“Your child will love creating all of his favorite Sesame Street friends! The colorful chunky parts make it easy for small hands to snap, stack and plug together. These fun sets also include educational activities for you to share with your child.”

K’NEX is back with a new Sesame Street Collection that your 2-5 year old is going to love. The new Sesame Street Neighborhood Collection Building Sets combine the fun building of K’NEX blocks with your child’s favorite Sesame Street Characters.

Join Elmo, Ernie and Cookie Monster and recreate the Sesame Street Neighborhood.

There are 4 neighborhood sets to collect and connect, including:

- Neighborhood collection 123 Brownstone

- Neighborhood Collection Ice Cream Truck

- Neighborhood Collection Police Station

- Neighborhood Collection Police Car

Team Mom sent us Neighborhood Collection 123 Brownstone to review and enjoy. This set is loaded with 40 parts to build the famous 1-2-3 Brownstone, complete with tiny stoop, Elmo, Cookie Monster, trees and a fire hydrant. Pairs perfectly with the Neighborhood Collection Ice Cream Truck for hours of building fun and after building play.

My daughter, who is 5, felt that this play set was a bit young for her and decided to pass this toy along to a 2 year old friend of the family who loved it! I think this toy is great for the 2-3 age group who enjoy watching Sesame Street and can identify the characters. The blocks are a nice size for little hands and are easy to connect and take apart. Each set also comes with a “play & learn” activity sheet that gives your child a set of ideas on how to put the blocks together to make new designs.

Ages – 2-5 years old (Perfect gift both boys and girls)

Price – Retails for $10.99-$20.99

Buy – Buy K’NEX Sesame Street Neighborhood Collection

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

“I was given a K’NEX Sesame Street 123 Brownstone Play set from Team Mom. I was allowed to keep the product, but the opinion I am sharing remains my own.”

There are a lot of new toys out this Holiday Season, but most of them do not come with a special message.

About Zambi

Zambi the Baby Elephant is a Special Edition Furreal Friends baby African elephant. He was created to help support organizations that are caring for children who have been orphaned by AIDS in Africa.

Hasbro established the Project Zambi Fund within the Hasbro Children’s Fund to support programs that provide for the care and comfort of these estimated 15 million African children.

Zambi has a few features that make him truly special

The children of the of the Chikumbuso community in Africa created the original fabric designs featured on the ears and feet of Zambi the Baby Elephant. They were asked to create pictures of things they were thankful for, and the children responded with vibrant drawings of family members, friends and even a new pair of shoes.

Zambi also comes with a special bracelet that was designed by the African Children. The bracelets will help children and adults spread the word about PROJECT ZAMBI and encourage others to join the cause and devote their support to the issue of caring for children orphaned by AIDS in Africa.

Hasbro is donating a minimum of $500,000 from the worldwide sales of Zambi the Baby Elephant to the Project Zambi fund, part of the Hasbro Children’s Fund.

Why we like Zambi

Not only does Zambi have a great message you can share with your child, but he is also adorable. After seeing the commercials on TV, my daughter was quick to add Zambi to the top of her Christmas wish list.

Being that Zambi is a FurReal Friends Pet, he can come to life right before your eyes.  Zambi sighs and blow kisses, and giggles when you tickle his chest. He can also wave his trunk up and down, wiggle his ears and curl his soft trunk around your finger.

Zambi has a hard interior body (needed for movement) so he is not suitable for snuggling. The fur on the outside of his body is incredibly soft to the touch.

Ages – 4 & up (girls & boys)

Price – Retails for $49.99

Buy – Buy Zambi the Baby Elephant

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Do you remember Strawberry Shortcake when you were little? I do! I used to love her distinct strawberry smell and funky clothes.

I was pleasantly surprised when I saw a new line of Strawberry Shortcake toys by Hasbro in stores this summer.

The new Strawberry Shortcake is cuter, and smells even yummier than I remember.

My 5 year old daughter is the real fan now. She recently received the Strawberry Shortcake Berry Cafe and the Sweet Surprise Strawberry Shortcake.

Both are equally as sweet. The Strawberry Shortcake Berry Cafe is a polly pocket type playset that comes with Strawberry Shortcake, her Berry Cafe, and some furniture. Her friends are sold separately.

My daughter absolutely loves this play set, and recently, this has been the primary toy she plays with.  We also received Strawberry’s friend Lemon Meringue and have since purchased additional dolls.

The Strawberry Shortcake Berry Cafe retails for $34.99 and the additional dolls are $6.99.  All dolls smell delicious.

The Sweet Surprise Strawberry Shortcake was a surprise. I did not expect the doll to be as large as she is…but we love her. She is a doll your daughter can play with. From her silky red hair to her “surprise” makeup that comes on and off with her magic pen. This doll retails for $22.99, and she smells awesome!

If your daughter is into Strawberry Shortcake, these toys are must haves. If she is not, this is a great way to introduce her to a berry sweet doll.

Ages - Suitable for ages 4 & up due to small parts

Price – Strawberry Shortcake Berry Cafe retails for $34.99, Sweet Surprise Strawberry Shortcake retails for $22.99

Buy – Buy Strawberry Shortcake Berry Cafe

Buy Sweet Surprise Strawberry Shortcake

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

**We received the Strawberry Shortcake toys mentioned above in exchange for sharing our honest review of the products**

I got a sneak peek of the hottest toy for 2009, the Zhu Zhu Pets, before they were on shelves this Fall.

I knew they would be an instant hit when my 5 year old daughter went nuts over these little moving hamsters.

The concept behind Zhu Zhu Pets is great for moms. Have the look and mobility of a real hamster, without all the mess!

The Zhu Zhu Pet hamsters each have their own personality and make unique little sounds. There are optional pieces you can buy to make a whole hamster city, similar to a real hamster habitat.

The Pros:

-Kids love these hamsters! My daughter and her friends had a field day with these things. The entertainment value is high and they are fun to watch run around. Extra fun if you have a cat, they seem to love these hamsters too.

-The hamsters themselves are inexpensive, retail for $7.99 each

- Really cute, new idea that both boys and girls can play with together.

- No mess and additional expense of a real hamster.

The Cons:

- The additional habitat add-ons are made of plastic, while this is fine, the plastic is not as sturdy as I would like and I had a difficult time keeping the connecting pieces connected.

- The habitat pieces where more difficult to put together than expected…not playable right out of the box (the hamster is though).

- The little wheels the hamsters run on rotate fast! Be careful not to let the wheels get near hair or strings as it will eat them up. This is based on experience.

Overall we really enjoyed playing with the Zhu Zhu Pets. Our favorite habitat add-on was the car. It is so cute watching the little hamster run across the floor in the car. When the habitat is put together correctly the Zhu Zhu Pets really do run around in it like a real hamster. They have some sort of sensor or something on their nose that keeps the pets from running into each other.

Since Zhu Zhu Pets are becoming more and more of a hot Christmas item, be sure to pick up a few in the stores for Christmas before they sell out!

Ages – 4 Years and Up

Price – Zhu Zhu Pet Hamster retail for $9.99, additional pieces vary from $10-$25

Buy – Walmart, Target, Toys R Us

Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

*Mom Select sent us 11 Pets and a full habitat to try out and share with our friends in exchange for sharing our honest review of this product**