(Fisher-Price $59.99) Unlike many beginning coding toys, this one has a very intuitive design. The color buttons that run the Kinderbot are right on top and point in the directions forward, left, right, and back. It’s easy for kids to see the connection between the directions they give and the movements the Kinderbot will make. It can and should be played with in "free coding" mode, with the child taking charge before moving on to the learning challenges and secret codes, th

(LEGO $129.99) A pirate ghost ship serves as the backdrop of this spooky amusement park! With a toy rollercoaster, chair swing carousel, ticket kiosk with turn style to get inside, game stalls and snack stalls. All five mini doll figures, Olivia, Emma, Stephanie, Zack and Chloe are included. It’s a challenging 1251-piece build, a top of the line set, that turns into a mini setting for lots of pretend play. 8 and up. Ages: Tweens Oppenheim Toy Portfolio Platinum Award 2019 Cli

(LEGO $79.99) Inspired by LEGO Movie 2, this pop-up party bus is a challenging build. It has a futuristic look. Be forewarned: Emmet, one of the movie characters shown on the box is not in the box. There’s a cockpit that opens, foldout speakers, a rotating dance floor, and a flip-up disco ball. Kids can replay scenes from the movie or create their own with a buildable Disco Kitty as Unikitty and Zebe figures, plus Tempo and Melody mini-doll figures. This has over 1,000 pieces

(Lego $89.99) There’s good news and the other kind, too. We have serious mixed emotions about this one! The good news first: Years ago a rescue mission boat would have been marketed for boys. Sure, girls might have played with it, but it would have been on the aisle for boys toys. So, at first glance this seems a step in the right direction. A serious action toy for girls, a construction set with 908 pieces! Their mission to save a narwhal whale that is beached and in need of

(Spinmaster $14.99) Paw Patrol fans like pretending and replaying scenes from their favorite show with this little truck. It comes with lights, sounds and best of all...Rubble in his black and yellow Super Paws Uniform. The yellow construction truck comes loaded with batteries and has a wrecking ball and button that activates the sounds and lights. Makes a small but welcome gift. 3 and up. Ages: Preschoolers Oppenheim Toy Portfolio Gold Award 2019 Click here to purchase the p

(Lego $39.99) With sets and characters from Lego Movie 2, this 482-piece set builds into a movie stage with a camera stand for a smartphone that will record movie scenes kids produce with the props and characters and special app. Attach the phone to any of the three places on the stage to get interesting angles and to pan movements. The set includes great action props like Emmet’s Escape Buggy and Rex’s Rexplorer, and 9 characters from the movie: Emmet, Lucy, Rex, Sweet Mayhe

(Lego $49.99) Aspiring young wanna-be musicians and magicians will no doubt like building this miniature setting with three different rotating stage sets. There’s a dressing room where Andrea can get ready for her on stage appearance. She not only plays drums she can pull a rabbit out of a box. Two mega speakers on each side of the stage turn to revel big screens. Clip you cell phone to the stand and play a video or music. Chloe is one of the judges of the talent show and she

(Fisher-Price $34.99) This year's Code A Pillar comes with several new twists. Unlike the original, this one does not come apart in segments that can be rearranged. Instead, the segments have dials that kids twist to program the Code a Pillar’s motions. Ideally, this should lead to fewer lost pieces. It’s also less pricey and has no add-on pieces to buy. It’s otherwise the same, an early opportunity to code by sequencing a series of moves and seeing if the program created doe

(Mattel $19.99) We have mixed emotions about this new twist on Pictionary. It did not work with our big TV, so we played using smart phones. After downloading the app, players take turns sketching what their card says to draw, only instead of paper and pencils, players draw in the air and their drawings show up on their team’s smart phone. Some of our players drew too small, so their images were hard to decipher. We think if you can make it work on a TV screen it would be eas

(eeBoo $13.99) Kids who are learning state names and capitals will find this puzzle especially interesting. It’s a handsome map of the USA with those important labels plus products and iconic landmarks. The pieces are fairly-large and the finished puzzle will be 18 X 27 inches big, so set them up on a good-sized table to start, since they won’t want to have to move it midway through! Marked 5 and up, but this is more like a great choice for 2nd and 3rd graders. Ages: Older Ea