Toys R on the Road

Travel may not be all fun and games, but having some diversions along can make slack times a lot more entertaining. Whether intended to educate youngsters or taken just for some fun on a rainy day, the following items--from classic games to innovative new products--are handy to have around, and make nifty gifts as well. Prices do not include shipping and handling:

Barbie and Ken might have their Dream House, but Globie Jam and his four wood friends have a traveling home of a more worldly nature. The 3 1/2-inch-high magnetized wood characters reflecting different ethnic groups come with a plastic carrying case and 31 flexible magnets representing a particular country’s famous sites, recreation, foods and sports. The starter set of magnets, which contains play pieces representing the United States, includes the Statue of Liberty, Mt. Rushmore, a NASA spaceship, Southwest Indian pottery, a scarecrow in a cornfield and a cheeseburger with French fries, among other items. The idea is for kids to stick the magnets to the magnetic inside of the case and learn about the country on the go, supposedly guided by “Globie,” a magnetic play piece himself, with a head in the shape of a globe. Additional sets of magnetic pieces, available at an extra cost, cover France (croissants, Eiffel Tower, Arc de Triomphe); Kenya (elephants, Masai villagers, drums) and Japan (sushi and pagodas). Magnetic clothes appropriate to the culture and a story card with poems and game ideas come with each set. Future destination sets are planned for Australia, Brazil, China, England, India and Mexico.

Globie Jam is designed for 4- to 10-year-olds, and is a nifty no-mess way to encourage imaginative play on the road. Children will learn more with the help of a grown-up who can explain the meaning of the various ethnic play pieces, but even if they just enjoy the colorful magnets, having Globie Jam along may forestall the Are-We-There-Yets for a while.

Globie Jam starter set with plastic carrying case and U.S.A. magnetic play pieces is $24.99 from the manufacturer, I Dood It; (800) 745-6243. Additional magnetic sets for France, Kenya and Japan are $18 apiece.

A more traditional take-along toy is the Kids’ Travel Tote, a folding cotton carrying bag, filled with old-time favorites: a coloring book and crayons, a Muppet puzzle, “The Little Mermaid” storybook, a pack of cards for playing Crazy Eights, with each card depicting a different jungle animal, pipe cleaners and more. An included lapboard makes a firm play surface. The 12-inch by 12 1/2-inch tote comes with the child’s name embroidered in yellow (up to eight letters/spaces). This simple idea, aimed at children age 3-7, totally captivated the 5-year-old I tested it on, and there’s room in the tote for more small books and games to keep junior entertained even longer.

Kids Travel Tote (item No. 728865) is $23.98 from Just Between Us, a division of the Miles Kimball mail-order company; (800) 546-2255. Learning a foreign language may not seem like much of a game, but the Berlitz Jr. illustrated storybook and 60-minute cassette program makes the process more than the usual grind for youngsters. Aimed at children ages 4 and up, the sets come in Spanish, French, Italian and German. Music and sound effects augment the spoken phrases, which kids repeat, following along in the storybook. For a family planning a trip to a country where these languages are spoken, this is a great way to get junior into the lingo of the place. He can practice on the plane or in the hotel room--and he might even come in handy as a translator.

Berlitz Jr. language storybooks and audio cassettes in French (703606), Italian (933106), Spanish (703906) or German (933906) are $19.95 at bookstores or from Lillian Vernon, a mail order company; (800) 285-5555. It’s always nice to have a chess and checkers set around, and this travel version from Lands’ End is the classiest one I’ve seen. Inside a zippered khaki canvas carrying bag is a zippered mesh pocket for chess and checkers pieces and the folding chess/checkers board. Closed, the bag measures 12 inches by 6 inches by 2 inches.

Chess and Checkers to Go (2629-6G1X) is $45 from Lands’ End; (800) 356-4444. The problem with Scrabble is that even the slightest movement sets the letters out of whack, making words that are even stranger than those some sneaky players try to pull off as real. This travel version can withstand even the bumps of a moving car. The hard plastic case snaps open to reveal a standard-looking Scrabble board with a raised letter grid to keep the wood tiles in place. A storage area holds the 100 letters and four racks. The game measures 11 inches by 6 1/2 inches when folded and weighs about a pound.

Deluxe Travel Scrabble (DA738) is $24.85 from Magellan’s; (800) 962-4943.

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