- Make Your Own Paper Flowers
- Chicken Socks, $13
With the days getting shorter, it's now the time of year when parents really appreciate the hour-long self-starter crafts project that keeps kids busy between school and dinner. One of the latest releases from Chicken Socks—it lets kids layer precut paper petals onto pipe cleaners to create centerpiece-worthy blossoms—falls into that category. It also renews our awe of arts-and-crafts-publishing powerhouse Klutz, which launched the Chicken Socks line two years ago specifically for the 4-to-7 set. The imprint covers a lot of ground—from Foam Gliders to How to Make Pom-Pom Animals—and all the materials come in compact spiral binders for easy stashing.—Ages 4 and up
- Trapezoid Blocks
- Kaden, $113
Building blocks have always been fantastic toys for fostering creativity, allowing children to bring into the real world structures whose blueprints previously existed only in their minds. What's more, education experts consider them an invaluable tool in early development: They are believed to help kids advance everything from perceptual and motor skills to mathematical thinking and aesthetic awareness. And this duotone set of 48 hardwood blocks will make every construction effort a true adventure in creative thinking. The blocks are irregular trapezoids of varying sizes, so simply finding the best way for any two to fit with each other is a puzzle. Once a child is aware of the vast number of possibilities, these odd blocks can lead her to unique and beautiful pieces of what can only be called temporary art.—Ages 3 and up
- WonderMaze
- Museum Tour, $40
No offense to alphabet magnets, but every now and then, don't you wish your fridge offered something more visually interesting? This science toy's snap-together magnetic pieces will turn it (or any other large metal surface) into an interactive art installation. Kids can arrange the brightly hued plastic chutes and boxes in any configuration they like, connecting ramps and bumpers to chambers filled with pegs and spinning gears. (They can even turn the construction into a group game by taking turns adding pieces.) When they drop a marble into the resulting contraption—likely to resemble a hamster Habitrail designed by Rube Goldberg—its journey down to the cup at the exit is oddly mesmerizing. Then they can take it apart and craft a new labyrinth, or place two side by side for some marble races. Creativity blossoms, while a thing or two are learned about gravity and momentum.—Ages 3 and up
