The Toy Retailers Association Top 12 Creative Toys for Christmas 2009 includes a selection of toys and activities which have a creative and educational purpose ideally suited for girls and boys of pre-school and junior school ages.
Ben 10 Hero Identity Station
Young boys will love this kit which allows them to create special Ben10 ID and secret mission cards for themselves and friends. The machine is heat and mess free and allows them to make a selection of cards, mark them with a secret invisible marker and then laminate them with a protective film.
Amazon – £13.99 – Toy Shop.com – £19.99
Bendaroos Mega Pack
Bendaroos are flexible and re-usable building sticks that can be fashioned to create and endless selection of colourful animal figures, random shapes, flowers and monsters. The sticks are mess-free and be used again and again. The kit includes 400 building sticks, a special cutting tool, templates and instructions.
Amazon – £17.99 – Toy Shop.com – £17.99
Crayola 3 in 1 Sticker Studio
With this kit they’ll be able to design and create their very own fashionable and colourful stickers and badges. The kit includes a 3-in-1 sticker studio unit, design sheets, re-usable badges, special pens and an instruction leaflet.
Amazon – £12.75 – Toy Shop.com – £12.75
Crayola Glo-Station
Creative kid will love this ‘glow-in-the-dark’ drawing canvass which allows them to create weird and wonderful images from their imagination or with a selection of stencils, transparencies and shapes.
Amazon – £n/a
Aqua Beads Mini Playset
These beads can be arranged in an array of different designs and bound together with just a mere spray of water. The craft set includes 400 beads, template sheets and all they need to get started.
Amazon – £5.99 – Toy Shop.com – £7.00
Glo Doodle
This great drawing tool enables then to create away to their heart’s content without mess, pens or reams of paper being required. Just use the magical drawing board to trace pictures or draw free-hand pictures with a special stylus and when they’re done just press a button to clear the screen and start again.
Amazon – £19.99 – Toy Shop.com – £19.99
In the Night Garden Aquadraw
A great drawing activity for fans of the children’s TV show – featuring all of their favourite characters. Without any mess involved, just clear water, they can draw shapes or create patterns with a special stamper and roller.
Amazon – £29.35 – John Lewis – £29.95
Lets Cook Fruit Factory
The fruit factory is a great way to get creative and make their own fruit smoothies, shakes and ice lollies. Use the special child-safe blender to create a juice smoothie or use the moulds included to make original and refreshing ice lollies.
Amazon – £19.49 – Toy Shop.com – £19.99
Paperoni Deluxi Studio
Paperoni is a unique and original paper based creativity kit which allows them to make 2 and 3 dimensional models. Use the special studio to dispense and cut the Paeroni sticks into different lengths then just assemble using the special adhesive templates without the need for glue or mess. The kit comes complete with 600 Paperoni sticks, 32 extra –long sticks, a mouse and lion shaped template, tweezers and decorative embellishments.
Amazon – £23.67 – John Lewis – £19.95
Play-Doh Magic Swirl Ice-Cream Shoppe Playset
A fun and colourful play-set which uses traditional play-doh to create a range of pretend sweets, ice-cream cones, cookies and candies. Comes complete with toppings, sprinkles, and pretend whipped cream together with spoons and dishes so they can organise and run their own private pretend tasting sessions.
Amazon – £17.44 – Toy Shop.com – £18.00
Toobie Woobies
With this innovative design kit they can create their own fun accessories and trinkets by cutting, twisting and assembling the special Toobie Wooby straws and shapes with only their imagination to limit the creative possibilities.
Amazon – £16.99 – John Lewis – £14.95
U-Create Music
This digital music making system allows them to create their own compositions by sampling and mixing different tracks, add voice-overs or sound effects that they can download from a huge on-line library.
Amazon – £33.24 – John Lewis – £29.95