Another year of dusting it up in Flemington, NJ

(UPDATED Nov. 4)
At this very moment, in a high-ceilinged conference room with a river view in Flemington, N.J., about 50 people have gathered to opine late into the night, wine glasses in hand, about children's toys, games and technology. It's an eccentric and rambling bunch. I miss them already.

Earlier today I was part of this group at the Dust or Magic Institute, sitting on the "Critic's Panel" -- a foursome asked to give unrestrained evaluations of some of 2008's latest electronic games and toys. Our task was to divine which would be "magic" in a child's hands and which would turn to dust. Here were my picks:

The Magic Comes when Toys Work in Context
Does the toy or game spark healthy play patterns? Does it integrate with the way kids live their lives socially? Does it whet their appetite for creativity?

MAGIC MOMENTS I saw this year

• Mario Kart DS tournaments on the playground in between games of chase
• PBS Kids Island on the kitchen computer while Dad makes dinner
• Scoops on the iPhone when “bored”
• Kids creating videos, animations, Scratch programs, and even machinima after school

WHAT BELONGS IN THE DUST BIN in my view

• Plug ‘n Play toys of all kinds (too narrowly focused, hemmed in; awkward hardware that is a pain to set up and store; inserting an unnecessary middle man)
• Dress your avatar” -- but then what?(PollyPocket.com: “Mommy, can you buy me a Polly Pocket Pool Set?” and more ads are coming)
• Virtual worlds and online games that don’t give kids time to read and process at their own speed (On WebKinz, for ex., dialogue balloons pop up and disappear in seconds. “Wait, what did that say?” “How do I get it back?”)
  

Give me a shout-out if you want to talk about (or challenge, please do!) any of what we talked about today.