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Toy Reviews
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Hiking Play Set review: Make the packing part of an imaginary adventure
For some children, packing the bag is the adventure.
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Potato Head Create Your Family: a wonderfully mixed-up family
A nose in an unexpected place can start a whole conversation.
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New Sprouts Grow It review: Pretend planting without waiting for a crop
A child may want to put a flower in a pot, pull it out and begin again.
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Melissa & Doug Primary Lacing Beads: choose a colour, thread a little
There is a pleasing rhythm to choosing one bead and deciding what comes next.
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Counting Cookies review: Let the pretend snack come before the number lesson
If your child enjoys offering a pretend snack and putting it back in a jar, Counting Cookies has a familiar action to build on.
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Melissa & Doug Water Wow! Farm: a little farm, ready to reveal
A cow appears, then a patch of the farm around it.
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Mini ABC Pops review: Bring a few letters into a pretend shop
A pretend ice-pop shop can make letters available without making them the whole activity.
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Chuckle & Roar Seek & Find Bear: a bear for little noticing games
Finding one tiny object can be enough of a game.
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Noodle Knockout review: Decide whether the picking-up action is the attraction
Some children enjoy the challenge of picking up a slippery-looking piece with a tool; others want to make the pretend meal with their hands.
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Wikki Stix Doodler: a pocket-sized invitation to make
A bend, a loop, a little squiggle: Wikki Stix asks for very little ceremony.