Jenny's Crayon Collection: Toy Fair

The Best Learning Toys 2023 Edition

In September I had the opportunity to go to Toy Fair and saw a ton of cool toys from a lot of different companies. I had the privilege of visiting Educational Insights, Learning Resources and Hand2Mind. Here are some of my favorite toys I saw at the show.

These toys were provided in exchange for an honest review.

Farmer's Market Color Sorting Set Play Food, Fruits and Vegetables Toy Find on Amazon

This sorting set is one of my FAVORITE toys I saw at toy fair. When I taught preschool I did a unit on fruits and vegetables. And guess what, when kids learn to love vegetables and fruit at a young age they remember it and love it when they get older. I am giving this to my daughter for Christmas. I can not wait to see her play with it for hours!

Number Blocks Cubes 1-10 on Amazon, 11-20 on Amazon

Number Blocks is a great show on Netflix that teaches kids all about numbers, patterns of numbers, properties of numbers, adding, subtracting, the list goes on. These sets are so fun for kids to follow along with the show. I already gave the 1-10 set to my daughter. She has so much fun playing with them. They are characters to her and she is learning all about numbers.

Changing Seasons Sensory Tubes Find on Amazon

It is so important for kids to learn about the different seasons. This set teaches kids all about the different seasons in a sensory way that will entertain them and help provide a relaxing activity.

Cupful of Feelings Cafe Find on Amazon

My daughter loves anything to do with the kitchen. I have not given this to her, but I am sure she will be making lots of "hot chocolate" with this playset. This playset lets kids imagine making drinks, but they can also express themselves and associate feelings with the different accessories.

S'mores Break Find on Amazon

This S'mores break playset is a great set for sensory play and the cards also have activities that help children relax and explore their feelings. With the poster they can express their feelings for the day and the cards have different activities.

Human Body Activity Set Find on Amazon

I do not know why, but my daughter is obsessed with bones and the human body. I can not wait to give this to her and play with her and teach her even more about the human body.

BrainBolt Genius Find on Amazon

Educational Insights makes some great games. BrainBolt is a brain teaser memory game. The challenge is to remember the light sequence as long as possible without breaking the sequence. I am giving this to my older kids for Christmas.

Kanoodle Find on Amazon Pyramid, Original Game

Kanoodle is another great game from Educational Insights. These are only two examples of the games. There are others available. These are 2-D and 3-D puzzles. The book shows how the initial pieces go, but then it is up to the player to figure out how the remaining fit in. The other game below is Kanoodle Pyramid. It plays the same as the other game, but the pieces will fit together in a pyramid.

Reel Big Catch Game Find on Amazon

And the last game is Reel Big Catch Game. The fish fold up and the size of the fish is not known until the child picks it up. Kids will have a blast picking up the fish over and over again.

I hope you enjoyed the toys. They were some of the favorite ones I saw. Which one is your favorite?

The Prettiest STEAM Activity: Crayola Paper Flower Kit

The Crayola STEAM Paper Flower Kit is hands down one of my favorite toys from Crayola in the past few years. The Spin and Spiral Art Station is a close second. My kids are still playing with that art station. We ran out of ink they love it so much. I saw this flower kit at Toy Fair 2020 and fell in love. The colors are super vibrant and each flower is super unique.

Crayola sent me this flower kit in exchange for an honest review, but seriously I loved it before I even got it. This blog post contains affiliate links.

Check this out on crayola.com or amazon.com.

What's In the Box

The box contains enough supplies to make 12 flowers. 6 flowers can be made at once. There are 6 flower pots, 6 flower pot covers, 12 petal funnels, 12 paper petals with 3 designs, 12 tips, 12 cores, 3 inks, 1 white crayon, instructions, a color mixing guide, and 3 Pip-Squeak Skinnies Markers.How to Make the Flowers

The flowers are fairly easy to make. I only had to assist with one part, pressing the tip into the core.

The first step is to color the flower with thin tip markers if desired. I did not have my two year old make one at first, but she really wanted one. She climbed up and was super happy to start coloring one for herself. We used the markers and the white crayon on hers. Coloring is not required. The next step is the punch the flowers out.Then lay them in the desired pattern and shape. I would recommend the smaller flowers in the top.The next step is to use the color mixer to come up with a color and then add the ink drops to the flower pot. Then fill the flower pot up with water from the watering can.The next step is to assemble the flower pot. This was the trickiest part for me. One flower tip did not want to get pushed into the core.The final step is to wait for the flowers to wick up the color. Side note: I pulled out my box of 64 to make a custom color tip one. I did not love the colors that came in the box. They were not the colors shown on the outside of the box and did really complement the ink choices.What Did We Think?

WE LOVED IT. I knew I would love this, not a surprise. It ended up being a great STEAM activity for my kids. They learned about capillary action from the wicking up of the color through the core. They also learned about color theory by using the chart to find and make their own colors with the inks that were provided.

The only thing I would change would be to have a refill kit. It would be everything in this kit except the flower pots and the covers. I would also love to see the inks that are provided sold separately. We have a few kits and toys from Crayola, ie the Spin and Spiral Art Station that use the same inks. My kids have been wanting more inks for that toy. They have used them all up.

All in all this kit was amazing. The kids exclaimed that these look like real flowers. I loved how each flower was a little different. I think the one my daughter scribbled on, the yellow one turned out super cute with the dark edges.

Check out the links to buy on crayola.com or amazon.com.

Here is the package information.

Crayola Cloud Putty

Crayola also owns Silly Putty. I was been able to visit Toy Fair in 2020. The theme for the booth was a cloud rainbow cloud theme based on Cloud Putty. I was able to take a sample and bought the rest at Target. The sample ended up being the "thanks for coming to our booth". Every year Crayola has a thank you for coming to their booth gift along with delicious cookies.

The cloud putty is super soft and fun to play with. This blog post contains affiliate links.

Click here to get on Amazon

Cloud Putty comes in four colors; purple, yellow, blue and pink.

Collecting Information

It is interesting to note on the thank you putty it says to stay away from hair, eyebrows and eye lashes, and not to use as ear plugs. Who uses putty as ear plugs?

Boxes: Cloud Putty: Yellow, Blue, Pink and Purple

Year: 2019 (packs of cloud putty), 2020 (cloud putty thank you)

Style Numbers: 08-0205 (all packs of cloud putty), no style number (cloud putty thank you)

Code Numbers: 08-0205-0-300 (all packs of cloud putty), no code number (cloud putty thank you)

UPC Numbers: 071662502058 (all packs of cloud putty), no UPC (cloud putty thank you)

Manufacturing Location: China
Where to buy: eBay

My Visit to Toy Fair! New Crayola Toys for 2020

Last weekend I had the pleasure of going to the New York City Toy Fair 2020 held in the Javits Center. I especially went to see all the new toys for the year from Crayola. Let me just tell you it was like heaven for me. They had a brand new booth design that was like walking in the clouds! I could have stayed there all day!

What is Toy Fair?

Toy Fair is when all the companies both big and small come together to showcase their toys for the new year. Buyers, stores, toy companies and press come to see all the new toys.

Crayola's Booth

This was the booth for Crayola. They changed it from last year. This year they had a unicorn/cloud/rainbow theme. Most of the core products were outside the booth while the new toy products were inside the booth at stations. There was a place to take pictures with props and some new cloud putty to play with.

This is what was behind the curtain.

Art Sets

Here is the information I gathered from the video and pictures. I will add more information as I get it. They will be out later this year.

Inspiration Art Kit-Blue Kit-150 pieces with texture tray. It comes with mini colored pencils, crayons, Super Tips and Pip Squeak skinnies.

Deluxe Art Set-80 pieces comes with watercolors, oil pastels, colored pencils, graphite pencils, pip skinny markers, super tips, paint brushes, and washable paint. The paint set is wooden and comes with tips and tricks.

Sketch and Color Art Set-comes with 24 page sketch book, tips and tricks, Pip Squeak skinnies, skinny markers, crayons and colored pencils. The case is fabric zipper.

There are two other kits on the wall I did not see.

Paint Products
New this year is a Washable Pour Paint Art Set. I was soooo excited for this one. The paint is poured into the tray and can be tipped to make custom creations. No creation will ever be the same.
There are also Washable Paint Stampers. The paint bottles can be used to draw or an adapter can be attached to the bottle to make different shapes and patterns on the paper.
Easy-Clean Finger paint. This unit opens up and paint is put inside. Then the unit is closed and baby and toddlers can finger paint without the mess. This is genius!

Steam and Stem Kits-Available August 2020
Some of my favorite kits this year were the Steam and Stem kits.
Paper Flower Kit
Ink is put in a cylinder. The paper flower is then put in and the flower wicks up the in making a really cool design.
Liquid Science Lab
This set comes with 20 experiments based on water and liquids using household items.
Space Science Lab
Kids can create a solar system. There are also 20 experiments based on space using household items.
Gross Science Lab
This kit is based on the science of gross. There are 20 experiments based on gross topics using household items.

Maker Series-Coming August 2020

Crayola has had maker sets before, crayon and marker makers. This year they have two new maker sets coming out, a paper maker and eraser maker.

The Eraser Maker works by putting the eraser compound into a mold and letting it set. There are 6 molds and 6 colors to choose from.

The Paper Maker includes enough materials to make 20 sheets of 5" x 8" of usable paper. It comes with 3 ink colors, a beaker for mixing, a spatula and a paper press. The paper is then dried in the oven. I am really excited for this one because I used to make paper as a child.

The Marker Maker comes with enough supplies to make 16 markers and folds up for easy storage. It comes with a custom color mixing guide, 16 marker part sets, 3 ink bottles, measuring tubes, tweezers and a pressing tool.

Scribble Scrubbie Pets-available August 2020
We loved the Scribble Scrubbie pets we received last year. This year there will be a Scibble Scrubbie pets grooming truck and a pets tattoo shop where pets can get "tattoos" with stamper markers. I can see my little daughter LOVING this set.

Here are all the Scribble Scrubbies released so far.

One of Crayola's core lines is the Color Wonder Mess Free series. New this year they are making reusable packaging!! The parent and collector in me LOVES this. They are also coming out with a paint brush color wonder set. The brush is dipped into the paint and then the color only appears on the color wonder paper.

There is a lot coming this year for Glitter Dots. Glitter dots work by pushing glitter dots on a paper or mold. They are glittery and not messy.

The dots will now be available in a Pastel color. There is a new sparkle fill butterfly. The key chains will be updated. And new this year there will be sparkle charms. Lastly there will be a surprise box where the packaging is part of the toy. The box opens on all four sides and reveals four sparkle signs and a mystery key chain. I love everything about this series. These will be available September 2020.

And that is it for behind the curtain!

Another new series Crayola has this year is the Pets series. It includes Paw print kits, 64 crayons with new color pet names. The collectors are SUPER excited for this box, a light up tracing pad and 50 colored pencils. This is a super cute set.

Aspiring Artist

The two new products for this year are color changing pens and metallic outline markers. I am super exited to try both of them. I LOVE anything Take Note! My current favorite has been my Felt Tip pens. I need to buy another package because I have lost my favorite blue color.

The Project XL line is super exiting.It is especially designed for kids projects. I am most excited for the quick-dry paint sticks, gel crayons, easy-peel crayon pencils, the super dazzle letters, and the vivid card stock.

Color and Draw
I do not see anything new in the standard Crayola product line. I am still in love with the pearl, neon, glitter and metallic crayons. I may have bought five sets at Christmas.

Color and Draw

There are some new coloring books this year. Most of them look new. There are new art with Edge books, the Avengers! There are books based on the Minions, Trolls, Frozen II, Spirit and Ninja Turtles. There are also themed books, 3 of which I already picked up at Target, Mer Creatures, Uni Creatures, Epic Book of Awesome and Sloths and Llamas. Happy coloring adventures!

Paint & Create

I do not see anything super new. There is a new themed set for Trolls?

Creative Gifts

This side includes the Silly Putty, Glitter Dots and the Pet themed sets. There are some Frozen II and Trolls themed sets.

Little Artist

The little artist set does not feature anything super new, but includes some themed coloring sets; Frozen II, Baby Shark, Paw Patrol, Trolls, Puppy Dog Palls, Fancy Nancy and Peppa Pg.

Partner Innovations
The partner innovations area is always a fun area. There are so many different companies that are licensed to make Crayola products. I also found some cool Crayola products throughout the fair, but the companies would not let me take pictures because they were under embargo. I can not wait to show them later this year.

I was able to save last years cookie, but this years got smashed. Alas I had to eat it and it was delicious! Next year I'm bringing a Crayola container to put it in.

And here are some more pictures of the booth and my favorite Crayolians!

Toy Fair was awesome and it was amazing to visit the Crayola booth. I am already planning my trip for next year!