00

I call them ‘the mobile years’—that passageway when that utterly dependent bundle of poop you schlepped home with from the hospital suddenly sprouts into a roaming, grunting, recalcitrant toddler who has an insatiable curiosity, plus the legs and willpower to go with it. During this stage, developmental psychologist believe that tots—and by that, I mean 1- to 3-year-olds—develop insolent behavior (as in belting out “No!” at your every command, and then conveniently sprawling their bodies into a grocery store aisle) and the ability to imitate others’ behavior and speech (which any mom who has whispered an obscenity has uncomfortably discovered when her 2-year-old later puts that very word on loudspeaker).

Buck up, parents: This is no time to back away from one of the biggest tests of child rearing. In fact, I’m sending you into battle with a few toy reinforcements that will tame and entertain—or, at the very least, distract—that preschooler’s brain. Like the vibrantly multi-colored Build ‘n’ Discover Stacker from MegaBloks (www.megabloks.com). With this playset, toddlers can experiment with balance and gravity as they build (and probably later topple) 11 blocks on a special rocking container. It’s a great choice for keeping your little one’s hands busy just long enough for you to squeeze in a tea break.

Might your little one prefer baby dolls to blocks? Then introduce her to Fancy Nancy (Jakks Pacific, www.jakkspacific.com), the doll first conceived as a children’s book character: Fancy Nancy by Jakks Pacific. Her cute-ola accessories—necklace, ballet slippers, and hair ribbons—are enough to capture (and, much to a mother’s delight, keep) the attention of a 3-year old. Not bad for a cuddly, 18-inch doll that your girl will enjoy dressing and undressing for hours on end.

I’ve never quite understood children’s obsession with treehouses—but when it comes to keeping kids engaged why question what clearly works? Long before your toddler is enough of a big boy to build his real-life treehouse, he can get his fix by building a Calafant Cardboard Treehouse (www.calafantusa.com). Not only is it a snap to put together (even for a 3-year-old), but your child can dream up the best color scheme and decorate the treehouse with watercolor. While the latter will likely require some supervision from you, the final result is a product that can sit proudly on your child’s dresser top for passersby to gawk at and admire.

In addition to this hodgepodge of toys designed to restore caretakers’ emotional equilibrium, I leave you with a wise word from the late American comedian and television host Sam Levinson: “Insanity is hereditary: You can get it from your children.” If you’ve recently joined the ranks of unsuspecting inheritors, may this list of playthings be your first step back toward lucidity.

Playing Well While Giving Back: Toys That Teach Children to Do Some Good

2010-02-15T14:10:00.000-08:00

If raising just about any child in today’s materially-focused, celeb-geeked world is a Herculean challenge, then it may seem downright impossible to rear a kid who actually gives a rip—about his or her family, about the community, and about the world around us all. That’s why, when I ran across a handful of toy companies that are encouraging our kids to care, I wanted to grant them a little press.

Take, for example, Disney’s Club Penguin (www.clubpenguin.com)—the plush-toy company that encourages kids to donate the time and coins they earn playing in the virtual world to make a difference in the real world (more than 2.9 million players have donated 4 billion coins). Kids choose their favorite cause, then they get to direct how a $1 million cash donation is divided among projects and organizations that are serving our world.

Think that’s cool? Then give this a gander: Uberstix (www.uberstix.com), which is a construction toy engineered from recycled materials such as straws, papers clips, and water bottles, donates 5 percent of its profits to underprivileged schools within the United States. The company provides these kids educational programs that teach physics and technology—so when your kids plunk down their cash to buy this product, they can feel great about the difference they’re making in their neighbors’ lives.

And this year at Toy Fair, the company with a marvelous reputation for generosity returns: Karito Kids (by KidsGive at www.kidsgive.com) continues to teach children about charity through its six signature dolls and books, which represent different cultures from around the globe. Whether you pick up Lulu from Nairobi, Kenya, Piper from Sydney, Australia, Wan Ling from Shanghai China, or Piper from New York City—you’ll be making a charitable contribution to a child with your purchase.

To round out this list of do-gooders, I’ll give the final spot to the Drip Drops (www.thedripdrops.com), a company dedicated to helping children explore the world of color with the help of an adorable set of characters first featured in a children’s book series. President and CEO Tony Lawlor created the Drip Drops, then decided to dedicate part of his company’s earnings to the children of Grossman Burn Center. It’s a cause close to Lawlor’s heart: Lawlor is himself a burn survivor who once had to cope with the financial, medical and emotional traumas that a burn injury brings on. So even if moms, dads, and kids dig the color-saturated Drip Drops purely for their entertainment value—and the little critters certainly are addictively lovable—they can rest assured that their money has been put to good use. And that kind of generosity, we all hope, will inspire children to pay it forward for many decades to come.

Conversation With an Olympic Champion: Two-Time Gold Medalist Gigi Fernandez Takes a Swing at the Toy Biz

2010-02-15T12:54:00.000-08:00

When international tennis legend Gigi Fernandez was contemplating ways to introduce her twin babies to sports, she stumbled across an idea: Why not substitute her children’s passive TV time with a DVD that would encourage them to be active over a lifetime? The result of her brainstorm is Baby Goes Pro, an animated series she co-founded and unveiled at Toy Fair 2010 (available at www.BabyGoesPro.com for $14.95). I dropped by booth 3234 for a quick chat with Gigi, who is the only Puerto Rican to ever win a gold medal and claimed 17 Grand Slam titles (she was first introduced to tennis when her parents gave her tennis lessons as a gift for her seventh birthday). Gigi told me all about her new product, her experience as an Olympian and a mom, and why she decided to do her part to fight our nation’s childhood obesity crisis. In fact, Baby Goes Pro is battling the bulge on two fronts: Ten percent of Baby Goes Pro profits have already been earmarked for donation to charitable organizations that promote active lifestyles for youth.

Michelle Burford: What exactly is Baby Goes Pro and how did you become involved?

Gigi Fernandez: I’m the co-founder of Baby Goes Pro, which introduces young children to sports. I’m a two-Olympic gold medalist in tennis—1992 in Barcelona and 1996 in Atlanta. I now have 10-month old twins (a girl and a boy, Madison and Karson), and when they started watching videos, I thought it was good because it gave me 25 minutes of peace and quiet! But I wanted them to watch something that would help them somehow—a product that would introduce them to sports—and there was nothing in the market, so we produced it. In our DVD series, we have an animated character, a coach named EMKEI—which stands for equipment, movement, know-how, externals, and instruction. Those are the building blocks of sports. The DVD introduces children to five sports: baseball, basketball, tennis, golf, and soccer.

MB: Are you hoping to steer your children toward a professional career in tennis?

GF: If they wanted to play tennis, I would encourage them—but I don’t necessarily want my kids to be tennis stars or pros. I just want them to follow whatever their calling is. And I want them to be active. The slogan of our company is “Inspiring a generation to move.” In this country, we have a childhood obesity problem, which First Lady Michelle Obama has been talking about. There’s too much inactivity in this country. We’re trying to do our part to change that by introducing young kids to sports, so that when they grow up, they’ll want to continue in sports. In our DVD, the monkey’s cool, it’s very colorful, and there are sing-a-along songs.

MB: How have your twins responded to the DVD?

GF: My kids love it! The boy is fixated on it—he will watch for 25 minutes without moving his eyes. The girl watches it, but she comes back to it when the monkey, EMKEI, comes back every 20 seconds to do a high-five or spin around! She loves the animated parts. My neighbor, who is 2, watched it for a couple days, and when she played soccer, she received the boll and stopped it just like the girl in the DVD! And she’s just 2! In making the DVD. We consulted a sports psychologist and a developmental psychologist, and they both said that when kids are little, they have an accelerated rate of learning. Kids are sponges! Philosophically, as a parent, you have to decide whether you’re going to let your kids watch TV. But it’s 2010, and my 10-month-old kids already like my iPhone! It’s a different world, so I figure that if I’m going to show them something on TV, I might as well let them watch something that’s instructional and educational.

MB: Let’s talk about your tennis career for a sec. When you were an up-and-coming tennis player, which tennis greats did you admire?

GF: Martina Navratilova was the number one in the world when I was a girl! I wanted to be like Martina back then.

MB: You officially retired from tennis in 1997. Looking back over a career marked by so many highlights, what was your greatest moment?

GF: Winning the two Olympic gold medals. When I won the first one, it was an unbelievable feeling! You’ve probably heard people say that it’s not about winning the gold medals, but it’s about participating in the Olympics. That’s actually true. Even though winning the gold medal was amazing, just walking into the Olympic stadium was the thrill of a lifetime. With the Olympics going on this week, it brings back so memories for me.

It was particularly thrilling to be in Atlanta in 1996, because we were playing at home here in the U.S. While we were in the tunnel waiting to go into the arena, the whole U.S.A delegation started chanting “U.S.A.! U.S.A! U.S.A.!” The tunnel was reverberating! I still get goose bumps when I think about it. I’ll never forget that feeling.

Move Your Butt: Toys That Whittle the Waistline

2010-02-15T09:01:00.000-08:00

If Michelle Obama is a tad worried, that’s enough to nab my full attention: On February 10, 2010, the First Lady launched the “Let’s Move!” campaign to fight an obesity epidemic that is jeopardizing our children’s health. Our kids come by their fat honestly—two thirds of American adults are overweight or obese, and one third of our children fit into those categories. If Moms everywhere are wolfing down chips, donuts, and soda—and I can attest to the kind of continuous stress that breeds such bingeing—why are we surprised when our little ones follow our lead? And aside from choosing differently with our forks, how can we put our children back on the path to good health?

Enter the 2010 Toy Fair—the spot where dozens of fat-fighting, figure-friendly playthings can be discovered with just a dash through the aisleways. Starting with Hide and Seek Safari Classic from R & R Games (www.rnrgames.com). Hide and Seek Safari Classic is a digital twist on the “hotter, colder” game many of us once played; the Seeker wand lights up to show your children just how close they are to the stuffed tiger—and once they’re within five feet of the tiger, the Seeker beeps.

Want to tempt your tyke to burn off a few of those cheeseburgers? Make exercise fun with the Toy Story 3 Space Shooter Game from Hasbro (www.hasbro.com). Your kids will need to stay in constant motion as they target enemy toys with the Space Ranger foam disc blaster, collect tokens, and ultimately bring their toys to safety—all while moving their buns.

If you’re going for the ultimate calorie burn, your kid shouldn’t miss the Wild Planet’s Hyper Dash EXTREME! (www.wildplanet.com). The electronic game requires that players race against time using target and a handheld unit. Set up targets on a tale or around a living room or backyard. Children zip around their makeshift racecourse (and this is the fat-slashing part) to tag their targets with the handheld unit.

One of my all-favorite offerings comes from Diggin Active, a toy company that promotes a let’s-get-moving lifestyle with its products. Squap is a throwing toy in which players use a mitt to launch and catch a ball as quickly as possible—all the while exercising their arms and legs. Another toy that’ll whip your kids into shape is Swinxs, a Toy of the Year (TOTY) nominated product. Using microchip wristbands, kids stay connected to the screen-free electronic console, which interacts with them through speech and sound; the games can be downloaded (for free!) from the site (www.swinxs.com).

As part of Michelle Obama’s obesity campaign, children will be encouraged to get moving for at least an hour a day. Here’s how moms and dads can play their part in that cause: We can make the would-be chore that we call exercise feel as much like child’s play as it did back when we were kids.

Girls Will Be Girls: Ode to the Shamelessly Frilly and Pink

2010-02-15T07:22:00.000-08:00

I get it: In our quest for gender egalitarianism, we feel compelled to steer our daughters toward both baby dolls and toy trucks, tiaras and superhero capes. Yet the lion’s share of moms can tell you that, try as we might to socialize our girls to be open to traditional boy toys, the average 7-year-old girl often still opts for all things frilly and pink: She wants to dress up as a princess. She wants to wear glittery lip gloss. She longs to be a ballerina. In essence, she wants to become the consummate girly girl—one rainbow, pony, and tulle skirt at a time.

With apologies to all parents of tomboys (I can already hear you protesting!), I combed the floor of Toy Fair 2010 to find the playthings made to delight the quintessential princesses among us. First, I stopped in to see Puppet Workshop (www.puppetworkshop.com), a dress-up and costume company. Girls will go gaga over the lime-green Tinkerbell Dress and Wings, the Glittered Princess Dress with Hat and Wand (surprise, surprise—it’s pink and lavender), and the Ballerina Kit (complete with a tutu band, a silver tiara, a sequined star, and pink wings).

Next, I skedaddled over to Awish Come True (www.awishcometrue.com). Their Little Ladies takes make-believe to a new level with their featured dress-up items—as in the Rainbow Blossom Leotard (comes with a tutu and a tiara, of course!), the Tahitian Flower dress (in either turquoise or fuchsia), and the Violet Princess dress (which comes with matching sandals accessorized with purple tulle).

When it comes to fulfilling girls’ dress-up fantasies, I’ve saved my favorite choice (because of the vastness of its selection) for last: Creative Education of Canada (www.creative-edu.com) offers a Great Pretenders line of dresses, gowns, and tunics. Your daughter’s daydreaming will take flight as she imagines herself as royalty in the Queen Gown, made of non-itchy roached satin and decorated with silver jewels. There’s even a Juliette Dress and Medieval Gown if you’re girl happens to like time travel. And while you’re on the company’s website, you’ll also find a plethora of capes, knight outfits, and faux swords—playthings to keep your boys occupied while your girls slip on their fairy dresses, sip tea, trade secrets, and giggle their way into the afternoon.

Playing for Pennies: The Top Five Recession-Proof Picks from the Toy of the Year Winners

2010-02-14T13:12:00.000-08:00

Last night, throngs of toy industry insiders gathered for the tenth annual TOTY (Toy of the Year) Awards—the Oscars of the toy world. The gala, which is hosted by the Toy Industry Association (TIA), recognizes the best in toys—but some of these award-nabbing playthings aren’t exactly wallet-friendly in these lean economic times. That’s exactly why I’m making this separate list for all of us budget-conscience toy lovers who are practically gripping onto our last few bucks. As such, these are my top five choices in TOTY-winning toys that’ll nonetheless spare your checking account from overdraft charges:

#1: Zhu Zhu Pets by Cepia—I’m not just choosing this product because it swept the TOTY Awards as overall Toy of the Year, Girl Toy of the Year, and Innovative Toy of the Year. Aside from these accolades, the faux hamster also happens to be pretty cool: Once you pet the hamster’s back and set it down, it the scurries around from room to room, uttering one of more than 40 sound effects. And here’s the best part: Zhu Zhu pets never poop, stink, or die. And with a retail price of $10, even us tightwads have to admit that Zhu Zhu won’t gnaw holes through our wallets.

#2: Sort It Out! By University Games—The miser’s dream has come true with this bargain basement-priced Game of the Year selection. Sort It Out! began in Australia, then swept across the globe as party planners discovered what a fantastic ice-breaker they had on their hands. Two to four plays sort out (hence the name) challenges such as whether a cat’s brain weighs more than an elephant’s or kangaroo’s brain. Family and friends guffaw along the way—all for the low retail price of $18.99.

#3: Crayola Beginnings Color Me a Song—The notoriously affordable Crayola is back with another fab product for cheapskate parents: This product grabbed top honors in the Infant Toy of the Year category. Not only does the product develop children’s fine motor skills, but it allows toddlers to create original music with their scribbles. The faster the child scribbles, the faster the corresponding tune becomes. Yet as downright marvelous as that sounds, the real music to our ears is this: Even the Scroogiest spendthrift may be able to part with the mere $19.99 that this product costs. PS: Another Crayola product, Crayon Town by Wild Planet Entertainment, claimed TOTY’s Activity Toy of the Year. With a clearance-level price of $15.99, it’s affordable enough to garner high honors on our list.

#4: Bakugan by Cartoon Network—As TOTY’s Property of the Year winner, Bakugan Battle Brawlers have boys (and tomboys) everywhere taking part in the action-figure craze. Bakugan is a two-player strategy game (based on the Cartoon Network’s television series) involves warriors (aka Battle Brawlers)that are tucked into spheres but then pop open they’re rolled onto a Gate card. Moms and pops come out as the real battle victors when they reach the cash register: the figurines are sold for as little as $2.

#5: Bilibo by Active People shares its top spot for Preschool Toy of the Year with the slightly more pricey Tonka Chuck & Friends’ Talking Truck (34.99). While both are fairly pocketbook-friendly, I’ve gotta hand the top prize to Bilibo, which jump-starts children’s imagination. Kids are encouraged to use pieces to create their own playthings: spinning tops, boats, tiddlywinks, and sand shovels, to name a few. It also features a rock-bottom price: $19.99.

For the full list of 2010 TOTY winners, swing by this web address:

http://www.toyassociation.org/AM/Template.cfm?Section=Home&TEMPLATE=/CM/ContentDisplay.cfm&SECTION=Home&CONTENTID=12185)

What a Difference a Decade Makes: Dora the Explorer Turns 10

2010-02-14T11:40:00.000-08:00

Oh, to be 10 again—with one big toe resting squarely in childhood and all of its ignorant bliss, and the other big toe inching toward adolescent and adult realities. At Toy Fair 2010, Dora the Explorer—Nickelodeon’s courageous cartoon character who first marched her way into children’s hearts in 2000—celebrates that middle passage. That’s right: Dora Marquez, the young Latina girl who sets out on a spankin’ new adventure in each episode, all while teaching her followers a little Spanish along the way, has officially hit the tween years. And Fisher Price is marking their gutsy girl’s birthday with the release of her namesake doll—We Did It! Dora. Kids can boogie along with Dora as she jams to the beat of her signature song, “We did it!” The doll includes four modes of play: Teach-Me (where Dora guides kids the “We Did It!” Dance); the “We Did It!” Dance; Freeze Dance; and the Say It Two Ways bilingual dance game.

After dancing the night away, Dora even has a casa to return to: the Dora All Seasons Dollhouse comes complete with magic windows that show fall, winter, spring, and summer. On a summer day, for instance, sun streams through the windows and birds chirp. And here’s the cool part that makes the dollhouse quintessentially Dora: Girls can press the speech button to hear phrases (in both English and Spanish) that correspond to the different seasons and times of day. And as it turns out, Dora is sharing her big birthday with a bevy of do-gooding girlfriends: Dora’s Explorer Girls Rock for Change Fashion Dolls have linked arms to organize Puerto Verde’s Music Arts Festival to benefit the coral reefs—or so the storyline goes. Each Explorer Girl—Dora, Kata, Alana, Emma, and Naiya—comes with a charm and a code that girls can share with their friends. When the code is entered online, girls can personalize their profile page, chat with their gal pals, and exchange virtual gifts.

When it comes to anniversary parties, Dora has plenty of company this year: Disney Princesses Aladdin and Jasmine have also sashayed across the decade marker; the 1980s icon Rainbow Brite has been delighting girls for 25 years; and Strawberry Shortcake—the doll I snuggled up to every night when I was just a girl—has been serving up her sweetness for 30 years. And if you’re feeling even half as elderly as I’m feeling right now (especially when you realize that Empire Strikes Back turns 30 this year), let's not even get started on board-game birthdays: Clue is 60 years old; Monopoly is 75; and Bingo—much like the grandmotherly zealots who wouldn't dare miss a round of the game in their senior citizen centers—is 105 years old. Suddenly, at a mere 10 years old, Dora seems like such a babe.

Virtually Anywhere: Using Toys to Stay Connected

2010-02-14T08:29:00.000-08:00

Though I once shot an Evilina glare at anyone who dared to substitute a Tweet or a Blackberry message for some old-fashioned face time, I confess: I’ve reluctantly joined the ranks of addicts who crave 24-7 connectivity. Our children, however, will never have to make such a transition: They were born into a world that prefers to beep in touch. Rather than loathing the drawbacks of their Facebook existence or yearning for the cyber-free days of yore, we might as well use their social media fixation to turn them into better human beings—or, if that’s a tad grandiose, at least to entertain them.

That’s exactly what Mattel’s forthcoming Puppy Tweets will do for your kid—and, in this case, for the zillions of dog-loving adults. In Fall 2010, the high-tech toy will allow your favorite canine companion to publicize its everyday activities on Twitter. Just attach a sound and motion sensor to Rover’s collar and connect its USB receiver to your computer, and woila, your pet can keep you updated on his latest roamings with pre-recorded Tweets such as “I’ve finally caught that tail I’ve been chasing and…OOUUUCH!” If you and your kid are poochless—or simply perturbed at the idea that some people adore their pets just a hair too much—instead check out the iCarly Chat ’n’ Play Set from Playmates Toys. With this electronic set, fans of the iCarly TV series can stay connected to the cast of iCarly via 4.5” collectible figures that activate the sounds of the play set via sensor recognition. The figures actually speak out 150 sound bytes from the show, bringing the small screen to life—and keeping your girl endlessly fascinated. If your kids’ eyes glaze over at the mention of chattering figurines, sign ’em up for Nanovor Online Battle Game (http://www.nanovor.com/), from Smith & Tinker. In this digital monster battle game, children can create teams, battle and trade with their cyber-friends, and collect over 100 Nanovor—all while using the (free!) downloadable application (PS: There’s green goo involved). Then finally, the mighty Crayola takes its place in the cyber craze with Lights, Camera, Color. Inside specially marked boxes of Crayola Crayons, your kid will snoop out a code that gives him or her instant access to Crayola’s site. From there, choose any photo on your computer, and in a snap, the site will strip that photo of its color. Throw in some decoration and a few captions, and just like that, you’ve got a customized page in your own coloring book. You’ve also got yourself one web-savvy kid—like it, love it, loathe it or not.

Aerobics for the Brain: Toys That Exercise Your Child’s Imagination

2010-02-14T07:24:00.000-08:00

All the recent chatter about America’s childhood obesity pandemic has shifted our gaze away from another potential sloth: Our children’s brainpower may be seeping away as they passively take in oodles of media. Without consistent, vigorous exercise, the brain indeed atrophies as quickly as your waist measurement seems to climb once you hit 30.

If you want to kick-start you kids’ imagination, you’ve come to the right place. This August, keep one eyeball peeled for My Take Along Theater from Playmobil. Using figures and variable scenes, children can dream up an endless number of storylines that ignite their creativity for hours. The set even comes with a touch of theatrical authenticity—a sound box of pre-recorded music, sounds, and children’s laughter. Bonus: Moms will love that the self-enclosed carry box stashes away all of the figurines and makes portability a snap. If stagecraft isn’t quite your cup of tea, then swing by for a visit with the crown prince of creativity—Crayola. From the Spira-Chalk Blaster (which lets kids create eye-popping spiral designs using sidewalk chalk) to the 3-D Disney Fairies (which lets kids draw and color characters like Tinkerbell), Crayola has mastered the art of all things imaginative. They even offer a Sidewalk Chalk Maker where children can whip up their own customized hues using six jars of colored chalk powder. When it comes to bolstering your child’s fine motor skills—as it turns out, our children’s dexterity development is just as exercise-starved as their brains are—few products trump Perplexus (PlaSmart), a maze game in which players must maneuver a marble around challenging barriers inside a transparent sphere. To add some fitness training to your children’s mystery-solving and navigational skills, introduce them to Treasure of the Lost Pyramid (Basic Concepts), a 3-D pop-up game during which teammates compete to discover what’s hidden in each of the four Pharaoh’s Tombs. Then at Toy Fair 2010, Hasbro unveils its brain-titillating Scrabble Flash Cubes—for a twist on the classic game, players can slide, move, and shuffle electronic cubed letter tiles in a race to create new words in 60 seconds flat. And not list of brain-teasing toys would be complete with a mention of Creationary—a LEGO game in which each player can builds an object while playmates guess what he or she is creating. Not only does this game stretch your memory to the max, but it brings together family and friends for at least 30 minutes of bonding.

Fit or fat? When it comes to keeping those neurotransmitters popping in your child’s brain, what goes for the gluteus maximus also holds true for the cerebellum: You either move it or you lose it.

Toys for a Fantastic Cause

2009-02-18T17:09:00.000-08:00

Every year, 300,000 American children must be rescued from perilous home environments—abuse, neglect, violence, trauma. When those children enter foster care, they often show up with little more than the clothes on their backs. Can you imagine how it feels to suddenly leave behind everything familiar without even your favorite blankie or even your toothbrush?

That’s exactly why the Toy Industry Foundation (TIF) and My Stuff Bags Foundation have teamed up to give distressed children a little comfort in the form of a blue duffel: a bag filled with toiletries, handmade blankets, clothing, and of course, a cuddly toy to ease the shock of the transition.

At this year’s fair, dozens of toy exhibitors are getting behind this cause by donating their toy floor samples—everything from Elmo and Barbie dolls to children’s books. “The children are extremely excited when they receive the bags,” says TIA Foundation Manger Amanda McDorman, who took part in last year’s distribution of toys to elementary school children. “Some of them just scream in shock, joy, and disbelief. The bag is a message that someone cares about them—and that’s exactly what a child needs to feel when he or she is in crisis.”

Look out for some fluorescent on the floor today: K.I.D.S. (Kids in Distressed Situations, Inc) volunteers, dressed in a blinding-orange T-shirt, will wander around the Jacob Javits Center booths, collecting the toys to be donated. Throughout 2009, the toys will be handed out to children of all ages, from infants to 18-year-olds; the duffel bags are gender- and age-appropriate. This May during National Foster Care month, My Stuff Bags Foundation and TIF will organize a special toy distribution.

And here’s the best part: You don’t have to be a Toy Fair participant to make a mega-difference in the life of a distraught kid. First of all, you can send some moula via the website mystuffbags.org (and yes, it’s tax-deductible). But even if you’re running a bit short on cash—and who isn’t these days?—you can donate new, non-edible, non-violent, and non-denominational items to My Stuff Bags. What kinds of things do people send? You name it—from crayons, books, and school supplies, to hand-held games, crafts and small photo albums.

Bonus if you happen to live or are planning to visit sunny Southern California, the volunteer center at My Stuff Bags could certainly use your help in stuffing the bags. Call 866-3MY-STUFF or visit www.mystuffbags.org for more information.

The Family That Plays Together: Games and Toys That Reconnect Us

2009-02-18T15:43:00.000-08:00

There was a time when mom, pop, and the kiddos could spend eons gathered ’round a Monopoly board on a weekend night. That was then. In an age where most of us have more face time with our Blackberries than we do with our children, squeezing in even 4.2 minutes of eyeball-to-eyeball fun has become a Herculean feat.

Enter this year’s crop of toys—from the everyone-plays variety to the newest generation of board games—that are designed to bring families closer. When dad and former exec David Schoenberger wanted to re-connect with his kids, he invented a game entitled Family Matters ($24.99, for 2 to 6 players, ages 7 and up). “Families work harder than ever before and enjoy less quality time together,” Schoenberger says. “The familiarity past generations took for granted is now a distant dream with everyone so busy, distracted, and exhausted.”

Schoenberger’s 45-minute game uses a set of 120 cards to explore real-life situation and so-called “fake family crises”—for instance, each player pretends to be another person in the family while discussing, say, how the family has changed since a sick grandparent moved in to live. Another aspect of the game invo lves a “weekend wish,” in which players describe the activity they’d most like to do with the family. The included playbook allows parents to record their children’s weekend wishes and later use the ideas as fodder for planning a real-life outing.

This July, look out for a family-friendly update to the classic Lego collection: With the Builders of Tomorrow Set ($29.99, ages 4 and up), parents and kids receive a versatile collection of bricks—then, courtesy of a linked Website offering free step-by-step building instructions each month—they can continuously switch up their creations as a team. The site also features family stories, building challenges and contests, and a photo gallery for sharing creations.

If you want to shore up your children’s critical reasoning skills (sneakily, by all means ...), pick up the visual perception game that has toy critics and schoolteachers buzzing: Set ($12). Using 81 cards, players race to find three cards (out of 12) that form a set, based on color, shape, and shading. Once family game night is over, tweens and teens can continue the fun: The techie version of Set ($29.95) is a travel-worthy handheld that contains four levels of difficulty on a full-color LCD display screen.

Feeling a tad over the hill with all this high-tech business? Get back to the basics with a few recently-updated USAopoly (usaopoloy.com) ga mes that give a head nod to us old-school gamers. Check out Trivial Pursuit: The Beatles Collectors’ Edition ($39.95, available August 2009); for the first time, Beatles aficionados can test their knowledge of the band with 2,500 questions on topic such as history, music, and travels. Seinfeld junkies can get a fix with Monopoly Seinfeld Collectors’ Edition ($35.95, available in August 2009). The game features the characters of Jerry, Kramer, George and Elaine, and the game board includes locations that the sitcom’s fans will recognize: Jerry’s Apartment, Monk’s Restaurant, and the Soup Kitchen.

Finally, there’s my personal fave for LOL group fun: Telestrations, which does double duty as either a family or party game. Telestrations ($29.95, available in September 2009) keeps players guessing as they sketch a word they’re given and pass it along. Expect spontaneous giggling as players do their best to guess at others’ sketches. Look out, Pictionary: Telestrations has a real shot at becoming 2009’s party pick. Brownie points for the game’s creators: Since you can play as few or as many rounds of this game as you’d like, you can squeeze in a family laugh-fest in as little 15 minutes.

Tailoring Sans the Sewing Machine: A New Way for Girls to Play Dress-Up

2009-02-18T10:00:00.000-08:00

For all the muttering in recent years about offering children gender-neutral toys, let’s face it: Most girls still like playing dress-up as much as most boys like playing with toys that go crash, boom, or ka-bang. In 2008 when seamstress Kari Kawa wanted to give her then-5-year-old daughter the same hours of unlimited creativity that a LEGO set provides her 7-year-old son, she got an idea: Why not offer children the opportunity to design personalized get-ups, starting with a pink-and-white polka dot dress form and dozens of vibrantly-colored swaths of fabric?

One year and several spools of thread later, Kari’s lightbulb moment has become one of the hottest new trends in girls’ dress-up. Through her company, Style Paige LLC, Kari created Shailie—an award-winning design kit that comes with mix-and-match sleeves, skirts, tops, sashes, and trims that can be attached to a dress form with Velcro fasteners, then worn around the house during playtime. You could call it a Project Runway for kids: Without needing a sewing machine or patterns (hold the applause, moms), your daughter can experiment with a DIY fashion line.

At the 2009 Toy Fair, Kari and her team turned their booth’s aisleway into a catwalk (by the way, you can swing by anytime and see them at booth 6323). On February 17, Kari invited two students from New York’s FIT (Fashion Institute of Technology) to participate in a designer face-off. After gathering passers-by judged the final designs (onlookers voted by clapping most loudly for the designs they loved best), Kari ended the contest by squeezing into the winning designs and strutting down the makeshift runway to show off the creations.

Got a girl who’s a bit, um, chubby? With childhood obesity on the rise in this country, you’ve got gobs of company. Though Shailee is designed for average-sized girls between the ages of 5 and 13 (the dress form is actually based on an 8-year-old’s frame), fear not: The set’s expandable skirt, for instance, can fit a girl with a waist of up to 45 inches—oh, the wonders of Velcro. And even if your girl can’t manage to squeeze her booty into one of her own designs, Kari says that many Shailie lovers—particularly tweens, teens, and yes, even some women—simply enjoy testing out new looks on the dress form; some buy their own fabric to expand their wardrobe options. Oh, and one more thing: You can order in two sizes—Little Miss (ages 5-7) or Miss (ages 8 and up). The dresses in the Miss set are longer.

Nickel pinchers, brace yourselves: The Shailee starter kit retails for $255 (the set includes a dress form, a base outfit, a few skirts and a sash, and a sparkly top); additional clothing kits run betwee n $30 and $120. The owner, Kari, is showing mercy to our pocketbooks with a special offer she concocted right here at Toy Fair 2009: Cash-strapped parents can buy just the dress form for $150; or the base outfits can be purchased for $89. You might consider this a kind of layaway plan: first comes the form, then comes the fabric—and finally comes the chance for your kid to engage in a kazillion hours of creative fun.

Imagination Makes a Comeback: Toys That Encourage Creativity

2009-02-17T16:55:00.000-08:00

Once upon a time, you could hand an 8-year-old just about any ordinary object—a bottle, an old shirt, a spool of yarn—and in about six minutes flat, that child could create a makeshift toy amid an entire make-believe world. This year’s fair ushers in a renaissance of creativity-inspiring toys—playthings that awaken children’s sense of originality, innovation, and curiosity.

Take Faber-Castell’s Creativity for Kids line. The company has introduced several new DIY kits—starting with Tiki Girl Jewelry ($18.50), a set that includes wooden and coconut beads for designing bracelets and necklaces. Then to store their new wares, children can design their own Mosaic Jewelry Box ($19.99, also from Faber-Castell) using more than 300 vibrantly-colored acrylic tiles and glitter grout to decorate a plain white jewelry box, and then transform it into a sparkling masterpiece. And if you’re into things that sparkle, Crayola is the can’t-miss, no-mess destination for all things glittery and colorful. In fact, Crayola’s Color Wonder Magic Brush took home a Toy of the Year award as the best activity toy.

While we’re on the topic of girls’ play, skedaddle over to the KidKraft website to have a look at the tri-level, solidly-constructed Georgia Peach Dollhouse which includes 13 pieces of masterfully-designed furniture and can accommodate dolls that are up to 11.5 inches tall (Photo: Bonnie Biess, AOL). At $145, it’s certainly pricey—but before you ban it from your shopping list, consider that it could provide your little one with years of exactly the kind of playtime that engages the brain’s imagination center. One more thing: The wooden exterior makes this dollhouse oh-so retro—which means you just might have to resist the temptation to elbow your daughter out of the way so that you can play, too.

Got an American Idol junkie on your hands? Steer the child toward Acting Out Musical Dress-Up, which has won 14 national toy awards. Every outfit—from the hula skirt to the petticoat ($44)—comes with a musical device hidden in its front pocket. Songs include the Hokey Pokey, You Are MY Sunshine, and even Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker. Two intrepid mompreneurs from New Jersey began the company five years ago, after watching their daughters dress up as princesses and dance around the house. That observation was followed by their ah-ha to just add music. PS: Boys can get in on the fun, too, with the Reversible Musical Adventure Cape ($32), which features a pirate design.

Jewelry, dollhouses, even outfits that sing—what more could a kid want? Perhaps more pals, play dates, and ice cream than they could ever dream up.

Envelope, Please: Hottest Pocketbook-Friendly Toy Picks

2009-02-16T17:21:00.000-08:00

At February 15th’s Toy of the Year (TOTY) awards—the Oscars of the toy world, held this year at Manhattan’s Chelsea Piers)—the Toy Industry Association (TIA) unveiled its top plaything picks.

Out of courtesy for your wallet—and because so many Americans are either already holding a pink slip or, let’s face it, desperately trying to avoid one—I’ve organized the list of TOTY winners to bring you the toys that rate best on our price index (Translation: You can simultaneously play Santa this year while keep some cash in your checking account).

Did I mention that a relatively steep price doesn’t necessarily mean you should altogether nix a toy from your shopping list? That’s because each toy should be evaluated in terms of its quality-price ratio (the cheapest toy might be poorly constructed, while a seemingly expensive toy could last for a decade and, hence, prove its worth). You should also consider what industry insiders call a toy’s “play value.” A toy with a high play value, for instance, can provide entertainment and educational stimulation during both the initial and subsequent play sessions—and it’ll likely keep your child engaged for years to come.

Here’s the list all of us tightwad toy lovers have been awaiting—from the least expensive TOTY winners, to the most (PS: Scour the net for the best possible price):

$7.95—Outdoor Toy of the Year. Crayola racked up a win for its 3D Sidewalk Chalk, with a price so reasonable that you can afford to be generous with your friends’ children. Kids create their own specialty designs with intense colors that come alive with the provided 3D glasses.

$14.95—Game of the Year. Bananagrams is the high-speed word game that requires no pencil, paper, or board. The price is as right as the amount it takes to play—as little as five minutes. Because the game is uber-portable, you can keep the kiddos busy while you’re waiting in restaurant lines or taking family road trips.

$17.99—Specialty Toy of the Year. Create Your Own Pop-Up Books, by Creativity for Kids/Faber-Castell USA. This DIY book-making kit includes enough stickers, markers, and story starter ideas to guide your child in his or her first self-publishing venture. The set comes with two hardcover pop-up books and simple-enough instructions for children to complete without a lot of hand-holding from mom and pop.

$24.99—Toy of the Year and Boy Toy of the Year—Spinmaster’s Bakugan Battle Brawlers Battle Pack Series 1 Spheres garnered the gold in these two categories for one very good reason:=) Boys around the world have answered the call to brawl with small spheres that magically morph into indomitable Bakugan warriors.

$29.99—Most Innovative Toy of the Year. The big winner at this year’s TOTY, Spinmaster claims a third victory for its Air Hogs Zero Gravity Micro. What’s not to love about a remote-control sports car that can move across the ground, up a wall, and even upside down on the ceiling?

$29.99—Activity Toy of the Year. Add a battery to Crayola’s Color Wonder Magic Light Brush and, ta-dah, the brush lights up as it magically recognizes the paint colors in the pots. The key word with this toy is mess-free: the paints appear to be clear (good news for your walls and sofa), and it’s only after you put the paints on the included Color Wonder paper that they come to life.

$45.99—Educational Toy of the Year. LeapFrog’s TAG Reading System might seem a bit steep—until you recall the lifelong residual returns on building your child’s vocabulary and teaching him or her to love reading. Bonus: The Tag library includes over 20 books and games featuring characters from TV, movies, and classic tales.

$69.99—Infant/Preschool Toy of the Year. Fisher-Price’s Elmo Live actually speaks as his mouth opens and closes, he waves his arms, he sits and stands, and he tells jokes and stories, and he even dances. If you can stand his constant chattering in the background, Elmo just might help you squeeze in a nap while your children play among themselves for at least a half-hour.

$99.99—Girl Toy of the Year. Playmobil’s Horse Farm is the perfect example of a toy with a high play value, which makes its price a tad easier to swallow. The farm’s realistic details—seen in everything from the ponies to the kittens—will encourage endless hours of imaginative play.

$149.00—Electronic Entertainment Toy of the Year. Hasbro’s FurReal Friends Biscuit My Lovin' Pup can actually take orders—the pooch recognizes six commands including “sit,” “speak,” and “lie down.” The dog even wags his tail and barks. The cost just might send die-hard spendthrifts into cardiac arrest. But what’s the value of finally getting to play the big boss? For some of us, that experience is priceless.

Barbie Turns 50—and Shares the Anniversary Spotlight

2009-02-16T10:02:00.000-08:00

Whatever secret contention I might have with Barbie—those perfectly-perky breasts, that itsy-bitsy waist, the Stepford-wife grin that makes feminist pioneers quiver—I’ve nonetheless gotta hand the woman her kudos. At 50, The first lady of Mattel is still hot. Really hot.

It’s hard to believe that five decades ago on March 9, 1959, the first Barbie prototype made its debut right here at the Toy Fair. And now, at a time when Barbie must certainly be headlong into perimenopause, the fashion icon’s creators spare no expense in celebrating Barbie’s big anniversary with the liberal use of a certain color—girl-power pink.

This fall when the Pink World Line hits store shelves, our daughters will likely begin hounding us to purchase the affordable $14.99 Barbie FAB Girl (in this iteration of herself, Barbie embodies a PDA-toting intern who transforms into a fashionista by evening, with a quick updo and a reverse-striped pencil skirt). And wouldn’t it be just so cruel to keep the leggy lady homeless? As scores of us are fighting to keep our real-life mortgages out of foreclosure, Barbie is apparently surviving the recession rather comfortably: Her new Dream Town House (you guessed it—it’s pink in every imaginable shade) is a hefty $149.

If you can forgive Barbie’s apparent disregard for real American women's figures—and with some therapy, I’ve let it go—you’ll discover just how well she encourages a gutsy-girl spirit among the children who play with her. Since Barbie sashayed into toy stores around the world, the Renaissance woman has had exactly 108 careers—as a surgeon, a TV chef, a presidential candidate, even a Sea World trainer. In Fall 2009, she’ll add two more jobs to her résumé via the Barbie I Can be series: newborn baby doctor and preschool teacher (both $23.99).

When it comes to anniversary galas, Barbie has plenty of company. USAopoly’s Simpson’s TV is celebrating its 20th; The Pink Panther, Sesame Street, and Nerf all made it over the hill to 40 this year; And the Smurfs, Candyland, and Little People join Barbie for the big 50. Finally, there’s one of my personal faves, Madame Alexander’s Madeline—the cloth doll who comes complete with a series of storybook adventures—is as adorable now as she was when she was introduced in 1939. Since 70 is apparently the new 40 for the unstoppable Boomer set, that means our dear Madeline has at least another seven decades to delight us.

Raising Kids Who Care: Toys That Titilate as Well as They Teach

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Teaching your kids to do what’s right—from recycling and collecting canned goods, to sitting up straight and saying please and thank you—used to mean encouraging your children to be, well, a tad too earnest. But this year’s crop of do-gooder toys can actually help you turn out more well-mannered, more eco-sensitive, and yes, even more culturally-conscious little Americans—without turning your children into total snores.

Take Curious George—that mischievous monkey (and by the way—how come that little punk never ages?) teaches tots how to become good neighbors in a new game called Super Helper (retail $12.99, I Can Do That! Games, icandothatgames.com). Players flip over three cards to discover who could use an extra hand at, say, the local firehouse or—hallelujah for moms—in the living room to tidy up. Designed for 3-to-8-year-olds, Super Helper’s ball bouncing, dice tumbling, coin flipping, and prize stickers make the game virtually boredom-proof—all while sneaky parents teach their children the value and fun of pitching in to assist others. PS: The player who does the most to help out also wins the most points and—you guessed it—the whole game.

Rather globe gallop than monkey around? Give your kids a passport to another world by nabbing one of the international, multi-ethnic Karito Kids dolls and its accompanying storybook (MSRP $99.99, karitokids.com). I know, I know: In these economically precarious times, the price tag seems a bit steep—but it’ll ease the pocketbook pain to know that girls are encouraged to donate a portion of the doll’s retail price to a global children’s charity. And the dolls get bonus points for cultural accuracy: The dolls’ facial features are ethnically correct. Even for kids who are missing the humanitarian-aid gene, having a new pal from abroad is cool enough all by itself—whether that friend is China’s Wan Ling (at last, a doll that proudly touts its made-in-China heritage . . . ), Gia from Italy, or Piper Whelan (the newest hottie from Down Under).

Speaking of Australia, meet Bonza the Kola—a furry friend who is on our world’s most endangered species list. Enter Conservation International, the company that teamed up with Tales 4 Tomorrow to combine animal conservation with fun activities for kids. When a child buys any one of 16 plush toys made of soy and cotton (retail $19.99), the child also receives a donation code that, woila, magically grants the kid access to the website (tales4tomorrow.com). Once on the site, kids can play games, watch videos, and send Tale Mail to friends, and—drumroll please–select one of the four Endangered Species Programs to which 5 percent of the proceeds of their sale will be donated. So kids get the privilege of choosing where their dollars might serve best—be it in saving Tanzania’s big-eyed tree frog from extinction, or curbing the trade of wild tiger parts.

Got kids who totally don’t give a rip? Direct them to a peer who just happens to be our planet’s youngest eco-czar—a 4-year-old whose dad asked her to draw her version of an environmentally-friendly family. Dad Shai Adiram turned his daughter Dylan’s design into a line of vibrantly-colored stuffed animals called The GreeNees ($20 each for any one of the five family members, thegreenees.com. The product ties in with a book that came first: Every Father Thinks He Can Write a Children’s Book. In the story, The GreeNees do plenty of kvetching as they take on the challenge of teaching others to be green. Mr. GreeNee—lead fighter in the war on global warning, if you even believe global warming exists, that is—guides the family in doing everything from growing organic to using solar power. Says founding father Shai Adiram: "Our goal is to empower our daughter to actually care about the planet we all share,”

With 2009’s spate of do-gooder toys, any parent—from animal lovers to even those, like me, who just adore a cute-ola doll or two—can pass along the habit of civic participation. And as it turns out, doing something good can mean having gobs of fun.

Up, Up and Away: Toys That Take Flight

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Who couldn’t use a bit of a lift during these white-knuckle inducing times? Scores of 2009 Toy Fair attendees discovered precisely such a boost at the World’s Largest Levitating Objects, an event organized by the toy wizards at Unitech (Booth 5921, daily showings at 11am and 2pm, unitechtoys.com). Using Unitech’s signature product—the FunFlyStick magic levitation wand ($26.95) that emits a static to raise Mylar tinsel high into the air—demonstrator Olga Ousherovitch wowed oglers by elevating an enormous tinsel ball.

Move over, Harry Potter: There’s a new secret sorcerer in town. Though FunFlyStick is approved for children 5 years and up, Unitech execs have stumbled upon a loyal market among an unexpected audience. “Men just love this gadget!” says Ousherovitch, VP of sales and marketing at Unitech. “Maybe it’s a power thing—there’s something addictive about using the gadget to make an object move.” Memo to Olga: Let us introduce you to some females who would share in the power grab.

What else is, um, up at this year’s Toy Fair? Plenty—including Megatech’s radio-controlled, indoor-outdoor Hopper-Fly helicopter (see megatech.com for price information). The ’copter hovers at 100 feet in the air (with a little help from nine batteries, that is) and it comes complete with a charging station and transmitter. The counter-rotating blades ensure that even a novice pilot can navigate smoothly—before bringing down the aircraft for a landing that would make eve pilot Sully (a la miracle on New York’s Hudson) quite proud.

If planes and wands aren’t quite your obsession of choice, come with me to a galaxy far, far away. This fall, Uncle Milton Industries will finally release the toy that Star Wars geeks and 1980s kids (yes, I’m one) have been awaiting. At $129, it’s a touch pricey—but we would-be Skywalkers might’ve guessed that being able to control a Jedi Training Remote with the latest brainwave technology wouldn’t exactly come cheap.

Here’s what’s so freakin’ cool about the Star Wars gadget: The deeper you concentrate as you wear the headset, the greater affect you have on the Training Sphere, a ball that moves up or down a cylinder based on how well you’re focusing. After 15 levels of training (may the force be with you), you can progress from Padawan to Jedi Master. Familiar movie character voices (think Yoda) guide you through the process.

Oh, and one more thing: For another game involving mental acuity and biofeedback technology, you should also check out Mattel’s new MindFlex game ($79.99 this fall,mattelbrandsmedia.com). Users navigate a customizable obstacle course only the power of the mind—and maybe just a smidgen of perseverance to keep the ball afloat.