Infant & Preschool ThinkFun Gets Babies into the Groove
M
ove & Groove, from ThinkFun, inspires movement, creativity, laughter, and learning for babies ages 18 months and up. The game introduces little ones to the basics of game play and the joy of movement without the pressure of competition. Players toss the plush cube to determine the color, choose a matching colored card, and perform the given move. There’s no right or wrong way to boogie, so babies can use their imagination while improving balance, coordination, and flexibility.
Edushape Shapes Up Educational Fun
K
ids can use Edushape’s Lady Bug Sorter on a table, the floor, a bed, or in the bath. The Ladybug Sorter can float on its firm Edu-Foam lily pad bottom and includes six unique shapes for sorting fun and learning. Shapes ’n Shadows lets kids take hand shadows to the next level. Shapes ’n Shadows builds on the entertaining fun of simple shadows with a self-standing 13- by 11.5-inch Theater Screen and 24 pieces that snap together in different ways to form ever-changing shadow puppet creatures. Using any available type of illumination, such as a window or a flashlight, Shapes ’n Shadows encourages role playing, storytelling, creativity, and building skills. Build ’n Play Forest is an easy construction Edu-Foam puzzle that becomes a fun forest tree that includes two seesaw balancing branches. Kids can use the included Edushape animals and food pieces to balance the branches just right. Chicky Fun Puzzle doubles as both a puzzle and a sensory balance, open-ended stacking toy. Open-ended construction doesn’t create any expectations, since there is no right or wrong way to play. Starting as an 11- by 11-inch puzzle with rounded shapes to match, the puzzle eventually progresses to a patterned balancing toy using shapes that require more thought than most puzzles or blocks. Kids must name the animal by its coat pattern in Animal Memory Match. Each of the 24 squares has an animal’s coat pattern on one side and the animal on the other. The game helps build pattern recognition and association skills, and can be used during bathtime. In addition to these new products, Edushape has revamped its package design this year. Edushape’s new white packages’ fronts are designed to draw the customers’ eyes toward the product in the box. Developmental icons on the package represent each toy’s developmental aspects, with each skill titled for easy comprehension. The side, top, and bottom colors are consistent within each category; For example, all baby/toddler products are red and water toys are blue. New live image and animation design themes appeal to both children and adults, and all package text is trilingual.
240 • THE TOY BOOK
FEBRUARY 2014