$12.99; www.gamewright.com; for ages 10 and up. Play solo or add some friends to play this unique brainteaser. The goal is to arrange four transparent square cards – each with a pattern of colorful dots – to match the pattern shown on the dots card. Turn, overlap, or flip over the squares to figure out how they fit together. Add excitement to the more than 60 different puzzles by racing against the clock and each other. 

Outside the Lines Music: Songs About Playing, Brad Burg, Brad Burg Music, 2007; $12.97; www.bradburg.com; for ages 6 to 11. This unique offering by songwriter and author Brad Burg is definitely outside-the-lines and outside-the-box. Each song is based on the poems in Burg’s book Outside the Lines: Poetry at Play, and each is about the simple joys of outdoor childhood play – the playground, the park, fall leaves, winter snow and catching fireflies. The gorgeous trade-off and harmonizing vocals by Emily and Allison Burg are a highlight.

Open It!, Zibra Company; $12.99; www.enjoyzibra.com.

A child’s excitement over a new toy can soon turn to “wrap rage” for parents, as they try to open the difficult plastic packaging. The Open It! Tool will cut through your stress and open that plastic quickly and easily. The plier-like device not only features shears to cut and snip through tough materials, but also has a retractable utility knife and an interchangeable Philips and slotted mini screwdriver!

 

Our testers used the screwdrivers for replacing batteries and taking apart a child’s toddler bed; the shears cut everything from food packages and plastic wrappings on mattresses to hard shell plastic packaging on toys. The utility knife successfully opened cartons and boxes. The locking feature is great for keeping young children safe. 

“It’s easy and safe to use. We love that it has so many functions in one tool.”
– Tester Mom

“It addresses the frustration of opening the packaging on so many children’s toys!”
– Tester Mom

“It is a great product and I love its versatility. You just have to remember to close the razor, screw driver and lock the blades after each use.”
– Tester Mom
 

One Up, Family Games, $29.98; www.familygamesamerica.com; ages 8 and up.

 

In this strategy game, players slide nicely weighted ball bearing game pieces inside a ring until the balls settle into depressions on the wooden board. In some ways reminiscent of small, tile-sliding puzzes, each player in One Up can move any piece, and each round adds one additional move that can be made by each player, so the landscape changes constantly. Beautiful in its simplicity, this Canadian game is totally challenging and sometimes frustrating in how quickly one’s work can be undone! But oh, how gratifying it is for the winner.  

Olivia, Chorion/Nickelodeon, 2009; 99 min.; $16.99; www.nickshop.com; ages 1 to 5.

 

The adorable character of Olivia, based on the hugely popular book series, moves between fantasy and reality with contagious ease as she imagines herself a super hero, pop star and mommy. The stories, animation and dialogue are so charming and fun that this DVD will bring a smile to your face and make it a delight to share with a young person.

 

Olivia, much like other children, is creative, confident and adventurous. Each of the eight episodes address themes to which children easily relate: such as visiting Grandma, “training” your cat, playing soccer and playing the piano. Olivia is perfect programming for toddlers, preschoolers and their mommies and grandmas.

“What a fun way to introduce kids to book-based videos. I would share this with my grandkids.” – Adult Juror

“Kids definitely enjoyed Olivia, particularly the older ones in this group. But even the 2-year-olds sat and watched.”
– Adult Juror of viewers ages 2 to 5
 

Outsmart Your Worry Tool Kit for Kids™ – Elementary School and Middle School Editions, Tool Kits for Kids; $39.95; www.toolkitsforkids.com.

When kids can't seem to stop worrying, they tend to feel like something is wrong with them, and parents tend to get frustrated.  Outsmart Your Worry is an excellent tool to help combat the what ifs. The kit starts with the idea that the child is the solution, not the problem. Worry is a clever problem, but your child can figure out what the worry is up to, and outsmart it.

 

Tools for coping with anxiety include coming up with a nickname for the worry and drawing it to make it seem less dangerous, talking back to it, breathing and relaxation techniques and setting up worry-free zones and worry-free times of day. Tool kits come with 20 CD-sized cards in a cool carrying case and are offered in Elementary and Middle School versions.

“The design is cool and hip and attractive to children.  The cards are fun to read together (adult and child).”
– Mom Tester

“It provides a simple reminder on how to help kids worry less and offers them good strategies.”
– Mom Tester
 

OneToughJob.org, Massachusetts Children’s Trust Fund; free; www.onetoughjob.org.

The challenges of parenthood can sometimes feel overwhelming, exhausting and stressful. One Tough Job recognizes that we all want to be better parents, and gives us some tools for getting there. Created by the Massachusetts Children’s Trust Fund, One Tough Job is packed with resources and advice to guide and support parents, all easily searchable under the categories of Positive Parenting, School and Child Care, Nurturing Your Family, Health and Safety, Group and Development, and Parenting Tips for all Ages. Our parent testers found the Behavior and Discipline and Especially for Dads sections to be quite helpful.

“I love the ‘Positive Parenting’ approach. It has great suggestions for effective discipline in a bullet point format for quick reference. My husband found the ‘Especially for Dads’ section useful; it has really good bullet points on ways to be a great dad.”
– Tester Mom

“I found my discipline tactics were getting old. This site gave me some useful and effective new techniques for discipline.”
– Tester Mom
 

Family Fun!

Origami on the Go! 40 Paper-Folding Projects for Kids Who Love to Travel, by Margaret Van Sicklen; Workman, 2009; $14.95 (paperback); www.workman.com. 

Explore the world with these easy-to-follow instructions and clever designs that highlight countries from around the world. Learn to fold a tiny scrapbook to highlight travel adventures, an exotic peacock like those that strut on the lawn of the Taj Mahal, or an Egyptian mummy. The 100 quality sheets of origami paper, stickers and book tempt adults and children to sit side-by-side and create – while increasing their geographical awareness. Origami is a great way to learn to read directions (an important test skill) and is an excellent mind exercise. The author calls herself the “origami swami,” and she certainly has assembled an attractive and informative resource.

“Let’s go on another trip so I can take this with me!”
 – Child Tester
 

Oobleck, Slime & Dancing Spaghetti: Twenty Terrific At-Home Science Experiments Inspired by Favorite Children’s Books, by Jennifer Williams; Bright Sky Press, 2009; $14.95; www.brightskypress.com.

What a fun way for parents and teachers to encourage cross-curricular learning! Presidential Award-winning science teacher Jennifer Williams’ new book takes classic children’s literature and creates science experiments to go along with the stories. Create the green goo found in Dr. Seuss’ Bartholomew and the Oobleck and make pasta dance as in Tomie dePaola’s Strega Nona.

 

Each chapter combines a detailed description of the featured story, step-by-step instructions for the experiment, thought-provoking questions for the children to answer, and science facts, and some can be enjoyed by preschool-age children. The Web site is interesting and offers suggestions for additional learning.

“Wonderful premise: a guide for parents for mixing science, cooking and children’s literature.”
– Mom Tester

“Great to make science part of everyday life and part of children’s literature, too. Encourages both genders equally.”
– Mom Tester

“Share the fun of learning with your child and feel like a great parent at the same time!”
– Mom Tester