Description

Juli Auclair talks to Amanda Wolfe of Parents Magazine about what the best toys are of 2008.

Transcript

Juli Auclair: We are going to help you get a jumpstart on your holiday toy shopping today, so you can get it all out of the way now and then relax and enjoy the parties and the family get-togethers. Amanda Wolfe is here to show us some of the toys that made it into parents magazines annual best toys guide. Thank you so much for coming by. Amanda Wolfe: Thank you for having me. Juli Auclair: Great toys you brought in today. Amanda Wolfe: They are fun. Juli Auclair: Yeah, they are, let's start by - if you could tell me how does the staff at Parents Magazine choose which toys you are going to make it to the list? Amanda Wolfe: Well, it's a very exhaustive process, we start at a toy fair, we see all the, whole staff goes out, we see all of the toys, we call in what we are interested in, and we have a closet, two closets literally packed with toys, it's a kid's dream. And our toy editor and assistant literally go through and test toys. Juli Auclair: This is the chance for you guys to get to play, isn't it? Amanda Wolfe: It's really fun, I have to admit, but it is opening all those boxes it gets, you know, there are wounds and you get cuts. Juli Auclari: You have to put them all together. Amanda Wolfe: We have to be put together, but it ends up, we narrow them down, we play with them, we have kids and staffers kids to test them. Juli Auclair: So let's start with the baby toys that you brought in, 0-12 months, tell me about some of these, great colors. Amanda Wolfe: Well, they are really fun. First is Busy ball choo-choo, and this is from play school, its really fun, when you turn it on, it rolls across the floor and the balls actually go down and then pop back up and circle around by themselves, so babies are totally fascinated. Juli Auclair: Keep them entertained for a while. Amanda Wolfe: They think it's so much fun. Juli Auclair: Okay, and this is a nice soft version of the stacking. Amanda Wolfe: It is, it's actually a ball and stacking blocks in one, so that's really fun, so you can use it as a ball and then baby can also use it to stack. Juli Auclair: Okay, these cute little boxes actually have things inside. Amanda Wolfe: They do, they are by Karen Katz, who is a really popular children's illustrator and she did these adorable baby blocks, each of which has one, two, three four, they all have, little ducks and hearts and balls inside. So they are really fun. Juli Auclair: Very cute. Okay, now toddler. Amanda Wolfe: Toddler is here, we have the Grow N Go bike by Radio Flyer. Juli Auclair: It's so tiny. Amanda Wolfe: It's tiny, right, and that thing that's really cool about it is that you can adjust it, so that it really does grow with your child, so you know toddlers grow really fast, you don't have to get a bunch of bikes, you have this one, and it's really safe, because it's actually appropriate for your child's height and weight at that time. Juli Auclair: Now all little kids, toddlers love to pretend to be doctor or nurse, so this is a great kit, this is much bigger than some of the ones that are out right now. Amanda Wolfe: Yeah, and it's actually Parents the Little MD kit, and it's funny, it comes with a pager, because apparently all modern doctors have pagers now, and it's great because actually a portion of the proceeds go to Benefit Care. So you are actually doing a good thing when you buy this. Juli Auclair: Okay, good, this is a good Parents product right there. Okay, what else, what's next? Amanda Wolfe: We also have the Pull-Along Zebra by PlanToys. A lot of parents are worried about unsafe plastics; this is wooden, made of recyclable material, so it's a green toy. Juli Auclair: No lead. Amanda Wolfe: No lead. Juli Auclair: That's very important. Okay, preschool, I love this, tell me about this. Amanda Wolfe: It's so fun, it's by Vtech it's the Kidijamz Studio. Juli Auclair: Can we turn it on. Amanda Wolfe: It has. Juli Auclair: Let's jam. Amanda Wolfe: It has so many options, it's so fun, but the microphone really records and you can scratch on the record player and there are tons of songs and different instruments. Juli Auclair: And you can actually. Amanda Wolfe: Yeah, my favorite feature is the fact that you can record on that little iPod looking device, and then take it out and take it with you, and if you put headphones, you can listen to what you have recorded. Juli Auclair: You are kidding. So, an iPod for you toddler or your preschooler, because they always love that. Alright, this truck I am sure the boys love this. Amanda Wolfe: They do, and what's great about it is, it's squishy, it's all made of soft material, so it's not going to hurt if you run over anything with it, and it actually flips while you are playing with it, so you can go either way. Juli Auclair: Oh that's great! Okay, now how about the Giraffe here? Amanda Wolfe: The Giraffe is animal scramble, and you take all the little animals and you position them. You position them around the house and then you turn the Giraffe on and it will tell you which animals to run to and some other games, so it's a very active, gets the kid off the couch. Juli Auclair: Gets them moving around, okay, now we are moving to which category now, this is school age? Amanda Wolfe: We are going to go to school age. First off, we have the blastoff t-ball, which is really fun, because if you don't have someone to throw the ball to you, you can Juli Auclair: Step on that. Amanda Wolfe: Yeah, exactly, with your foot and then it shoots up, and you can hit it. Juli Auclair: Oh, you can make it really fun, so you can play all by yourself or with somebody else, that's a great option. Now makes stickers, right? Amanda Wolfe: Yeah the Cella Sticker Maker is great, because what kid doesn't love stickers, and you can make stickers out of drawings or family photos, anything you want. Juli Auclair: Oh, my daughter would love that. Okay, tell me about the little castle we have down there. Amanda Wolfe: That's Royal Rescue, it's a brainy game, and it helps kids -- it's like a logic puzzle and you arrange the game in what you see in the book, and then you use the pieces that it shows to try to get that prints to the princess. Juli Auclair: Oh, so some thinking there, we like that, toys with thinking involved. Okay, our final category this is big kids. Amanda Wolfe: Big kids 7 plus. Juli Auclair: Love this rollercoaster, let me turn this on. Amanda Wolfe: It's so fun. Juli Auclair: Let's just see what this does. Oh, isn't it cool? The only thing is you have to put it together, mom and dad have to put it together. Amanda Wolfe: You have to put it together, so yeah, it's the Connect & Build Speed coaster. Juli Auclair: Okay, and tell me about the others that we have here. Amanda Wolfe: Scrabble Me is a really cool, because it's a new version of a classic game. One of the things who are playing scrabbles, it takes forever because everyone has to have their own turn to think and put the pieces down, this way you are all playing at the same time with your own board. Juli Auclair: Scrabble will always be inside, and finally the Beads. Amanda Wolfe: The beads are so fun, they are another updated version of a classic and they - you can make necklaces and earrings and lots of fun stuff. Juli Auclair: Fantastic, great options for the holidays. Amanda, thank you so much. Great toys you brought in, I am going to do some shopping I think. These are not the only toys that made the list, if you like to see the others, you can check out the Parents Magazine website at www.parents.com. I am Juli Auclair, thanks for watching Parents TV, we will see you soon.