How are you with details? Get ready to spot the matching image on each pair of cards. There is only one matching pair on any two cards and you have to be fast to be first to spot it! Naturally, on the MLB edition all the images relate to the great game of baseball and will keep players on their toes. A good take along for kids going to summer camp or a quick after dinner game for the family after some active rounds of catch. Comes in a round tin cannister in the shape of a baseball. Also, there's a new Spot It! Travel game that is played the same way, but the cards in this set have vehicles and other objects one sees as you travel along such as fire hydrants, signs, rainbows and mailboxes. For 2-8 players ages 7 to adult.

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

First in a new series of drawing books for school aged kids. We usually prefer a blank sheet of paper, but we know that kids of a certain age begin to want their end products to look more realistic. Having some techniques for making that happen can be helpful. This is the first of a series that shows kids the step-by-step process of drawing simple items such as a bird, a cup and saucer, a tulip. These instructions are somewhat like the Ed Emberly drawing books but less cartoonish. The instruction pages are followed by a double-page illustration that provides a frame and setting. Here kids can use what they have learned in a more open-ended picture.  Tuck this in to your travel bag for a long flight or for quiet time at your destination. 5 & up.

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

A scrumptious set of 12 fabric farm animals. Each fits into a pocket inside this zip up mat with a bright red barn and grassy green meadow all around. We could have done without the numerals on the animals. They each fit into a pocket that shows a small graphic of the related number of animals. For example, the cow with a numeral three on its side fits into the pocket with the image of three cows. Similarly, a pig with a  nine on it goes into a pocket with the image of nine pigs. The images are very small and hard to count for the age group this toy is going to reach. That said, this is a fun "knowing and naming" toy and the soft animals will be fun to use for pretend lay on the farm side. As for matching number words and numerals, or sequencing numbers, those are kindergarten and beyond skills that are beyond toddlers. The toy seems much younger than school years, but it is beautifully made and will also be a fun toddler toy for talking, pretending and for un-filling and refilling with help.

SNAP: Lots of knowing and nameing games can be played with this set of animals.

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

Technically this is a paper-covered book, but inside you will find a totally playful way to sharpen listening and vocabulary skills. Based on the well known books, this activity book comes with more than 500 reusable stickers. Kids use them to answer the riddles and match the images shown. Or they use the pages to create their own collections of animals or sports and games or foods. These pages have at least one riddle to read, but kids can make up their own as well. There are stickers with words as well as tons with pictures, colorful photos just like the ones in the I Spy books. Take this along on your next long trip or pull it out on a rainy day.

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

Perfect for your next flight or a pretend trip. This magnetic play setting board opens like a big picture book. It features an air field with hanger, control tower and all kinds of airplanes. With 18 magnetic pieces, this is the kind of setting that is fun to use for telling their own stories.

Age: Preschool, 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.

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.

A perfect choice for travel or quiet time play. Each set comes with 12 die cut cards that are brightly colored on each side. Arrange them and rearrange them making original designs as they are stacked or use the patterns poster to reproduce the patterns shown. There is a "flora set" with circular frame or the "crystal" set with more angular frame. Either set provides multiple possibilities for creative fun and visual experimentation. All store away in a CD style case for easy take-along diversions. 5 & up.

Activity: Give your child a chance to explore the cards for a while. Then open the poster and choose a design you'd like to reproduce. Note that each design involved three or more colors. Select the colors and then experiment with putting them in various layers until you find the order that reproduces the pattern you chose from the poster. A good game for enlarging color words, matching skills as well as shapes and sequencing - along with visual discoveries.

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

This is a number sequencing game that is played quickly. No turn taking. Everyone plays at once and tries to be the first to put down the number that comes next that is of a matching color. If you happen to have a wild card, so much the better--you still need the right number, but it can be played on any color. So there are two attributes at play here. A good choice for 6 & up.

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