The award winning combination of a game, a brainteaser and a puzzle all rolled into one. Based upon concepts of spatial recognition and visual discrimination, the Pajaggle Board Game challenge players to quickly put unique pieces where they belong. Simple, right? Think again! Pick up a board and give it a try. Awards: 2013 TDmonthly Seal of Approval, 2011 Tillywig "Best Family Fun"; 2011 Major Fun: Keeper Award (First puzzle game to ever receive such an award); 2012 Astra Best Game of the Year; 2012 Creative Child Magazine: Game of Year Award
Nine Squares + Three Rules = One Solution. This collection of 48 puzzles will enhance critical thinking, logic and deductive reasoning skills while sharpening math and sequencing. Each EquiLogic puzzle provides number, symbol, color or shape hints. Using these clues, players put their deductive reasoning skills to the test and must find the magic number by identifying the correct combination of tiles and numbers. With only three rules to follow, kids will quickly be scratching their brain to arrive at the solution. Awards: 2013 TDmonthly Seal of Approval
The goal is to move the colored tokens through the maze to their respective corners. To do this, players must pass through turnstiles, shifting walls to form new pathways...and new barriers. Clever challenges exercise strategic thinking muscles, as one turn may lead to victory or may leave players stranded. Awards: 2013 TDmonthly Seal of Approval
Part puzzle, part stacker. These rainbow curves create a colorful fan of feathers when sorted from smallest to largest. Awards: 2013 TDmonthly Seal of Approval
Green Start Chunky Wooden Puzzles: Silly Squares by INNOVATIVEKIDS
Brand new Earth-friendly green start chunky wooden puzzles are made with wood from sustainable forests and packaged in a reusable carry-along storage case. Created with the help of child-development experts, these puzzles have chunky, raised pieces to support basic grasping skills, combined with slight gradations of cognitive challenge. A fun double-decker bus contains six square windows of the same size and shape that can fit into any of the spots but need to be rotated so the animals face right side up. Border of each piece matches color inside well. Launch date: April 2012. Awards: 2013 TDmonthly Seal of Approval — In a February 2013 survey, two out of 11 retailers told TDmonthly that puzzles were their best selling wooden toy.
What could be better than a puzzle kids can actually play with? This 28 piece puzzle only fits into the hardwood storage box one way but don’t worry, the images are painted in bright colors on the inside and outside. A great on-the-go gift since all pieces fit snuggly in its box and latch shut. Children can build skyscrapers as the roofs of all the building pop off and are stackable. An excellent developmental building toy, pieces are perfect for little fingers and big imaginations. Sevi is Europe’s’ oldest wooden toy maker – since 1831 – using only vegetable-based paints and smooth hardwood. Awards: 2013 TDmonthly Seal of Approval
A completely new, patent-pending "two-in-one" board game, SOUND IT! FOUND IT! is both a guessing game AND a hidden-object game based on silly sounds other players make. With 96 cards and eight giant-scene boards, it's perfect for today's kids, combining visual fun with the unique twist of guessing sounds to offer hours of laugh-out-loud fun. Launch date: February 2012. Awards: 2013 TDmonthly Seal of Approval — "What a cool game! If your kids like acting out (not acting up), this game is made for them. I had fun playing with Alex and her friend Lily...Alex and Lily are both tweens, but even kids a few years younger or older would love this game. Being silly is the only pre-requisite." - A review by Mike on the blog Just Find it 4 U.
Duple is a quick-thinking game of symbol matching and word-finding. Players flip letter cards in turn until the symbols on two players' cards match. Matching players face-off by being the first to shout a word which contains the letters on both cards. Correct answers must be at least 5 letters long and conform to ever-changing categories. Wild Cards and Cascades create unexpected face-offs and the All Play card gets everyone facing off a once. Distributed by Everest. Launch date: February 2012. Awards: 2013 TDmonthly Seal of Approval
Rollick! is a new hit party game that’s a fast and furious team competition. With Rollick!, the entire team works together to act out clue words for one person to guess. It’s a hysterical, fun, fast-paced, team competition game that’s a hit at parties, family gatherings, work events, holiday celebrations, with friends, and even teenagers. Rollick! can be taught in 2 minutes, played in 25 minutes, and accommodates 6-20+ people. Awards: 2013 TDmonthly Seal of Approval — As of 08/08/2012 this product had 4.9 out of 5 stars from 90 reviews on Amazon.com. Pros: A great ice breaker for parties; rules are easy to understand; fun for kids and adults of all ages; fun for small and large groups.
Suspend comes with 24 notched, rubber-tipped wire pieces to hang from a tabletop stand. Sound easy? Try adding another piece! Each time a bar is added, the balance shifts, the difficulty changes and the incredible midair sculpture transforms. Can players add all their game pieces without making it fall? This tricky game for 1-4 players is a test of steady nerves and steady hands. Awards:2013 TDmonthly Seal of Approval, 2012 Best Toys Guide Best Games — In a February 2014 survey, Joe Novak, owner of Kazoo Toys of Buckhead in Buckhead, Ga., told TDmonthlythat Suspend was one of their stores top-3 best-selling games.
Settlers of Catan Family Edition by MAYFAIR GAMES INC.
Begin a quest to settle the island of Catan. Guide brave settlers to victory by using clever trading and shrewd development. Use resources—grain, wool, ore, lumber, and brick—to build roads, settlements, cities and key cultural milestones. Get resources by rolling the dice or by trading with other players. Catan is a modern classic. It truly redefines social board games and been awarded with “Game of the Year” honors in Germany, the United States, and a host of other countries. This New edition features a six piece reversible board allowing for more replay value than the previous Gallery Edition. Launch date: 2012. Awards: 2013 TDmonthly Seal of Approval
Kids will be amazed as they watch their puzzle come alive with the Puzzle Double! Discover It! 3D Space floor puzzle. Taking the concept of a traditional puzzle to a new level, each Discover It! puzzle includes five fun, 3-D lenticular stickers. When kids finish piecing together the beautiful 30-piece, talk about puzzles, they simply add the stickers to their matching place in the scene and watch the puzzle come to life and move and change. Additionally, after assembling the puzzle you can turn it over for a fun coloring activity (crayons not included). Puzzle Doubles! Discover It! Space puzzle will provide children multi-dimensional ways to discover and learn. Launch date: 2012. Awards: 2013 TDmonthly Seal of Approval
Finally, a Spot It for little ones. With a scaled down card deck and 6 symbols instead of 8, Spot It Jr. Animals is accessible for kids under 6. Adorable animals appear on all the cards, with one big animal centered on each card for easier spotting. Awards:2014 TDmonthly Top Toy Debut Award,2013 TDmonthlySeal of Approval
In this fun game, kids create an endless cast of characters as leaves, ribbons, coins, seashells, paper clips and a variety of found objects combine to make millions of faces. 160 object images. Made from 90% recycled materials. Awards: 2013 TDmonthly Seal of Approval
Zingo! Sight Words is a fun, interactive game that teaches reading skills through fast-paced play. Designed for players ages 4-6, this game teaches early readers to recognize and read some of the most common words in the English language. The sight words featured in this game were identified by leading educators as the most fundamental. Learning and mastering them is key to becoming a successful, fluent reader - doing it through play makes learning fun. Launch date: September 2012. Awards:2013 TDmonthly Seal of Approval, Play On Words (PAL) Award — As of 11/15/2012 this product had 4.9 out of 5 stars from 17 reviews on Amazon.com. Pros: Helps kids learn to read; Easy to learn, but still challenging and fun.
KerFlip is a fun, fast anagram word game that families and word nerds can claim as their own. KerFlip's innovative flip-scoring system rewards players for constructing words FASTER than their opponents can. And cleanup has never been simpler: just sweep used letters into the tile chute and funnel them into a collection cup at the end of the game. "KerFlip features a completely original and innovative way to score, called "flip-scoring." The first time a tile is used, it’s worth 10 points. Once it’s been scored, flip it to its orange side. Now it’s worth only 5 points to other players," Damon Tabb, inventor and owner of Creative Foundry Games, told TDmonthly. Launch date: May 2012. Awards: 2013 TDmonthly Seal of Approval, GAMES Magazine BEST Word Game for 2013; Oppenheim Toy Portfolio Gold Seal Best Toy Award; 2012 Dr. Toy: 10 Best Educational Products for 2012; Creative Child Magazine: 2012 Game Of The Year; 2012 Majorfun.com: Major Fun Award; 2012 Playonwords.com: PAL Award.
Writer's Bio: Justina Huddleston graduated Magna Cum Laude from Emerson College with a BA in Writing, Literature, and Publishing in 2009. After graduating she was the on-site director of the Boston Children's Museum gift store for a year, selling educational, developmental, and creative activity toys that tied in with the museum's exhibits. Justina also interned at children's book publisher Candlewick Press before moving from Boston to Los Angeles, where she is now Editorial Director of TDmonthly Magazine. Read more articles by this author
Writer's Bio: Justina Huddleston graduated Magna Cum Laude from Emerson College with a BA in Writing, Literature, and Publishing in 2009. After graduating she was the on-site director of the Boston Children's Museum gift store for a year, selling educational, developmental, and creative activity toys that tied in with the museum's exhibits. Justina also interned at children's book publisher Candlewick Press before moving from Boston to Los Angeles, where she is now Editorial Director of TDmonthly Magazine. Read more articles by this author
