Tuck these into your travel tote for playing simple matching games. Players each begin with eight cards and draw from the pile to make sets of three matching cards. The object is to be the first to get rid of all your cards. These are over-sized colorful cards illustrated by Bob Barner and labeled with animal names. 5 & up.

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

Highly stylized images of multicultural children from around the world fit together, hand in hand, on this big 16-piece floor puzzle. The playing pieces are two-sided, so there are 32 images that can be joined. Each figure is wearing the native costume of his or her country and the name of the country is printed on the side. Marked for 3 & up, but the concepts are well beyond that age group.

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

A set of 72 colorful matching cards for the classic game of concentration with unusual illustrations featuring kids playing all sorts of sports. A good opportunity for developing knowing and naming language to match the images as well as visual perception is seeing matches. This is one of a series of matching games with different themes. Kids who are crazy about dinosaurs will like this Dinosaurs! Matching Game and for expanding language skills look for their Animals! Matching Game. The sets come packaged in sturdy boxes that have magnetic closures. All three sets are handsomely illustrated by artist Micah Player. These are marked 3 & up, though we think slightly older kids will enjoy them more.

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

This is a challenging kind of concept game played with felt triangles that that can be rearranged in a multitude of geometric patterns to form different shapes. The set comes with a flocked board that the felt sticks to and 100 different patterns that challenge visual perception, dexterity and problem solving skills. This can be played solo or cooperatively. Once they begin to play with the pieces kids will also like inventing their own shapes and patterns.  The set comes with 72 felt triangles in nine colors, a flocked board and 100 practice Images to reproduce. 5 & up.

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

O-o-o La La! Two cardboard paper dolls come with sturdy reversible setting---a pastry shop/ cafe and two sheets of stick-on clothing and accessories. The pastry chef comes with work clothes and accessories, as does the customer. Of course, the playfigures are interchangeable and can play different roles. Like all the paper dolls in this charming series, the dolls are multicultural. The art in this set was designed by illustrator, Lizzy Rockwell. 5 & up.

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

15" soft-bodied dolls with vinyl heads, arms and legs available in five different skin tones with various hair and eye colors. Beautiful clothes and accessories available. Each doll comes with a 5" Bitty Bear. The additional outfits also come with a book and a coordinating outfit for Bitty Bear. We also recommend the Bitty Baby Twins. New for this season, extra outfits and pj's for the baby and matching clothes for the child. Though they are not anatomically correct, there are boy dolls available in the collection for big brothers as well as big sisters.

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