Looking for ways to spend more time together as a family? Toy Insider Senior Editor Marissa DiBartolo stopped by Better Connecticut in New Haven to talk about some toys and games that will bring the whole family together for some fun and quality time. For more on the items featured in this segment, check out the product notes below, and for our complete rundown of the best gifts for the holidays, check out our complete holiday gift guide.


Antsy Pants Creative Cover Kit (Beach House)

  • Possibilities are endless with this Antsy Pants Creative Cover Kit — Medium.
  • An artist’s dream, this cover is a washable blank slate for an imagination to run wild. From gingerbread houses to an underwater home, anything is possible with some markers, a blank canvas, and a kid’s creativity.
  • Featuring two cutout windows, a roll up door, eight washable markers, and build booklet, this Creative Cover Kit pairs perfectly with the Medium or Large Build & Play kit.
  • Each family member can claim a side to create, and then kids can use the play house for imaginative fun, puppet shows, or anything they can dream up!
  • Age: 3+
  • MSRP: $24.99 for cover, $49.99 for Medium build kit
  • Available: Target

Play-Doh Challenge

  • Get out all the Play-Doh and Play-Doh tools, or you can use plastic forks, spoons, and knives.
  • Everyone in the family writes ideas down on scraps of paper that you can make from Play-Doh (a monster, a snowman, ice cream, pets, hippo wearing a hat!). Take turns drawing out of a hat, and set a timer for two minutes! Everyone must race and use Play-Doh to create what’s on the paper!

Play-Doh Super Color Pack (Hasbro)

  • This big pack of 20 cans of Play-Doh modeling compound holds an endless array of creative possibilities! Little hands can roll, twist and shape these colors into any form that strikes their fancies, then mash them up and start all over.
  • Age: 2+
  • MSRP: $14.99
  • Available: Target, Walmart, Toys “R” Us, Amazon

Board Game Tournament of Champions

  • Pull out your family’s favorite board games and have a tournament.
  • Craft a DIY bracket to track the wins.
  • When kids are eliminated, make them teammates or cheerleaders for other players!
  • Whoever wins the tournament gets to pick the movie for movie night.

Word Slam (Thames & Kosmos)

  • In Word Slam, two teams each have a storyteller. The two storytellers are given the same answer term. Playing at the same time, they must give clues to their teams so the teams can correctly guess the answer. And they must do this quickly, because they are racing the timer and each other.
  • But it’s not that easy. Speaking and acting is absolutely forbidden for the storytellers! They must tell their stories using only 105 cards, each with one word on it: a noun, verb, adjective, or preposition.
  • The storyteller must be creative in using this limited vocabulary to tell the story. And the team members must think quickly and nimbly to interpret the story cards. The team that correctly guesses the answer first gets a point, and the team with the most points at the end of the game wins.
  • It’s like charades, but instead of acting, you can only communicate with word cards!
  • Ages: 12+
  • MSRP: $39.95
  • Available: Walmart, Amazon

Get a Grip (Hasbro)

  • The Get a Grip Game is Hasbro’s twist on the “no thumbs challenge” in which players compete head-to-head in challenges without using their thumbs!
  • First, players wrap their thumbs (or for greater challenges, tuck in additional fingers) in the included hand bands so that they can’t use them.
  • Then a player picks a card that will tell them to Draw it, Sculpt it or Do it all without the use of these important body parts. Earn cards by completing Challenges.
  • The first person to collect 3 cards wins the game.
  • Age: 8+
  • MSRP: $19.99
  • Available: Walmart, Target, Toys “R” Us, Amazon

DIY Slime!

Slime is a hot toy trend that kids, tweens, teens and even parents can enjoy!

  • Make DIY slime with laundry detergent, food coloring, and baking soda, OR grab a kit that has everything you need.

SlimyGloop (Horizon Group USA)

  • Combine simple ingredients to create an ooey, gooey compound that is fun to squish, squeeze, stretch, and twist. SlimyGloop comes as Galaxy SlimyGloop, Glow-in-the-dark SlimyGloop, Unicorn SlimyGloop, and Mermaid SlimyGloop.
  • With the kits, kids can add in a dash of glitter, glow-in-the-dark paint, sparkling gemstones, or clear beads to create cool textures and fun embellishments to their slime.
  • Age: 6+
  • MSRP: $4.97
  • Available: Walmart, Michaels, Bed Bath & Beyond

Family Bike Ride

  • Grab the whole family and take an after-dinner bike ride! Everyone can talk about their day while they ride, or pick a fun sing along song to all sing together.
  • Get competitive and race down the block, or go slow and enjoy each other’s company.

Hot Wheels 18″ Bike (Dynacraft)

  • Authentic look and sound of motorbike with turbospoke, the bicycle exhaust system
  • Steel BMX frame with deluxe paint finish
  • Custom racing shield
  • Coaster brake
  • Quick release seat post
  • Age: 6-9
  • MSRP: $99.99
  • Available: Walmart, Toys “R” Us, Target

18” Monster High Bike (Dynacraft)

  • Custom handlebar case with lights and sounds
  • Embossed saddle with easy to adjust seat post
  • Front and rear hand brakes
  • Adjustable and removable training wheels
  • Age 6-9
  • MSRP: $109.99
  • Available: Toys R Us

About the author

Bill Reese

Bill Reese

Bill Reese is Business Operations Manager at Adventure Media & Events, where he's worked since 2014. A former editor at Playbill and graduate of SUNY–Purchase, he spends most weekends rooting for the New York Red Bulls pro soccer team and making subway systems out of Brio trains with his little boy Jonah.

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