An adorable add-on to the wonderful Calico Critters playsets, that are ideal for dramatic play. Unlike gender specific dollhouses, the Calico Critters are more gender neutral. Marvin and Maggie, the Mulberry Raccoons get around town in their red and white motorcycle and sidecar, romantically named the True Love. If your child has a Calico Critter setting, bringing home a small set of critters or an accessory like this will refresh their interest in the play setting; but this is also a cute stand alone toy. 3 and up

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

A fast playing card game that reinforces the concept of more and less as well as bigger and smaller. Players each put down one card at the same time. If there are two cats and one dog, the cats win, but the person whoput down the cat with the largest number wins the cards. If all the cards are cats the one who put down the biggest number wins. It's a new twist on the game of War and the object is to wind up with all the cards. 5 & up.

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

Finding craft projects for boys can be challenging. This kit comes with five foam planes that fly well both indoors and out. Before they start flying however, kids can decorate them with the metallic foil stickers and color-in stickers that can be customized with the 8 fine tipped mini-markers included. Each little plane is almost 7 x 7 inches big. Kids are likely to need help getting the stickers off the sheets, especially if they have no fingernails to get them started. That said, this is a fun kit for a play date or encouraging boys to use fine motor skills. 5 & up.

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

A beginner's drawing kit with four graphite pencils, hard and soft, a sharpener, eraser, one medium and one fine tip black marker, one black brush tip pen, a pouch for these items. The kit also includes a 24-pg spiral sketchbook, six sheets of drawing paper, eight sheets of vellum paper, and a copy grid. A well-done 24 page instruction booklet also introduces various techniques for exploring drawing. 9 & up.

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

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

A pad of 40 sheets of black paper that is thinner than construction paper and designed for metallic pencil and gel sticks. It would probably work well with glittery glue sticks ot colored chalks. A good choice for making Halloween decorations, too.

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

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

There is no right or wrong way to add the decorations to this big 15 inch by 9 inch bag. It comes with 200 peel and stick hearts, flowers and dots in multiple colors. The kit also includes a hang tag for the designer's name and s small change purse that goes inside. Speaking of the inside, there is a flat insert that goes in the base and helps the bag to stand up on a flat bottom. We think kids as young as 5 will enjoy this kit. It would also be a great kit to use with kids with special needs who will not need to cut or use glue to add the decorations. Use this to reinforce color names, sizes, and shape names. 5 & up.

SNAP: Success is built into this kit that allows kids to decorate the bag with no right or wrong moves. Yet, when they are done, they have a usable end product they can carry with pride. 

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

A sturdy pink chipboard music box (with a little ballerina who pops up when you open it) is ready for decorating. The box is deep enough to hold plenty; it is 5.5 inches high and 4 inches wide. The kit includes paper flowers, a sticker sheet full of scroll-like leaves and flowers, self adhesive rhinestones, glitter glue, adhesive squares and an idea book for decorating. The wind-up key for the music is built into the box, so this is a kit that can be completed with a showy end product that kids of a certain age really want. It is not entirely open-ended, but there is room for doing it their own way! Marked 5 & up, but probably done more successfully by sevens and up.

SNAP: There is no right or wrong way of decorating this music box. Yet the finished product is going to look pretty good, so success is built into making something that the child can then use for keeping treasures.

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

Our tester liked everything about this kit with 12 adjustable rings and tons of flowers and butterflies that easily stick to them. The precut forms are attached with layers of foam squares and topped with a glue on the "gemstone" that is like icing on the cake. With a dozen rings, this makes a good kit for a play date. This kit calls for fine motor skills to handle the tiny foam adhesive squares. Of course, there are enough rings for every finger on both hands with two left over for toes! Marked 7 & up, but 7's will likely need help with the first few.

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