Step2 Wins Oppenheim Toy Portfolio Gold Award

(STREETSBORO, OHIO) — April 23, 2008 — The Step2 Company's® Neighborhood Fun Center™ was awarded the Oppenheim Toy Portfolio 2008 Gold Award this week. The only independent consumer review organization, the Oppenheim Toy Portfolio, which was founded by the country's most trusted and respected child development experts, recognized the new all-in-one activity center from Step2 for its ability to combine active play with a setting for pretend role-playing.

The Neighborhood Fun Center features multiple activity stations, including a hook and loop target board, two balls, ring toss, crawl-thru rotating door and wavy slide. It also has a crawl-thru hole that leads to a slide and playhouse. The playhouse has a working Dutch door, window and doggy door.

"If you don't have room for both a playhouse and a slide — this certainly will fill the bill," says Stephanie Oppenheim, founder of the Oppenheim Foundation. The Neighborhood Fun Center joins the ranks of such Step2 toys as the Five Alarm Fun Center, Welcome Home Playhouse, LifeStyle™ Dream Kitchen and Naturally Playful™ Sand & Water Activity Table — just a few of the seventeen Step2 products that have received top honors from the Oppenheim Foundation since 2004.

The majority of Step2 toys (90%) are made in the USA and all are free of phthalates, including the award-winning Neighborhood Fun Center. Built to last with sturdy construction, Step2 puts all of their toys through rigorous safety testing to produce the highest quality products for families that will last year after year.

The Oppenheim Toy Portfolio judges on educational and play merit, safety, value, age appropriateness and other factors including actual child and parent feedback from testing families around the nation. Award winners must also meet the highest toy safety standards and be lead and phthalates free.

"We appreciate this award from such an upstanding organization. Oppenheim Toy Portfolio Gold Award represents many of the same standards we believe in at Step2," said Step2 CEO Scott Levin. "As always, we will continue to create toys that are safe, fun, and provide hours of imaginative play for kids."

The Neighborhood Fun Center is part of the Step2 lineup of high-quality, imaginative toys for kids, including its signature kitchens, sand and water toys, ride on toys, swing sets and wagons. For more information, visit Step2.com or view the award posting at www.toyportfolio.com.