Educational toys & games for children

Anatomy Apron

Washable vinyl apron, pre-printed with outlines of the internal body organs, helps children learn the names and locations of the heart, liver, lungs, intestines, kidneys, and stomach. Colorful cutout organs attach with Velcro. Includes teacher's guide and reproducible activities for pre-school through primary grades

Ages: 3-6 years
Amazon Price: $19.99

Geosafari Dino Sound Station

Hear dinos as you play! Jurassic and Cretaceous period landscape includes volcanoes, mesas, waterholes and more for fun, imaginative play! Over 60 electronic-driven "soundspots" make 16 different exciting sounds when dinosaurs land on them! Kids hear the flapping wings of a pterodactyl, a splashing dinosaur at the waterhole, chewing sounds, and others! Unit includes four beautifully detailed dinosaur figures and 21" x 40" vinyl mat designed for use with any toy dinosaurs. Two AA batteries required which are not included.

Ages: 5 years +
Amazon Price: $35.99

World of Words Matching Game

Three games in one, World of Words is designed to expand and reinforce the reading skills of young children. In the first game, Feeding the Alphabet, children match puzzle-like pieces: a 5-inch picture of a food with a piece that has the beginning letter of the food's name. In the second game, Letter Word Picture (a beginner's version of Scrabble), children use letter cards to spell a word that matches a picture. This game is appropriate for a child who is reading at or near first-grade level, as some words may seem complex ("cake," "soup," and "pear"). If your little one isn't ready for these words, you could choose simpler ones ("belt" and "mask") to boost confidence. In the third game, Build-a-Word, children create three-piece puzzles by matching pictures to form compound words. No reading is required. All things considered, you wouldn't choose World of Words as a primary source for teaching reading, but it makes a pretty good supplement. --Julie Ubben (Amazon Editorial Review)

Ages: 2-8 years
Amazon Price: $24.99

Piccolo Touch & Talk Interactive Disc Center

This revolutionary new electronic learning system helps young children acquire beginning skills in math, reading, science, music, and more! Using high-quality digitized sound and colorful vibrant graphics, kids imagine and explore as they learn. Point and press the Piccolo pen onto a Piccolo book explore as they learn. Point and press the Piccolo pen onto a Piccolo book sing along to charming songs and tunes! Unit comes with an 18-page interactive sampler book of fun games and activities.

Ages: 3-7 years
Amazon Price: $69.99

Differences Game

A great game of observation for young children, Differences consists of six game boards, each with nine slightly different versions of an image (a boy feeding a dog, a girl watering a plant, etc.). The "differences" can range from fairly obvious to subtle: a hair band might be blue in one picture and red in another. The progressively leveled pictures incorporate patterns and designs as you move up the scale. There is one card for each of the nine pictures on all six boards, and setting the card on the right picture challenges a child to pay close attention. The rules stress achievement over competition, so kids of any level still enjoy as many opportunities to play as others. --Tom Keogh (Amazon Editorial Review)

Ages: 4-8 years
Amazon Price: $14.99

What's the Time? Board Game

This colorful educational game would work well with a group of children who are all at about the same level in their ability to tell time. The basic equipment consists of four large (5.9 by 5.9 inches) cardboard clocks with plastic hands and 78 cards, each depicting a different time on a nondigital clock face. In the basic game, one player reads the time from a game card and puts the card face down on a table. Then all players compete to set their clocks to the correct time. A variant has players lining up the cards in time sequence. Younger children might limit their cards to those depicting full hours. More experienced clock-watchers can include cards with half hours, quarter hours, and minutes. For beginners, it's fun to simply move the hands of the clocks and "name that time." --Louise Carter (Amazon Editorial Review)

Ages: 5-9 years
Amazon Price: $14.99

Name That Country Game

"Dear Pen Pal, Konnichi wa! We've been to see Mt. Fuji. Name my country! Sayonara, Michiko." Challenge your group with this fast-paced geography game, created in 1992 by Educational Insights, Inc. Everyone begins at the post office. Players twirl a finely printed spinner (built into the game board itself) to select one of 60 countries. If the player can correctly identify the country's location on the board's numbered map, he or she may advance along the path to the finish. Bonus moves are won by landing on "postcard" spaces, listening to the clues on one of the 40 postcards, and correctly identifying the pen pal's country. (The sample postcard above came from Japan.) A more challenging game can be achieved by requiring players to name the country's capital; answers are provided. --Liane Thomas (Amazon Editorial Review)

Ages: 4-9 years
Amazon Price: $19.99

Goldilocks and the Three Bears Marionettes

Once an adult has taken the time to put these four marionettes together, young puppeteers will be ready to present their own version of this popular fable. The set includes cutouts of the four characters in the story, a script of the tale, and all the odds and ends necessary to put together these sharp-looking marionettes. Children manipulate the puppets in the traditional way by holding a handle that's connected by string to the arms and legs of the characters. No stage is included, but easy building directions for a cardboard stage are. Yum, yum! This toy is not too hot and not too cold, but just right for story time fun and creative play. Save this one for a holiday so the whole family can enjoy the show. Adults may need to help with assembly of the marionettes. --Lee Strucker (Amazon Editorial Review)

Ages: 5-8 years
Amazon Price: $16.99