Archive for the ‘preschoolers’ Category
Friday, April 8th, 2011
One of the pins from Step 2's Pin Pals Bowling Set
The new Pin Pals Bowling Set from Step 2 may rank as the best toy bowling set we’ve ever tested. The reason? The clever wide-based design. The ten pins are a little bit wider than a normal toy bowling pin–making them that much easier for older toddlers and preschoolers to place into position by themselves. With other sets, the pins often tip over when they’re being set up…where’s the fun in that?
Also because of their design, the pins can be stacked. This added a whole new dimension to setting the pins up in vertical arrangements!
One of testers at play!
Our tester stacking them up on his own
Our testers also love the funny faces on each of the pins. If you’re of a certain age, some of the them will remind you of Mr. Bill from Saturday Night Live.
Watch our video.
Tags: active play, Best bowling set, Oh No! Mr. Bill, Pin Pals Bowling Sets, Saturday Night Live, Step 2, toy bowling sets
Posted in Best Toys for Toddlers, classic toys, Gender Free Toys, Oppenheim Toy Portfolio Award Winners, Play Time, preschoolers, toys, Toys for Kids with Special Needs, Uncategorized | No Comments »
Thursday, March 17th, 2011
Groovy Girl Kitchen....
...and plates
Manhattan Toy’s award-winning line of Groovy Girls has been expanding into other realms of pretend play. Last year they introduced costumes (on our Platinum List). We look forward to testing their first kitchen and dishes.
Tags: Groovy Girls, Manhattan Toy, toy dishes, Toy Kitchens, toyportfolio.com
Posted in Best Toys for Preschoolers, dolls, Play Time, preschoolers, pretend play, toy trends, toys | No Comments »
Thursday, March 10th, 2011
The new Sing-a-ma-jigs from Fisher-Price
I loved Sing-a-ma-jigs when I first saw them last year at Toy Fair. To me they look like claymation characters with their little round mouths and big eyes.
Wallace and Gromit
I love that they are able to sing (and even harmonize) together. This year– the new versions come with a little mini-me attached the larger doll. They sing together. The upside, you don’t need to buy two dolls to have them harmonize. I’m not sure I love the mini-me aspect. The smaller doll cannot be removed and somehow the smaller animal looks slighter meaner than the bigger doe-eyed larger being. Kind of reminds me of the character Masterblaster from Mad Max.
To watch a video of the new dolls, click here.
For video of past videos, click here.
Masterblaster from Mad Max
Tags: claymation, Harmonizing, Hot High Tech toys, Mad Max, Masterblaster, mini-me, Sing-a-ma-jigs, Symbiotic, Toys that Sing, Wallace and Gromit
Posted in Best Music Toys for Kids, Best Plush Toys for Kids, Best Toys for Kids with Special Needs, Best Toys for Preschoolers, dolls, Gender Free Toys, High Tech toys, hot toys, Mattel, Play Time, preschoolers, pretend play, toy trends, toys, Toys for Kids with ADHD, Toys for Kids with Special Needs, Uncategorized | No Comments »
Monday, February 28th, 2011
A few years ago toy land got really dirty. I’m not talking about toys that are in poor taste, but real dirt. Gone were all the classic clean-up toys. Our favorite – the vacuum cleaner was from Fisher-Price that had a light (friction activated) and little tiny balls (dirt). I can go on at great length as to why this was the perfect toy vacuum cleaner…no batteries required, cause and effect, pleasing without being too noisy, etc….but someone, somewhere decided to do away with this little marvel. This year we saw a renewed commitment to housekeeping! Interestingly, we saw many a toy iron. This one is a new setting from Step 2.
New Cleaning Station from Step 2
Tags: Pretend Toys, Step 2, toy iron, toy washing machine
Posted in Best Toys for Preschoolers, Best Toys for Toddlers, preschoolers, pretend play, toy trends, toys, Uncategorized | No Comments »
Friday, February 25th, 2011
Today’s toddlers and preschoolers have a new addiction. Forget the boob tube and those pesky videos – now we’re talking about little fingers that are incredibly adept at navigating APPS on your pricey iPad and/or iPhone.
What’s a toy maker to do? How can they compete with such amazing graphics?
Wasn’t it bad enough that video games have rob them of the tween market?
Here’s the industry response to date…
1. The “Can’t beat them, join them” approach. It seems like everyone has an APP for your child. Barbie, Leapfrog, Hot Wheels, Thinkfun….everywhere we went at Toy Fair…there was an APP we needed to “let our readers know about.” (Except of course for the dizzying number of embargo dates). And yes, we will have to start taking a closer look at all of these toy related APPs. I haven’t gotten to play with it yet, but I do have to say that the Barbie Fashionista APP–looked really appealing (this coming from someone who really didn’t play with Barbies).
Barbie's Fashionista APP
2. “This is not your father’s iPad” – really. Toy makers are rolling out there own versions of iPad inspired tablets for your child. LeapFrog and VTech will go head to head with their platforms. Are they cheaper? Yes. Will your child be satisfied? Maybe. As with any of these toys, they just don’t have the sizzle of the real thing (which is why toy companies are hedging their bets with approach #1.) We will have to take a look at each of these products to review the content (remember that?) and whether the interface is pleasing. I have a sense that if your toddler or preschooler is already schooled in your gadgets, this is going to be a hard transition. On the other hand, if you start here–you may get to play with your gadget without the constant refrain of “my turn!”
Vying for attention (all to be released later this year):
LeapFrog Explorer Tablet
LeapPad Explorer Tablet (LeapFrog)- Promises to come with a 5″ screen and leverages the library of games and content from this educational toy company. It will also come with a built in camera. Suggested retail will be $99.99.
VTECH InnoPad
InnoPad (VTech) -Also features a 5″ touch screen, promises educational games, ebooks, USB port, a headphone jack. Suggested retail will be $79.99.
We’ll have to take a look. Sadly, both companies have moved away from partnerships with traditional publishers –leaving the ebook experience to the domain of mostly licensed materials. On this point alone, you may want to invest in a Color Nook–if you don’t want to go the bigger bucks on an iPad. Technology only goes so far. The CONTENT is still what should rule the day. We want our kids enjoy reading quality picture books no matter the format. Disney Princesses and Scooby Doo are fun–but they shouldn’t replace children’s books as part of your child’s daily experience.
3. The “Ok, you can play, but please don’t break it” approach. Handing off your expensive toys to a toddler or preschooler is a balancing act between achieving calm (at the grocery store, at the restaurant, in the car, etc.) and the possible damage that came come to such gadgets from liquids (those pesky sippy cups) or a plain old “oops” moments. For those parents, Fisher-Price hopes to be of assistance with their new Laugh & Learn I Can Play Case that puts your smart phone into a bigger case with easy-to-grab handles. We look forward to trying this case–will little fingers find the case too intrusive? Of course your 3 year old will find this way too babyish.
Fisher-Price Laugh and Learn I Can Play Case
Tags: Barbie, Barbie Fashionista, Fisher-Price, High Tech toys, Hot Wheels, InnoPad, ipad, iphone, Laugh & Learn I Can Play Case, Leapfrog, LeapPad Explorer, tablet toys, thinkfun, toy addiction, vtech
Posted in Best Books for Kids, Best Toys for Kids with Special Needs, Best Toys for Preschoolers, Best Toys for School Aged Kids, Best Toys for Toddlers, dolls, Fisher-Price, Gender Free Toys, High Tech toys, hot toys, Leapfrog, Licensed Toys, Mattel, preschoolers, Toy Fair, toy trends, toys, Toys for Kids with ADHD, Toys for Kids with Special Needs, travel toys, Uncategorized | 9 Comments »
Friday, February 25th, 2011
I probably love two categories of toys the best…bubbles and things that glow in the dark. Good news for me, since toy fair was chock full of toys that promised to glow in the dark (sadly, many don’t really glow the way you think they should).
But today, the topic is bubbles. 
A little back story. A little more than twenty years ago when I decided that corporate litigation was not going to be my life’s work…I came up with two ideas. One, was a company called “Earth Bubbles”. I sat at my desk at White & Case sketching designs for the globe-shaped container. But I also knew that a product as classic as bubbles needed something unique to grab market share. So I decided that colored bubbles would be amazing! Armed with various forms of tints– I went outside with my nieces (happy to play in their brand- spanking new white sneakers and spring clothes)….and you can probably write the rest.
After completely staining everything, being in a far amount of trouble with my brother and sister-in-law…I convinced my mother, who had already written two books on the topic of play, toys and child development…to start another business with me…and that is how the Oppenheim Toy Portfolio came to be.
So, you can now understand my interest in the new Crayola Washable Colored Bubbles. How did they do it? I was a little wary of the extensive warning instructions about quality and staining. (Of course, as someone who used to draft and review such warnings for a linoleum flooring company, I understand the conversation that probably went into this extensive list of disclaimers).
As much as I wanted to really love these colored bubbles, they just don’t do it.
What you really need to know…
They’re not kidding when they say they are strictly an outdoor toy. The bubbles can stain a whole host of surfaces (basically anything inside your house is fair game).
Now for me that doesn’t really take them out of the running. Some things are messy and are still great fun outside. But the bubbles here don’t really have that same “bubble-ish” lightness.
When you blow these bubbles, you get a lot of color. That’s satisfying, but they don’t really float the same way. It’s kind of like the difference between floaters and sinkers when it comes to matzo balls. It feels as if the color weighs them down too much. Sadly, this makes this product a disappointment.
Crayola Washable Colored Bubbles
You can take a look at our video. We tried it again on a wind filled day–but they still didn’t act like bubbles. You’ll see in the video that the bubbles stayed well-formed on the snow for a very long time and the color remained for days. It did wash off the concrete step but the warning label indicates that you should stay clear of wood (a la your deck!). I assume this also would mean to keep it away from outdoor furniture, stones, etc.
We were told at Crayola that it will come out clothes, but I wonder from my own experience how to get it off sneakers!
Tags: Crayola Washable Colored Bubbles, Joanne Oppenheim, Matzo Balls, White & Case
Posted in classic toys, Crayola, Outdoor toys, Play Time, preschoolers, Retro Toys, toy trends, toys, Uncategorized | 3 Comments »
Wednesday, December 1st, 2010
Over the years, this category has always been one that fascinates parents – often when they are in the throws of potty training. We had one testing family that was our go- to potty doll testers. Even dolls that I knew probably weren’t going to work out–they really wanted to test. One of the early potty dolls involved food and water…that you guessed it, had to come out. So the doll also came with disposable diapers. The only problem was that the food often got stuck and it was super difficult to get the doll to poop. Thankfully no doll enema included. Even Elmo got into the act with Potty Time Elmo…he was really polite about the whole experience and reinforced the idea that accidents happen. 
He made sound effects to simulate the experience…no actual diapers to change here. He made our Platinum List one year. As the mother of two boys, I was also particularly fond of Corolle’s Paul doll, an anatomically correct boy doll that pees (no pooping here).
So this is all to say that we are always interested in new dolls in this category. Yesterday we received a huge box of toys that we hadn’t seen yet (amazing since it just feels like we’ve seen every toy)…but we hadn’t tested this particular bunch. The one that caught our eye was Fisher-Price’s new Wipey Dipey from their Little Mommy line.
Fisher-Price's Little Mommy Wipey Dipey Doll
We usually like these novelty dolls and this one really made us curious. The box reads: “pee-pee and poo-poo disappear with a wipe!” Ok, not that unusual…but here’s the new twist. The diaper lights up with a light indicating that your dolly has made one or two…and then you wipe it away. No messy diapers (it comes with one plastic diaper that is not removable) and a wipe. You give Wipey Dipey her bottle and then she lets you know that she needs to be changed. She either tells you or makes an uncomfortable sound. In otherwords, this drink and wet doll…really doesn’t do either except in a high-tech manner.
Pros and Cons.
She’s a hard plastic doll…so she’s not soft and huggable. We also found some of her phrases difficult to understand. One could say she’s a mumbler…her supporters would also probably point out that she’s a baby doll. The novelty aspect of this doll is pretty unique and will appeal to small children that love the “let’s see what she made now” aspect of the doll play. My only real problem is that when you wipe the poo poo as they call it…you’re wiping in the wrong direction. I’m really amazed that I just constructed that sentence…but it is really an issue especially when you’re trying to teach kids how to properly wipe at this stage. On the other hand, nothing gets stuck in this doll and there is no water to clean up either. If you’re of the camp that likes to see the water come out of the doll, Wipey Dipey is probably going to disappoint you. On the other hand, if you are not big on messy dolls/toys in general…this high-tech no mess approach to potty training may just be what you’ve been looking for. Only if the real experience could be so mess free!
Watch our video.
Tags: Corolle Paul, Dolls that Wet, Elmo, Fisher-Price, High Tech Dolls, Interactive Dolls, Joanne Oppenheim, Little Mommy Wipey Dipey, Stephanie Oppenheim, toyportfolio.com
Posted in dolls, Fisher-Price, Play Time, preschoolers, pretend play, toy trends, toys, Uncategorized | No Comments »
Tuesday, November 16th, 2010
Stephanie Oppenheim, Al Roker and Natalie Morales
This morning’s segment was about the toyportfolio.com’s BEST HIGH TECH TOYS for 2010, the complete list of products is on our site. If you missed the segment from this morning you can watch it by clicking here.
This morning Joanne and I were in the upstairs green room. Usually we have so many kids with us that we are in the larger downstairs green room. As much as upstairs is very dignified, there’s usually a lot more action downstairs. I was down there for hair and make up. Rascal Flatts was getting ready. I got to see Peter Krause out of the corner of one eye while getting mascara put on. Love his show Parenthood!
The set seemed strange without my usual ten or twelve kids milling about but since I had a lot of high tech toys we decided to go without kids in the studio. We turned on all the bugs and many of the Hexbug Nanos jumped from their Battle Bridge and ended up on the floor. We had a fun collection of games, bugs, spiders, a motion activated snake, Crayola Color Studio, and an assortment of video cameras include Barbie Video Girl that seemed to really disturb Al! I see his point about the placement of Barbie’s camera (on a necklace–on her chest) but our kid testers really liked using this high tech version of Barbie.
Al taking a look at Barbie Video Camera
At the end we did a demo of the hot new KINECT for XBOX 360 from Microsoft. I was planning on wearing a dress but I was told last night that the sensors might not read my legs in a dress. There’s nothing like having to pick out an outfit where you know the camera is going to shoot you from behind (every woman’s dream). So I decided to go Matrix-y – all in black with the highest heeled boots I own! For the live tease Whitney (from Microsoft PR team) did a demo with me–she did great! And thankfully Tim (my tech hero this morning) was making sure that the KINECT game was up and running. Hard to play a game and talk about it as you’re playing I’ve discovered.
Al Roker and Stephanie Oppenheim playing KINECT
Usually after I do one of these segments I remember all the things I didn’t say. This morning the list includes: I didn’t mention that you need alot of space to play KINECT so it’s not great for really tiny apartments or dorm rooms. You need to be about 8 feet back and you also need room to move side to side (or run the risk of really hitting your opponent!). Als0 – most of the games that have come out for the holiday season are family and action oriented. So if you’re more of a point/shoot XBOX 360 fan, there aren’t titles for you yet…but suspect they’ll be on their way. I love playing Rallyball – it’s like Dodgeball but no one gets hurt! While it’s true that you don’t need to use a controller to play KINECT you will need to know how to use one to set it up initially…(in otherwords, if you’re not comfortable with controllers…you’ll want to get someone who know what they’re doing). The last thing I forgot to mention is that KINECT has facial recognition so that if you make your own Avatar and you turn it on–it will recognize you. How cool is that? Also there is voice recognition as well (also pretty Jetson like if you ask me!). That said…there is a learning curve for selecting games that can seem slow which seems kind of odd since the whole concept is so cutting edge. Ok…now I’ve said it all!
Tags: Al Roker, Best High Tech Toys for 2010, Crayola Color Studio, Dodgeball, KINECT for XBOX 360, Microsoft, Natalie Morales, Parenthood, Peter Krause, Rallyball, Rascal Flatts, Stephanie Oppenheim, Today Show, toyportfolio.com
Posted in Best Games for Kids, Best Toys for Preschoolers, Best Toys for School Aged Kids, Best Toys for Tweens, Crayola, Fisher-Price, High Tech toys, hot toys, Mattel, Oppenheim Toy Portfolio Award Winners, Play Time, preschoolers, Today Show, toy trends, travel toys, Uncategorized | 1 Comment »
Tuesday, October 26th, 2010
Calico Critters Hedghogs- Amazing!
Even though I absolutely shunned my own colonial dollhouse (sorry Mom)…I really have always loved the Calico Critters (International Playthings) and their houses over the years. The collections always feature what look like storybook animal families and miniature settings that fit them. I am absolutely obsessed with the Hedgehog family (see pic). This year they have a new Country Tree House that has lots of levels and features. Read our complete review.
Calico Critters Country Tree House
Tags: Calico Critters, Calico Critters Country Tree House, dollhouses, Hedgehogs, International Playthings, Oppenheim Toy Portfolio Award Winners, pretend play, toyportfolio.com
Posted in Best Toys for Kids with Special Needs, Best Toys for Preschoolers, Best Toys for School Aged Kids, classic toys, International Playthings, Play Time, preschoolers, pretend play, Toys for Kids with Special Needs, Uncategorized | No Comments »
