Ben 10 Alien Force LEGO sets will include Spidermonkey, Swampfire, Chromastone, Humungousaur, Jet Ray, and Big Chill, several of Bens Omnitrix alter egos.

I think the new LEGO sets will be a big hit with young boys my son’s age. The Cartoon Network has made Ben 10 into a large franchise, and with LEGO’s popularity I’m sure the line will be on many kid’s wish list.

The new LEGO sets are recommended for children ages 5-12, and most sets have between 16 and 22 pieces.

The some of the Ben 10 Alien Force LEGO sets are available for pre-order at Amazon right now, I’m sure they’ll be available at most major retailers after the first of the year.

Image: Amazon.com

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LEGO Rock Band is a brilliant combination, how can they go wrong? I’m loving the drum LEGO dude, he’s adorable!

LEGO Rockband will be hitting stores just in time for the holidays later this year.

You’ll be able to rock out with your favorite LEGOs on PS3, 360, DS, and Wii. The game is supposed to be more family friendly, and feature kid friendly songs.

Amy over at Every Joe has the full LEGO Rock Band scoop if you want to find out more.

Images| Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment EMEA

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Don’t miss future contests, tips, reviews and more on PlayLibrary!  Subscribe to the PlayLibrary feed today.

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• Melissa and Doug Birthday Party Birthday Cake toy
• LEGO Pink Brick Box toy

You might also be interested in entering the contests I’m hosting on my children’s book blog, One Book Two Book, and my Disney blog, The Disney Traveler, which end tonight at 11:59 p.m. (Eastern Time) as well.  You can follow the links to get the rules and information about those contests using the links below: 

• Tessy & Tab Reading Club Super Starter Pack
• Birnbaum’s 2008 Walt Disney World Guide book

Follow the links above to enter to get all the rules and information about the contests. 

Note: comments left on this post will not be entered into the contests.  Only comments left on the posts in the above links announcing each contest with official rules and information will be entered into each separate contest.

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Here are some details from LEGO about the LEGO Pink Brick Box:

LEGO Pink Brick Box – Now builders can expand their creativity with this new tub featuring a multi-colored assortment of bricks, perfect for building an adorable ice cream parlor, animals, flowers, people, cars and more. Includes building instructions for three models and photo inspiration for more. New storage case allows for quick and easy clean-up. Recommended for ages 4+.

Here’s how to enter into the contest to receive the LEGO Pink Brick Box Toy:

• Leave a comment on this post before 11:59pm Friday, April 25th (Eastern Time).  One comment per email address please.  Contest open to U.S. residents only.
• Each comment will be entered into a drawing, and one winner will be selected randomly from those entries.
• The winner will be contacted via email, so please be sure you leave a valid email address in your comment.  Please leave your email address in the box under your name instead of in the comment section.
• The winner will be announced on April 27.  If the winner does not respond with his or her mailing address within 72 hours of the notification email being sent, he or she forfeits the prize and an alternate winner will be selected (same guidelines apply). 
• The prize will be shipped directly from the LEGO Group to the winner.

This giveaway contest is linked to the Bloggy Giveaways.  Be sure to stop by there to see all the other great blog contests going on this week.  I’m also hosting three more giveaways this week – one on PlayLibrary for a Melissa and Doug Birthday Party Birthday Cake toy, one on my children’s book blog, One Book Two Book, for a Tessy & Tab Super Starter Pack, and one on my Disney theme park blog, The Disney Traveler, for a 2008 Birnbaum’s Walt Disney World Guide book.

You can also follow the link to see a list of all the contests going on as part of the Bloggy Giveaways by the b5media Lifestyles Channel bloggers.

Image source: LEGO

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What do you think?  With triplets, I haven’t purchased a LEGO table yet, because I’ve only found one that looked large enough to give all three kids enough room to play without getting into eachother’s way and inevitably fighting.  The 3-sided LEGO table I found sells for $199.99, which is a hefty investment for something I’m not sure if my kids will use.

Do you have a LEGO table?  Do your kids use it?  What do you like or dislike about your LEGO table?

Image source: LittleSmarties.com

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btw-Have you seen the photos of the Lego church? Amazing. There are tons of photos there.

Lego church via Tall Skinny Kiwi

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And, while you’re waiting for it to arrive, you can check out this photo of the largest ever Lego tower, and figure out how you will beat that record! It’ll only cost you the price of about a half a million Lego bricks.

via: Hsien

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A lot of toys these days are marketed as “educational” and such, but I think some of the best toys for teaching and learning are the simple ones, many of which have been around longer than any of us have been alive. The following is my list of toys and such that have stood the test of time, and some of the things that can be learned through their use. As always, I’m about as forgetful as they come these days, and I’m bound to forget some very basic toys. Feel free to set me straight in the comments section!

• Blocks: Great for early hand-eye coordination and grasping, stacking, etc. Good for learning about balance and spacial relations.
• Puzzles: Useful for learning pattern recognition and spacial relations (I should have done more puzzles as a kid, my spacial abilities are horrid!). Also fantastic for practicing patience as each piece is attempted to be fit into a space.
• Books, books and more books!: From learning to name the objects around us, to identifying our first letters, numbers and colors, to learning our first small words, to reading our first chapters books, and way, way beyond—books are with us for the long haul.
• Musical instruments: From the time that we can first grasp, we can appreciate the gentle shake of a rattle. We learn to associate our actions with an aural reaction. It’s a good foundation for making music for years to come.

One thing I like about each of these items listed is that versions of them are along with us for the expanse of our lives. As soon as we can begin to grasp items, we’re surrounded by blocks of all shapes, colors and textures. We graduate from those to Duplos and Lego, and on up until we’re building towers in the sky. Some of our first toys are three piece puzzles big enough for our clumsy, unpracticed hands to grasp. We move onto 24 piece puzzles featuring our favorite Pooh characters and eventually are putting together puzzles well into the thousands of pieces (well, some of you are ). Books and musical instruments both can be introduced as the youngest age, and used and appreciated to the last breath. Amazing, yeah?

Another thing that I appreciate about all of these is that none require batteries! Can’t go wrong there. And all of them are much more fun when introduced by a parent or caregiver. Because, no matter the toy or book, there is true value that can be received from just being told that I love you enough to sit and play together.

I’m sure I’ve left out tons, but the clock is telling me that I need to wrap this up. What toys and items would you include on a favorites list? Let me know in the comments section!

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