MONTEREY, CA July 18, 2001

The 2002 Directors' Choice Awards, recognizing excellence in the design and manufacture of products for young children, were announced today by Earlychildhood News. The prestigious award, now in its 13th year, serves as a resource for child care providers, preschool teachers, and parents to assist them in choosing safe, durable, and age-appropriate toys for young children.

Directors' Choice is the only award program focused on evaluating products for use in a professional child care setting. This year, 41 products were honored. Directors' Choice entries in 10 categories were evaluated based on the following criteria: appropriateness for use in a child care setting, safety, durability, age appropriateness, effectiveness for intended use, and value. Product categories include: children's books, curriculum products, furniture, play equipment, toys/games, videos, audio cassettes and CDs, professional and administrative products, and computer hardware and software.

The judges, all experts in varying aspects of early childhood education and educational products, review the products based on their safety attributes, durability, and ability to withstand the rigors of use by multiple children in a child care setting. Because products are judged on their respective merits based on criteria for the category, there is no limit to the number of winning products in each category, nor is there a guarantee that every category will include a winner.

According to Judith McGuinn, Publisher of Earlychildhood NEWS, "This year's entries represent the cream of the crop in the early childhood community, and we are delighted to showcase the wonderful work being done in early education product development. Our
judges have chosen products that will truly enhance the educational experience for young children."

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