Using short, snappy games and songs, teachers can turn any free time into a fun learning experience. Between classes or on bus field trips, open to any page in this book and find creative ways to have fun with children while encouraging important skills. Lots of fun! For more information, please call 800-638-0928.

Art for the Very Young offers over 50 art activities for children to create and learn about basic art concepts and techniques, such as line, shape, color, space, texture, form, and value. Watch how young learners acquire an appreciation for and understanding of the featured artists and the techniques they used. For more information, please call 800-253-5469.

Created by the ScienceMinders project of the YWCA of Annapolis and Anne Arundel County with funding from the National Science Foundation, Bubble Monster and Other Science Fun will encourage children to experiment with the activities in one of five science categories: patterns, matter, communication, the human body, and design and technology. A total of 45 activities! For more information, please contact Independent Publishers Group at 800-888-4741.

Have you ever eaten a potato ghost? a cantaloupe canoe? a banana snake or a star biscuit? With Cooking Art children learn to create edible masterpieces. Child-readable icons make choosing recipes and following steps easy. Spoon, clock, and oven icons indicate ability level, preparation time, and baking requirements. Great fun! For more information, please call 800-638-0928.

Count on Math has over 450 activities designed to develop math concepts. Each chapter includes a circle time story to introduce math concepts, an explanation of how one concept builds on other skills, key math words, suggestions for evaluating children's progress, supplemental resources, and sample newsletters to distribute to parents. For more information, please call 800-638-0928.

Learn and Play in the Garden is hands-on activity fun and natural science all in one. Over 40 different fun projects are divided according to the four seasons. Easy instructions help kids make colorful scarecrows, grow fruits and vegetables, create an herb garden, and make a worm farm. For more information, please call 800-645-3476 or visit www.barronseduc.com.

When is a paint not just a paint? When it's BioColor®—the incredible new product that lets your students discover dozens of new ways to learn and play! Promote imagination, experimentation, individuality, and discovery with endless project possibilities. Completely non-toxic and environmentally safe! For more information, please call 800-627-2829.

Ninety Nifty Songs is an entertaining and enriching musical cassette with 90 of the best traditional children's songs in several fun and educational categories. Categories include fingerplays, circle and dancing songs, quiet songs, and more. Cassette comes with a lyrics book for teachers. For more information, please call 800-350-9504 or visit http://members.aol.com/pjm90/index.htm.

Changing Channels is a collection of fun, witty, emotional, and very singable songs that help nurture media-smart kids. Includes songs about creative conflict resolution; managing TV time and creative time; recognizing the difference between superheroes and real life; and understanding one's own power to learn, love, think, grow, and dream. For more information, please call 800-443-4727 or visit www.rounder.com.

Children's performer Ella Jenkins brings together 40 years of international music-making in Songs Children Love to Sing. Songs such as "This-a-way That-a-way," "This Old Man," and "Little Charlie Just Off the Pickle Boat" are sure to keep the children in your center singing and dancing for hours. For more information, visit www.si.edu/folkways.

Celebrate the winter holidays with the 26 songs included on this album. "Night Before Christmas," "Harmonica for Hanukkah," "Kwanza Time," and other titles are accompanied by festive instrumentations including ukulele, harmonica, pipe organ, flutes, and many percussion instruments. Perfect for holiday celebrations! For more information, visit www.si.edu/folkways.

Listen to original artistic arrangements of the renowned music of Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, Strauss, Haydn, Brahms, and other famous composers. Simple melody lines coupled with creative instrumentation provide children with a refreshing, classical music introduction and experience. Perfect for play time, lunch time, or nap time! For more information, please call 800-248-TWIN or visit www.twinsisters.com.

Healthy Habits is a collection of songs and activities for young children covering nutrition, The Food Pyramid, anatomy, dental hygiene, and personal and fire safety. The accompanying lyrics book contains reproducible activities, while Side B of the cassette provides the instrumental tracks to all 11 songs for class performances. For more information, please call 800-567-7733.

Enchant the children in your center with new music by Raffi. Learning With Raffi—Baby Beluga will provide you with the sheet music, lyrics, and activities that reinforce and enhance the concept of each song on this new cassette. Repetition of verses, patterns, rhythm, and rhyme enable children to learn words rapidly. Great for creative and dramatic play activities! For more information, please call 800-253-5469.

This FELTKids® Interactive Playbook unfolds to reveal a theater just waiting to be filled with colorful felt accessories. Adults set the stage by reading the activity card aloud as children arrange the 35 play pieces—characters, costumes, and props—on five different theatrical backgrounds. Plastic carrying case is perfect for storage. For more information, please call 800-704-8697.

The Little Wooden Table is a delightful story of a little girl who sees the beauty, and the possibilities, in something no longer needed. With its captivating story line and charming illustrations, The Little Wooden Table offers to take its readers on a journey of discovery, to a place where something special hides, deep inside each and every one of us. For more information, please call 800-295-2945 or visit www.zipperpress.com.

Mr. Potato Head is back and better than ever in this new computer software program. Children will enjoy creating pictures by connecting the dots; putting jigsaw puzzles together; making their own personalized paintings; dressing their favorite vegetable; creating their own greeting cards; or just coloring. Endless hours of fun! Available in all major toy and game stores (Toy 'R' Us, Wal-mart), computer stores (Computer City, CompUSA) and specialty stores (Learning Smith).

Reader Rabbit's Kindergarten offers a comprehensive approach to learning that teaches early reading, math, and thinking skills while helping children develop socially and emotionally. The program blends a suspenseful story with interactive activities—putting together puzzles, solving riddles, and creating rhymes. For more information, call 617-494-5700.

Help youngsters learn concepts fundamental to reading, math, science, and critical and creative thinking with Reader Rabbit's Preschool. Children join Reader Rabbit and Mat the Mouse on their journey to unlock a magical carousel in a playworld full of educational games and activities, exciting exploration, and charming characters. For more information, call 617-494-5700.

Ready Readers™ is a beginning literacy program with a built-in skills and phonics curriculum. Stories in the Big Books Collection are made specifically for emergent readers and feature short phrases and sentences, repetition, captivating photographs and illustrations, and rhyming words. For more information, please call 800-321-3106 or visit www.mcschool.com.

The Creative Curriculum® for Infants and Toddlers provides a comprehensive, yet easy-to-use, framework for planning and implementing developmentally appropriate programs. Includes letters to parents, planning and individualizing forms, health and safety checklists, early intervention resources, and more. For more information, please call 800-637-3652 or visit www.teachingstrategies.com/educators/ed_index.html.

Build vocabulary skills with TREND flash cards! Child-friendly photographs keep learning fun and interesting. Durable cards are colorful, attractive, and have rounded corners for quick sorting. English and Spanish versions are available. Great for classroom activity centers! For more information, please call 800-328-5540.

FunShine Express is a monthly preschool curriculum kit designed to save you time and effort. Each monthly packet includes two to three thematic units, eight fun and colorful art and craft projects, multicultural activities, recipes, and parent/provider newsletter. In addition, each packet features activities that will teach two to three letters, two colors, one shape, and one number. For more information, please call 800-340-8103 or visit www.funshineexpress.com.

I Like Being Me: Poems for Children About Feeling Special, Appreciating Others, and Getting Along
Free Spirit Publishing, Inc.
Ages 3-8
$8.95 for children's book • $14.00 for leader's guide

In I Like Being Me, 26 rhyming poems help teach children to value themselves and others, to understand and express their feelings, to make decisions, and to take responsibility for their actions. The accompanying Leader's Guide reinforces the messages found in the children's book. For more information, please call 800-735-7323 or visit www.freespirit.com.

KidCrafters is a monthly program of developmentally appropriate activities for preschoolers. Activities require minimum preparation on your part and can be done each day as they are scheduled or whenever they best fit in with the time available. Each kit includes activity guide, felt board story, wall displays, pre-math manipulative, parent letters, and much more. For more information, please call 800-849-3459 or visit www.kidcrafters.com.

The Red Umbrella is more than a magazine. Published four times a year, The Red Umbrella is a wealth of great ideas and activities for mini-theme units, seasonal topics, and multicultural holidays. Plus, each fall and spring issue includes an adorable felt puppet with related activity section. A wonderful, quick resource! For more information, please call 800-237-4332.

This interactive learning center is perfect for staging fun activities that help build literacy and language skills. Felt, dry-erase, corkboard, and magnetic surfaces make the Childcraft Literacy Cube four learning areas in one. Durable blue trays and inside shelving provide necessary storage areas. For more information, please call 800-631-5652.

Allow children the freedom to make reading choices with this mobile book center from Childcraft Education Corporation. Over 300 books, including over-sized picture books, can be stored in this rolling unit. A display shelf on either end can highlight special reading choices and big books. For more information, please call 800-631-5652.

This beautiful carpet will brighten any classroom throughout the year. Manufactured with the finest commercial grade of DuPont Nylon® and finished with bound, double-stitched edges, this product will endure years of hard wear. New flexible backing with antibacterial treatment and stain protection make this carpet perfect for child care settings. Available from early childhood distributors nationwide.

Children love to imitate adults, so VTECH created the Little Smart Tiny Touch Phone Plus. The brightly colored phone encourages tactile exploration with its four chunky, light-up buttons that introduce shapes, numbers, and counting. A ringing telephone sound effect, two animal buttons that play four different melodies, and a non-breakable mirror will keep babies giggling for hours. Available from Wal-mart, Target, Venture, Toys 'R Us, Service Merchandise, and Kmart. For more information, visit www.vtechkids.com.

Little Smart Magic Lights is out of this world! Seven big and bright light-up buttons help introduce shapes, numbers, and counting, along with seven cheerful melodies that encourage musical exploration. As little ones pull the gear shift and turn the radar button on this mini space ship, they see their actions create a response. Excellent! Available from Wal-mart, Target, Venture, Toys 'R Us, Service Merchandise, and Kmart. For more information, visit www.vtechkids.com.

Sassy Toys Stacking Cups encourage development of thinking and learning by providing baby with tasks of increasing difficulty. First baby will mouth the cups, grasp them, and bang them together. Later, nesting and stacking become favorite activities. The set includes four different size cups, each with its own bright, colorful pattern. Available from baby and toy specialty stores nationwide.

WaterFrog
Little Tikes® Commercial Play Systems
Ages 2-7
$390.00

Hopping good times begin with the Little Tikes® Commercial Play Systems Water Frog. Available in both stationary and water versions, this amphibious friend offers excellent play value and relief from hot summer days. Specially designed to accept a common garden hose, this rotationally molded product meets playground safety guidelines. Available in Sport Green, Forest Green, and Granite. For more information, please call 800-325-8828 or visit www.ltcps.com.

ChildBrite's new Hoop 'n Play mini-basketball hoop will aid in developing eye-to-hand coordination and build counting skills as children score basket after basket. Provides great fun and releases excess energy. Available in kit form to retro-fit all ChildBrite Activity Centers or complete with a Mobile Mite as shown. Available from Lakeshore, U.S. Toy, ABC School Supply, Discount School Supply, NASCO, Beckley-Cardy, and American Academic.

Save precious time by using the only guide listing educational resources including Web sites and educational programs offered through museums and organizations. Includes a directory of over 460 educational toys, books, magazines, software, Web sites, and organizations. A wonderful resource! For more information, please call 800-444-2524.

Welcome parents and children to your center with James Begins Child Care and You and Your Baby Start Child Care. These warm, practical books help make beginning child care or changing to a new child care setting easier for everyone involved. English and Spanish versions are available. For more information, please call 888-244-0088.

Kidex for Twos is a reproducible manual with written and audio-tape instructions to help teachers organize and develop a daily schedule for two-year-olds. A checklist of developmental milestones; a list of suggested activities; a format for outlining a child's individual profile; and information about biting, toilet training, and temper tantrums are included. For more information, please call 800-947-9181 or visit www.childdevelopmentserv.com.

Are you looking for information to give parents that will help them deal with their children's problems? If so, Pass-Along-Papers can help. Pass-Along-Papers cover a series of 52 common early childhood development issues, ranging from coping with divorce to discipline to death. Each topic is covered on a reproducible, single, double-sided page and is illustrated. For more information, please call 630-530-5511 or visit www.help4parents.com.

Positive Discipline for Preschoolers offers practical solutions for every teacher and parent of young children. Solid advice is given for topics such as teaching independence while providing appropriate boundaries; encouraging positive behavior at child care and home; and developing logical consequences that are related, respectful, and reasonable. For more information, please call 800-456-7770 or visit www.positivediscipline.com.

This game will provide hours of imaginative play as children develop early math concepts and problem-solving skills. Set includes a total of 72 connecting people in three sizes and two genders as well as a double-sided, laminated activity mat. For more information, please call 800-237-3142.

This new collection of dolls from World Class Learning Materials have faces with four different facial expressions—happy, sad/angry, surprised, and thoughtful. Dolls have plain bodies, unisex clothing, and lightly pigmented skin. Great for discussing emotions and feelings! For more information, please call 800-638-6470.

Set imaginations in motion with this wacky gear set that whirls and twirls beyond any kid's wildest dreams. Includes springs, spirals, and propeller, plus small, medium, and large gears and bases. With hundreds of three-dimensional construction possibilities, children will create wonderful mechanical inventions. For more information, please call 800-222-3909.

Kid Classics developmental toys reinforce basic skills that preschoolers need to explore and interact with the world around them, from counting and reading to learning cause and effect. Packed with play value, Kid Classics Threading Cheese will keep kids interested and make learning fun. For more information, please call 800-704-8697.

Promote creativity and imagination in your center with Tree Blocks®. The smooth feel and interesting shapes of these blocks will intrigue the most demanding preschoolers as they create castles, skyscrapers, and space stations. Made from reclaimed tree branches, this product is truly unique. For more information, please visit www.treeblocks.com.

Zoob Deluxe
Primordial, LLC
Ages 5 and up
$39.99