Scaled for Kelsey and other 18" dolls in the Journey Girls collection, this is a terrific foldable wheel chair with fabric seat and a pair of crutches as well as a plaster foot cast, an arm cast, ice pack and an elastic bandage. The company has signed a verification form complying with our safety requirements. We did not independently test this toy in a lab.

Although the Journey Girls line is all about travelling and experiencing different places and cultures around the world, this foldable wheel chair with crutches and other props happens to be priced right! For kids with physical challenges it will be a welcome accessory for their dolls and dramatic play.

Age: Early School Years. Award Year: 2011.

Children love multiple piece games and this has 20 playing boards and 20 matching shapes. This will give kids a chance to name and know the shapes they are going to use. Once they can identify the puzzle pieces (a moon, rabbit, fish, leaf, bird, person, etc. you can use this for a more challenging game. Put several tiles on the table. Have children take turns reaching into the bag to find the shape that matches the tiles in front of them. This is a good game for solo play or with friends and family. It comes with a small activity booklet with good ideas for introducing the colors and concepts. The set comes in a drawstring canvas bag for gameplay and storage.

SNAP: This kind of game that gives children a chance to hone their sense of touch. For kids with visual disabilities, this plays on an important skill they need to develop. For starters put most of the playing pieces away. Take time to develop the names of the items and play some initial games with a few puzzles. Gradually add more as they gain mastery of the first ones.

Age: Preschool, Early School Years. Award Year: 2011. Click here to purchase the product on Amazon.com.

A hands-on way to learn about simple fractions. These natural wood cups hold the whole, halves, quarters and thirds. The solid wooden pieces are stained with eco-friendly colors that won't chip off. They come with an activity booklet for ideas to share. For younger players this is about eye hand coordination and developing fine motor skills. The math part is built into the discoveries children make as they manipulate the pieces. Marked 2 & up. We think it's a better bet for 3-4.

SNAP: Introduce one cup at a time. For a while use just two cups and gradually add the other sets. Once you start talking about fractions, reinforce the concepts when you servr a sandwich in halves one day, in quarters another day. Do the same when you are cutting a fruit. 

Age: Preschool, Early School Years. Award Year: 2011. Click here to purchase the product on Amazon.com.

A small cloth shopping bag comes loaded with an orange that cuts into halves, a pear in thirds, and an apple in quarters. Made of sleek bright plastic, the set includes a special knife that is not sharp, but will cut the sections apart. The pieces are internally magnetized - so there are no safety issues with magnets coming out. These playing pieces are going to be used first and foremost for pretend play. Using a knife is one of those "grown-up" things kids cannot do in reality, so this adds to the play appeal. It is also a hands-on way for kids to explore fractions and give meaning to the concepts of half, thirds, quarters.

SNAP Activity:
Learning how to handle a knife begins with this kind of safe play. This cut-up fruit set is one of those toys that gives children a chance to try on real tools without the danger of a real blade. It's also a good opportunity to use the language of fractions, giving meaning to the concepts in a concreate way. To extend this experience, use the fraction words when you are making a sandwich and cut it into halves or quarters. Use the word quarters as you cut a slice of cheese in four andplace them on four small crakers. For more practice with knives, have kids use a butter spreader to cut up a banana or to spread jam on crackers. Trying on more grown up skills with safe tools is a satisfying way to build confidence and competence.

Age: Preschool, Early School Years. Award Year: 2011.

Kids love the bendable open-ended foam pieces in this colorful construction set. It's more free form than building toys like Legos since the pieces twist together rather than needing to fit together. There are tubes, skinny rods, flat pieces and dots that hold and mold together. There is not right or wrong way to create whatever can be imagined. This giant set has 345+ pieces to be used in a multitude of ways. Fitting them all back into the holder may be a challenge, but they are quiet and soft and good fun for younger builders.

We have written about this toy before but it has been repackaged and refreshed by another company and we're glad to see it back.

SNAP IDEAS: Easier to put together than many other building sets, the soft easy to grasp pieces of Toobers and Zots make them a good choice for creative building. They are quieter than wooden or plastic blocks and pleasing to handle. ACTIVITIES: Use them for sorting by color or shape and developing language to describe if there are more long pieces than short ones...more yellows than reds? Fewer greens than yellows? These kinds of sorting and talking games help kids develop concepts that they can touch and see in a concrete way.

Age: Preschool, Early School Years. Award Year: 2011. Click here to purchase the product on Amazon.com.

A pie full of 60 miniature fruits comes ready for a variety of learning and pretend games. There are two big tweezers for lifting and sorting and a divider inside the pie shell for sorting the fruits by color or type. The pieces of this toy can be used for sorting by various attributes, to reinforce color words as well as knowing and naming fruits. As kids begin to work at math skills the fruit counters are also useful for demonstrating or making concrete simple number facts. There is an activity guide included. This is more like math equipment used in schools, but may be useful for kids who need playful reinforcement of those basics.

NOTE: There are lots of small pieces in this collection and it should not be used with children who still mouth their toys. Marked 3& up.

SNAP: Sorting by attributes is more fun when there are lots of pieces to handle. Use the pieces in this set by talking about one attribute at a time. Avoid talking about multiple attributes until one attribute is firmly mastered. For example: put two colors out in a mixed up pile and help your child sort the two colors into two separate baskets or cups. At another, time sort by fruit types. Find all the bananas - whatever color they are. Beginners are not ready to sort by two or more attributes such as find all the bananas that are green. Holding onto the green idea or the banana search is enough for beginners. These fruit pieces are also useful counting games and showing kids what we mean by 2+ 3 or 5-3.

Age: Preschool, Early School Years. Award Year: 2011. Click here to purchase the product on Amazon.com.

Reach inside of Ruff's little house and try to find two matching bones. Designed to develop the child's tactile sense, each pair of fabric and plastic bones has a distinctive texture. There are 20 bones with 10 textures and developing a sense of touch also involves language to describe the textures and one little fabric dog--no doubt this is Ruff. The bones can be described with words such as silky, spiky, grooved, smooth, bumpy, and fluffy.

SNAP: This is an excellent choice for kids with visual disabilities who need to develop not just their touch, but ways of describing what they feel at their fingertips. You can use this little house for other games by making pairs of other objects with distinctive shapes or textures. Cut a sponge into pairs of matching shapes, such as triangles, circles, squares and rectangles. Or use household items such as two cotton balls, two spoons, two small plastic blocks, two bottle tops, etc.

Age: Preschool, Early School Years. Award Year: 2011. Click here to purchase the product on Amazon.com.

Our testing family had great fun making funny faces at each other. Actually one player has to try and make a face that matches one of the faces on the game board. The other players have to guess which face it is that he is making. It's easy but fun and comes with 60 face cards, 30 face tiles and four game tokens. This is an entertaining game that also puts kids in touch with "reading" people's expressions and thinking about their own.  The company has signed a verification form complying with our safety requirements.  We did not independently test this toy in a lab.

SNAP: Add a mirror to this game so kids can see for themselves how their face looks while they are trying to copy the face on the game board.

Age: Early School Years. Award Year: 2011. Click here to purchase the product on Amazon.com.

Our preschool testers enjoyed going through this six foot tunnel. Some of our parents thought that the joints could have been more padded--but our kid testers didn't seem to mind. This tunnel works with the company's tents in their Eric Carle Very Hungry Caterpillar series.  The tunnel has a mesh top so that you can watch your child work their way through -- also a plus for a younger child who may otherwise be tentative about going through a solid enclosed tunnel.  We also liked how easily the tunnel folds up  -- making this a great choice for smaller play spaces.

The company has signed a verification form complying with our safety requirements.  We did not independently test this toy in a lab.

SNAP: This is a good choice for developing gross motor skills. It's a real challenge but offers an open mesh view that makes it more kid friendly.

Age: Preschool, Early School Years. Award Year: 2011. Click here to purchase the product on Amazon.com.

Young children LOVE having spaces that are scaled to their size.  Fans of Eric Carle's Very Hungry Caterpillar will especially enjoy this small pop up tent (42" high) that's just right for pretend play, being cozy, reading a book, etc. The tent is made with washable nylon that features art from the best-selling book.  We paired it with the company's Tunnel ($49)  for added active play!  Our parent testers liked that there was a mesh see-through window so that they could peek in from above--and as an added plus-it does let the air in.

The company has signed a verification form complying with our safety requirements.  We did not independently test this toy in a lab.

Age: Preschool, Early School Years. Award Year: 2011. Click here to purchase the product on Amazon.com.