(Thames & Hudson $19) A lovely art kit that introduces kids to the work of Henri Matisse. The set includes 4 stencil sheets, 3 picture pockets, 20 sheets of two-sided paper and a wonderful activity guide. With these stencils and papers -- your child can create their own collages inspired by Matisse. 5 & up. Ages: Early School, Tweens Oppenheim Toy Portfolio Gold Seal Award 2026

(Stickerbox $129.00) AI has entered toy world with the new Stickerbox Printer. Say what you'd like to see printed and voila, the red Stickerbox cube will produce a black and white sticker with what you said. So ask for a elephant having an ice cream cone -- and that's what comes out. We tested this out at a family party so we could test lots of different ages and voices -- and it really works. The printer comes with four rolls of paper, colored pencils and a USB charger. Yo

(Tree Town Toys $34.00) Hands down, Spin Animator Studio is one of the best toys of the year. Building on the concept of a zoetrope where you spin a strip of graphics to give the illusion of animation, this spinning animator takes that experience to the next level. The set comes with premade strips that are done in color, black and white strips with pre-made art and then blank strips so that you can create your own. There is a knob on the side to put the strip in motion. Com

(Educational Insights $22.49) A engaging art platform for creating your own graphic novel pages. The artwork is from graphic novelist Brady Smith. The set comes with a light up tracing board, 400+ traceable images, blank pages, pages with images and frames and five colored-pencils. A fun way to explore the art of writing and illustrating graphic novels. Also any toy that brings kids back to books is a winner in our view. We would suggest adding other colored pencils for more

(Educational Insights $12.96) With over 200 puzzles to solve, this brainteaser game for solo play celebrates its 20th anniversary this year. The puzzle will challenge your visual, logic, and spatial skills. The playing pieces come in a portable case with a slot so that the booklet with puzzle pages can fit inside. Each challenge starts you off with pieces in position and then the fun begins. The idea is to fit the rest of the pieces into place around those fixed pieces. It

(Snap Circuits $25.95) Our toy tester really enjoyed working with this 58 piece set that gives you the instructions for building 10+ models with the light up brick pieces. While you're having fun putting together your build, you're also learning about circuits. "I love that it comes with wheels" -- our tester built a small vehicle powered by a 9 volt battery (not included). Unlike a lot of STEM toys, this is not overwhelming. Marked 8 & up -- a good parent child kit to explor

(Smart Games $19.99) An elegant brainteaser for teens and adults. The black circular board comes with a rainbow of pieces -- each has a different shape and includes spheres in three different sizes. The game play is simple but challenging. In each of the 120 challenges you are told which pieces to start with on the board. The challenge is to then fit the remaining pieces on the board so that all are used. The level of difficulty increases as you go through the book. Designed

(Vango $14.99) If you loved playing the card game Spit as a kid, you'll really enjoy this twist. The cards have the ingredients and toppings for mac 'n cheese. See a match between the card on the pile and the card placed down -- if you are the first to smack the oversized piece of noddle -- you get to claim that match. Smack down incorrectly and you have to give up one of your matches. The first player to get all the ingredients, toppings, bowl and utensils wins. A fun fami

(Spinmaster $19.99) Here's a fun "Rubiks" inspired toy that's designed for the rest of us. The goal here is not to solve the cube, but to create three in a row on the grid. Colors light up and you have quickly find where you can push the third button to make three of the same color. You can play this solo or as a game for up to 4 players. Marked 7 & up. Ages: Early School, Tweens Oppenheim Toy Portfolio Gold Seal Award 2026

(Thames & Kosmos $19.99) Here's a fun and challenging word game from Thames & Kosmos. Each player picks their "drink" colored dice (ice coffee, lemonade, grape soda or fruit punch), their plastic tumbler and drinking straw boards (where you build your words). For each round, a player takes a turn rolling the four dice that go into the ice cube tray. The goal is to create words that include the letters in the tray. You get points for matching the letters and for the length of