INFANTINO®

History:
After working with Gerber since 1985, Michael Silberstein, an entrepreneur, branched off on his own by purchasing a division from Gerber Furniture Group. He has been president of Infantino® since its establishment in 1991, and is focused on the company’s expansion and diversification. Infantino® is an ever growing company which is currently expanding internationally. Now, products can be found in many mass retailers as well as specialty stores.

Founder Michael Silberstein:
I remember a happy childhood where my imagination was free to roam. When the time came to raise my own children, with my incredible wife, it was important for me to recreate the same fond memories that have stuck with me from my youth. The experience I had watching my children grow was phenomenal. Now that I have grandchildren, I get to see the world once more through a child's eyes—and it's wonderful! The support of my immediate family and the team at Infantino, whom I consider an extension of my family, has helped me to convert inspiration into an established and trusted brand.

Michael Silberstein, president: "I am honored to support you and your baby through these amazing years with our Infantino® products and I welcome you wholeheartedly as part of our family. And like family, please know that we are always here to listen and respond to your questions, advice, and comments. I genuinely care about your experience with our products and consider myself lucky to have the opportunity to bring them to you.Here's to the
child in all of us!"

Vice President of Infantino® is Michael’s son, Mark Silberstein. He is responsible for all marketing and product development activities for the thriving Infantino baby products company, which includes administration of newly acquired licensing agreements. A polished communications executive, leader, and negotiator, Mark recently served as Director of Academic Affairs and State Spokesman for the Foreign Ministry, Government of Israel, as one of the three directors in the public relations depart of the Consulate General of Israel in Los Angeles.

Design Team:
Our child development experts design sense-stimulating, mind-expanding and award-winning toys to engage babies’ cognitive and motor skills. But we never lose sight of what should always come first: The sheer fascination and delight a great toy should deliver time and time again. As we see it, when we’re having fun, we’re most open to learning new things and acquiring new skills. We like to think that babies see things this way too. For moms and dads who find joy in baby just being baby.


PRODUCT DESCRIPTIONS:

Big Mouth Basket Toss 6 Months +



* Colorful, textured bean bags are fun to hold
* Big mouth baskets are great for put-and-take play
* Helps develop hand-eye coordination
* Just prop it up and play!



Baby Magician 6 Months +



* 5 in 1 magic set to amaze and amuse baby
* Cuddly rabbit rattles and has a fun sparkly cape
* Jingling teether-tailed fish hides under the soft magic cup
* Crinkling cards have linkable loop and photo holder
* Plush magic hat that crinkles
* Wand delights baby with colorful flowers and a magical sound



Lola the Poodle 0 Months +



* Clip-on link easily attaches to car seat, stroller, diaper bag & more!
* Puppy in hand bag squeaks
* Shake Lola and she jingles
* Rattle in Lola’s right hand
* Plush take-along fun pal for baby on the go
* Bright colors and interesting textures for baby’s developing senses


PURCHASING:

To find your closest INFANTINO® retailer, please click here.

All of these products and more can be found on www.amazon.com. Infantino's major retailers are Babies ‘R Us, Target, and Wal*Mart, which are also accessible via internet.

AWARDS

Infantino® toys have been the recipient of the following awards:

* Oppenheim Toy Portfolio Awards
* Parenting Toy of the Year Awards
* Creative Child Awards
* BabyZone’s Amazing Toy Awards
* The National Parenting Center Seal of Approval
* Parents’ Choice Foundation Award
* iParenting Media Awards


Success Through Play™ comments:

We would like to extend our thanks to Jill Tuschhoff from Infantino® for sending samples to both our USA and our UK parent panel. We have been extremely pleased with the professionalism of this company and we are happy to feature them as the final company/product review for the month of September 2007.

Big Mouth Basket Toss



This unique toy caught the eye of our engineers who were impressed with the solid construction which includes "sewed on facial features" for safety. This toy is brightly colored and features 3 adorable animals (monkey, hippo and zebra) each with their own "baskets" which make a crinkly noise when touched, along with 3 multi-textured mini-bean bags. The bean bags feature color contrasting designs and patterns, several textures which provide tactile feedback and even boast ribbons. Young babies will love holding the bean bags and exploring them and older babies will enjoy "feeding the animals" by throwing the bean bags in the animal's mouth. Throwing at a target helps a baby develop eye hand coordination. Praise baby for his/her efforts not if he/she succeeds. This toy will even appeal to your toddler, as was evident with our panel of babies and toddlers. This lightweight toy folds up easily and can be stored/carried in "briefcase" style packaging complete with a soft handle. Our US baby and toddler panel thoroughly enjoyed playing with the Big Mouth Toss and it was a fantastic toy to use in a group setting!

Magic Magician



A stand out feature of this set is the "Magic Wand" which when pressed in the designated spot, makes a wonderful magic sound that will delight everyone! Holding and waving the wand in the air will allow baby to practice upper limb coordination and grasp patterns while having so much fun. Toddlers and children will enjoy playing with the "Magic wand" during imaginary play. The friendly, bright, fun Rabbit is cute as can be and features green "fur" which is delightful to touch and provides tactile stimulation. The rabbit has long ears which baby will love exploring as they make a crinkle sound when touched. The Rabbit carries flowers and ribbons which will delight your little ones. Baby will love to cuddle the rabbit(he features a soft bean bag body). The large blue hat makes a crinkly noise when touched, providing wonderful auditory feedback. Baby and toddler will enjoy putting the rabbit in the hat and pulling him out! There is a small cup that pairs with a friendly fish. The cup and fish are perfect for teaching baby about object permanence. Baby will love holding the fish and chewing on his tail "teether with bumps for added sensory input" and placing him in and out of the cup! The magic cards can be customized by adding a picture of your baby/family members and will delight baby. Once again, this toy received positive comments from both our USA and our UK parent/baby panel. Our UK parents reported that their daughter loves to cuddle and hug the rabbit, play with the magic wand and chew on the flowers and reported that she laughs when they wave the wand and when she hears the "magic sound". The fishes tail was soothing for her to chew on when she is teething. She is delighted when her mom hides the fish beneath the cup and loves watching mom perfect "magic tricks". Our USA parent panel's toddler was immediately attracted to the magic wand and would "dance around the house waving the wand and pressing the button to elicit the magic sound during her imaginary play". The rabbit etc were used as characters in his puppet show and his parents were impressed with how the Magic Magician inspired their son's imagination!

Lola the Poodle



Lola has pink "poodle like fur" which baby will love to touch! The unique texture provides baby with some tactile stimulation. When baby shakes Lola, he/she will hear a pleasing bell sound which will encourage her to keep on shaking. Lola carries a small round rattle in her right paw and baby Lola in her left paw. Baby Lola is adorable and is carried in a dog bag. Parents who are teaching their baby ASL signs can use Lola to teach "Mother" and baby Lola to teach "baby". Lola wears a black and white patterned skirt which makes a wonderful crinkly sound when touched. Baby will receive auditory stimulation and practice grasping skills while touching the skirt. Lola can be attached to a stroller, diaper bag etc so that your baby's new friend is close by.Both our USA and UK parent panel reported that their baby enjoyed shaking Lola to hear the bell and enjoyed chewing on the small rattle that Lola is carrying. All the babies enjoyed exploring Lola's crinkly skirt and touching her "fur".

Success Through Play™ is looking forward to reviewing additional toys from Infantino® during 2008. To see the full product catalog, please visit:

www.infantino.com