Best Activity Toys of 2008

Activity Toys To Keep Your Child Busy

Do you ever feel like your child's art and craft supplies are all over the place? The Creative Projects table from Step 2 is the perfect solution to this problem. This well designed art station from Step 2 is a fair-sized activity table which includes a desk complete with a stool for one or two children. The desk features lots of storage for creative play activities. There are holders for your child's art and craft supplies like markers, pens, pencils, Play-Doh etc. There's a colored wooden shelf on which you can place other stuff on. The side of the activity table has space for books and other paper supplies. It's a great start to getting organized.

Have you ever heard of a dream ride? This beautiful pink Barbie 16" bike fits the bill exactly. It looks good and has all the bells and whistles like pink flowing streamers, pretty flowers and a glossy finish. The bike itself is in shades of pink and sports the Barbie logo. There's a handlebar bag which attaches to the front. There are training wheels which will help your little princess learn how to ride. There are two brakes, one is a coaster brake and the other is a front hand brake. If you're looking for a bike for your little princess, the Barbie bike is a good buy.

The Barbie bike is ideal for ages 4 to 8.

It was the most fun-filled morning I've had for a long time. What did we do? Well, we just opened up the Hannah Montana Glitter Studio and that's where the fun began! There's so much to do with the Hannah Montana Glitter Studio - doodle with markers, paint with the shimmery water colors, streak everything with designer glitter and what's best - glue sparkly jewels all over the work of art created. Sounds like something most girls will love, right?

The Hannah Montana Glitter Studio is ideal for ages 6 and up.

The makers of the Story Reader, Publications International, have brought out a new concept called Poingo. It's an electronic pen, which when touched to specific areas of a Poingo book, will make the whole reading experience interactive. Kids will be able to listen to sounds and words through the speakers, thus making reading books all the more exciting. Poingo is a great way to encourage kids to read on their own too.

The Poingo books are great for ages 2 to 5.

Thinkativity has some great activity toys for toddlers and preschoolers. One of the toys which really stood out was the Imagine and Learn Musical Mixer. It's a simple concept, yet well executed. There's a singing mixer which can dish up tasty treats including sandwiches, pies and cookies. You have to put in different ingredients into the mixer. The idea is to select the correct combination of ingredients to make the dish you choose. There are 24 ingredients including dressing, whipped cream, mushrooms etc. You can mix and match the ingredients as per your fancy. It's a lot of fun to figure out which ingredient goes into which dish. The whole unit attaches to a fridge and so do the ingredient pieces.

The recommended age is 18 months.

Cooking is an activity that most children enjoy. It's a great way to pass some time and also have some fun while you're dishing up tasty treats. The Girl Gourmet cupcake maker makes it simpler to make cupcakes without using an actual oven. For starters, you'll need to pick up the Girl Gourmet cupcake mixes which come in different flavors. Everything you need comes with the kit including a mixing bowl and a container for baking the cupcakes in the microwave. You only need to add water to the cupcake mix which makes it less messy. After your cupcake is ready and cool enough, you can decorate it with frosting. You may not achieve very professional results with this gadget, but it's fun all the same.

This toy is recommended for ages 8 and up.

Bubble Gum is a universally loved commodity. I remember a phase I went through as a kid where I had to have grape flavored bubble gum every single day. Kids have it really good nowadays. With this Bubble Gum Factory activity toy from Elmers, kids can dish up their very own flavor of bubble gum. For starters, it should be interesting chewing on a mix of mint and pineapple flavored bubble gum, don't you think?

This science activity kit is best for ages 8 and up.

I tried out PlayFoam together with a bunch of 5 year olds at a birthday party and I was very happy with the results. The PlayFoam Creativity Kit is comes with 9 PlayFoam bricks in different colors and lots of accessories like feathers, pom poms, foam shapes, googly eyes and much more. It was so much fun making colorful models out of the PlayFoam. One of the nicer things about PlayFoam is that it doesn't dry out, unlike Play-Doh, so it lasts a much longer time and you can reuse it several times.

It's ideal for ages 3 and up.

Play-doh is a great way to keep kids busy. My little ones spend hours and hours playing with the wonder compound. Admittedly, it's messy at times, but if you put a newspaper or two underneath the play area, it can be cleaned up relatively quickly. I rather liked the Play-Doh Ice Cream Shoppe set that I tried out with my 5 year old daugher. Very quickly, she was quite comfortable with the icecream machine and its attachments. She had a great time creating her own icecream swirls and sundaes and decorating them with bits and pieces of Play-Doh. I personally liked all the little accessories included like the little icecream cones and cups, the spoons, the decorating molds and more.

This toy is good for ages 3-6 years.

Just imagine creating your own scents, lip glosses and bath fizzes. Spas are so exotic, aren't they! Most girls I know would jump at a chance to try their hand at conjuring up perfumes from far away lands and body scrubs that smell like a piece of heaven. Jakks Pacific has introduced their Spa Factory line, which aims to provide girls with the opportunity to dabble in the exotic world of spas. There's an aromatherapy fountain which can be used to mix up fragrances, raw materials to create lots of beauty products, a spa station complete with mixing bowls and container to store the finished product in. A great concept, indeed.

The Spa Factory is ideal for ages 8 and up.