PAL Award Winners – 2012
Exceptional toys, games and books that encourage language, spark fun and invite creative play.
PAL Awards
Established by respected speech and language expert Sherry Artemenko, the PAL Award recognizes exceptional toys, games and books that, through their design, content, quality, and character, promote play that advances language. PAL winners in the hands of kids spark fun and creative play with lots of talk!
TOYS
GAMES
BOOKS / MEDIA
TOYS
Elf Magic Elves By Elf Magic
The minute Elf Magic's red-headed Mack arrived at our tester's house, he and three year-old Liam became inseparable--except at bedtime of course,...
Eco-Bonk by Pueri Elemental
When kids encountered Abigail the Elephant they couldn't pass by without touching, giving a little tap or picking her up and taking her from room to...
Mod By BrickStix
Once I opened Mod Packs, all hands were on deck, as kids peeled off the removable and repositionable stickers to add to their LEGOS (they work on...
BrickStix by BrickStix LLC
Set these re-usable, removable and restickable cling BrickStix decals out on the table with some LEGOS and watch kids dive in and create! One family...
Fresh Squeezed Squeeze Station and Feeding Line by Infantino
Few things can make mom feel better than making her own baby food for her child! Moms were excited to try Infantino's new Fresh Squeezed feeding...
Pony Flag Race Lottie by Arklu
Little girls loved Pony Race Lottie, sporting the perfect clothes for her riding competition--boots, riding pants, helmet, vest and a shirt with a...
Autumn Leaves Lottie by Arklu
"Be bold, be brave, be you!" is Lottie's approach to life and little girls get it as they role-play with their new little 7" friend, Autumn Leaves,...
My Pet Blankie by Fou Fou Baby
George the Giraffe lived up to his hype of being a 3-in-1 toy as he was hugged, unrolled to play hide and seek and tucked under the head for a...
Letter Sounds DVD by Rock ‘N’ Learn
Get ready to rock and learn with this new video of animated characters teaching letters, sounds, words and reading. The 11 sections take children...
GAMES
Spell Trek by Simply Fun
Hop on a jeep and start your trip across a game board of desert, ice capped mountains, rain forest and tropics. You are trying to capture animals...
Word Bits by SimplyFun
I was just shuffling the cards and dumping out the dice when a word-game geek said, "I like this game already!" Turn over the top category card in a...
Nounsense by Maranda Enterprises
Nounsense is a fast-paced game that pits two teams against each other trying to quickly identify a person, place or thing based on their teammate's...
Speedy Recall by Maranda Enterprises
Speedy is the word as you are on the edge of your seat just waiting for the cards to be flipped over to scan your memory by category to come up with...
Rory’s Story Cubes MAX by The Creativity Hub Ltd.
How can you improve on our favorite language learning cubes, Rory's Story Cubes? Go MAX! Now kids and adults of all abilites can learn together....
Zingo! Sight Words by ThinkFun
ThinkFun has again lived up to its name, creating a game to make learning sight words fun! Essential to learning to read, sight words are the most...
Scrambled States of America Game–Deluxe Edition by Gamewright
In this mad-dashing geography game, kids are learning states, capitals, nicknames, location, categories, letters and syllables. Flip over a Find-It...
Rory’s Story Cubes–Actions by Gamewright
Roll out the newest Rory's Story Cubes set and get the action going. Each of the 9 cubes has 54 illustrated everyday verbs--listen, jump, draw,...
FitzIt by Gamewright
Kids and adults had such fun playing FitzIt, generating words based on the attribute cards they drew. My favorite was: what is usually used for...
BOOKS / MEDIA
Big Book of My World by Kali Stileman
This big book certainly covers the world of early learning--counting, shapes, colors, sounds, opposites, feelings, first words, favorite things and...
Gem by Hollie Hobbie
Hollie Hobbie's illustrations lead us through the delicate spring foliage as a little toad makes his way from this pond to the farmhouse flower...
What Can a Crane Pick Up? by Rebecca Kai Dotlich and Mike Lowery
The crane is king in this whimsical rhyming picture book as he moves from picking up conventional heavy duty vehicles like trucks, trains and planes...
Bear Says Thanks by Karma Wilson and Jane Chapman
Discover this delightful tale about sharing and giving thanks at this time of year. Big-hearted bear wants to prepare a feast to share with his...
Rocket Writes a Story by Tad Hills
Our famous pup, Rocket who learned to read is back to lead us through the process of writing his first story. Rocket's love of books and words...
Mossy by Jan Brett
I have read "The Mitten" hundreds of times to my own children and with the kids I have worked with over the years. The beautiful story and...
A Meal of the Stars by Dana Jenson and Tricia Tusa
A Meal of the Stars lets us in on what a whimsical book of up and down poetry we are about to open. Kids loved this collection of poems, one word...
Just Say BOO! by Susan Hood and Jed Henry
Kids were drawn into this delightfully spooky tale with the anticipation of yelling, "BOO" at each scary situation as the page is turned. "If...
The Tooth Mouse by Susan Hood and Janice Nadeau
The first time I saw The Tooth Mouse, I knew this fanciful tale would be a favorite with kids. The whimsical, intricate drawings bring to life the...
About The Award
Learn about the application and selection process for the PAL Award.
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erika@playonwords.com