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Award Winning Toys

How They choose:

"Companies submit products to us all year long. Our editors review the submissions, weeding out products that are unsafe, unsound or obviously unworthy.

Promising products are then kid tested by families nationwide. Finally, these results are considered by the experts as part of the overall evaluation of the product.

Unlike publications that rely exclusively on the judgment of kid-testers, our reviews take kid-tester's response to a product as one of the many factors to be considered, along with educational and play value, safety, age appropriateness, and other factors.

Why not rely just on kid-testers? What would the results be of kid-testing in a supermarket? Your basket might be full of heavily advertised convenience foods and candy and ice cream, but low on nutritional balance. We want to make sure your basket for play is also balanced, so our reviews give you the opinion of our editorial staff, informed by kid-testers.

At the Oppenheim Toy Portfolio we don't take ads or entry fees from companies we review. Some guides charge companies to list their product: we don't. Most magazines rely on advertising from the very companies they review: we never have. We can tell it like it is, because we don't have to worry about companies pulling their ads. You can trust our kid, parent, and educator tested picks."

Criteria they use in evaluating products:

2009 Oppenheim Award Winning Toys:

Infant

	Earlyears Lullaby Ladybug - By: International Playthings Friendly faced fabric bug with wonderful eye-catching patterns, bright colors, and interesting sounds. There are crinkle sounds in the big red wings and textured teethers in each “hand.” Pull the dotted butterfly on the big bug's belly and it plays Brahms' Lullaby with a music box/non-electronic sound. The company has signed a verification form complying with our safety requirements. We did not independently test this toy in a lab.  Age: Infant
	Follow Me Fred and Crawl Along Leo - By: Tiny Love A fun toy for active floor play with a sitting up or crawling baby. Turn on the fabric headed dog (Fred) or happy faced lion (Leo of course) and they will slowly roll a few feet and stop. Touch the accordion center of the pooch or lion’s body and it rolls some more. Their bodies are of bright colored plastic with fabric tail. This “magical” motion toy invites little crawlers to follow or use them like a roly poly ball for back and forth fun with sitting up tots. Loaded with sounds, we prefer playing with the “mute” button on most of the time. Fred, a floppy eared dog is more realistic looking than Leo. They say 6 months, we’d say more like 8 months and up. The company has signed a verification form complying with our safety requirements. We did not independently test this toy in a lab. SNAP ACTIVITIES:Motivating children to crawl is a lot easier with these easy touch activated toys. These little animals have interesting textures, colors and patterns to talk about. They do not move too quickly, so they are easier to play with than wind up toys that may roll away too quickly. Choose Fred the dog or Leo the little lion and play a game of “Got It!” Put the toy in easy reach and activate it with a touch. When it reaches your player, encourage him to send the pup back to you. Another game can be played with a box that you can turn into little tunnel. Who can make the pup walk through the box to the other side? Take turns getting the pup through the tunnel. Age: Infant
	Alex Jr Fuzzy Friends - By: Alex Adorable soft velour huggables in bright colorful patters with interesting contrasting textures. Choose from Pinky Pig in pink and red velour with teal blue feet and curly tail. It has terry patches on snout and tummy. Or give a hug to Lemon Lion, all striped with orange and yellow body, teal mane and happy face or Freckles Frog striped in green with polka dot bib, blue face and big eyes! The company has signed a verification form complying with our safety requirements. We did not independently test this toy in a lab. Age: Infant, Toddler
	Alex Jr Round the Farm Ball - By: Alex One of the most adorable products that has come in for review all year! The soft fabric ball has four different animal faces. Each has their own set of ears that protrude from the ball and have a sound effect appropriate for the related animal. (The frog ribbits, the cat meows, the pig oinks, and the dog woofs.) There is also a small finger hole that our baby testers thought was great fun. On the other hand, we had mixed reviews on the Alex Jr. Busy Bee Discovery Flower. This floor activity toy has lots of things to explore but the electronic version of It's a Small World was just too tinny for our taste. The company has signed a verification form complying with our safety requirements. We did not independently test this toy in a lab. Age: Infant, Toddler
	Alex Jr. Cuddly Kids - By: Alex Cute huggable dolls with stand up Velour hair, clear happy features, and patterns in bright colors. There’s a boyish doll in blue striped pants and a girlish one in pink plaid dress. The clothes are part of the body and are not removable. All features are stitched on, so this is safe enough for little ones. The company has signed a verification form complying with our safety requirements. We did not independently test this toy in a lab. Age: Infant, Toddler
	Bright Beginnings Jiggle Brights - By: Russ Berrie A sweet huggable cat that’s 12" from top to paw all done up in patterned velour. It’s pink, green and yellow—a happy palette with checks and polka dots and all stitched features with a quiet rattle sound sewn inside for safe keeping. Newborn & up. The company has signed a verification form complying with our safety requirements. We did not independently test this toy in a lab. Age: Infant
	Happy Moments Busybuds Giraffe - By: Gund A bright yellow fleecy giraffe with blue mane, blue muzzle, and pink and green striped hooves. Its chunky legs don’t stand, but they spread and allow Busybuds Giraffe to sit flat. Smaller in scale than the Busybuds Frog or Monkey. Totally huggable and big enough to please toddlers who like their stuffed animals big but not heavy. The company has signed a verification form complying with our safety requirements. We did not independently test this toy in a lab. Age: Infant, Toddler
	Infantino Monkeys Jungle Retreat Activity Gym - By: Infantino We like the textured and clear graphics on this new 36” x 28 ½ “ play mat with a warm orange, teal, brown and green palate. Patterned cross bars allow for dangly toys for baby to gaze at and eventually reach out and touch. It has a polka-dotted tummy time pillow and peek-a-boo surprises. We can do without some of the electronic sounds and lights on the Tiki Hut, but baby cannot turn them on, so you don’t need to, either. The safety mirror on the same hut is somewhat distorted, but that said, this is a more attractive mat than most. Newborn and up. The company has signed a verification form complying with our safety requirements. We did not independently test this toy in a lab. Age: Infant
	Lamaze Fun Mirror Crawl Toy - By: Learning Curve We've seen rolling mirrors before, but this one is the best one we've seen yet. Two fat wheels-- one red and the other blue -- hold a prism shaped toy that spins as it rolls. The three-sided fun house mirror has a see-through window and two mirrors. No electronic sounds—just the rattle of beads as they drop. A good rolling toy for crawling babies. Also fun to stand upright on one wheel and spin. The company has signed a verification form complying with our safety requirements. We did not independently test this toy in a lab. SNAP ACTIVITY: This colorful rolling toy is good fun for roly poly games that involve repetitive actions. Send this toy back and forth between you and your child. Or stand it on end and spin the triangular toy. Designed to invite beginners to crawl. This is no small deal for kids with physical delays. Use this as well as a soft fabric ball to motivate your child’s active play. Age: Infant
	Karen Katz Peek and Play Cubes - By: Small World Toys You probably know Karen Katz's wonderful books for babies. Now she’s designing toys. At first this set looks like a counting/color matching toy, but hold on! Before they are ready for counting and matching, this is going to be fun for filling and dumping games and where is the chick? Babies like toys with multiple pieces that can be passed from hand to hand. Each little fabric cube comes with one to five shapes that match the number on the outside. They are also color coded for playing color-naming games. The green cube has one ball, orange cube has two checkered hearts, blue has three fish, red has four strawberries and yellow has five little chicks. Chances are the pieces will go lost before you are ready for serious counting/color games. But go ahead and talk about them by color and count them from time to time. Just avoid turning this or any toy into a drill and practice work time. Playtime doesn’t need to be a lesson at every turn. All the pieces are washable. The company has signed a verification form complying with our safety requirements. We did not independently test this toy in a lab. Age: Infant, Toddler
Toddler:
	Alex Jr Fuzzy Friends - By: Alex Adorable soft velour huggables in bright colorful patters with interesting contrasting textures. Choose from Pinky Pig in pink and red velour with teal blue feet and curly tail. It has terry patches on snout and tummy. Or give a hug to Lemon Lion, all striped with orange and yellow body, teal mane and happy face or Freckles Frog striped in green with polka dot bib, blue face and big eyes! The company has signed a verification form complying with our safety requirements. We did not independently test this toy in a lab. Age: Infant, Toddler
	Alex Jr Round the Farm Ball - By: Alex One of the most adorable products that has come in for review all year! The soft fabric ball has four different animal faces. Each has their own set of ears that protrude from the ball and have a sound effect appropriate for the related animal. (The frog ribbits, the cat meows, the pig oinks, and the dog woofs.) There is also a small finger hole that our baby testers thought was great fun. On the other hand, we had mixed reviews on the Alex Jr. Busy Bee Discovery Flower. This floor activity toy has lots of things to explore but the electronic version of It's a Small World was just too tinny for our taste. The company has signed a verification form complying with our safety requirements. We did not independently test this toy in a lab. Age: Infant, Toddler
	Alex Jr. Cuddly Kids - By: Alex Cute huggable dolls with stand up Velour hair, clear happy features, and patterns in bright colors. There’s a boyish doll in blue striped pants and a girlish one in pink plaid dress. The clothes are part of the body and are not removable. All features are stitched on, so this is safe enough for little ones. The company has signed a verification form complying with our safety requirements. We did not independently test this toy in a lab. Age: Infant, Toddler
	Happy Moments Busybuds Giraffe - By: Gund A bright yellow fleecy giraffe with blue mane, blue muzzle, and pink and green striped hooves. Its chunky legs don’t stand, but they spread and allow Busybuds Giraffe to sit flat. Smaller in scale than the Busybuds Frog or Monkey. Totally huggable and big enough to please toddlers who like their stuffed animals big but not heavy. The company has signed a verification form complying with our safety requirements. We did not independently test this toy in a lab. Age: Infant, Toddler
	Karen Katz Peek and Play Cubes - By: Small World Toys You probably know Karen Katz's wonderful books for babies. Now she’s designing toys. At first this set looks like a counting/color matching toy, but hold on! Before they are ready for counting and matching, this is going to be fun for filling and dumping games and where is the chick? Babies like toys with multiple pieces that can be passed from hand to hand. Each little fabric cube comes with one to five shapes that match the number on the outside. They are also color coded for playing color-naming games. The green cube has one ball, orange cube has two checkered hearts, blue has three fish, red has four strawberries and yellow has five little chicks. Chances are the pieces will go lost before you are ready for serious counting/color games. But go ahead and talk about them by color and count them from time to time. Just avoid turning this or any toy into a drill and practice work time. Playtime doesn’t need to be a lesson at every turn. All the pieces are washable. The company has signed a verification form complying with our safety requirements. We did not independently test this toy in a lab. Age: Infant, Toddler
	Corolle Naima Calin - By: Corolle We're always on the look out for dolls that reflect our diversity. Among the most adorable African American dolls this season is a huggable, soft-bodied 12-inch baby doll named Naima from their Calin collection. Her beanbag body makes her easy to pose. Dressed in a red and white cotton knit outfit with red headband, she is a bald headed baby with big brown eyes that open and close. She does not come with the usual extras such as a pacifier or bottle or toy that would be risky with toddlers who tend to mouth their toys. This one is an adorable armful for beginning pretend play. The company has signed a verification form complying with our safety requirements. We did not independently test this toy in a lab. Age: Toddler, Preschool
	Haba Discovery Wagon - By: Haba Beautifully designed for the get-about-toddler, this smooth handsome (pricey) wooden cart is less tippy than most push toys for beginners. There’s a seat in the front for Teddy Bears to ride on, a mirror and gem stones set into the back of the seat. There are spinners and a maze to move a little toy car about, as well as a fabric side pocket for storing a small grey fabric mouse passenger. Finished in natural wood and colorful panels, this is a toy that will go the distance. For toddlers there are few toys that get as much use as this sort of combo cart. Just right for that stage when kids are ready to walk but still like the security of holding on. This is weighted and the center of gravity is solid enough, even for tots who are just getting their land legs. This age varies, so you need to know the individual child. Some are ready at 12 months—more are not ready till 14-16 months. The company has signed a verification form complying with our safety requirements. We did not independently test this toy in a lab. Age: Toddler
	Happy Moments Busybuds Monkey - By: Gund Toddlers will have no trouble bonding with this long legged red and tan monkey. Busybuds Monkey is 19” long with slender easy to grab arms, legs and tail. Fabric is bright red fleece with knit legs and hands. In the same Happy Moments line consider two other good choices. There is an adorable Busybuds Frog, a long legged green and yellow frog as well as a cute Busybuds Chick in yellow and melon with striped leg and floppy wings. These whimsical dolls have full bottoms so they can sit, but they are each a perfect armful for toddlers who love dolls that are extra big without being too heavy to tote about. 1 & up. The company has signed a verification form complying with our safety requirements. We did not independently test this toy in a lab. Age: Toddler
	Lamaze Pond Stackers - By: Learning Curve Six colorful magnetic stackers in the shapes of pond critters. Their magnets are totally inside the play pieces for safe keeping and they “adjust” so that when north and north meet one magically turns inside, so that the play pieces connect. These critters fit into small hands and have chewy wings and tails for teething. Good for developing color concept language. 6 months & up. The company has signed a verification form complying with our safety requirements. We did not independently test this toy in a lab. SNAP ACTIVITY: Designed with the magnets inside for safe keeping, these little pond critters fit into a hand easily and allow children to develop their grasping and letting go skills. Best of all the magnets help the critters connect. How high can you stack these magnetic critters. As you use these with your child, reinforce color concepts by referring to the blue bird, the orange fish, the green frog. Age: Infant, Toddler
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