Top Toys: Extraordinary Gifts

Here's a last-minute list of extra-special gifts for that special someone in your life.

1. Eames House Blocks

These exquisite Eames House Blocks are made in the United States from replenishable Michigan-grown basswood and screen-printed by hand using non-toxic lead free inks. They are an absolute work of art and epitomize all the features of a modern classic.

2. Emerson House

Emerson House modern dollhouse is the perfect home for the modern family. The modern home has six rooms including a living room, kitchen, library/office, master bedroom, bathroom and child's bedroom.

3. PLAYFOREVER

PLAYFOREVER is a UK-based toy company that designs ultra-durable, classic playthings for all ages.

4. Playsam Rockers

Playsam is a Swedish company whose self-proclaimed mission is to bring lovely design to the world. Their rockers make beautiful accent pieces to any nursery or playroom.

5. Let's Play Mail

These durable, handcrafted felt mailboxes are too cute to handle. Each piece is made with care here in the USA by skilled artisans.

6. The Learning Tower

The Learning Tower is the safest way to raise your child. It's a sturdy alternative to a step stool, which helps young toddlers safely explore, discover and experience the world around them!

7. Haba Push Carts

Pushing carts provide children with a sense of independence and help with balance while learning to walk, but even after your little one becomes comfortable on foot, these carts remain just as fun and useful.

8. Tegu

Tegu is a brand new company that manufactures magnetic wooden blocks - think Magformers meet Haba. Serious play with a classic, yet sleek design.

9. UberArc

UberArc is the ultimate building tool. Whatever your age, you have to agree, these building sets are just plain cool.

10. P'kolino Art Easel

Encourage your child's inner artist by giving them an artfully designed P'kolino easel. They are both practical and pretty!

Don't forget to enter to win $150 to spend at aMuse!

Extraordinary Gifts: UberArc

 

UberArc is the ultimate building tool. Whatever your age, you have to agree, this set is just plain cool. The UberARC 3200 series includes 24 pages of blueprints to build a tower almost 8 feet tall! They are also made from recycled materials--water bottles, paper cups, straws--so your environmental impact is minimal. 

This professional construction kit gives children a chance to hone their skills in spatial intelligence and problem solving. Using authentic blueprints, young builders create foundations and make representations of actual skyscrapers—or they can design their own buildings!

Kids can also apply for a building permit online that will show them the seismic and wind loads for their proposed skyscraper. They can even pinpoint the location on a map with the name of their skyscraper displayed to other UberARC builders! How cool is that? 

Kids love it, but it is perfect for architects, engineers, contractors and anyone who loves to build big. Check out some of these great videos to fully understand UberArc awesome-ness!

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Top 20 Toys of the Season

We hope you enjoyed our Top Toys for under $25 posted earlier in the week! Now we're back for another installment of holiday gift ideas. It was hard to narrow it down, but with a lot of agonizing (because we truly love all of our toys!), we have our Top 20 Toys of the Season.

1. Sustainable Earth Lab

This comprehensive science kit by Thames & Kosmos contains 40 different earth-friendly experiments. Construct your own miniature water treatment plant, make recycled paper and plastic and explore the causes and consequences of greenhouse effect with carbon dioxide tests.

 

2. Strobotop

Strobotop light-phase animator by Eye-Think is one of the coolest new products on the market. Use the flashing LED light and the animation wheel to see the pictures move. You can also make your own animations by using the blank templates that are included with each Strobotop.

3. Magna-Tiles Working Trucks

Your child will love Working Trucks. They are assembled using magnetic connections, so they are easy to connect and rearrange. Kids are able to build traditional style trucks or something from their imagination.

4. My Friendship Bracelet Maker

My Friendship Bracelet Maker simplifies bracelet weaving for any crafty kid. Just clip your thread onto the board and separate the strings. This way you never lose track of what string gets knotted next.

5. Scruble Cube

This brand new word game is interesting mix between Scrabble and a Rubix cube. Align the letters in the cube to create words and earn points based on your letter combinations.

6. HEXBUG Nano Habitat Set

Your kids will love this kit! HEXBUG is a mechanical creature that behaves just like a real bug. It feels its way around sensing objects and responding to loud noises. With this set, you have everything you need to build your own HEXBUG Nano Habitat!

7. Quercetti Fantacolor Junior

Fantacolor Junior by Quercetti is great for building finger strength and dexterity while practicing color recognition and sequencing. Little ones are delighted for hours building the colorful pictures or creating their own unique designs.

8. Terra Kids Microscope

Any serious explorer needs a Terra Kids Microscope set. Its portable design is great for collecting samples in the wilderness so you can analyze them on the spot. Great for any budding field research scientist...

9. Ubertropolis

Uberstix dynamic building sets are the perfect challenge for any seasoned builder. The complex pieces are able to snap into one another in a multitude of different ways, and the pieces can be used in tandem with other mainstream building sets.

10. Wheely Bugs

Prince Lionheart's classic ride-on toy, the Wheely Bug will quickly become your child's best friend. We love them because they're adorable, durable and super fun. Their 360 degree desk chair wheels on the bottom allow your child to scoot around any which way.

11. Treasure, Ready, GO!

Haba's Treasure, Ready, GO! is a fast-paced game that truly is great for the whole family. Complete a series of tasks ranging from charades, to 3-D building to quick memory matching to earn points.  

12. Automoblox Minis

These Italian-designed mini wooden cars have interchangable parts. They are a modern-day classic.

13. Block Crayons

Color and stack! Block Crayons can be used as finger crayons or as colorful blocks.

14. Tegu

These wooden magnetic blocks are like Magformers meets Haba. All of Tegu's unique products are manufactured responsibly in Tegucigalpa, Honduras.

15. Quadrilla Marble Runs

This classic marble run is made of dyed bamboo and is infinitely expandable. Marble runs have been delighting people of all ages for the past century.

 

16. Building Blocks Technics

 One of Haba's newest items, Building Blocks Technics is a block set with clips and wheels. As always, Haba's wooden toys are Made in Germany of solid beech wood and dyed with water-based vegetable dye. Building Block Technics is open-ended play at its finest.

17. HABA Curioso Shape Sorter

Some people say, "it's just a shape sorter," but in our opinion, it's the best and most beautiful one there is. Each shaped block is crafted from solid beech wood, dyed with a water-based vegetable dye and is adorned with fantastic sensory stimulating embellishments such as prisms, bells and beautiful patterns.

18. Magformer XL Cruiser

If you ever want to take an awesome toy and make it even more awesome - just add wheels. That's exactly what Magformers did with the XL Cruiser. They took a top-notch magnetic buildling set and turned it into a cruiser.

19. Water Blocks

Water Blocks are so new on the market that we don't even have a picture of them yet. They are a super unique pool or tub toy. Magically, they stick to smooth surfaces when wet so you can have a tub time marble run! They're already a huge hit, so stop by either aMuse location to check out what the buzz is about.

20. Melissa & Doug Shopping Cart

This one's a classic. Melissa & Doug's metal shopping cart is a must for any pretend-play store.

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