(Manhattan Toy $19.99) Adorable Birch Hedgehog has a more traditional looking hedgehog shape. He’s 7.5” tall seated and 8” held up. He’s more for sitting and cuddling. His back has the noodley feel of a shag rug while the rest of him is covered with silky soft plush with a lined pattern. Also in this collection the most frequently found animal of the year…a pink unicorn with silky mane and tiny pink horn. Like Birch Hedgehog her texture is interesting, a soft plush with line

(Edushape $48.79) One of our Blue Chip and Basic Gear choices for toddlers’ early block play. These lightweight cardboard blocks have the size and heft that toddlers love and will be used for years to come by preschoolers and beyond. They make great stacks to knock over, giving toddlers a great sense of power. They make long roadways for cars to roll over, bridges to go under, and countless other inventions your kids will give name to as they play. Start with a 52-piece set (

(Plus-Plus $24.99) Part puzzle, part building material, this set comes with 60 puzzle pieces and seven puzzle cards that can be used by matching pieces on top of the card with outlines on one side and no guidelines on the other. There’s a lot of fine motor skill needed here as well as visual perception. Although this is marked for 3-7, it’s more like a task that 6s and 7s may enjoy. For younger children, using the puzzle pieces for open ended creations may be the best use of

(Ann Wiliams $18.99) Young crafters can create three small felt animals that are precut and ready to decorate by adding the precut double sided stick-on to the front of the creature. Next comes the fine motor task of applying the precut felt trims followed by tiny pom-poms and felt stick on features. That said, these kits are going to require adult help. As adult will be needed to get the double-faced adhesive placed on the creature, but once that’s done, kids will be busy pu

(BigJigs $34.00) A ten-piece set of unusual wooden farm animals trimmed with fabric. Perfect for years of pretend play. These fit into a handsome Big Jigs farm setting or block buildings. The set includes pairs of cows, sheep, pigs, chickens and ducks. A word of caution: the ducks and chickens are very small and not for children who still mouth their toys, even if they are three and up. That said, these will be fun for pretend that builds story telling, language, and imaginat

(Manhattan Toy $14.99) A new look for post and stack play. Instead of the traditional size order rings to fit on a post, this Bam Stack-A-Lacka, is a wooden toy that comes with five angled wooden blocks that can fit on the post in a variety of ways. Sometimes they won’t all fit, sometimes they will. There’s a lot of trial and error and no really right or wrong way to play. It’s a good choice for developing fine motor, visual skills and the creative fun of experimenting—someth

(Haba $119.99) Our tester loved this basically assembled garage that comes out of the box ready for action. It's well designed to connect to wooden train or car tracks. There’s a “car wash” under one ramp for getting little cars clean and two ramps-one to the first floor and one to the second. This is likely to become the hub for a lot of dramatic play. Just one element our tester mentioned that is missing—the usual elevator for lifting the vehicles to the top. That said, the

(Manhattan Toy $24.99) Baby Stella dolls have been available as a multi-cultural toddler huggable of choice for many years and this year is no exception. You’ll find some that look more boyish, others totally female. Some with almost bald heads and others with pompom bunches of fabric tied up in bows. They are 15" and come in multiple skin tones. This year’s adorable baldish baby is darker than earlier versions and wears green and white striped pants with a green and heliotr

(Corolle $34.99) A soft huggable 11” first baby doll. She’s wearing a pink velour jumpsuit and a stocking hat of the same silky soft material. Her clothes are on to stay, stitched to the body. Her soft vinyl face has painted blue eyes and a mouth that looks ready for a kiss or a bottle. There's a sewn in label for your phone number or name....just in case this huggable goes lost. Like all Corolle dolls, she has their signature vanilla scent. Older infants and young toddlers.

(Manhattan Toy $9.99) A royal flourish has been added to the edges of this classic set of ten stacking and nesting cups. They look like a royal castle tower of multi-colors. For safety’s sake, the cups have small holes, as they should, so they cannot cover nose and mouth. They also have numerals impressed on the bottom, so older preschoolers can begin to recognize numerical sequence. Keep in mind, toddlers will enjoy using these in the tub long before they can stack or nest t