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Melissa & Doug Flower Power Wooden Bead Set

Childrens Toy Shop > Toys > Arts and Crafts
from: Melissa and Doug

June 12, 2006
This review will begin with my own experiences with these beads, and later will include opinions of it as a toy from the perspective of a childless person. I have started the new hobby of beading. This kit includes beads I can use for making jewelry. The only disadvantage of them for jewelry making is the holes are very large in the beads. (This would be an advantage to children, I would think.) I have solved the problem of the big holes by either knotting stringing material and slipping the beads over the knots, or inserting a smaller bead inside the wooden one.

I was pleased with the quality of the materials and the value for the cost. (The wooden box alone is worth half the cost of the kit.) The colors are very bright ... Read More:

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Lettering in Crazy Cool Quirky Style (Klutz)

Childrens Toy Shop > Toys > Arts and Crafts
from: Klutz

August 01, 2006
Whether it is posters, shadow boxes or running for student council, my kids always seem to have "projects" to do for school. This book has been great for inspiring them to come up with creative ideas for the titles. When making the project is fun, they spend a lot more time working on it and can't wait to get to school to show off their masterpiece!

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Melissa and Doug Dinosaur Stamp Set

Childrens Toy Shop > Toys > Arts and Crafts
from: Melissa and Doug

June 12, 2006
I bought two of these sets. Both my five year old grandson and my three year old neighbor, who is hospitalized with a bone marrow transplant, loved this set. It was especially good for the youngster hospitalized and quite sick because he could manage it in bed!

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Spin Master Aquadoodle Magic Water Pens

Childrens Toy Shop > Toys > Arts and Crafts
from: Spin Master

August 01, 2006
First off, great items for a great toy. My kids love their aquadoodle. Some things that aren't bad, but you just might like to know.

- The screw tops for these pens are backwards to any other (righty-tighty, lefty-loosy) design you might be familiar with. This makes replacing the water always a little confusing! In other words, in order to unscrew the top, you have to turn to the right, and to tighten, you turn to the left. I'm not quite sure why they opted to the backwards design, or maybe it's just my pens?

- The outside design on the pens started to come off very quickly. The pens work and look just fine (even show you when they need water), so this isn't too big of a deal.

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Melissa & Doug Joey Magnetic Dress-Up

Childrens Toy Shop > Toys > Arts and Crafts
from: Melissa and Doug

August 01, 2006
I bought this toy for my 2 1/2 yr old grandson and he LOVED it.
He had fun dressing Joey in different fun uniforms, the super hero is his favorite. The wooden tray the toy comes in helps him organize the parts when he is finished playing. The toy was delivered sooner than the scheduled delivery date!

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Melissa and Doug Deluxe Stamp Set

Childrens Toy Shop > Toys > Arts and Crafts
from: Melissa and Doug

June 12, 2006
This is a fun stamp set and has entertained my daughters on several occasions. However, the ink is not entirely washable. I have at least 2 shirts with stains from these stamps. My expectation was that it would be washable in the same way that washable markers are. No such luck.

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Martian Matter Mega Set

Childrens Toy Shop > Toys > Arts and Crafts
from: Hasbro - Freight Collect

August 10, 2008
This is a fun stamp set and has entertained my daughters on several occasions. However, the ink is not entirely washable. I have at least 2 shirts with stains from these stamps. My expectation was that it would be washable in the same way that washable markers are. No such luck.

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Moon Sand Treasure Kingdom

Childrens Toy Shop > Toys > Arts and Crafts
from: Spinmaster

July 01, 2008
The commercials and item descriptions for moon sand say "No Mess." I know this because my 4 year old can quote the commercial word for word. The commercial LIES. After an hour of play, I have moon sand all over my house. This stuff is no different than bringing a bucket full of damp sandbox sand into your house and letting your kid play with it. Goodness help us if he ever figures out it comes in glitter colors too.

The 4 year old, of course, LOVES this stuff. I can't drag him away from it. The learning curve was minimal. In fact, he told me how to use the plungers. He picked one up and immediately started making "treasure" and walls.

I gave this 2 stars due to its gigantic mess factor and the fact it's freaking expensive. ... Read More:

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Melissa & Doug Deluxe Wooden 27-Piece Lacing Beads in a Box

Childrens Toy Shop > Toys > Arts and Crafts
from: Melissa and Doug

October 04, 2006
I bought this for my 33-month old son as his first introduction to lacing and I must say that I'm slightly disappointed. However, I think that if your child has already done some lacing in the past, then this would be more enjoyable for the child.

I have bought some lacing cards for him, and he seems to enjoy those more. I'm going to pull out this toy after a couple of months, and then update my review.

I think that this toy would encourage creativity in kids but may not be of much educational value, if they already know their shapes, numbers and colors. However, for an older child, say 4-5 years of age, I think the toy would help to reinforce some math concepts. I can see how it would be fun lacing the beads. I had a 4-yr old boy ... Read More:

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Make Your Own Lip Balm

Childrens Toy Shop > Toys > Arts and Crafts
from: Faber and Castell

September 27, 2007
Fun idea and not too hard to do, but end product doesn't work very well and the whole thing is pretty sticky/messy.

Did this for my daughters 8th birthday party and would NOT recommend it