What is the name of this toy? It has brightly colored shaped wires with moving beads usually on top of a wooden block.

Busy block

Abacus? Maybe that says a little too much about me... :cool:

I was thinking abacus too (former accountant) but she said colored wires ontop of a cube. That is not an abacus

I know which one you're talking about but I don't know what the name would be. I wonder if that would come up at say toys-r-us website?

Toys "R" Us - Melissa and Doug Classic Wooden Abacus (http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2332693&cp=2255956.2269725.2269728&view=all&fbn=Taxonomy%7CActivities+%26+Learning&f=PAD%2FTRU+Age+Filter%2F2+Years&f=Taxonomy%2FTRUS%2F2255959&fbc=1&categoryId=2269728&parentPage=search)

That's as close as I've found in a brief search. Sorry, good luck.

I think she's looking for the version that has different size and shape loops...

I know what she's thinking of. The early learning center calls it a "bead frame"

Large Bead Frame - Early Learning Centre (http://www.elc.co.uk/toy-34324?&parent_category_id=760)

It's called a bead frame or a roller coaster toy. Here's a link to one:
My First Bead Frame (http://naturalbaby.stores.yahoo.net/tabrol.html)