Oh, what a night-when the tooth fairy comes on its magic mission! This 9-inch square pillow has a pocket for leaving a note for the tooth fairy and a felt pocket to tuck the lost tooth into. The little super hero is detachable from its yellow cape and used as a finger puppet. There is a girl version of this with Princess finger puppet and pastel look. Usually tooth treasures will not be needed before 5-6.

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

You may have seen the book called Gallop with its moving images. This wonderful toy allows children to create their own moving images. The case and markers come with premade art that young kids color. Then they close the case and turn the dials to see their colorful creation come to life. The kit comes loaded with a roller in place and a spare roller with more images that can replace the original. We usually steer clear of coloring toys that are not open-ended. But this goes beyond simple coloring. It's a little magic, science and illusion. Younger kids will need help with setting it up and adding the second roller. 

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

An adorable 18-inch fabric doll with big yarn pigtails. This one is African American with a tan fabric body. She is also available in peach fabric. She has small stitched features. Her linen jumper has a pocket and two working buttons that require some dexterity. She has a removable striped shirt. Her shoes and underwear are sewn on. Due to the buttons, this is recommended for 3 & up.

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

This has to be one of the most adorable dolls of the year! Rosy Cheeks Big Sister Doll is done in an African American version with very contemporary hair-style and removable clothing. She is an armful, an 18-inch rag doll with a soft huggable body covered in a knit fabric. She has stitched features. Her body is of a knit fabric, her jumper with Velcro closing is corduroy. Designed for preschoolers and up. She is available with the same outfit as a Caucasian girl with red yard hair.

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

To celebrate the upcoming Summer Olympics this version of Banangrams has five extra colorful joker tiles with pictograms of various Olympic sports. It is otherwise the same game in a convenient banana shaped zip up pouch. Players divvy up the tiles and play side by side creating their own connected words. It's different from Scrabble since you do not take turns, although you must take extra tiles when your opponent uses up her tiles and is ready to take more. A great take along for vacation time. Quick and easy to learn. 7 & up.

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

Collecting dolls of other lands is a passion that frequently begins in the later school years. Girls may feel "too old" to play with dolls but still like having them in their rooms. The current Australian and Irish dolls are fairly reasonably priced for entry level collectors. For this age group they may also spark an interest in finding out more about their doll's country and customs. Mattel has a website with map and games and information dedicated to this collection. Each doll comes with a passport and display stand and is dressed in clothes or costumes that reflect the traditional or modern dress. Each doll also has a related animal. The Australian doll wears a safari outfit and has a koala bear.

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

Learning about measurement equivalencies comes built into this clever set of measuring tools. For starters you want to give kids a chance to explore how many cups it takes to fill the bigger containers and to discover that the tall and short two-cup containers are the same. The 12-piece set includes measuring spoons and ¼, ½, and 1 cup measures, 2-cup and 4 cup beakers. A small scale is included along with some clever activity cards to use with your child. These science activities are recipes for creating bubble solution, puffy paint, clay, trail mix, slime stencils, mystery goo and other more basic measuring experiments. The well made materials and activity cards add up to a wealth of entertaining parent and child explorations that make early connections to science. 4 & up.

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

A collection of art supplies, chosen for young preschoolers. No glue or scissors are needed. There are no lines to color inside of, nor designs to copy. There are two colorful frames with a sticky background on which children can put pieces of flat, shredded, or fringed tissue paper, patterned stickers, and doilies. All of these are supplied in the package. There are four other non-sticky frames, two with white backgrounds, one shaped like a tree; another shaped like a horse. This is an open-ended kit that also includes three triangular shaped crayons. The latter are faint unless used on one of the points of the triangle. All the materials are ready for experimenting with making collages. Marked 18 months and up. We'd say that may be rushing it a bit for most toddlers. Once you start using this you may want to start a collage box of your own for further exploration.

Age: Toddlers. Award Year: 2012. Click here to purchase the product on Amazon.com.

A colorful map-like cityscape floor puzzle. The 3-D part comes in with three tall buildings that can be assembled and attached to the giant 20 by 30 puzzle. Kids can use their toy cars to travel over the roadways and use this as a mat for dramatic play after they assemble all the pieces. Marked 3 & up. We think 3 year olds are going to need help the first few times they do this.

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

A jolly colorful birdie to dangle on an infant seat or stroller. It has licks of black and white striped patches, bright ribbon wings, and big embroidered eyes to grab baby's visual attention. Inside it has a quiet jingle that will attract listening. The dangly legs add to the motion. It attaches with a Velcro strap. Slightly older babies may like pulling on the legs to make it bounce. Newborns & up

Age: Infants. Award Year: 2012.