Educational Toys Endure Test of Time

At a time when computer chips allow dolls to converse and video games vie to achieve a reality more vivid than virtual, the National Association for Gifted Children's annual list of educational toys has a very old-fashioned flavor.

"The list runs the gamut from building toys to musical instruments to toys about the human body," says Peter Rosenstein, executive director of NAGC. His group publishes the list in its Parenting for High Potential magazine.

"But our biggest surprise was the inclusion of some old standbys - like Crayola's Big Box of crayons and the Klutz yo-yo."

Mr. Rosenstein says a panel of parents, children and educators reviewed more than 120 submissions before whittling the list to 18 recommended toys.

"We had just three criteria," he says. "They had to be both fun and educational, they had to cost less than $50 and they had to stand the test of time."

Mr. Rosenstein says his panel expected children to enjoy coloring with the 96 Crayola colors, but was amazed when a Montessori class built a colorful toy train out of the crayons.

"We loved the way that this old favorite triggered inter-generational play," Mr. Rosenstein says. "That's what marks a classic toy - it spans the generations and becomes something that parents enjoy playing with their kids on a rainy day."

Stacy Gabrielle, spokeswoman for Binney & Smith - makers of perennial favorites Crayolas and Silly Putty - says "people love to call us and share their nostalgic stories."

She says using crayons as building units is new to her, but "our purpose is to encourage hands-on fun - we challenge kids to think outside the lines - even when coloring within them."

The yo-yo - whose history dates to the ancient Greeks - was another classic on the educational list. "The Klutz Yo-Yo Book," by the editors of Klutz Press at $12.95, was included not for the enclosed yo-yo, but for the educational book.

"That's the difference between a hula hoop and a yo-yo," Mr. Rosenstein says. "A hula hoop may be fun, but with this book, children learn about physics when they read about how a yo-yo works."

Karen Phillips, spokeswoman for Klutz publishing, says the book, which has been out for more than a decade, has been updated this year to take advantage of the new interest in the old toy.