Ello Aquaria Creation Stn
Average Customer Review:
Toy (26 February, 2003)
list price: $19.99
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Editorial Review

The Aquaria Creation System combines craft, construction and design activities in one box, allowing kids to make any number of personal creations with their own hands. There are enough materials (168 pieces) of varying shapes and sizes for at least a dozen finished products, but it’s up to kids to be imaginative: There are no instructions or sample drawings. Instead of glue and staples, pieces are held secure by slotted, square, and spherical "bolts," so products can be easily taken apart and the pieces used to make something else. Kids can manufacture jewelry with a diversity of beads and buttons, or put together colorful storage bins and picture frames from the large supply of flat, plastic components. They can also think up unique dolls, toys, toy furniture, desk diversions, and gifts, using an assortment of accessories (including faces and body parts). Reusable vinyl stickers are included to help decorate the finished products. --Diane Beall ... Read more

Reviews (16)

Aquaria people,places & things set
This is very fun even know it falls apart alot.Sometimes you can do what is on the box.I really like it.

A very interesting toy!
I was 8 when we bought my little sister this. It was her 5th birthday and i remembered she wanted an ello set very badly. I picked this one because it has a lot of blue in it, my sisters favorite color. When she opened it, she was really surprised but so happy. Later she and i played with it and it was very fun! We made 2 mermaid sisters that lived in a big underwater house. Now i'm 9 and I'm gonna be 10 this year. I like the fairy and ello opolis set. Somtimes i see my sister sitting in the living room with her ello box. I see all the peices spilled out and she's playing with them and putting them together. Her favorite part about it curently is making fish for the set. She puts the sticks on them to surrond a house with a little table and chairs set she made. She can't put together the mermaids though, only rarely so i have to help her with that. But she still really likes it. She is turning 6 this year and i saw the new jungle ello set. That's what I'm gonna get her. But this is a great toy! It's totaly cool and fun because my sister and i each like different catagories. I like arts and carfts and my sister likes to build so she likes it. It's really nice so i think that you should buy it.

We love this toy
My daughter, age 5, begged me for Ello because her friend got it for a birthday gift.I was skeptical because she doesn't usually like lego type toys.Now that we have it, we love it.Since she's so young she requires assistance, but its fun for me too.We both create characters and rooms for them to play in.There's lots that she can do without me too - stickers and fantasy play once some pieces are put together.We both like the colors and the wierd shapes.Interestingly, what I like about it my husband doesn't:the shapes and colors. ... Read more

Asin: B000087R8D
Subjects:  1. Construction    2. Building Sets    3. Arts and Crafts   

Groovy Ceramic Lamp
Average Customer Review:
Toy
list price: $24.99 -- our price: $19.99
(price subject to change: see help)
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Editorial Review

Too many craft projects end up in the drawer; this paint-it-yourselfelectric bedside lamp kit can light up a room. Included are a small ceramiclamp, a plain white shade, and the basics for decorating them. There's a six-potset of mixable paints, and also a 20-inch strip of pink pompoms for the shade'sfringe, complete with glue. Obviously, these can be supplemented with othercraft materials of your choosing. The lamp and shade together are 10 inches highand a 15-watt candle-style bulb is already included. --Richard Farr ... Read more

Reviews (11)

Great Toy/Project
I am very happy with this lamp. I bought it for my 7 year old cousin as a gift and she fell in love with it. The lamp came with the paints for her to design however she wanted to. It is a great way for kids to open their minds and be creative. The one thing I would suggest is that it came in a variety of colors. It seems too much like a project for little girls only. Otherwise, it's a great product.

Awsome Lamp Painting
I think that the Groovy Ceramic Lamp is a good way to learn hand cordination because you have to be able to control the way you paint.Also it is a fun experiance that lasts.After you are done painting the lamp you can either give it to a loved one or keep for a reading lamp or whatever.So I promotethe Groovy Ceramic Lamp to a kid with a very artsy mind and imagination.

Disappointing
I read all the reviews and was excited to purchase this kit for my eight year old.

However, the lamp was TINY, only big enough for a night light really.The fringe was difficult to get to stay on.And the lamp base was so fragile that when it was accidentally tipped on my daughter's desk it shattered, only a week after we purchased it. ... Read more

Asin: B00005CFBG
Subjects:  1. Arts and Crafts    2. Craft Kits    3. Activity   

Butterflies Kit
Average Customer Review:
Toy
list price: $15.99 -- our price: $15.99
(price subject to change: see help)
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Editorial Review

Re-create Mother Nature's beautiful designs on the wings of butterflies with this kit from Balitono. It includes 4-inch wooden butterflies that can be used as refrigerator magnets, hanging sculptures, window decorations, and toy treasures. The kit offers three butterflies, nontoxic acrylic paints in five colors, shiny varnish, and a paintbrush. Each figure also comes with a press-on magnet, hanging accessories, a suction cup (for window use), and a small gift tag. An easy-to-follow instruction sheet includes compelling facts about the nature of butterflies. Colorful illustrations on the box show a wide variety of butterflies young artists might like to paint. A coded diagram inside identifies each species by name. Children may want to give these items as gifts, use them to decorate their rooms, or simply use them in creative play. --Joan DeClaire ... Read more

Reviews (21)

Expensive
I felt this kit was expensive for the small amount of items that came with it. It is cute and beats having my kids sit in front of the television, [...] As a plus I must admit that my children (ages 9 and 7) enjoyed painting the butterflies and turning them into magnets. That is worth a few stars.

classic but fun!
My girls have received other Balitono kits before and theylove them, so I am always on the lookout for more styles.The best ones we had were the horses kit and some other jewelry box kits (not sure the exact names) but the painted things are on our girls' tables.

The butterflies kit is not as elaborate as the others we had but we had as much fun creating them.My 9 year old and 7 year old shared the kit and took the time painting them and making into magnets and ornaments.The butterflies are about 4 inches each, not large but there are 3 of them and i am impressed with the quality of the paints and paintbrush since i used to paint on canvas.on the pamphlet, it said the wooden butterflies are hand-carved and they have the details that are life-like.One improvement i would like to have is to have a glow-in-the-dark paint included.

Busy momof four with limited income
I was pretty disappointed when I open this toy. I have very little money to spend on four wonderful children, and this was to be a Christmas gift, but when I opened it and saw that there were only three littel wooden butterflies, one paint brush and only six primary colors of paint, I really felt like I had wasted my limited resources.

I wish I had taken the time to read ALL of the reviews before purchasing this product. At a lower price, like 3.99 or less, this would have been a great deal, well worth it. But not at $14.99 plus shipping. I will certainly be much more careful when choosing toys online that is for sure.

Fortunately for me, my children are very well-manored and very compassionate. It is the reason for holiday that makes them happy. NOT the quality or quantity of the gifts they get. God bless them all... ... Read more

Asin: B00000IS3P
Subjects:  1. Arts and Crafts    2. Painting Kits    3. Animals    4. Bugs    5. Butterflies    6. Painting    7. Learning    8. Activity    9. Craft Kits   

Crystal Mosaics
Average Customer Review:
Toy
-- our price: $11.99
(price subject to change: see help)
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Editorial Review

Create your own sun-catching works of art for gifts or for yourself with this activity kit.The set containsfour different items to decorate with colored translucent mosaic tiles and black outline paint: a 5-by-7-inch plasticframe, a 4-by-3-inch plastic box, and two 3.5-inch glass bottles.A squeezable paint bottle of nontoxic blackdimensional paint, nontoxic glue, a paintbrush, paper patterns, and a bag of colored mosaic shapes are included. Adultsupervision is useful in reducing the frustration level in handling small pieces, and necessary for opening the containersand reading the directions. Refills are available from the manufacturer. --S. J. Kurtz ... Read more

Reviews (8)

Cute activity, Cheap quality
This is a fun activity to do with a child, but honestly, it is cheap quality and not that asthetically pleasing. It is a great fine motor promoting activity - i actually bought it for my 12 yr old and realized that that it really was more appropriate for my 3 yr old. Rachael loves her "pretty things" and it is fun. Glue sticks well too.

fairly good.
the glass bottles hold up really well, and the glue works well also. the suncatcher is not vey durable at all, and the box is somewhere in the middle. it was a fun hour or so i spent with this kit, and i still have one of the bottles. i wouldn't recommend this to neat freaks (the little pieces go EVERYWHERE) but for anyone else it's pretty fun.

Makes a great gift
I had this sent to my granddaughter for her 11th birthday. She lives in another state so I haven't seen the crystal mosaics personally but Taylor tells me she LOVES it! ... Read more

Asin: B00000ISFS
Subjects:  1. Arts and Crafts    2. Art Supplies    3. Craft Kits    4. Glass    5. Sun Catchers   

Deluxe Blo-Pens Creative Activity Kit
Average Customer Review:
Toy
list price: $19.99 -- our price: $14.99
(price subject to change: see help)
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Editorial Review

Like miniature cans of spray paint, the pens in this 50-pieceBlopens activity kit can be used to make a wide variety of colorfulstencil and airbrush pictures. The kit contains 15 pens, including fivecolor-changing ones, and 23 precut stencils. Each pen is filled withnontoxic, washable ink. By blowing into one end of the pen young artistscan create a colorful airbrush effect on paper. A sturdy cardboardworkstation that holds all of the pens has been included, along witheight sheets of paper, a carry case for the whole set, and aninstruction and idea booklet. --Chris Burns ... Read more

Reviews (23)

Boo this toy sucks
It was hard to make the ink come out plus they ran dry to soonTake my advice dont buy them

not a (real) kid!
i am an artist; i make a lot of greeting cards.i have found blo-pens to be a lot of fun and i have been very creative with them.i found that i do better when i use my own stencils, and i have experimented a lot with the pens.my frustration is not being able to find just the pens, except for the "bold" colors, which i do not need.and i don't like the color change pens (the colors are blah, as far as i'm concerned).would love to know how to find an assortment of pens.

BloPens Rock
I loved playing with BlowPens. I used to hate arts and crafts. But when I got BlowPens, I had the best time of my life! Now my sister's an artist! ... Read more

Asin: B00004YZAL
Subjects:  1. Art and Crafts    2. Art Supplies    3. Markers    4. Activity    5. Arts and Crafts   

Art Safari Pixter Rom Pack
Average Customer Review:
Toy

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Editorial Review

This cartridge, designed to be used with the Pixter system, featuresfour activities. In "Animal Puzzler," pictures of animals are scrambled andreassembled. "Animal Mix-Up" allows the user to mix heads and bodies of animalsto create plenty of silly hybrids. "Animal Racers" features a track for racingvarious animals against each other. And yet another activity lets players placedifferent animals in a range of settings, much like rubber stamps. --JohnMoe ... Read more

Reviews (5)

Review Of Art Safari Pixter Rom Pack
This item is GREAT!!!! The cool drawings, races, and, stamps. I reccomed this item alot!!

Fun toy!
My 9-year-old daughter received a Pixter for Christmas and has really enjoyed it. It is well worth the money and we have definitely gotten our money's worth out of it. I highly recommend it. I even have a lot of fun with it. Give it a try!

Good cartridge, not so educational...but fun.
I have almost all the pixter cartridges and this one though it is a good one does not get used as much as the others. It has various activities such as habitat stampers. A set of animal habitat scenes with stampers that make animal noises. Then there are different animal art games that involve drawing and completing animals. The main thing I would point out would be to watch out with this one with younger children. One of the games is a set of slider puzzles that are fairly hard to work with. Little ones would probably get frustrated without mom or dad's help. It is a good cartridge but not one of the best. But if you got an animal lovin' little one this would be great for them. ... Read more

Asin: B00005NZCQ
Subjects:  1. Activity    2. Preschool    3. Electronic Learning Aids (ELA)    4. Arts and Crafts    5. Drawing    6. Electronic    7. Games    8. Handheld    9. Learning   

Design Your Own Soccer Ball Kit
Average Customer Review:
Toy
-- our price: $19.99
(price subject to change: see help)
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Editorial Review

Design your own soccer ball with this simple kit. The kit includes a size five(regulation-size) all-weather soccer ball, a pump, a set of six paints (in red, blue, green,yellow, black, and white), a specially formulated paint medium to help the paints stick,and a couple of brushes. The process is simple: Pump up the ball and then paint the whitesections in any color scheme. The instructions suggest using team or school colors andpainting on names of friends or team members. Allow each part of the ball to dry for twoto four hours before rotating the ball to paint the next part. Once the entire ball is painted,another 36 hours of drying time is required to ensure that the paint adheres well. Theresult is a fun, personalized soccer ball that's perfect for practice games or familyoutings. --Elisabeth Fredrickson ... Read more

Features

• Kit includes synthetic leather ball, paints, brushes, pump, needle, and instruction sheet
• Hand-sewn soccer ball you paint and design
• Ball is all-weather and regulation size
• Paints are non-toxic
• Air dry paints adhere to ball surface

Reviews (16)

Surprise
I bought this for my niece two years ago and never thought about it or heard about it again.Recently, I went to her soccer game and while she was playing, her brothers were playing with this decorated ball.She had fun decorating it and they all love to play with it!!I was pleasantly surprised.

Cool Look, But won't Last
This seems like a lot of fun, but at the same time most people nowadays are looking for the new cool-looking Adidas or Nike. Plus it probably won't last very long because of the material.

Coming from a kid
Coming from a kid, I must say that this is a wonderful item to have. I got it for my birthday last year and I loved it. I played with all the time. I painted it my own way, and it tought me to be more creative. It looks still liked new, after a year of playing Traveling Soccer. I had my friends sign my soccer ball and now everyone wants to play with it! I love it and if your kid is sporty and has fun painting and stuff...getting this for your kid is a great idea. I loved getting this and so will you! ... Read more

Asin: B00002MZ6X
Subjects:  1. Arts and Crafts    2. Craft Kits    3. Painting    4. Painting Kits    5. Sports    6. Sports Equipment    7. Soccer   

Wee Enchanted Garden Kit
Average Customer Review:
Toy
list price: $24.99 -- our price: $24.99
(price subject to change: see help)
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Editorial Review

For kids who want to experience the magic of growing their own garden, this kit is a fun andinventive experience. It contains everything you need to grow a small terrarium complete with an entirecommunity of tiny fantastical inhabitants. Paint the special planter with the paints (three primary colorsincluded), fill with soil, and then plant the enclosed beans and grass seeds. Then it's time to arrange the tinyfairy cottage, use the green pebbles to make a tiny path, and decorate the garden with the rocks, shells, and plastic animals that come with the kit. As the beans sprout and grow, you can cut and shape them sothey look like miniature trees--and for variety, add pepper, lemon, cantaloupe, and tomato seeds and watchjust what comes up. --John Longenbaugh ... Read more

Reviews (21)

Awesome
There are so many things that you can put in here that you don't need to use them all!!!!!

AWESOME GARDEN!
I bought this for my 5 year old for christmas, and she had a ball painting the planter and then planting the seeds. Once it started to grow, we have had a ton of fun trimming and caring for the garden.I let her play with her polly pocket dolls on it because it belongs to her and she uses it as her "enchanted fairyland."So what if a little dirt gets on the floor, it cleans up.This is by far one of the few times I have not felt like I wasted my money.My 8 year old son even likes to be the landscaper.

garden
according to my 10 year old daughter"This little garden is a great thing to have . I love coming home from school each day and seeing how it had grown since morning. It grows so fast you almost don't have to wait. the grass comes up fast and the beans soon follow.it looks cute in the window . I love it !! " ... Read more

Asin: B00000J0C9
Subjects:  1. Activity    2. Pretend Play    3. Gardening    4. Arts and Crafts    5. Craft Kits   

Pixter Deluxe Action Art
Average Customer Review:
Toy

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Reviews (1)

Fun game
This Pixter cartridge is a lot of fun, though my daughter thinks it would be better if it could have color. It keeps her busy when we're at the doctor's office or anywhere that makes you wait for a long time. I recommend this over a Gameboy any day of the week. ... Read more

Asin: B00005UV3I
Sales Rank: 7382
Subjects:  1. Activity    2. Electronic    3. Games    4. Handheld    5. Learning