(Creativity for Kids $6.50) A small craft kit for a rainy day pick me up. Kids use sparkle window paint and rhinestones to decorate the big butterfly and rainbow window clings. The clings are made of a thick foam and are easy to fill. Like pencil and paper tasks, this calls for controlling a "writing-like" pen with fine motor skills. Helps kids develop eye hands skills needed for school task..but a lot more fun that drilling. Once the paint has dried, kids peel off the backing and press them onto the window glass. Ages: Early School Oppenheim Toy Portfolio Gold Seal Award 2020 Click here to purchase the product from Amazon.com

(Creativity for Kids $24.99) Our tester thought this was one of the best kits of the year! This hat-making kit comes with all the supplies needed to make, wear, and accessorize two hats! One for you and one for your sister, cousin, best friend. It comes with 180 yards of very pretty multi-colored blue Lion Brand Yarn, a reusable 9” loom, loom hook, tassel and pom-pom maker, two faux leather #HATNOTHATE tags, and instructions that are totally doable. Kids can reuse the loom to make more hats or other creations. Hat Not Hate is an anti-bullying campaign—the goal of HatNotHate is to raise awareness by making, wearing and sharing blue hats.This is one of those satisfying crafts that is easy to l

(American Girl $110 doll and book) Courtney, the newest historical American Girl doll is growing up in 1986. She wears neon bright fashions, big curly sandy-blonde hair, and likes music videos, the mall, going to the arcade, playing pac-man, her caboodle full of hair supplies, and her boom box. She comes wearing a denim skirt, bright blue off the shoulder crop top, plus white faux-leather slouchy boots. But pop culture is just one part of her story. Courtney is no frivolous airhead. She likes creating original video games and admires her mom who’s running for mayor. As a young woman of her generation she is stirred by the courage of the astronauts on the Space Shuttle Challenger, who become

(Child’s Play $5.99 each ) Ten Little Fingers is one of a charming collection of baby board books that have been re-illustrated. Sturdy enough to read and play with infants, these are favorite nursery rhymes that children soon know by heart in the months and years to come. A good way to interact, develop motor skills, and enlarge language concepts through active play that gives words meaning. Each of these charming books has one rhyme and the actions are illustrated by a diverse group on babies/toddlers who reflect our diversity. Bringing home books with children who look like the child listener is important to building a child’s self concept. In addition to this title, look for Pat-A-Cake,

(Manhattan Toy $22) A new look for a fabric ball for your baby. Bands of high contrast black and white patterned fabric are intertwined with bright primary colored bands. The spaces between the bands give little hands multiple ways to grab and hold. IT's not just designed for visual sensory appeal; the satiny ribbons attached feel different from the cottony bands and inside the big ball, a small ball with a quiet sound adds yet another sensory dimension. Ideal for rolly-polly back and forth games and to motivate beginning crawlers. Aside from it's value for first social games, the Bababall is a lovely happy looking object. Ages: Infants Oppenheim Toy Portfolio Gold Seal Award 2020 Click he

(Lego $48.00) With the Space Lunar Station, kids can build a lunar space station with 3 separate modules, giving them open-ended configuration possibilities. THere's also a detachable shuttle toy for hauling supplies between Earth and the Moon. The kit includes 2 LEGO City astronaut minifigures, 2 space station crew member minifigures and a robot, plus a satellite and a central airlock. With 412 pieces, this will challenge young builders dexterity, patience and problem solving skills. Following the instructions demands visual skills and spatial reasoning. Once built, this becomes a mini setting for dramatic play. Ages: Older Early School, Tweens Oppenheim Toy Portfolio Gold Seal Award 2020 C

(Lego $89.99) Maybe you can’t get to Aspen this year, but kids can do a lot of winter role play after they build this ski resort, that includes a rescue base, half-pipe and grind rail, ski shop, hot drinks stand, helicopter toy, 4x4 truck and snowmobile with attached trailer. Testers loved the great supply of minifigures...11 on all: 3 ski patrol members, a ski shop clerk, helicopter pilot, skier, snowboarder, 2 kids, hot drinks stand clerk and a customer, plus dog and buildable snowman figures. With 806 pieces, the build will keep kids busy for some time. Following the visual directions takes time, patience and spatial reasoning. All important skills—challenging fun Ages: Older Early School

(Lego $79.99) Inspired by National Geographic Explorers, who protect endangered species, this Animal Rescue Base is intended to inspire another generation. LEGO Friends are ready for adventure, their job, to help rescue the sloth and bring it back to their tree house sanctuary. The elaborate kit includes 3 buildable mini-doll figures, 2 elephant and 2 sloth figures, plus many accessories, such as toy walkie-talkies, animal-rescue kit and a robot-drone. This rescue station has Jungle Treehouse, a clinic and a watchtower connected by a rope bridge. With 648 pieces, this is not a simple build, but once it is done, there’s a whole new play setting for pretend adventures that kids can dream up.

(Triaction Toys $19.99 each) You’ll want a menagerie of Les Déglingos! Their name is French for crazy or wacko. It should also mean adorable! We love the way these delightfully soft huggable animals arrive in a tube, printed with a face that hints at what animal will emerge. There’s a huggable blue hippo, a comically cute baby ostrich, an outstanding white-beaked pink flamingo, a sweet little white llama with a tuft of white fleece on top of its head; and a friendly tufted tiger with scattered stripes. Safe enough for baby, these have no buttons or bows, they are velvety soft, with stitched features and contrasting textures that make them interesting to the touch. Their bodies, all about

(Blue Orange $21.99) Spread the word! There's a cunning fox out there eager to snatch the chicks. Players must help the hens keep their little chicks safe. Take turns: Spin the spinner to see what you will move on your turn: an egg, a chicken, or the little fox? Careful! Don't let fox snatch the eggs from the hens! All players work together to move three eggs into each hen's house to win the game· This made a real hit with our five year old testers and his parents. INCLUDES: 1 Game Board, 3 Wooden Hens, 26 Tokens, Illustrated Rules Ages: Early School Oppenheim Toy Portfolio Gold Seal Award 2020 Click here to purchase the product from Amazon.com

(Manhattan Toy $42) Beau is a beauty, a floppy over-sized bunny that is almost as tall as a toddler— a big 18-inches tall with a big smushy belly, long arms and legs and the biggest floppy ears imaginable. Those wonderful ears are lined with white plush to contrast to the soft mauve plush body. Beau is big, but lightweight enough for toddlers to carry about, as they love doing. A memorable companion who will say whatever your child imagines and listen endlessly, without interruption. A special gift. Ages: Toddlers Oppenheim Toy Portfolio Gold Seal Award 2020 Click here to purchase the product from Amazon.com

(Manhattan Toy $24.99 each) Soft as a cloud, these under-stuffed huggable are designed for loving. Greta is done in a delicate lavender /mauve-ish plush with velvety ear linings. She has a broad bottom, so can sit up for tea parties and other important events in a bear’s life. Hans is the same except he’s done in a dark tan/almost cocoa color. Both are 15" charmers for baby and toddler with legs and arms so easy to grab and soft silky plush that doesn’t shed. Greta's image on Amazon looks more tan than mauve, but the manufacturer confirms that she is mauve. In fact, more mauve than the photo I took for our site. Ages: Infants, Toddlers Oppenheim Toy Portfolio Gold Seal Award 2020 Click here

(Mudpuppy $14.95) Share this set of four chunky board books that speak to mindfulness. Every page of these sturdy little books features a baby doing what babies do. The set includes books called, Sleepy, Happy, Nature, and Calm, all emphasizing our sensory feelings. Four big ideas we all need. Pages have no stories, just labels; your talk is the story that you can make up every time. There’s lots to talk about, unique to the listener and the teller. Small in scale, these will fit in little hands and be enjoyed by lap-sitting babies and solo as toddlers learn to turn pages. They store in a slipcase for safe keeping. Ages: Infants, Toddlers Oppenheim Toy Portfolio Gold Seal Award 2020 Click he

(Mudpuppy $16.99) A classic kind of stack and balance game with a new, folk art look. A gaily painted wooden pony, 8" tall, collects players wooden sticks as they take turns trying not to cause the stack to tumble. Pony Pile-up can be played by mixed age group, though it favors those with fine motor skills and the ability to predict outcomes--budding strategy skills. Ages: Early School Oppenheim Toy Portfolio Gold Seal Award 2020 Click here to purchase the product from Amazon.com

(Mudpuppy $5.99 each) Want to send a little toy along with a birthday greeting? You will love these new puzzle cards with a 12-piece jigsaw puzzle. Write your own message on back of the puzzle, then break it up and put the pieces in the envelop and seal with the sticker. This is just one of several puzzles you can choose to send. The small pieces of the puzzle will make them a better bet for school aged kids. greeting card Ages:preschool, early school Oppenheim Toy Portfolio Gold Seal Award 2020 Click here to purchase the Monkey Cake from Amazon.com Click here to purchase the Truck Card from Amazon.com Click here to purchase the Cat Card from Amazon.com

(Mudpuppy $9.99) Pure magic for the tub! This little book features almost black and white fanciful outline drawings of six underwater creatures: a dolphin, octopus, crab, starfish, pufferfish and sea turtle. Soon as the pages hit the water—abra-ka-da-bra— the pages are transformed into colorful images! Given time to day, they revert to their original near black and white state until the next time. Ages: Infants, Toddlers, Preschoolers Oppenheim Toy Portfolio Gold Seal Award 2020 Click here to purchase the product from Amazon.com

(Mudpuppy $14.99 ) We’ve always liked these sets of four puzzles, each with a different level of difficulty. The timely theme this year is Mindfulness and features on puzzle with stargazing, another flying bubbles, one doing yoga, and another sharing time with a friend.Introduce them one at a time. One puzzle has just 4-pieces, another 6-pieces, one has 9-pieces and the fourth has 12-pieces. There’s also a mindfulness booklet. Marked for 2 and up, we’d say the four piece puzzle might be right, but this set is a better choice for threes and up. Ages: Preschoolers Oppenheim Toy Portfolio Gold Seal Award 2020 Click here to purchase the product from Amazon.com

(Mudpuppy $14.99) Dog lovers will have fun playing this silly mix up game that also develops visual discrimination and matching skills. Be forewarned, there are a lot of rules to learn to begin, but play it once or twice and kids will get it. There are big tile cards and players get points by matching a head and tail to make a match, and then the active player and others can play their cards to match the newly created dogs. The object is to have the most matches AND the most points. At the end of each round, school ages kids need to add up the points on the corner of their cards. So, it’s possible that a player can have more cards but not the most points. With younger kids, the game is playe

(Lego $19.99) Mr. Chill’s Ice Cream Truck is on the block! Our tester liked this almost as much as the real thing! Compared to many of the elaborate sets we reviewed this season, this is a small 200-piece build and listed for 5 and up, but make no assumptions. It’s not simple, in fact, it has some complex moments. With all the little pieces, your five-year old will need well developed fine motor skills. That said, it’s full of delicious details, like a sliding window, a hinged door and ice cream lady and a skateboarder mini-figure plus a dog. It has an eye-catching giant pop on the rooftop, as well as mini pops and cones inside. The only thing missing is the musical horn that tells kids the

(Manhattan Toys $9.99) Totally unstuffed and therefore easy-to-clutch, this little handful of a bunny has a colorful pattern for eye appeal. A round yellow teething ring is bumpy to the touch, chewy for chomping on, and removable. Bunny has safe stitch features, a floppy stuffed head, and ears that will surely be tasted. Baby Bunny is one of those good things come in small packages. infants Ages: Infants Oppenheim Toy Portfolio Gold Seal Award 2020 Click here to purchase the product from Amazon.com