Heading into the holiday selling season, VTech introduced its full lineup of new infant, toddler, and preschool toys — many of which were shown at the Toy Insider‘s Sweet Suite event in NYC last month. The fall lineup includes five key items at retail, including the Mix & Match-a-Saurus, Treasure Seekers Pirate Ship, Scoop & Play Digger, Latches & Doors Busy Board, and Prance & Rock Learning Unicorn.
“2019 is the year we’re innovating imaginative play,” says Andy Keimach, president of VTech Electronics North America. “Kids will have a blast while they practice motor skills, explore emotions, and play pretend.”
Mix & Match-a-Saurus: This dino comes with three emotion tiles (happy, angry, sleepy), three music tiles (hip-hop, marching, ballet), and three character tiles (dinosaur, robot, monster). Kids can create 27 different combinations of emotions, music styles and characters, such as happy hip-hop dino or angry marching monster. Placing the colorful tiles on dino’s back allows kids to customize how they want to play with him. Every time a tile is inserted, the dinosaur moves, sings, dances, talks or encourages children to follow along for gross-motor play. Experimenting with emotion tiles helps kids build social and emotional skills. Angry dino may stomp around or say, “Let’s practice calming down,” helping kids learn that there are many ways to express feelings. When playtime is done, kids can store the tiles in the dinosaur egg.
Treasure Seekers Pirate Ship: Kids can place the captain or sailor on the recognition point to learn about sailing the mighty toy ship. Kids can turn the sails, spin the steering wheel to navigate the high seas, or load the cannon to strengthen fine motor skills. Roll the ship along using the pull cord to build gross motor skills. Discover colors and numbers in Explore mode and hear pirate sounds and phrases in Role-Play mode by pressing the light-up buttons. Little sailors can transform this 2-in-1 playset into a deserted island and find treasure. Keep the treasure away from the octopus and his spinning tentacles or prepare to walk the plank.
Scoop & Play Digger: Toddlers enjoy put-and-take play, and this digger delights as it scoops up objects and pushes them out again. The excavator’s arm drops the play pieces into the hatch, and the digger counts them from one to ten. Five pieces are included – a rock, gold bars, bricks, wooden logs and pipes – and they all store neatly inside the toy. Three play modes encourage movement and pretend play. Kids can press five light-up buttons to learn about colors and numbers in Learning mode, listen to songs in Music mode, or hear interactive phrases and questions in Quiz mode.
Latches & Doors Busy Board: Slide, press, twist or turn to unlock and open the doors and windows of the colorful house to build motor skills. Toddlers will find pictures of an adorable family, pets or a birthday party. This activity board reinforces learning by introducing numbers and animals. Three colorful buttons play the Alphabet Song, a number song or a playful song about the house. The busy board also includes a handle for play at home or away.
Prance & Rock Learning Unicorn: This grow-with-me unicorn transforms from a rocker to a ride-on in seconds. As toddlers rock and ride, the built-in motion sensors respond with playful music and magical unicorn sounds to encourage gross-motor development and imagination. Kids can pretend to visit castles and fly over rainbows with their new unicorn friend. Encourage fantasy play in Adventure mode with playful phrases and imaginative songs, then switch to Learning mode to introduce colors. Spin the bead wheel to hear fun sounds and short tunes and watch the unicorn’s horn twinkle in response.
