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ThinkFun Shape By Shape

Based on the ancient game of tangrams, Shape by Shape is the quietly absorbing game of fitting 14 pieces inside a puzzle frame. Not as simple as it sounds, players are challenged to match the image on each of 60 cards using six red pieces to form the card’s subject and eight yellow pieces to form its background. If needed, hints on the back of each card will aid the player. In addition to the 60 puzzles provided there are 27,268 ways to arrange the pieces inside the puzzle frame. Children who can draw up a master list will be well on their way to brilliant careers in math or engineering. This compact, nicely designed game includes a plastic drawer below the puzzle frame to hold the cards. –Wendy Slotboom

User Ratings and Reviews

4 Stars So hard my brain is sore
You just have to love an engaging activity that involves a small handful of simple shapes. The only complaint I have is that these puzzles are hard – really hard.

5 Stars Wonderful!!
I bought this toy ThinkFun Shape By Shape for my 4.5 y/o. He loves it, and it keeps him away from the t.v. and busy when I am helping the older children with school work. I have never seen my son sit still for as long as he has in the last week, and each time he solves a puzzle he jumps up and down with excitement. Now he can’t wait to show everybody who comes over how smart he is because he can do these puzzles. I just can’t say enough about it, even my older children are playing with it.

5 Stars fun that makes you think
I got this game for my 10 year old daughter because of 2 reasons. First, sometimes she wants to play games when no one else does. This game is something she can do on her own, or everyone can take turns. The other reason is to help her learn to think things through this is a great educational toy – you have to think not only about what you are doing now but what your next move will be. I really recommend this not just for the fun but for the education value as well – this is both of those and just makes for hours of fun.

5 Stars Not just for kids!
This is a great little game! However, it is NOT just for kids. My forty-something husband has worked the puzzles more than our kids (6,11,13.) I love that is comes with the nylon storage bag. No worries about a torn box! FYI, I have seen similar games that are designed to play with others and in teams. This one is designed as single player.

5 Stars Great Product
I’m a middle school English teacher. When my students finish their work early, they are allowed to play with logic puzzles that I have acquired over the years. I just purchased this product, along with several others, and am extremely happy with it. It really makes you think.

I completed the rooster; it took a while but I did it. You feel such accomplishment when you get all the pieces to work. When the kids are successful, they will say (tongue in cheek), “I smart.” After completing it, I couldn’t help saying, “I smart.” Get one–you won’t regret it.

Buy/More Info

Kid Toys Puzzles Ancient Game, Brain, Brilliant Careers, Cards, Education Value, Educational Toy, Excitement, Games, Handful, Math, Plastic Drawer, Puzzle, Puzzles, Shape, Shapes, Wendy, Yellow Pieces

LeapFrog Leapster Learning Game 1st Grade

Leapster Game Cartridge: 1st Grade takes your child on a great hunt for game tokens. It’s the grand opening of the RC Racetrack, where they’ll earn tokens for fun car races.

User Ratings and Reviews

4 Stars Leapster Game: First Grade
My son loves this Leapster Game. I like the fact that he is actually learning something. He is in kindergarten and I got this game for him to present a bit of a challenge for him. He has not completed all the levels yet, but he likes the fact that he can figure things out on his own. I am not sure if it is a full-fledged first grade level game, but it will present a challenge for 4 – 6 year olds.

4 Stars Nice upgrade from Kindergarden game
My daughter got a leapster and games for her birthday when she was 5 – one her favorites was the basic “Kindergarden” game, but it was becoming too easy for her a year later. I decided to try the 1st Grade game and she loves it – it is still challenging to her without being too frustrating. I’d much prefer she play with this than watch TV!

5 Stars My son is happy and learning
I wanted to buy a game that would make my 5 year old happy and, at the same time, improve his skills in Math and language. This game achieved achieved both ends.

I strongly recommend it for kids in Kindergarten, because it stimulates them. I don’t know whether it would work as well for 1st graders.

5 Stars great game, good EFL support
We bought this game for our 5 year old daughter as a support to learn english as a foreign language, and she loves it. The level in maths seems to be lower than 1st grade, but we expect this game to last through most of primary school. I recommend it for EFL/ESL.

4 Stars Nephew liked it for a minute
It held his interest for a little while. When I quizzed him, he seemed to be picking up some of the basic that the game was trying to teach.

Buy/More Info

Kid Toys [Learning & Education] Car Races, Efl Esl, Efl Support, English As A Foreign Language, First Grade, Game 1st, Game Cartridge, Game Tokens, Grade Game, Grand Opening, Great Game, Great Hunt, Kindergarten, Leapfrog Leapster, Level Game, Math, Nephew, Racetrack, Tv 5, Watch Tv

Fisher Price Rainforest Melodies and Lights Deluxe Gym

Bring the exciting world of the rainforest to life with the Fisher-Price Rainforest Melodies & Lights Deluxe Gym. This fun, interactive, and educational activity centers encourages healthy development while entertaining and calming baby. Designed for use from birth on up, and requiring two “C” batteries (not included), the gym has a soft quilt and offers music, lights, and nature sounds to keep baby safely occupied.

Fisher-Price Rainforest Melodies & Lights Deluxe Gym offers: Interactive gym helps encourage healthy development with music, lights, nature sounds, games, and textures Super-comfy floor quilt gives baby a soft place to rest or play 20 minutes of parent-activated continuous music; three different play modes for variety

Tummy-time play with five linkable toys that can be reposition for your baby. View larger.

Comfortable, Colorful Design
This bright and cheery activity center features a quilt with a silky border and colorful arches supported by an adorable giraffe. A variety of links let you attach toys up above or down below to capture baby's attention. A cushy monkey, jingly toucan, cute elephant, and parrot with spinning paddle invite baby to bat them around, an action that helps develop gross motor skills. You can also place baby on her stomach for some back-strengthening "tummy time." For added excitement, there's a spinner with rattling beads, spinning butterflies, a shiny mirror, and a crinkly leaf.

Three Modes of Play
To suit baby's mood, this gym offers three modes of play. In the first mode, baby's movements set off eight to 12 seconds of lights and music, which helps teach your child about the relationship between cause and effect. Another option is the music mode, which develops baby's auditory sense with 20 minutes of continuous music. Finally, the rainforest mode plays 20 continuous minutes of rainforest sounds while baby plays or simply relaxes--don't be surprised if he's soothed right off to dreamland!

This activity center measures 20 x 32.5 x 32.5 inches (WxHxD) and weighs 4.7 pounds.

What's in the Box
Quilt, arches, and a variety of hanging toys with links.

Plays up to 20 minutes of music or rainforest sounds for baby. View larger.

Satin butterflies spin at baby's touch, activating lights, music or sounds. View larger.

User Ratings and Reviews

3 Stars $189?!?!?! That's not what I paid for it somewhere else!
This is a fantastic little playmat, my son loves it. But holy cow, as of the date of this review Amazon is showing it for [...] that's insane! I paid [...]for it at the big T, and that was expensive compared to other play mats.

Update: Interesting Amazon edited the prices out of my review. At least they dropped the price the next day.

5 Stars Fantastic!
Our daughter loves this play gym. Her favorite toy is the little monkey. She loves to grab him and pull him down toward her. The music is upbeat and she dances her legs constantly whenever we turn it on. So glad we went with this gym!

4 Stars Great Gym- VERY overpriced from seller
[...] The only thing I wish this gym had was a tummy support pillow like most of the bobby gyms have. [...]

5 Stars love it
my baby absolutely loves this play mat and all of it's features esp. the lights. it is a little costly, but money well spent! i am buying a second one for grandma's house!

5 Stars Great play mat that has entertained my baby
This is a great play mat. We received it as a gift. Our 12 week old has used it since she was a month old. She loves the lights and the music. She has noticed and reached for the toys that come with the mat for the past four weeks. It is a pricey mat, but the fact that the lights and music come from the top of the mat where she can look at them (as opposed to under her back) make it worth it. And yes, as one commenter noted, it is hard to store, but it is due to the lights and music being at the top, which in my mind is worth it.

Buy/More Info

Kid Toys Baby Product C Batteries, Case Images, Clientwidth, Document Body, Document Images, Document Write, Educational Activity, Fisher Price, Fun Centers, Math, Melodies, Music Lights, Myh, Myw, Opera, Rainforest, Safari, Scrollbars, True Function, X Window

Schylling Tater Toss Game

Wind this plastic hot potato up and have fun passing the ticking potato around. But don’t get caught with it when it stops – then you’re out of the game! 6 1/2″ tall.

User Ratings and Reviews

5 Stars Surprise hit of the Christmas party!
I bought the Tater Toss for my 2 1/2 year old niece for Christmas–when she opened it we wound it up for her and started to toss it around to everyone in the room. It was so fun—she stood in the middle of the room, watching, and let out a huge squeal accompanied by a little dance. Wish I would have caught it on video. It was hysterical. It’s all she wanted to play with the entire day. She still drags it out to play it with just her mom and dad, which is probably not as fun as having the whole family around, but she still gets a thrill out of it. She has a room full of toys, but seems to continue to be engrossed with this inexpensive gift. Highly recommended if you show the kid(s) how to use it.

2 Stars This is not for young kids who can’t toss underhanded yet
It’s a fun toy for kids old enough to toss the toy underhand & catch it. My 4-year old took a few bonks to the forhead with it because she couldn’t catch it. Ouch! Also, she can’t toss underhand yet so she wants to throw it; the hard plastic can hurt if you don’t catch it.

4 Stars I thought it was fun…
I bought this for my 3-year-old. I thought it would be a fun game that we could all play as a family. However, the very first time we played, the alarm went off when my daughter was holding it. It freaked her out and she hasn’t wanted to play it since. She gets her dad and I to play it… but SHE won’t play it.

4 Stars Ready, Set, Go
This is a great tool to use for your students in any subject. Play hot potato with your kids and when it stops on the person you can quiz them in language arts, math or anything else. Kids love it and they want to be the one it stops on. It is a lot of fun:)

5 Stars Awesome product
My grandchildren love this toy. They want to play it everyday. It’s a great birthday game for birthday partys as well. It teaches the kids to move quickly, that time is short, and they have to cooperate with each other to pass the “Hot Potato”. It’s kind-of-like musical chairs except that you don’t need as much space or as many people to play. Everyone can hear the timer ticking but you never know when it’s going to ring so everyone passes the potato quickly. When the timer rings, the one holding the “Hot Potato” is out of the game and no one wants to be out of the game. There is usually a lot of laughter while playing “Hot Potato”. Fun for kids of all ages.

Buy/More Info

Kid Toys Activities & Amusements Bonks, Christmas, Christmas Party, Forhead, Fun 5, Fun Game, Grandchildren, Hot Potato, Language Arts, Math, Mom And Dad, Niece, Squeal, Surprise, Tater Toss, Toys, Young Kids

Schylling Tater Toss Game

Wind this plastic hot potato up and have fun passing the ticking potato around. But don’t get caught with it when it stops – then you’re out of the game! 6 1/2″ tall.

User Ratings and Reviews

5 Stars Surprise hit of the Christmas party!
I bought the Tater Toss for my 2 1/2 year old niece for Christmas–when she opened it we wound it up for her and started to toss it around to everyone in the room. It was so fun—she stood in the middle of the room, watching, and let out a huge squeal accompanied by a little dance. Wish I would have caught it on video. It was hysterical. It’s all she wanted to play with the entire day. She still drags it out to play it with just her mom and dad, which is probably not as fun as having the whole family around, but she still gets a thrill out of it. She has a room full of toys, but seems to continue to be engrossed with this inexpensive gift. Highly recommended if you show the kid(s) how to use it.

2 Stars This is not for young kids who can’t toss underhanded yet
It’s a fun toy for kids old enough to toss the toy underhand & catch it. My 4-year old took a few bonks to the forhead with it because she couldn’t catch it. Ouch! Also, she can’t toss underhand yet so she wants to throw it; the hard plastic can hurt if you don’t catch it.

4 Stars I thought it was fun…
I bought this for my 3-year-old. I thought it would be a fun game that we could all play as a family. However, the very first time we played, the alarm went off when my daughter was holding it. It freaked her out and she hasn’t wanted to play it since. She gets her dad and I to play it… but SHE won’t play it.

4 Stars Ready, Set, Go
This is a great tool to use for your students in any subject. Play hot potato with your kids and when it stops on the person you can quiz them in language arts, math or anything else. Kids love it and they want to be the one it stops on. It is a lot of fun:)

5 Stars Awesome product
My grandchildren love this toy. They want to play it everyday. It’s a great birthday game for birthday partys as well. It teaches the kids to move quickly, that time is short, and they have to cooperate with each other to pass the “Hot Potato”. It’s kind-of-like musical chairs except that you don’t need as much space or as many people to play. Everyone can hear the timer ticking but you never know when it’s going to ring so everyone passes the potato quickly. When the timer rings, the one holding the “Hot Potato” is out of the game and no one wants to be out of the game. There is usually a lot of laughter while playing “Hot Potato”. Fun for kids of all ages.

Buy/More Info

Kid Toys Activities & Amusements Bonks, Christmas, Christmas Party, Forhead, Fun 5, Fun Game, Grandchildren, Hot Potato, Language Arts, Math, Mom And Dad, Niece, Squeal, Surprise, Tater Toss, Toys, Young Kids