Toys On The Brain

Archive for the ‘Creative Toys’ Category

Toys on the Brain is thrilled to have another writer to join in the mayhem. I’m overjoyed to present Rhonda (you can read more about her on our About page) in her inaugural post!

No flashing lights, no batteries, no music: hey, some toys never get old. The Lego-Duplo Brick Bucket is the perfect tool for kids to segue into the world of all that is Legos. Bigger than Duplo blocks, yet smaller than traditional Legos, these blocks are truly the right size for young children from 1 1/2 to 2 up through age 5, but may be quite addictive for parents of all ages.

The size of the bricks are perfect for creating just enough of a challenge for little hands to manipulate while developing fine motor skills. This bucket set includes various shapes to create simple buildings, walls, towers, airplanes, and rockets. It also includes one Lego-Duplo boy, a swing, a trailer with a hitch and wheels, ladders, a couple of parts with “doors” that swing open on hinges, sloped blocks, and one curved attachment, allowing kids to create parks, steps, bridges, and entry ways.

My toddler plays with these for quite some time: enjoying the act of putting together, taking apart, building up, and (of course) knocking down.

If I were to change one thing about this set, it would be for Lego to add a few more pieces with wheels and include a least a couple more characters. Of course, then the Lego folks would miss out on selling additional pieces one of the numerous “add-on” sets that can be purchased.

• Lego Website

Buy Lego Duplo Products Online:

• at Amazon.com
• at Target
• at WalMart

As a rule, I hate Matchbox toys. I loathe those stupid little cars, I despise those tracks, and I’ve never thought highly of the quality of the toys they produce. Well, here’s a toy from Matchbox that I actually can’t find (much) fault with. The Matchbox Mega Rig Space Shuttle is one of the toys Small Person #1 has been begging for ever since he first saw it in toy catalogs. Well, today was his birthday and he finally got his shuttle!

The first thing you notice is that the shuttle is HUGE! It has tons of little pieces (bad) and can be assembled in many different ways (good). Of course, the favorite pieces for both Small Persons #1 and #2 are the little green alien (he’s squishy and has tiny suction-cup feet) and his purple flying saucer (it shoots missiles and makes really loud annoying sounds).

The best thing for Small Person #1, of course, is that most of his Star Wars Galactic Heroes figures fit in most of the areas that open up (and there are a lot of them). Luke has already been seen flying to rescue Leia from an odd-looking green creature, and Darth has stowed away on another part of the ship while holding Han Solo hostage.

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When I reviewed the Lite Brite Cube, I mentioned all the things that I didn’t like: no batteries, no place to really store the pegs, and shoddy construction, to name a few. Oh, sure, the boys still liked it, but it was a pain in the butt for the rest of humanity. So, it seems that someone out there was listening, as now we have the Lite Brite Flat Screen, which seemingly remedies all of these issues.

For the record, it’s entirely possible that this version has been out for a very long time. However, we just received it for Small Person #1’s birthday, so this is the first chance I’ve had to try it out.

The first difference with the flat screen version is that it runs off batteries - three D batteries, to be precise. This is great for travel or using someplace where you don’t have access to an outlet. Finally, Junior isn’t tethered to the wall! Of course, you’ll want to invest in some rechargeable batteries, or get a lot of regular batteries to keep up with its power needs if your child really likes it.

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We all know that money is going to be tight this holiday season. So, to help you maximize what you have and get the kids some toys they’ll enjoy, I’ve put together a list of the Top 8 Cheap Toys That Don’t Suck.

When I think of a classic board game, I immediately think of Monopoly. But, of course, it is far from the only one out there. From Life to Candy Land to Chutes and Ladders, there’s a game available for every age group. Even better, when it comes to prices, the classics we’ve loved for years tend to be quite reasonable. You can get the classic Monopoly pictured above for $10; the classic Candy Land is only $5. Stick with the classic versions rather than the updated ones to save money, and enjoy the time you get to spend playing with your little one!

Buy Board Games Online:

• at Amazon.com

Turns out, Ecotronic’s Eco Rocket continues to be good for the environment (and kids’ fun) beyond the toy itself. As I was performing one of my all-too-seldom apartment cleanings last week and was stuffing all my cardboard into a bag for recycling, I realized that some of the packaging from the Eco Rocket would be perfect for the kids to use as houses for their smaller toys.

I saved the packaging and used the opportunity of a day off of school for Small Person #1 to let the kids paint them. They were actually really excited, since they love having the opportunity to make a mess, and they thought the cardboard forms were pretty darn cool. As you can see from the picture, Galactic Heroes are a nice fit, and Small Person #1 loves being able to use the forms as houses, castles, ships, or what have you. Plus, now we get to reuse something that’s already been recycled - can’t get much better for the environment than that!

You have to love a toy that keeps giving beyond the toy itself, especially when the toy is as environmentally friendly as the Eco Rocket. Rock on, Ecotronics!

• Green Party Goods Website
• Ecotronic Toys Website

For the time being you can save 15% off of all of Green Party Goods’ Green Toys and Gifts with the code save15.

Buy the Ecotronic Rocket Online:

• at Green Party Goods

I have a fundamental problem with the Aquadoodle Draw N’ Doodle Mat. The problem? I like to save the kids’ artwork. Every single lovely little piece of it. So a toy that is based on disappearing artwork would seem likely to find its way into my hate pile pretty quickly. Surprisingly, it doesn’t.

I suppose part of it is that I know, somewhere very very deep down inside, that I don’t really need to save all of the kids’ scribbles. It won’t stop me from doing so, of course, but at least the volume isn’t quite what it could be.

Essentially, the mat allows kids to use water to make blue marks on a large square of fabric. As the water dries, the marks disappear. So, unfortunately, if your child creates something to rival the best of Van Gogh, you won’t have any proof once the water dries. But, since that’s a lot less likely than we all want to believe, it probably isn’t too much of a concern.

One thing that does annoy me about Aquadoodle is that they have way too many varieties of the mats. There are Diego Aquadoodle mats, Dora Aquadoodle mats, Thomas Aquadoodle mats… well, you get the idea. And to be honest, you just don’t need more than one. The little accessories that come with the other mats (usually cars or trains that follow a track you make on the mat with your water pens) could easily be sold separately instead of requiring the purchase of yet another big hunk of fabric to take up space in your living room. As a matter of fact, we end up using at least one of them as Play-doh surfaces instead of ever using it for doodling.

Bonus points for being big enough for more than one kid to use at a time. Points lost for only including one “magic pen” with the regular version - make sure you buy extras or break out the q-tips or paint brushes and water to make up for it.

• Aquadoodle Website

Buy Aquadoodle Online:

• at Amazon.com
• at Wal-Mart
• at KB Toys
• at eToys
• at Back to Basics Toys

When the folks at Green Party Supplies asked if they could send me a toy to review, I was downright giddy. When I read about it, I was even more excited. A fun toy that doesn’t need batteries every two days? How awesome! Of course, the real worth would lie in how much Small Persons 1 and 2 liked it.

The first thing that strikes you about this toy is the packaging. With a typical toy, the process of getting it out goes something like this:

1. Try to rip open plastic. Fail.
2. Get out scissors. Cut off edge of plastic. Try to open plastic. Fail.
3. Get out knife. Cut off more plastic. Take small chunk of flesh off of thumb. Succeed in partially opening package.
4. Rip rest of plastic open. Remove skin from knuckles. Encounter the dreaded “hard silver twisty tie things.”
5. Get out scissors again. Saw at hard silver twisty tie things. Cut through most of them.
6. Remove toy, with hard silver twisty tie things still attached, from cardboard. Impale finger on hard silver twisty tie things.
7. Rip out final vestiges of hard silver twisty tie things. Lose small ends in toy. Toy will now rattle for the rest of its usable days, constantly whispering “You failed, you failed!”
8. Child has long since lost interest in toy and started playing with the cardboard shipping box it came in. You require 6 stitches.

With the Ecotronic Rocket, the removal process goes something like this:

1. Slide paper wrapper off.
2. Open recycled cardboard package.
3. Lift toy out of package.

Can we guess which one I prefer?

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Imagine you’re a 3-year old kid. Now imagine tearing off the wrapping paper from a present to reveal inside… a potato. A potato? A potato?! What the hell? Are they just messing with you? Who wants to play with a freaking potato??

Well, luckily, you’ll soon figure out that what you’ve received is, in fact, an absolutely fun, wonderfully simple toy that will bring plenty of entertainment to your world (assuming you manage to keep track of all the pieces, of course).

Originally a set of plastic pieces that could be used to decorate real vegetables (now that sounds like fun), Mr. Potato Head got his plastic body in 1964 and continued to evolve into the form we know him today.

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I’m pretty sure coveting is one of those things they frown on in religious and moral circles. But, nevertheless, there are many toys out there I covet; not want or wouldn’t mind having, but covet. For some reason, they’re always ridiculously expensive in addition to being really damn cool.

I’ve always liked Legos. From the free-form kits my brother had to the big pirate kits my best friend in middle school had, I’ve always loved them. We never had the money to afford the expensive pirate kits, but I spent many a weekend taking them apart and rebuilding them at my friend’s house. Her little brother had the space sets, but I’ve always believed that Legos attained their highest form during the pirate era. After that, the sets became more dull, with many pieces pre-assembled and fewer pieces per set. The creativity was gone, as was the puzzle-feel. With these new sets, it looks like Legos has come full circle and returned to that idyllic mindset of my youth.

With many of Legos biggest fans now becoming adults, it’s a great move on their part to market new sets geared towards older audiences. At nearly $140, this Lego set is expensive but oh-so-awesome. It’s basically a giant 2056-piece 3d puzzle which, better than a regular 3d puzzle, can also function as a playset. And no, I’m not ashamed to admit that I would totally play with this. Now if only I could convince friends and family that it’s really OK to get toys for 27-year olds….

• Lego Website

Buy Lego Cafe Corner Online:

• at Amazon.com

As a kid, I never had any of those kits which allowed you to create weird stuff like bugs or delicious gummy goodness (can you tell I’m still bitter about not having the gummy creator?), and I never even had friends who had them. However, Small Person #1 has been seeing the sets in toy catalogs for quite a while, and when we needed to find something for his sister to “give” him when she was born, I found this in Target. It seemed ideal, since it doesn’t require heat and the ages were 5+ - close enough for a 4 year old to do with supervision. Turns out, Baby Sister made a very good choice.

The set consists of an alien spaceship that neatly holds all of the supplies, three cans of some playdough-like stuff that’s used to make the molds, a roller for the playdough, a dull plastic knife, plastic tweezers, three squeeze bottles of the goo that makes the aliens, and fourteen half-molds that can be mixed and matched. You fill the center of the spaceship with the playdough, pick the two pieces you want to use together and stick them to the roof, close it to make the impression in the dough, then fill the dough with the goo, cover with another piece of dough, and let sit for 3 to 5 minutes. The earlier you take it out the gooier it can be - you can even dissect your aliens and watch their gooey insides go all over if you’re so inclined. We prefer to let them dry completely.

Once dry, the aliens are very slightly slimy, and must be kept in an airtight container when not in use; otherwise, they dry out and shrivel up (we’ve found that a small Ziploc bag works quite nicely to store them in). Still, even if that accidentally happens, you get plenty of goo to make lots of aliens, so it isn’t a disaster. Refill packs are also available.

Due to ease of use, quality construction, encouraging creativity, and how much enjoyment the 4 year old has gotten out of this, I have to award Hasbro’s Martian Matter Alien Maker the highest accolades I can give. Bonus points because Small Person #1 has finally stopped asking for all the other sets he sees in the catalogs. The only thing that would make this set better would be if he could do it completely on his own; while he isn’t capable yet, I know he will be soon.

In the words of Small Person #1: “I love it!”

• Hasbro’s Martian Matter Website

Buy Martian Matter Alien Maker Online:

• at Amazon.com