A colorful set of solid wood blocks with letters and numbers imprinted on them. They are marked 18 months and up. We suspect kids that young will like filling and dumping them and eventually lining them up. Building upwards will be something adults or older sibs can do for little ones. They will like knocking them down. This is definitely a toy that will get lots of mileage. Learning letter names and the sounds they say comes much later. 18 months and up, up,up.

Age: Toddlers, Preschool, Early School Years. Award Year: 2012.

All the pieces fit in this beautiful case with galactic images. Inside are 36 good sized pieces to fit together into a 24 x 36 inch picture of space with astronauts, planets, stars, and rockets. Heavy cardboard pieces will hold up as kids love doing their puzzles many times. 4-7

Age: Preschool, Early School Years. Award Year: 2012. Click here to purchase the product on Amazon.com.

Forget about paper, now kids can draw on a "Spinning Light Canvas" that is really a light dome. It is activated with a stylus that is used to draw anywhere on the round surface that lights up as they draw. Kids can make drawings, animations, and messages. They can keep favorite creations and there are eight game and activity apps to add to the fun. This does come with a warning about this being an inappropriate toy for those who are photosensitive and have seizures from flashing lights and patterns. 6 & up.

Age: Early School Years. Award Year: 2012. Click here to purchase the product on Amazon.com.

We love this series from Faber-Castell that allow kids to try their hand at different aspect of pencil and brush arts. This kit includes instruction for how to work with watercolor pencils.  Comes with ten colored pencils, sharpener, sketchbook, eraser, tracing paper and twenty page instruction book. A great choice for traveling during the holidays for older kids.

Age: Early School Years, Later School Years, Tweens. Award Year: 2012. Click here to purchase the product on Amazon.com.

We have mixed emotions over this set of 24 foot long pieces of two sided print paper. The pieces had links at the end so no glue is needed, though we think it takes more dexterity to fasten them than most young kids will have. We suspect you will end up giving them glue to make them stick. That said, they are highly decorative and thicker than most chains we made as kids.

Age: Early School Years. Award Year: 2012.

60 pages in these handsome spiral sketchpads 8.5 x 11.5. Choose from the many covers to appeal to the child you are shopping for this season. We like the fact that there are covers to appeal to boys as well as girls and pencil kits that match. This gives a real gifty look to what we consider basic gear for school-aged kids who will use these kinds of supplies well past the holiday season.

Age: Early School Years, Later School Years, Tweens. Award Year: 2012.

Choose from the many packs of special printed papers that are ideal for origami, collage, scrapbooking and general paper crafts. There are 54 sheets in a pack, all in different colorful patterns. Inside the package are directions for simple origami and other craft ideas.  The self-sealing envelope keeps the paper supply fresh between projects.

Age: Early School Years, Later School Years, Tweens. Award Year: 2012.

There are 12 pencils with 24 colors, since each pencil has two colors. High math! These are standard size pencils. Choose a set of pastel colors or a different set with primary colors. 5 & up.

Age: Early School Years, Later School Years, Tweens. Award Year: 2012.

Learning to write letters and drawing is just more fun when the pencils have colors. This wonderful set comes with a special pencil sharpener to fit the wider shaft. It has six extra big easier to grasp pencils; each have two different colors. There is a set with primary colors or another with pastels. 5 & up.

Age: Early School Years. Award Year: 2012.

There are six pairs of Fancy Scissors, each with a different kind of edge. There are zig zags, scallops, sawtooth edges that are perfect for making cards, giftwrapping, borders for bookmarks, or scrapbooking. Getting kids to develop their fine motor skills has never been more fun. These work well for righties as well as lefties. Pair these with some of eeBoo's new paper packs of printed squares. Also available Plain stainless steel scissors with two color handles($3.50) and a blunt tip but sharp enough for success. 5 & up.

Age: Early School Years, Later School Years, Tweens. Award Year: 2012.