Just as the name suggests, this mid sized set comes with several buildings: a two story pizza parlor, a bike and skate board repair shop, a bus stop, and a charming yellow bus with large see-through European-style windows, red seats, a driver and folks in the shops who can get on board to go home. There are street lights, bikes, skateboards, fire hydrant and other such details of a city corner. This is part of Lego’s modular City theme. Set includes 483 pieces and is suggested for kids 5-12. Kids may need help in getting started. They need to work on one main piece at a time instead of emptying all the pieces and ending up with a mish-mosh! A lot of learning comes from the process, not just focusing on the end product. Be there to assist, but don't take over. A kit this size will take more than a day to build. Learning about taking time and problem solving is part of the learning process. So is stick-to-itivness. Parents can act as consultants, not buildes. If it is too hard for your child, put the set away for a while. Start with simpler building projects and reintroduce this one a few months from now. Only the most experienced 5 year old builder will be able to do this set. Note, the box says 5-12.

The company has signed a verification form complying with our safety requirements. We did not independently test this toy in a lab.

 

Age: Early School Years, Later School Years. Award Year: 2009. Click here to purchase the product on Amazon.com.

We always like gardening kits and this one has a nice twist. The three pots are made from recycled plastic milk containers. Set also comes with a trowel, three packages of organic seeds (sunflower, basil and zinnia soil disks.) We had great success with our plants!

Age: Early School Years. Award Year: 2009. Click here to purchase the product on Amazon.com.

In this new puzzle collection there are two very attractive sets of 9-piece puzzles called Once Upon a Time by Lizzie Rockwell and Life on Earth by Melissa Sweet.  Each set contains six different puzzles. We think you will need to show kids how to sort the six puzzles by the patterns on the back and then give them some strategies for doing one puzzle at a time and putting each puzzle together by making the borders first. These will be challenging since the pieces are small and may need to be rotated to find the fit. These are a good choice for 4’s and 5’s.
The company has signed a verification form complying with our safety requirements. We did not independently test this toy in a lab.
 

Age: Preschool, Early School Years. Award Year: 2009. Click here to purchase the product on Amazon.com.

If you like paper airplanes you are going to get a real lift from this kit with ten planes to fold and fly. The double-sided pattern sheets come with clear directions, stickers, airport graphics, and a plastic skydiver with a parachute for emergency bailouts! The company has signed a verification form complying with our safety requirements. We did not independently test this toy in a lab. 6 & up.

Age: Early School Years. Award Year: 2009. Click here to purchase the product on Amazon.com.