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TOY TALK & THE SA TOY OF THE YEAR AWARDS 01/10/2009
If you have been following me, Nikki Bush, on Twitter then you will have received news of the Toy of the Year Awards hot off the press. The awards evening took place last week and the overall winners were:
1st Lego Mindstorms (fantastic cutting edge robotic Lego)
2nd Lego Crane (gorgeous)
3rd Smart Games Colour Code (highly educational game stimulating spatial perception and figure-ground perception, thinking, reasoning and problem solving skills).
My personal overall winner would have been Zingo!
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TOY OF THE YEAR AWARDS 2009 01/10/2009
PlaceAwarded toProduct
Category - Preschool Toy 
Best Value for Money ToyThinkfun - Distributed by Think Tank DistributorsZingo
SecondThinkfun - Distributed by Think Tank DistributorsZingo
WinnerLego South AfricaLego 5634
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Chocolate Fix has won again! 01/02/2009
Chocolate Fix has been chosen as a 2009 Teachers' Choice AwardsSM for the Family winner!

Teacher's Choice for the Family is the ONLY awards program that requires evaluators to be both a teacher and a parent.

Teachers from across the United States judged the entries and evaluated them based on educational value, originality and creativity, ease of use, safety and durability, high-interest level and motivation for children. Each product is evaluated on its own merit. Once the scoring is complete, the scores for each product are averaged. The top 20 percent of all entries receive an award. Only those products that meet the teachers' stringent standards are chosen.
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Parents' Choice Awards 01/07/2008
ThinkFun, Inc. a leading creator of mind challenging games is pleased to announce that 4 of our exciting new products have been awarded as 2008 Parent’s Choice award winners. Chocolate Fix and Serpentiles were two of only three recipients to win a Gold Award in the games category! See below for more details.

We are winners!

The Parents' Choice Awards Committee, has awarded the following products as 2008 Parents' Choice award winners.

Chocolate Fix 2008 Parents' Choice Gold
Serpentiles 2008 Parents' Choice Gold
Ducks in a Row 2008 Parents' Choice Silver
Top This! 2008 Parents' Choice Silver

Parents' Choice Foundation
The Nation's Oldest Nonprofit Guide to Quality Children's Media and Toys
Established in 1978, Parents’ Choice is the nation's oldest nonprofit guide to quality children's media and toys.

Who Founded Parents' Choice - And Why?
While teaching a graduate seminar in children's literature, author and educator Diana Huss Green pulled together a small discussion group of parents who felt their rigorous standards for their children's education were not being fulfilled.

The mandate of the discussion group was clear: create for parents a non-commercial clearinghouse of supplementary media experiences and learning products.

Diana Huss Green established Parents’ Choice Foundation on the following beliefs:
  • Reading is our children's key to the world's histories, literatures, arts and sciences.
  • Accomplishment is essential to self-esteem.
  • Learning requires discipline.
Our Mission Continues:

The Foundation's mission is to provide parents with information to participate wisely in their children's learning outside the classroom.

We continue to adhere to the founding principles because:
  • Children deserve material to sharpen young minds, not blunt them.
  • Children learn most easily when they enjoy it.
  • Knowledge gives parents confidence to teach their children.
  • And above all, because learning is fun - and we want kids to know it.
And above all, because learning is fun - and we want kids to know it.

Our Purpose:

The Foundation’s purpose is to search out and recommend products that help kids grow – imaginatively, physically, morally and mentally—fairly priced products that are fun, safe and socially sound.

Parents’ Choice reviews books, toys, music, television, software, videogames, websites, and magazines for children and families of all achievements and backgrounds.

If you’re looking for a list of “Hot Toys,” you won’t find them here. Parents’ Choice recommends toys with staying power, books with honesty and integrity of characters, illustration of elegance and imagination, music that families can sing together, storytelling that teaches us lessons from lands and cultures close and far away, magazines that do not mask editorial content in advertising, television that teaches with civility and not chaos, and software and videogames that encourage sharpening skills not leveling landscapes.

What We Do:

Parents’ Choice Foundation strives to provide parents with reliable unbiased information about tools to help their children learn, to explore new challenges, to discuss ideas and to pursue dreams. It’s that simple. And it’s that complex.

Fortified with information, parents and caregivers of all achievements and backgrounds can make informed decisions about which new products are right for their children.

Parents’ Choice®, the Foundation’s online publication, provides parents with quick study guides including: What Makes a Good Toy?, How to Choose A Good Video/DVD, and What-Kids-Who-Don’t-Like-To-Read-Like-To-Read™. In a variety of themed articles, experts offer objectivity, respect, expertise and yes, a sense of humor. Our unofficial motto: Read More. Play More. Learn More. defines the website sections.

Parents' Choice is a Resource

Millions upon millions of parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles have been using Parents’ Choice as a guide to children’s media since 1978. Many an educator, librarian and storekeeper won’t make decisions about buying or borrowing children’s media without recommendations from Parents’ Choice.

How We Do It:

Parents’ Choice approaches its mission with a deep passion and a remarkable clarity of purpose. Our experts and advisors, join us in the hard work and determination required to navigate the vast array of children’s media and toys available in today’s marketplace. With the generosity of time and spirit, parents, grandparents, librarians, educators, writers, artists, musicians, performing artists, and yes, children from across the country participate in the process.

Learn More About the Parents' Choice Awards Program >
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