WRITE K FAX TOY All Fun and Games · 2015-07-11 · $24.95) Dinosaurs are still walking the earth...
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Jurassic Park (Brighter Minds, $24.95) Dinosaurs are still walking the earth in Jurassic Park. This DVD game combines clips from all three movies with a game board that players can interact with. Said one tester, “it was fun to try and protect the egg during the game. I liked being an explorer.” All Fun and Games 2007 PHOTOS COURTESY OF TOY COMPANIES; GRAPHIC BY BILL WEBSTER — THE WASHINGTON POST Testing 1, 2, 3 KidsPost thanks all the schools and kids who played with toys for the annual Toy Test. Tri-Clops Mutant (Tyco, $99.99) This three-legged, remote-controlled mutant can spin and shoot at the same time, which is what many of our testers liked best about it. It can launch glow-in-the-dark disks about 20 feet. Testers warn it can be a little difficult to control. Still, they loved it. DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA Dereyk Jones’s fifth-graders at Brookland Elementary. MARYLAND: Rosemary Rosen’s and Kathy Smith’s third-graders at Yorktown Elementary in Bowie; George Rollins’s fourth-graders at St. Elizabeth’s in Rockville; Kelli Fox’s fifth-graders at Clopper Mill Elementary in Germantown; and Jeanette Johnson’s sixth-graders at Homewood Center in Ellicott City. VIRGINIA: Tanya Garland’s second-graders at Kings Park Elementary; third-graders at Cougar Elementary in Manassas Park with teachers Debra Foster, Heather McKone, Pati Swan, Lisa Wolf, Susan Lepardo, Sara Silber, Brent McCracken and Bessie Vogel; Heidi Mayo’s fourth-graders at Sycolin Creek Elementary in Leesburg; Ann Sillery’s sixth-graders at Thomas Jefferson Middle School in Arlington; and home- schoolers with Pier Penic in Alexandria, Donna Bland in Manassas and Amy Angel in Fairfax. TOP PICKS BY KIDS IN GRADES 2 AND 4 Kids Also Liked . . . KidsPost asked some kids in the Washington region who are home-schooled to test some electronic games, several of which require that you provide a DVD player and screen. Here are some the ones they liked best. TOY TEST TOP PICKS BY KIDS IN GRADES 5 AND 6 R/C Easy-Copter (GeoSpace, $39.99) Our testers found this lightweight helicopter a bit hard to control. But it did fly, and kids loved that. They suggest the directions could be made a clearer, especially on how to turn it on. Once they got it going, the copter drew praise. “It’s funny when you crashed it,” said one tester. Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader (Hasbro, $19.99) We gave this board game to fourth-graders, and they took on the challenge. They liked playing on teams and challenging their knowledge. “The best thing is when I answered a question,” said a tester. Actus Tale (Oikus Global, $12.95) In this game, players must either ask a question or perform an action. Then other players have to react. And that’s what our testers liked best — that “you show expressions” to things. The kids who tried it all really enjoyed it. Deal or No Deal (iToys, $29.99) This electronic table-top game is based on the TV show by the same name. In your quest to reach $1 million, are you willing to risk what you have earned — or are you willing to make a deal? Our testers raved about it. “It makes people laugh and your face starts to hurt,” said one. Monopoly Electronic Banking (Parker Brothers, $34.99) Kids were happy to get their hands on credit cards, even if they weren’t real. Players start the game with $15 million and can go up (or down) from there. They loved scanning the cards and getting their totals without having to do the math. (Don’t tell your math teacher!) Sorry Express (Hasbro, $14.99) Love playing Sorry, but want to finish a game within 20 minutes? Our testers loved this fast-paced version, which uses dice instead of colored cards. “It was fun,” they said over and over. Hyperslide (Hasbro, $24.99) Shoot the right-colored disk under the arch before time runs out. “It helped me develop fast reflexes,” said one tester, who like most enjoyed the speed of this electronic table-top game. Speed Stacks (Jakks Pacific, $19.99) Play this alone or with a crowd, stacking 12 cups in special formations. Our testers loved the speed at which you have to work. This year there is a glow-in-the-dark edition. Quelf (Wiggity Bang , $29.95) Move your game piece around the board and pick up cards that tell you a crazy thing to do. The worst thing, said one tester, was when a card told her to “put my hand on my head and laugh.” When the other players asked her why she was doing it, she had no idea what to say. But she and other players gave the game a top rating. Imaginiff (Buffalo, $6.99) In this card-game spinoff of a board game by the same name, you have to imagine things about another player. That helps you, with lots of laughing, “learn a bit more about your friends” by guessing what is really true about them, said one tester. It’s fun, said another, if you’re good at guessing. Super Terranator (Jakks Pacific, $79.99) Speed is everything with this remote-controlled ATV. It can zoom at 15 miles per hour through dirt, mud and water! Of course kids loved it. Pictionary-DVD (Disney, $29.99) It’s the Pictionary game, but in this version the DVD does the drawing. Animated characters and scenes from Disney movies are used. IM-Me (Mattel/Girl Tech, $64.99) Here’s a way to IM without a computer or phone; just use this little hand-held gadget. Our testers said it was fun, but the buttons were small and the letters hard to read. And because you can only IM other IM-Me owners, one tester said, “none of my friends have it, so I have to type to my brother.” Brain Quest DVD, Grades 3-5 (Brighter Minds) Remember all those questions on the long, narrow flip cards? Now the Brain Quest game has moved to DVD. You can challenge yourself on math, science, history and music. And, while testers say it can be fun, one kid said that many of the questions are too easy. The holidays are just about here, and the toys are piling up in stores, waiting for you to make your list. Of course, even if you wish does come true, you have to hope for the best: That really great-sounding toy might be a piece of junk. So, once again, KidsPost is trying to take away the guesswork. We sent more than 60 toys to area schools and home-schoolers and asked kids to test them. Today we’re listing some of the toys and games they liked best. There are also a few warnings (such as the radio-controlled toy that’s great fun but a little difficult to control). Get reading, and see what looks like fun to you. Where are the chewy toys?
Transcript of WRITE K FAX TOY All Fun and Games · 2015-07-11 · $24.95) Dinosaurs are still walking the earth...
WEATHER
TODAY: Partlysunny.
HIGH LOW
62 49TOMORROW: Sun and clouds;chance of rain.High 68. Low 53.
ILLUSTRATION BY GRACE KNOWLES, 8,SPRINGFIELD
WEATHERTRIVIA
WHY DO STARSAPPEAR TO TWINKLE?ANSWER: THE MOVEMENT
OF AIR IN EARTH’SATMOSPHERE CAUSES THE
STARLIGHT TO GETSLIGHTLY BENT.
Jurassic Park(Brighter Minds,$24.95)Dinosaurs are stillwalking the earthin Jurassic Park.This DVD game combines clips from allthree movies with a game board thatplayers can interact with. Said onetester, “it was fun to try and protect theegg during the game. I liked being anexplorer.”
All Fun and Games2007
PHOTOS COURTESY OF TOY COMPANIES; GRAPHIC BY BILL WEBSTER — THE WASHINGTON POST
Testing 1, 2, 3KidsPost thanks all theschools and kids whoplayed with toys for theannual Toy Test.
Tri-Clops Mutant (Tyco, $99.99)This three-legged, remote-controlledmutant can spin and shoot at the sametime, which is what many of ourtesters liked best about it. It canlaunch glow-in-the-dark disks about20 feet. Testers warn it can be a littledifficult to control. Still, they loved it.
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIADereyk Jones’s fifth-graders at Brookland Elementary.
MARYLAND: Rosemary Rosen’s and Kathy Smith’s third-graders at Yorktown Elementary in Bowie; George Rollins’s fourth-graders at St. Elizabeth’s in Rockville; Kelli Fox’s fifth-graders at Clopper Mill Elementary
in Germantown; and Jeanette Johnson’s sixth-graders at Homewood Center in Ellicott City.
VIRGINIA: Tanya Garland’s second-graders at Kings Park Elementary; third-graders at Cougar Elementary in Manassas Park with teachers Debra Foster, Heather McKone, Pati Swan, Lisa Wolf, Susan Lepardo,
Sara Silber, Brent McCracken and Bessie Vogel; Heidi Mayo’s fourth-graders at Sycolin Creek Elementary in Leesburg; Ann Sillery’s sixth-graders at Thomas Jefferson Middle School in Arlington; and home-
schoolers with Pier Penic in Alexandria, Donna Bland in Manassas and Amy Angel in Fairfax.
TOP PICKS BY KIDS IN GRADES 2 AND 4
Kids Also Liked . . .KidsPost asked some kids in theWashington region who arehome-schooled to test someelectronic games, several ofwhich require that you providea DVD player and screen. Hereare some the ones they liked best.
TOYTEST
TOP PICKS BY KIDS IN GRADES 5 AND 6
R/C Easy-Copter (GeoSpace, $39.99)Our testers found this lightweight helicopter abit hard to control. But it did fly, and kids lovedthat. They suggest the directions could be madea clearer, especially on how to turn it on. Oncethey got it going, the copter drew praise. “It’sfunny when you crashed it,” said one tester.
Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader (Hasbro, $19.99)We gave this board game to fourth-graders, and they took on thechallenge. They liked playing on teams and challenging theirknowledge. “The best thing is when I answered a question,” saida tester.
Actus Tale (Oikus Global, $12.95)In this game, players must either ask a questionor perform an action. Then other players haveto react. And that’s what our testers liked best— that “you show expressions” to things. Thekids who tried it all really enjoyed it.
Deal or No Deal (iToys, $29.99)This electronic table-top game is based on theTV show by the same name. In your quest toreach $1 million, are you willing to risk what youhave earned — or are you willing to make a deal?Our testers raved about it. “It makes peoplelaugh and your face starts to hurt,” said one.
Monopoly Electronic Banking(Parker Brothers, $34.99)Kids were happy to get their hands on creditcards, even if they weren’t real. Players start thegame with $15 million and can go up (or down)from there. They loved scanning the cards andgetting their totals without having to do themath. (Don’t tell your math teacher!)
Sorry Express (Hasbro, $14.99)Love playing Sorry, but want to finish a game within 20 minutes?Our testers loved this fast-paced version, which uses dice insteadof colored cards. “It was fun,” they said over and over.
Hyperslide (Hasbro, $24.99)Shoot the right-colored disk underthe arch before time runs out. “Ithelped me develop fast reflexes,”said one tester, who like mostenjoyed the speed of thiselectronic table-top game.
Speed Stacks (Jakks Pacific, $19.99)Play this alone or with a crowd, stacking 12 cups in specialformations. Our testers loved the speed at which you have towork. This year there is a glow-in-the-dark edition.
Quelf (Wiggity Bang , $29.95)Move your game piece around the board and pickup cards that tell you a crazy thing to do. Theworst thing, said one tester, was when a cardtold her to “put my hand on my head and laugh.”When the other players asked her why she wasdoing it, she had no idea what to say. But sheand other players gave the game a top rating.
Imaginiff (Buffalo, $6.99)In this card-game spinoff of a board game by the same name, you haveto imagine things about another player. That helps you, with lots oflaughing, “learn a bit more about your friends” by guessing what isreally true about them, said one tester. It’s fun, said another, if you’regood at guessing.
Super Terranator(Jakks Pacific, $79.99)Speed is everything with thisremote-controlled ATV. It canzoom at 15 miles per hourthrough dirt, mud and water!Of course kids loved it. Pictionary-DVD
(Disney, $29.99)It’s the Pictionarygame, but in thisversion the DVDdoes the drawing.Animatedcharacters andscenes from Disneymovies are used.
IM-Me (Mattel/Girl Tech, $64.99)Here’s a way to IM without a computeror phone; just use this little hand-heldgadget. Our testers said it was fun, butthe buttons were small and the lettershard to read. And because you can onlyIM other IM-Me owners, one tester said,“none of my friends have it, so I have totype to my brother.”
Brain Quest DVD, Grades 3-5(Brighter Minds)Remember all those questions on thelong, narrow flip cards? Now the BrainQuest game has moved to DVD. You canchallenge yourself on math, science,history and music. And, while testerssay it can be fun, one kid said that manyof the questions are too easy.
The holidays are just about here, and the toys arepiling up in stores, waiting for you to make your list.Of course, even if you wish does come true, you haveto hope for the best: That really great-sounding toymight be a piece of junk.
So, once again, KidsPost is trying to take away theguesswork. We sent more than 60 toys to area schoolsand home-schoolers and asked kids to test them.
Today we’re listing some of the toys and games theyliked best. There are also a few warnings (such as the
radio-controlled toy that’s great fun but a little difficultto control).
Get reading, and see what looks like fun to you.
DAILY 11-20-07 MD RE C12 CMYK
C12CMYK
C12CMYK
Where are the chewy toys?
TODAY’S NEWSCyclone in BangladeshKills Thousands K The official death toll fromBangladesh’s worst cyclone in adecade topped 3,100 yesterday.
Recovery efforts still are un-derway in some of the Asiancountry’s most remote areas,plagued by washed-out roads. Of-ficials with the Bangladesh RedCrescent Society (similar to theRed Cross) said the final deathtoll could top 10,000.
The tropical cyclone Sidrroared ashore Thursday, batter-ing coastal villages with what oneresident called “the winds [of]hundreds of demons.”
Relief organizations are airlift-ing supplies to damaged areas.Items such as tents, rice and wa-ter have been slow to reach manypeople.
position as an independent, dem-ocratic power equal in sophis-tication to European monar-chies,” Bush said.
Madison also rescued thepriceless Gilbert Stuart paintingof George Washington beforeBritish troops torched the presi-dential mansion in 1814.
Tribute Is on the MoneyK First lady Laura Bush paid trib-ute to one of her predecessors,Dolley Madison, yesterday at theunveiling of a coin in Madison’shonor.
“Dolley’s skills as hostesshelped solidify our new nation’s
BY RAFIQUR RAHMAN — REUTERS
Survivors of the storm await food at a shelter in Mirzaganj, Bangladesh.
WRITE KIDSPOST, THE WASHINGTON POST, 1150 15TH ST. NW, WASHINGTON, D.C. 20071. K E-MAIL US AT [email protected] K FAX US AT 202-496-3780. PLEASE INCLUDE YOUR NAME, AGE, ADDRESS AND PHONE NUMBER.
C12 Tuesday, November 20, 2007 R The Washington Post
SPEAK OUTTHIS WEEK’S TOPIC
Toys & Other TreasuresOkay, here’s the deal: Imag-
ine you’re stranded on a desertisland, all alone. You haveenough food and water, so that’snot a concern. But it could besome time before you’re res-cued. So what one thing wouldyou want with you? We’ve givenyou five choices. Go to www.kidspost.com and vote.
K If stranded, the one thing I’dwant is:
A. My favorite bookB. My favorite stuffed animalC. My favorite toy D. My favorite snackE. My favorite game
BY ALAN SIPRESS — THE WASHINGTON POST
If you’re alone on an island, whatone personal item would you want?
Blimp 19.3%
Helicopter 13.6%
Military jet 26.3%
Passenger plane 18.0%
Space shuttle 22.8%
Last week’s survey
asked: What wouldyou most like to pilot?More than 375
readers responded:SUR
VE
YSA
YS
Ever wonder what happens to your food
after you eat it? Take a tour of your
digestive system in today’s Health section.
More Stories for You
Proofed by: websterb Time: 16:30 - 11-19-2007 Separation: C M Y K HIGH-RES PROOF. IMAGES ARE RIPPED. FULL PROOF INTEGRITY.Product: DAILY LayoutDesk: STY PubDate: 11-20-07 Zone: MD Edition: RE Page: KIDPST
