The new school year is just around the corner (or has already begun in some places), and our Toy Insider Mom Laurie Schacht showed off the hottest toys on Global News Canada that will keep kids entertained while also prepping them for school. Kids have had a full summer’s worth of fun in the sun, but now it’s time to wake up their brains and prep them for a fun year of learning! Take a look at our picks below or watch the video above!
Crayola Qwikflip Double-Sided Easel (Grow’n Up Limited)
- This multi-functional easel encourages creative and imaginative play.
- The easel is magnetic and has dry-erase, chalkboard, and painting surface.
- Flips to magnetic/dry-erase or chalkboard in a few seconds.
- Easy fold for storage.
- Comes with one large paper clip, one storage tray, and one eraser.
- Age: 3+
- MSRP: $39.99
Candy Craft Chocolate Pen (Skyrocket Toys)
- For the first time ever, kids can write, mold, and decorate in delicious colorful chocolate!
- The motorized chocolate pen dispenses real liquid chocolate (made in the USA) that then hardens into solid chocolate at room temperature or in the refridgerator.
- The chocolate tubes can easily be switched to create multicolor treats.
- Partially used tubes can be stored for future use.
- Clean-up is a breeze, as the melted chocolate never actually touches the pen.
- Kids and adults will love exploring the endless designs they can create!
- Includes the Chocolate Pen and several different colored chocolate tubes, lots of molds, and multiple chocolate tips to create custom treats!
- Ages: 6+
- MSRP: $29.99
Number Lovin’ Oven (LeapFrog)
- Little chefs can enjoy hours of pretend-play fun with learning secretly baked in.
- The Number Lovin’ Oven talks, sings, and gets number skills cooking through more than 30 songs and phrases.
- With 16 fun ingredients and so many ways to play and explore, the Number Lovin’ Oven offers the perfect recipe for teaching counting, sharing, parts of a whole, and more.
- Ages: 2+
- MSRP: $24.99
The Pixie Doodles (Madame Alexander)
- The Pixie Doodles line includes five 9-inch Fairy Dolls for decorating, coloring, and playing.
- The dolls are fashioned with playful, colorful hair inspired by fun Crayola color names and the most popular color fashion trends for girls.
- Launching for the holiday is Jazzberry Pink Pixie Doodle, Sizzling Tangerine Pixie Doodle, Purple Pizzazz Pixie Doodle, and Misty Green Pixie Doll.
- Each set comes with a Pixie Doodle fairy doll, a fairy dress to be colored and doodled on, a detachable glitter-edged decoratable wings, sparking colored gem stickers, Crayola Markers, plus design inspiration for young decorators.
- Ages: 3+
- MSRP: $14.95- $29.95
Design & Drill BrightWorks (Educational Insights)
- Light up creativity with the flip of a switch!
- Budding designers can follow one of 12 included patterns or create their own custom, glow-in-the-dark creations.
- Insert one of the translucent bolts, use the real working, kid-friendly power drill to drill it in, and watch as your dynamic creation glows from the inside!
- Advances kids’ hand-eye coordination, matching, patterning, and problem-solving skills – enhances STEM learning skills.
- Builds construction and fine motor skills.
- Illuminates crativity and imagination.
- Age: 3+
- MSRP: $39.99
Strand Bands Designer Kit (The Bridge Direct)
- Kids can make, wear, and share their own one-of-a-kind accessories with ease!
- The Strand Bands Designer Kit includes everything fashionistas need to make fashion-inspired accessories with more than 180 feet of peel-apart Strand Bands.
- The included Strand Styler features an open center for easy weaving, slits on the bottom to hold the bands in place, and can be used on a lap or tabletop.
- There are so many styles to create: kids can fringe the ends, change the thickness, and create accessories that reflect their own individual styles.
- The jewelry creations are so easy to take on and off, and are water-proof.
- Kids can visit StrandBands.com for even moredesign inspiration and ideas.
- Three collections to choose from: Purple, Pink and Teal.
- Ages: 8+
- MSRP: $17.99
Cup-A-Cup (R&R Games)
- It’s all cup for grabs as players race to catch the cups in this game of quick thinking and fast hands!
- Roll the dice, quickly identify the missing colored shape…then try to be the first to grab the matching cup off the table.
- But be careful! No cup is safe. They’re all up for grabs on the next player’s turn, and if another player holds the matching cup, anyone can grab it to complete the set.
- First to collect three cups wins!
- For kids and adults, Cup-A-Cup sharpens skills of logic and analytical thinking, pattern recognition, memory, deduction, and reaction speed.
- Ages: 6+
- MSRP: $15.95
WOO! (Fat Brain Toys)
- Experience the marriage of letters and numbers with a game of WOO!
- Starting with four letter tiles in hand, players take turns drawing a tile, playing a spelled number, and discarding a tile.
- Your goal is to gain points by spelling out the numbers one through ten using the letter tiles.
- Spell “six” and you get 6 points, and so on. If you spell T-E-N, then you’re really on a roll, but look out! – If someone else has the WO-O tiles, then they can steal your T-E-N and turn it into a O-N-E plus T-WO for themselves!
- Easy to fun, fun to play, this game introduces simple addition and spelling concepts.
- Ages: 6+
- MSRP: $15.99
VEX Robotics Robotic Arm (HEXBUG)
- Experience the fun of hands-on building and learning with this completely functional construction kit inspired by real industrial robot arms.
- Hand powered, can pick up and relocate items using four degrees of freedom with an articulated grabber hand.
- The whole crane can rotate 360 degrees, allowing this miniature robot to perform the complex actions of its real life counterpart.
- This STEM-based kit that pays special attention to important scientific principals including gear reductions and power transfer through the robotic arm’s intricate gearing techniques.
- Ages: 8+
- MSRP: $49.99
