(Mattel $29.99) No doubt about it, Barbie was ready for the summer Olympics. Now she has an extra year to get ready. She comes with the own balance beam where she practices and perfects her moves. The elaborate set comes with sweatpants and jacket, a metallic workout suit and a sparkly red white and blue outfit for her performance. For practice time there are batons, towel, shoes, sneakers, even a banana for some extra energy. She can pack it all away in the lavender gym bag.

(Mattel $19.99) Barbie has taken on a new job this season. She’s coaching the girls’ soccer team. She comes with one little girl player, a goal net, soccer ball, a bench for other players, water bottle, green apples for a snack, and a trophy for the winning side. Coach Barbie wears a blue outfit and has a whistle and clipboard. Both Barbie and the child player wear shoes with cleats. There is a blonde version of this set, but we like this multicultural set with a coach and ch

(Mattel $ $19.99 - 24.95) For Spring 2020, Barbie is springing into fitness and active fun. A red-headed Girl PWR Barbie ($24.95) wearing a Girl PWR shirt and colorful tights arrives with an exercise mat, water bottle, hoola hoop, and weights for herself and her pooch. When exercise is over she will pack it all away in her monogramed gym bag, which is pink, of course. Also available as Surprise Career Barbie ($19.95) this African American version comes without the accessorie

(Creativity for Kids $9.99) For travel or quiet time activity, sticker sets with pre-made scenes are often good for pretend play, storytelling and using fine motor skills. These new sets from Creativity for Kids feature three play scenes with fifty sensory stickers. Some stickers are shimmery, sparkly, smooth, puffy, and some even rattle. Unlike the usual play scenes and stickers, only the puffy ones are reusable. So, as they design a play scene, that’s the way it’s going to

(Mudpupppy $16.99) A one-thousand-piece puzzle for the family to do together...a colorful puzzle that celebrates our diversity with messages of kindness in the illustration. Set up a card table where family can stop and add a few pieces or pull up a chair and work together. This will take time, but cooperative projects often do and help kids learn about patience and persistence. Marked 6 and up , but we think this is more like a puzzle for tweens and teens with adults. Ages:

(Mudpuppy $12.99) Twenty-four colorful die-cut butterflies are ready for matching up games that will challenge memory and visual discrimination. It’s a classic game of concentration that kids are often better at than their parents. Let the Wookies win! This set comes with a small field guide that introduces kids to real butterflies found in nature that inspired these butterflies. Marked 3-8, but we think this will be more appropriate for early school years. Ages: Early School

(Creativity for Kids $14.99) Learning to embroider needs to start with something simple but special. This Banner with a puffy cloud and rainbow will likely please beginners. The letters are preprinted and easy enough for the young needle-crafter. It comes with stick on rhinestones for the rainbow, sun and bird stickers, and threads and pom-poms to hand from the cloud. Once it’s all decorated, use the dowel and yard to hang it. This comes with a darning needle, glue, adhesive

(Creativity for Kids $14.99) Like last season’s Big Gem set, this is a smaller kit featuring 12 stickers and 2 sun-catchers with sea creatures. No messy glue is needed to make colorful gem studded stickers and sun catchers. A stylus, loaded with a tip full of wax, is used to pick up the little gemstones and place them on the stickers. This calls for fine motor skills and a good deal of patience. It’s a challenging project with rewarding payoffs. Once they get the technique, i

(Mudpuppy $14.99) You’ll find six thick and sturdy puzzle boards with one shaped puzzle piece—the baby animal—that must be fitted into the big scene. Kids match the babies to the parent on each board. Introduce one board at a time and talk about the scene. A good chance to introduce the names of baby animals and their parents. Add some sounds and maybe a story. These are marked 1-3 although we think discovering how to turn the pieces to fit into the board would be challenging

(Mudpuppy $9.99) First games for preschoolers are often about matching and these dominoes that feature colorful dinosaurs are sure to please. Young dino lovers will like matching the colors, shapes and images of these teethy meat and plant eaters. The set of 28 sturdy dominoes are fun for solo matching games as well as turn taking. These are a little more challenging than most pictorial dominoes since the dinos that match do not always appear in the same direction and call fo