Gold: Early School 2/63

Learning Resources Gears! Gears! Gears! Machines in Motion

(Learning Resources $35.99) Learning Resource's Gears! Gears! Gears! collection has been on our award list for years and remains one of the best STEM toys. This is the latest set that features the original plastic gear pieces with the added fun of flowers to layer up your creations. Comes with 5 bases, 35 gears as well as flowers, flower stems and bases for building vertically. The set comes with one handle which puts the whole gear set into motion (you can also use your h

Super Smalls Gemify Preppy Purse Kit

(Super Smalls $39) A fun activity kit that comes with a small vinyl pink purse (with a bright yellow interior) and all the supplies for bedazzling the bag. There are over 100 "gem" stones in pink, red, blue and yellow that you attach with the easy to use glue that also comes in three colors. After attaching the gems, we let the bag sit overnight to give them time to really set. This would be a wonderful birthday gift for 5 & up crowd. Ages: Early School Oppenheim Toy Portfol

Creativity for Kids Latch N' Patch Fuzzy Stickers

(Creativity for Kids $16.66) Here's a fun twist on the retro craft of Latch Hooking. The set comes with the materials to create five fuzzy patches. There's a panda, a rainbow, a heart, smiley face and a donut printed on the canvases, a hook latch, six bundles of acyrlic yarn, adhesive frames (to give your patch more sparkle), felt backing, felt stickers and instructions. Once you get the hang of latch hooking, the process is very satisfying. Marked 7 & up -- will need adult

Ooly x girl scouts Art Supplies

( ooly $5.95-$16.95 and up) If you have a Girl Scout in your life, you're going to want to take a look at this new collab between Ooly and the girl scouts. Our testers LOVED the Cookie Scented Gel Pens ($5.95) that are inspired by our favorite cookies: "Peanut-Better Together" and "Mint to Lead" were two of our favorites. There are also Scented Markers in the collab. Schoolwork can be even more fun with the set of three Cookie Scented Erasers that are in the shape of the coo

Connetix Magnetic Tiles Pastel Ball Run

( Connetix $99.99) If you have a magnetic tile builder in your family, you're going to want to take a look at this new ball maze from Connetix. It's a big set with 106 pieces and 8 wooden balls. The kit was a huge hit with our preschool testers -- but it does require adult participation for younger builders. The ramps need to be snapped into the tiles that have special round holes and grooves to receive them. Our builders also used their stash of tiles to build more robust