And these are 2011's Best New Toys because?

1. Plants Vs. Zombies Board Game | Because unlike PC screens, boardgames don't cause eye strain.

2. Plants Vs. Zombies Plush toys | Why not?

($18.90 at Amazon)

3.Mooshi Monsters | Because online game pet monsters also want to materialize into plush toys someday.

($39.99 at Amazon)

4.Fisher Price Kid Tough See Yourself Camera | Because no way you're going to let kids have a go with your mucho expensive DSLR.

($38.54 at Amazon)

 

5.Inchworm | Because robots we can control and make crawl and even pirouette are cool.  (Both the robot and the act of controlling.)

($16.95 at Amazon)

6.Angry Birds Plush Toys | Because anger is such a nice marketable vice..  

($9.63 at Amazon)

7. Meccano's Space Chaos Silver Force Fighters |  Because it's about frigging time the Meccano building sets turned towards space.

($16.13 at Amazon)

8. Lego: Discovery International Space Station | Because kids don't know who John Glenn is anymore.


($114.90 at Amazon)

9. Sylvanian Families Ambulance | Because the famous woodland creatures, after decades of peaceful living in the forest, have deemed it important to take turns being doctor and patient.

10. Perplexus | Because we're fascinated with mazes and labyrinths, and getting lost, and so much the better if it's in 3D.

($15.99 at Amazon)

How to Buy An Eco-Toy the Guilt-Free Way

Eco-aware folks tell us to reduce, reuse, recycle in exactly this order.  Which means the spate of eco-toys sold in toy stores everywhere or online are better off not bought in the first place: the reduce part.  

To be really, as in really eco-friendly, we'd have to reduce our purchased and shun those new sparkling toys...

as if they were the plague--no matter how eco-friendly they claim to be.


 Impossible to follow, of course.  You're probably saying, forget the environment, I'm buying my little boy a Handy Manny toy set.

No monkeying around with eco-toys

So we go to the next R: reuse.  Pre-owned toys are perfectly fine, and if you scour your local thrift store, you might find a treasure trove of second-hand toys still in good condition, all ready to make fresh memories with its new owner. 


Simply put, just because a toy is deemed eco-friendly, that doesn't mean it's 100% eco-friendly.  If for example you're buying it online, think about the carbon footprint that would be spent shipping off the toy.  Or sure, that toy is made out of sustainably-grown bamboo but since the grass thrives best in tropical Asian countries, there's still the fuel to be accounted for to get those bamboo shipped in the US and Europe.




What you can do instead:


1. Arrange a toy swap meet with parents in your neighborhood, and exchange toys with them.  Bring the kids along too.


2.  If you must buy a toy, buy one that's sturdy and can be handed down to another kid when your kid outgrows it.  Don't buy cheap toys that look like they'll fall apart within weeks.


3. Always remember to clean and disinfect any second-hand toy you buy from the thrift store.


4. Sometimes, no matter how nostalgic or meaningful a toy is to your kid, there comes a time when that toy has to go.  (Think Toy Story 3).  In which case, that toy is better handed down to another kid who'll find more use for it instead of it just sitting on the shelf collecting dust everyday.  Donate to an orphanage or a charity institution, etc.


5.  Do a little Googling and check toy manufacturer's policies regarding the eco-friendliness of their product.


6. Build your own eco-toy from trash.  Bring out the glue and colored paper and scissors and let kids think up of ingenious uses for milk cartons, egg cartons, that big box your printer came out of.

7. For electronic toys, buy rechargeable batteries and a charger instead of one-time-use-only disposable batteries.  Rechargeable batteries may cost higher but they pay for themselves in years, and you're also doing your bit for the environment.  Also, enlist your child's cooperating in turning the toy off when they're not playing with it.



So you see, it's not always a good eco-decision to buy the latest, most talked-about eco toy that comes out in the market.  Sometimes, a little restraint with a firm No can be good too.

UK's 25 Best-Selling Toys (The Toys R Us List)

Remember Furby, the part-owl part hamster interactive electronic hairy pet which became a hit in 1998?  Yeah, Furbies were a best-seller. 

Today's list: the 25 best-selling toys in United Kingdom in the last 25 years, as compiled by toy giant Toys R Us, which turned 25 in 2010:
 

25 Best-selling Toys in UK from the Last 25 Years



P.S. Did you play POGS (the milkcaps) too when you were in gradeschool?

The Best Multi-Awarded Educational Toys For Kids [Part 1]

Magic School Bus Going Green Science Kit

1. The Magic School Bus "Going Green" Science Kit (from Young Scientists Club)

Toy Industry awards: 30
Age: 5 +
Amazon Price: $21.99  $14.32

Okay, this cool learning toy is geeky and all, but who cares? The fun it packs is downright superb, so go right ahead.  The Magic School Bus "Going Green" Science Kit unleashes the young scientist in your kid, letting your kid learn how to save the planet through a series of fun and exciting DIY experiments, such as:

    * Recreating the water cycle,
    * Building a compost tube,
    * Shrinking plastic,
    * Making styrofoam packaging cubes disappear,
    * Decomposing food with fungi,
    * Making eco-friendly paper

Every Magic School Bus Science kit is designed by Harvard graduates, scientists, acclaimed educators and parents, and what's more--they're tested and approved by kids themselves attending the Young Scientist Summer camps.










2. Blokus (from Mattel)

Blokus

Toy Industry Awards: 26, including a Mensa Award
Age: 5 +
Amazon Price: $24.99  $20.00

Blokus is an award-winning educational toy that both kids and their parents can enjoy.  It's a strategy game that hones your kid's logic and spatial skills by letting them figure out how to fit their pieces on the game board while blocking their opponents'. 

Sounds easy?  Yes, and no.  Blokus is easy enough to understand and learn, but the head-scratching (and fun) becomes greater as you progress into the game.  All in all, this is one great educational toy worth getting hooked into anytime.

For a more challenging game, there's Blokus 3D.

Qwirkle

3. Qwirkle (from MindWare)

Awards:
    * Games Magazine Award: Best Family Game Runner-up 2007
    * Mensa Best Mind Game Award Winner 2007;
    * Major Fun Award Winner 2007

      Age: 6 +
      Amazon Price: $34.99 $16.51

Tired of dominoes?  Qwirkle might just be the answer.  This is not just your average match-the-colors-and-shapes educational toy.  You never sit casually to a game of Qwirkle, you bring your best logical skills and strategy to the table.  Players try to score the highest by laying out their tiles according to the shape and color.

Sounds simple enough, but when you're in the thick of it, you'll realize that the best scores to outdo your opponent are achieved when you lay a wicked combination of tiles.

4. GloBonz (by Curious Toys)

GloBonz

Awards:
    * National Parenting Publication’s (NAPPA) Honor Award Winner,
    * Family Fun Magazine Toy of the Year Award Winner

      Age: 5 +
      Amazon Price: $29.99 $25.98 

      No matter what, kids will always be fascinated with dinosaurs, so Curious Toys takes this fascination to a whole new level with GloBonz's glow-in-the-dark dinosaur skeletons.  There's fun and learning with vertebrae, you know. 


With 32 swiveling and flexible joint pieces in each canister, and what's more, they can be interchanged with other GloBonz construction kits. They can be practically made into fabulous and weird creatures, not just dinosaurs.  The verdict: puzzle-solving skills and imagination, a big check. 

5. Stars, Planets, Forces Science Kit (From Young Scientists Club)


Awards:

Stars, Planets, Forces Science Kit

    * Dr. Toy's "100 Best Children's Products"
    * The National Parenting Center Seal of Approval,
    * Learning Success Institute "Outstanding Learning Success Resource Award",
    * National Parenting Publications Parenting Awards

Age: 9+
Amazon Price: $26.99 $24.97


The Stars, Planets, Forces Science Kit combine three nifty science kits in one package.

This multi-awarded educational toy deftly introduces your budding astronomer/physicist into the wonderful world of science governed with such curious forces as gravity, momentum, and Newton's Three Laws of Motion.

Packed with several fun interactive experiments, this science kit lets your kid build their very own star book and constellation box, a planetarium, and even their own DIY telescope.

Top 17 People You Can Give GIANTmicrobes Stuffed Toys To

 They're GIANTmicrobes--plush toys inspired by real-life germs, viruses and bacteria, magnified a million times.  

The brainchild of ex-lawyer-turned-toy-entrepreneur Drew Oliver, GIANTmicrobes lets you safely cuddle your favorite pathogen-turned-stuffed-toy.   

GIANTmicrobes as Valentine's gifts?  Why not?  Pathogens are romantic too!

Who to give these pathogenic stuffed toys to?

1. Kids who won't wash their hands/refuse to take a bath and don't believe in germs.

2. The science teacher friend with the unruly class (They make great teaching materials).

3. The hypochondriac officemate. (For best results, anonymously stuff one inside his or her bag).

4. Your long-time dentist (GIANTmicrobes has a cavity bacteria version).

5. The confused scientist cousin, specializing in retroviruses.

6. Your spouse/lover (to subtly remind him/her about the virtues of faithfulness.


7. Your favorite waitress (There's also a Salmonella and E.coli GIANTmicrobes plush toy).


8. To your optimist Ned Flanders neighbor.


9. To your recovering nephew still studded all over with chicken poxmarks.

10. To your neatfreak obssessive-compulsive roommate (to further instill vigorous and frequent hand-washing).

11.  To the angst-ridden teenager looking for a role model.

12. To your mother-in-law (don't reveal yet what they are; see if she can guess).

13. To your most-hated enemy, (reveal right away, to hammer the message home.)


14. To your grandparents who keep saying they've already seen everything.

15. To your prom date (mixed signals are good too, plus you can give them Herpes and they won't mind.).


16. To your microbiologist sister to end all that sibling rivalry for good. 

17. To yourself, just because.

 

There's Romance and Microbes in the Air or the GIANTmicrobes stuffed toys

Is Your Toy Included in The National Toy Hall of Fame?

The first and original inductees in the National Toy Hall of Fame established in 1998 by American science educator Ed Sobey.  The criteria for selection: icon-status (a toy that's widely recognized and remembered); longevity (not just a passing fad); discovery (fosters learning and creativity); and innovation (profoundly changed toy design and the way we play).

View-Master

   1. Barbie
   2. Crayola Crayon
   3. Erector Set
   4. Etch-A-Sketch
   5. Frisbee
   6. Hula Hoop
   7. Lego
   8. Lincoln Logs
   9. Marbles
  10. Monopoly
  11. Play-Doh
  12. Radio Flyer wagon

Tinkertoy

  13. Roller Skates
  14. Teddy Bear
  15. Tinkertoy
  16. View-master
  17. Duncan Yo-Yo

Okay, Crayola is more of a school supply, but you get the point.  And don't worry, G.I. Joe was included in 2004.

Trust the Japanese to Know Cool Toys | Toys List in Video Form

There's 49 of them cool toys in this video.

Trust the Japanese to know cool when it comes to toys.  Heck, we'll forever be grateful to them for giving us Famicom and Gameboy and Wii, and game titles such as Super Mario Bros., and the insatiable Pacman, and a host of other video games that made our childhood all the more fun.  And who can forget the Tamagotchi too?  But they just never stop, and instead keep on giving and giving.


I bet it'd be such bliss to visit a toy store--any toy store--in Japan.   Makes you wish you were in Japan.  I bet it'd be nicer if I can spend the night in said toy store after closing time.  

Wait, I take that back--I'm still haunted by that episode of Are You Afraid of the Dark? where the pinball-machine-obssessed boy gets trapped inside a mall at closing time.  Later he later finds out that he has become a player in the giant pinball machine which is the entire mall, and he must elude the bad guys and play forever and ever.

The Best Classic Toys for Kids (In Trivia Form)

1. It takes 80 feet of wire to make a Slinky.  Originally it was intended as a spring support for sensitive equipment on ships.

2. Lego was named by Businessweek as the world's largest tire manufacturer, with some 306 million tiny rubber tires produced each year.

3. Barbie's full name is Barbie Millicent Roberts, while her parents' are George and Margaret.

4. The English historical name of Yo-yo is bandalore.

5. Nintendo means "leave luck to heaven." [Check out Famicom game Elevator Action].

6. Play-Doh was supposed to be a putty-like wallpaper cleaner.

7. There are exactly 43,252,003,274,489,856,000 possible permutations in a Rubik's Cube. This number is called a quintillion, although manufacturers often advertise it as "billions", as many might not be able to appreciate the magnitude of a quintillion.

8. Six (6) Lego bricks can be arranged in 915,103,765 ways.   [check out Lego for Adults]

9. In Scrabble, the word MUZJIKS (which means Russian peasants), when played on the first move, will give the highest score of 128.

10. If Barbie were a human, her measurements would be 39-21-33.

11. The most commonly landed on square In Monoploly (excluding Jail) is Illinois Avenue.  [check out If America Were a Monopoly Game].

12. The first-ever advertised toy in television was Mr. Potato Head, in 1952.

13. The first Frisbee was a pie tin.

The 7 Best Toys That Don't Need Batteries

Let's admit it: with Xbox, Wii, PSP, online games, and other tech gadgets heavily competing for our kids' attention, they begin to equate a good game and toy with excellent graphics, challenging levels, and engaging virtual world. Anything less than that is considered inferior.
More often than not, they'd much prefer being cooped up in the house, face plastered on the bright graphics of their game gadgets. And they're missing the real fun of the best toys. It's time they realize the best toys don't always need batteries.

Frisbee. With Frisbees priced anywhere from just $5 to $12 at Amazon, it's almost a sin not to own one of this nifty flying discs. Let your kids rediscover the Great Outdoors and toss a Frisbee with them. You can even have the dog join you. It's good exercise too, and an opportunity to bond with them.

Scrabble. Rampant text messaging ruining your kid's spelling abilities? Scrabble is one of the best educational toys to combat that. Scrabble promotes creative thinking, vocabulary, as well as strategy. Sit down to a good game of Scrabble (with hot cocoa and cookies) and start outshining your opponent's words.

Chess. An honorable game, no doubt. Every kid should be taught how to play chess as it not only involves tactics and critical thinking, but teaches your kid patience and discipline. Sure, there's also online chess, but nothing beats real-life chess with tangible pieces you can hold and move around.

Bicycle. Can't get enough of the Great Outdoors? After you're done with the Frisbee, get on your bike and enjoy the scenery and the fresh air. A bicycle company called Razor has even reinvented the classic three-wheeler and turned it into one free-wheeling, swift experience called the Rip Rider 360 (only $85 at Amazon). The 360 degrees capability (don't worry, it's safe) certainly puts an edge to your kid's ride.  (Of if you're feeling rich, this uber-expensive YikeBike.)

Origami. It's not a toy nor a game, of course. More of an art and a puzzle in one. Origami, the art of paper folding, teaches discipline, exactitude, neatness, and carefulness. (You gotta make the folds neat.) It's time you and your kid sat down in a quiet corner and attempt to make a thing of beauty and wonder with a flat piece of square paper. Origami supplies and origami beginner's books are available online.

Kites. Yes, kites. Kites are nifty toys you and your kid can play with. Whether you choose to make kite-flying a competitive game or something you just do on a leisurely Sunday, the important thing is that you're in it together, soaring high. And no online games can do that.

Lego. Actually, anything that lets your kid use his/her imagination to build things with has to be a best toy. For that matter, K'NEX, Lincoln Logs, CoasterDynamix (a construction toy that lets your kid build roller coasters), Matchitecture, Marble Run are just some of the best toys out there. For sheer classic fun, there's the incomparable Lego bricks, hailed as the Best Toy in the World, by the scientific community. Heck, even without that recommendation, it's still fun to play with Legos.

Those are just seven good games that don't require batteries. We haven't even begun to cover baseball, Monopoly, Boggle, yo-yo, Visionary board game, Uno Stacko, and many, many others that let your kid interact with others. So give that PSP a rest for a while, and start playing a real good game.

Best Badass Toys for Kids | Wired.com's List

In photo: The Ant-O-Sphere($50): the build-your-own-ant-colony-and-play-God kit for your kid.

Gee, I've always wanted one when I was a kid.  Although I'm thinking I would be the torturous kind of God bent on making life hard for thy puny ants.  

For what it's worth though, this is a remarkable toy, one which I wished there were back in my time.  Because back then, you used a glass tank for your ant colony--which used lots of soil and can be messy.  

So this Ant-O-Sphere here is a good improvement, keeping things tidy and well... space-age.  With a design this good, you certainly won't mind displaying your little city of ants on top of your desk.

There's also a toy (the Backyard Brains SpikerBox, $100) that lets kids analyze spikes from living biological specimens, say an amputated cockroach leg.  Assuming your kid is not the squeamish type.

Then there are the cool, environment-friendly toys (like the Green Toys, made from recycled milk containers).  Ideally, you want toys for your kids that keep them away from that blasted PSP and Xbox and whatever game console you have.

There is one toy in Wired's list though that actually condones video games, besides being just downright ridiculously-priced: the Pinel and Pinel Arcade 80's Trunk: an 80's style game arcade right at your own home at a whopping $18,800.  (Seems like you should be saving up for your kid's college fund instead.  Or maybe, the it's the nostalgic parent who's really dying to own and install the Arcade 80's Trunk in the comfort of his/her own home.

Another overpriced toy: the glorified protypical toy car--the Auditorium Toy Boattail Racer--at, again, a whopping $350.

One commenter on Wired who isn't impressed says:

"These are lame toys for kids. Looks like they're more like toys that adults would find cool and buy for their kids so they can play with them."

 Then again, that's Wired for you, and the toys have to be cerebral, quirky, and nerdy as well.  Certainly nothing wrong with that.

http://www.wired.com/reviews/2010/11/pr_wishlist2010_tykes/

2010’s Best Toys for Kids

[in no particular order]

1 The Sing-A-Ma-Jigs.  These collectible bizarre-looking plush toys can carry a tune, each one with a signature octave, so when you get them going all at once, the result is a fine symphony you’ve never heard before.

On her talkshow, Ellen DeGeneres gives away Sing-a-Ma-Jigs to her audience, and lets them press their new toy simultaneously, just to see how 300 Sing-a-Ma-Jigs sound like when harmonized. [see, I mean ,hear below at 2:50]

2 Ben10 Ultimate Alien Disc Ultimatrix.  Why not?  After all, why should Ben be the only kid who gets to wear the cool ultimatrix and transform into villain-busting aliens?

3 Fisher Price iXL Learning System.  Inarguably the best educational toy for toddlers this year, the iXL Learning System is the iPad for kids.  Has nifty applications for reading, math, games, art, and even music. Touchscreen too, and has expandable memory for more software.

4  MONOPOLY Revolution.  Purists might not like the idea of Monopoly's new circular boardgame, and the fact that fake credit cards have replaced the regular good 'ol cold cash, but the updated Monopoly Revolution is still worth checking out.  Don't worry, the classic version is still available.

5 LEGO Harry Potter Hogwarts Castle.  The best of both worlds collide.  Our favorite Lego bricks and our favorite boy wizard, Harry Potter make for an exciting construction gameplay and creative storytelling for hours on end.  (Comes with the usual cast of HP, plus two Dementors to make things more interesting.)

6 Stinky the Garbage Truck.  It’s the garbage truck who sings, dances, and cracks jokes.  And readily gobbles whole cars too and spits them out.

7 Dance Star Mickey (from Fisher Price).  The faultlessly lovable Mickey dances and sings his way into your heart.


8 Rip Rider 360.  The must-have bike for kids.  Rip Rider is the three-wheeler literally with a twist, letting riders spin 360 degrees as they coast the road at high speeds.



9 Ferrari F1 electric ride-on.  Ferrari F1, the kiddie version.  But this one’s backed up by real Ferrari engineers, so you know your kid’s in good hands.


10 XBOX Kinect (see previous post on Kinect).  Goodbye joysticks and game controllers.  With the revolutionary Kinect for Xbox, you are the controller and you get to be inside the game yourself.

11 Kung Zhu Battle Hamsters.  Contrary to popular belief, hamsters don’t always have to be the designated class pet, cute and fragile.  The Kung Zhu Battle Hamsters have smart microchip technology in them.  Strap on their battle gear and train them into assiduous fighters for their special battle arena.

12.Buzz Lightyear Jet Pack.  It’s Buzz Lightyear, for goodness sake!  You can’t go wrong with Buzz.