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Briefs: Classic toys enter Hall of Fame | TribLIVE.com
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Briefs: Classic toys enter Hall of Fame

Staff And Wire Reports

It's hard to keep a good toy down -- especially when it happens to be Jack-in-the-Box.

Jack and Candy Land shared a sweet victory earlier this month as they were welcomed into the Strong Museum's National Toy Hall of Fame in Rochester, N.Y.

The pair vanquished 10 other nominees for the honor, including the popular Lionel Trains and Cabbage Patch Kids.

Friday was the third annual induction ceremony at the museum, which acquired the Toy Hall of Fame in 2002.

The latest victors have interesting histories.

Candy Land was invented in the 1940s by Eleanor Abbott, a San Diego educator and polio victim. She decided to create a board game for children recovering from the disease, enticing them down a rainbow trail with destinations such as Peppermint Stick Forest and Gumdrop Mountain. Milton Bradley began making it in 1949.

Jack-in-the-Box has a more checkered past, reaching back into the 16th century. Jack was loosely based on Punch, a hyper puppet who beat family members and police in the original "Punch and Judy" shows. Who could blame later toymakers for imprisoning him in a box?

The inductees were chosen by a 19-member national committee of teachers, inventors, authors and child-development experts. Toy Hall of Fame winners are on view on the museum's second floor.

Belsnickel to visit Old Economy Village

Old Economy Village in Ambridge will be the site Nov. 25 of a visit by Belsnickel, the helper of St. Nicholas who checks on which children were naughty and which nice.

The visit of the hard-working holiday helper is open for children 6 to 12, and will include a snack and a tour of Old Economy, the 19th century home of the members of the Harmony Society.

Belsnickel's visit will start at 10 a.m. Registration is due by Nov. 21. Admission is $20.

Details: 724-266-4500, Ext. 101.

Adoption and foster parent information

People interested in becoming a foster or adoptive parent can learn more at a Project STAR meeting on Tuesday, Nov. 15, in Beaver County.

Resource families may be single or married, men or women, with or without children. Qualification is not based on home ownership, employment, age, disability, sexual orientation or income. The event is at 7 p.m. at the STAR office, 1598 Virginia Ave., Monaca.

Details: Lucinda Wiebe at 412-244-3048 or www.amazingkids.org .

Kids woodworking classes scheduled

Children can learn the art of woodworking at a seminar Saturday at 1 p.m. at the Pittsburgh Children's Museum, North Side. Kids will learn how to create an object, such as a birdhouse, boat or car. Classes are scheduled for 1, 2 and 3 p.m. Admission is $5 per child.

Details: www.pittsburghkids.org .

Author offers tips on toys to avoid

Hearing jingle bells already• It could be the cha-ching of cash registers as people start in on their holiday shopping.

Marianne Szymanski, author of "Toy Tips: A Parent's Essential Guide to Smart Toy Choices," says the best toys are those that are loved and cherished by children yet don't break the bank of the adults buying all the holiday cheer.

The worst toys are those that take up valuable space just to collect dust.

Szymanski's top 10 ways to waste your holiday toy budget:

  • Buy a multilingual toy for a toddler, hoping it will teach language skills. Small children need human interaction to develop a love for new language, not a gizmo.

  • Buy an educational toy that is too far above the child's current skill level. You may think it will being challenging and encouraging for the child, but it's more likely the child will find the too-complex toy boring.

  • Buy a very loud toy. You'll never want the children to play with it.

  • Buy an oversized toy. Those king-sized plush toys make a big impact on gift-giving day, but they're not suitable for toddlers or babies, and they never fit in the toy box.

  • Buy a role-playing toy for a role you don't like. If you don't want your child to leap around the room like a ninja warrior, don't buy the costume.

  • Buy a collectible toy for a child under 10. There's nothing more frustrating to children than being told they have a new toy they are not allowed to remove from the packaging.

  • Buy a toy that is impossible to wrap. Its a good way to blow through the gift wrap supply.

  • Buy a toy that needs a lot of batteries. Often, battery costs end up outpacing the cost of the original toy.

  • Buy a toy as an "investment." Most toys do not end up being valuable collectors items.

  • Buy a toy because it was No. 1 on a "hot toy" list. Just because everyone is buying it, doesn't mean its a good toy. That just means its a well-marketed toy.