When television people want snow and the weather isn’t cooperating, who do they turn to? Okay, that’s a trick question. The nice people at ABC’s Good Morning America featured one of our most popular products in 2006 - Blizzard in a Bucket. When a producer from Good Morning America called our distributor, Be Amazing! Toys, she wanted to “make snow” during an outdoors segment because New York City was unseasonably warm. If you’re unfamiliar with Insta-Snow, it’s a special powder that literally erupts into snow. Don’t get confused… it’s not real snow but it looks very realistic. Blizzard in a Bucket is an early childhood science kit that uses the snow powder to replace ordinary sand. Thanks Good Morning America.

Popularity: 13% [?]

Maybe I should say we hit all of the Targets with our new science products. If you stroll through the toy isles at Target stores, you might stumble across some old Steve Spangler Science classics along with a few brand new science kits. All of these kits are part of our product license agreement with Be Amazing Toys, a Salt Lake City company specializing in hands-on science kits and toys for children who want to learn how to do something amazing. On the shelves at Target you’ll find Blizzard in a Bucket, Fun-damental Science, Water Wizardry, Fire and Ice Mountain, Jungle Quicksand, Insta-Worms, Morphin’ Gators, F/X Snow, Terrific Twisters and the best selling Test Tube Wonders. Thanks to everyone who emailed when they saw our creations at their local Target store.

Popularity: 10% [?]

SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH - A hands-on chemistry kit developed by Steve Spangler Science for Be Amazing! Toys won one of the most coveted awards in the educational market - the Teacher’s Choice Award. The science kit called Water Wizardry teaches children how to perform incredible scientific acts with amazing polymers that defy the laws of nature. The kit includes more than a dozen science-based activities using non-toxic chemicals that help children better understand the amazing properties of water and the need for water conservation using superabsorbent polymers.

“Chemically speaking, polymers are simply long chains of molecules repeated over and over again. It’s important to know something about polymers because we all need to make informed decisions about purchasing products made from polymers that are recyclable, biodegradable, or reusable,” says Steve Spangler, the creator of an entire line science kits and science toys for Be Amazing! Toys, a Utah-based corporation that manufactures educational toys and learning resources.

“This kit was designed for the young scientist who wants to mix and measure and whip up an erupting concoction without any need for worry on the part of the parents,” according to Spangler. This kit focuses on a class polymers called superabsorbents that absorb up to 500 times their weight in water. “It’s a great way to teach children about environmentally safe materials that can eventually reduce the amount of water we have to use on our gardens and grass.”

“When our kids made a glass of water to erupt into a pile of fluffy snow-like material, it was hard to control the excitement around our discovery table,” says Julie Gintzler, a kindergarten teacher from Maywood Elementary in Indiana. “Lots of activities have a great ‘gee-whiz’ factor, but I was impressed to get the science behind the wow that my kids would understand.”

Learning® magazine first introduced the prestigious Teacher’s Choice Awards program in 1994. Over the years, the program has become widely recognized within the educational market.

Popularity: 6% [?]

If you are ever in New York in February you have to visit the International Toy Fair. It’s a kind of convention where the latest and greatest toys are rolled out for buyers across the world to stock their shelves. It’s a wonderful experience and anybody can go. As a teacher, it is particularly interesting to see ideas come to life, many of which are science creations that come from simple experiences you and I teach in our classrooms.

You will find around 2500 vendors there. In a couple of rows on the left hand side are the first timers. People who have never been to a Toy Fair before, who have mortgaged the house, made prototypes, and are ready to show the world their inventions. It is amazing to discover how many of these toys are born from the simple concepts that kids are learning in school.

So head over to New York and be amazed at the learning experiences there. You won’t be able to buy anything but you’ll probably head to H & R Schwartz and load that spare suitcase you brought with you with the latest and greatest toys to take home.

Listen to my podcast on the International Toy Fair

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Popularity: 4% [?]

People are sometimes confused to walk through a toy store and see this kit designed by Steve Spangler Science under the brand name Be Amazing Toys. How come a science teacher is doing this? It is all because a group of science teachers got together to create educational science toys and put them into stores.

To get a science toy from an idea on to the shelf is an incredible process. From concept to shelf can take 12-18 months. First, the buyers have to like it. The product may have to be changed. Testing has to be done. Unfortunately, you sometimes end up with a watered down version of the original.

Our catalog company, Steve Spangler Science, gave us the opportunity to put our toys in the hands of teachers within a matter of weeks. It is how we were able to formulate a product called Pearl Swirl. Teachers wanted to be able to colour water so they could put it over a heat source. Others were retailing similar products for about $15-$20 for a litre, but we found an ingenious way to create this product called Pearl Swirl for $4.95 for four gallons of material.

Instead of taking 12-18 months to get to market, the feedback we got from teachers enabled us to change the structure and create a product that truly provides value for them in their classrooms.

Listen to my podcast on education science toys — idea to sales and everything in between

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Popularity: 3% [?]

As teachers, we learn how to do different jobs to supplement our income. One of the ways was to take things we worked on during class and come up with ideas for science toys. In 1991 a collaboration of science teachers got together to invent science toys that could one day make their way to the shelves.

The most popular science toy in the world - the Tornado Tube - was invented by Craig Burnham. Craig was our inspiration. My first science toy was a cute little pet squid called Squiddy.

We simply put these toys in the hands of 50 teachers and their students, and they took on a life of their own. Orders took off and soon my wife had to quit her job because the phone started ringing and we needed someone to process invoices.

Based in Salt Lake City, Be Amazing Toys started with this small group of scientists in Denver, Colorado. Now we have a toy company making 60 different educational toys and, if you walk the aisles of Toys ‘R Us or Target you will know us. A group of teachers who wanted to be amazing, creating toys that came out of the classroom, to give kids something else to play with besides video games.

Listen to my podcast on a way to “learn” a living

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Popularity: 8% [?]