Among 5 Honors, Mummy’s Treasure & Giant Puzzles Win Gold & Silver

Skaneateles, NY (October 27, 2010) – Childhood should be about fun and games, right? But where do parents discover products that help kids grow imaginatively, morally and mentally? They look for the Parents’ Choice Awards seals, perhaps the most rigorous of all toy industry competitions. Because Parents’ Choice also expects toys and puzzles to be fairly priced, fun, safe and socially sound their stringent requirements narrow the list of new toys on the market to a prestigious few. Rising to the topnot once but five times (!) this season was toymaker HABA who enchanted Parents’ Choice Awards judges with their beautiful European craftsmanship.

From Mummy’s Treasure Game to Giant Discovery Puzzles, HABA proudly takes home a Gold, Silver and 3 Approved Seals in the Fall 2010 competition. That’s quite a feat when one considers Parents’ Choice awards only 20% of the international new toys, puzzles and games that cross their desks. For those in the know, Parents’ Choice Awards is the nation's oldest nonprofit program created to recognize quality children's media. Awards are given in one of the six levels: Gold, Silver, Recommended, Approved, Classic and Fun Stuff.

The Parents' Choice Gold Awards are given to those products that are judged as the highest quality, most appealing products in their genre. Criteria for judgments include the highest production standards, universal human values and a unique, individual quality that pushes the product a notch above others. The Parents' Choice Silver Honors are given to excellent products that, like the Gold Award winners, are designed to entertain and help children develop universally ethical attitudes, and rigorous standards and skills. Silver Honors are highly prized - like the Gold Awards - for production and human values.

The Parents' Choice Approved Seals are given on the basis of the production, entertainment and human values they exemplify. A Parents' Choice Approved seal indicates a wholesome product that helps children enjoy developing physical, emotional, social or academic skills.

Listed below are the five HABA winners with their individual reviews by Parents’ Choice panelists:

Mummy's Treasure Game • Ages: 3+ • $12
Parents’ Choice Gold Award • Fall 2010 Games
The Mummy's Treasure Game is a fun game in which even young children learn to strategize to win the game. The game’s theme is one of "mummies, treasure hunters, and treasures.” The game comes with four game cards called "excavation sites" that look like a bingo grid, five dice with six different pictures of treasures on them, and multiple game "tiles" that have pictures that match the dice treasures. The goal of the game is to be the first player to cover their entire game card. To do this, one rolls the dice up to three times as they attempt to match the treasures on the dice to those on the available tiles. As the treasure combinations one wants show up on the dice, one stops rolling those dice and continues to roll the remaining dice. Tiles have somewhere between one and four treasures printed on them, and, because the tiles are different sizes and shapes, like Tetris pieces, players must figure out how large of a tile they need to fill up their excavation boxes. The person who fills up all their boxes on their game card first wins. This is a very fun game that teaches problem solving and promotes strategizing throughout. It has good long-term appeal and will be enjoyed by children of all ages (most ideal age range is probably 6-11 years old). Game play will have lasting play value, as it builds skills rather than relying on luck.

Giant Discovery Puzzles - Pony Stud, Construction and Orchard • Ages 3+ • $17
Parents’ Choice Silver Honor • Fall 2010 Puzzles
The Giant Puzzle Pony Stud is a puzzle made of sturdy cardboard. Once the puzzle is built, children can use it as a scene for the two horse figures and one girl figure included with the set. It also comes with a "Look Closely" story which has the child look for certain items in the scene. This is fun and reminiscent of "Where's Waldo?” Our young testers enjoyed building the puzzle. While the recommended age is three and up, our older testers still found the puzzle a little challenging. As its borders have no straight edges, it was sometimes hard to find the corners and edges. It is not a puzzle a young child will be able to do on their own initially, however this meant that it kept older testers challenged. It may take children a little longer to master the puzzle, but this will increase the long-term play value of it. What we liked most about this puzzle was that it could be used after the puzzle had been completed. Once it was built, our testers used the figures for imaginative play.

Moo & Baa Game • Ages 3+ • $20
Parents’ Choice Approved Award • Fall 2010 Games
Moo & Baa comes with nine tiny wooden frogs, sheep, and cows in five colors, four farm-printed playing cards, and three fabric bags. The figures are divided amongst the three bags, and players take turns pulling one out of the bag of their choice. If the color of the figure matches the color of a player's farm card, the figure is matched to the corresponding outline. If it matches another player's card, that player receives the figure. Blue animals live in the bags, and they are placed back in them when drawn. A player wins when she has filled her entire card. If the game is too challenging or not difficult enough, try the instruction manual's variations. Younger testers were entertained by the charming figures, even if they could not follow the game. Even for older kids, playing will help hone color recognition, fine motor skills, and memory skills.




Arranging Game Corner to Corner • Ages 3+ • $33
Parents’ Choice Approved Award • Fall 2010 Games

Corner to Corner is a set of beautifully colored tiles with endless building possibilities. The set includes several designs, such as a sailboat and a house, for children to recreate. Though the set includes a small number of blocks for its price, it is very high quality and can be used to create complicated three-dimension cubes and pyramids. The tiles can be arranged in a flat pattern or upright, thus generating new results each time.


 




Little Hand Puzzles - Animals, Farm & Construction • Ages 18 months+ • $14
Parents’ Choice Approved Award • Fall 2010 Puzzles

HABA’s Little Hand Puzzles offer a simple design and sturdy, sweetly illustrated pieces that will inspire hours of play. The puzzles, available in animal, construction, and farm themes, provide six mini-puzzles, six coordinating pieces, and a wooden figure for imaginative play once the puzzles have been assembled. The puzzle pieces snap together snuggly, and will stay put while toddlers move freestanding pieces like toolboxes in the construction set, cat food in the animals set, and eggs in the farm set amongst them. Even older children who have grown beyond a simple puzzle challenge will enjoy enacting a variety of scenarios.

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About HABA
HABA products can be found nationwide at over 1,000 U.S. specialty retail stores and in specialty catalogs and websites. Many of its products have been recognized with German and American awards including Parents’ Choice Awards®, National Parenting Center, Creative Child, and Dr. Toy. HABA received Best Toys of the Year recognition from the TODAY Show Toy Test and has been featured in national magazines such as American Baby, Baby Talk, Fit Pregnancy, Parenting, Parents and Working Mother.

For more details, visit HABA’s informational website at www.HABAusa.com.