Seattle-based I Can Do That! Games™ was founded by Jacobe Chrisman, formerly Cranium’s head of product development, responsible for many of that company’s award-winning games for children. The team at I Can Do That! Games believes that “play is essential for the development of happy, healthy kids. Playing games is all about experiencing play with others. Taking turns, teaming up, helping each other, winning, and even sometimes losing are important life lessons we practice as we play games.” I couldn’t agree more. So when they asked Sy and I to review a new game on the scene, we gladly took on the request.
I Can Do That! Games uses well-known Dr. Seuss characters in all of their games, a bonus for me because like most of you, Dr. Seuss and I go way back. And since I am the one playing the game with Sy, it’s nice to be surrounded with old friends such as Horton, the Grinch or the goat from Green Eggs and Ham. Green Eggs and Ham - Busy Diner was the obvious choice for us since Sy is so obsessed with cooking, cooking shows, playing chef, and generally leaving all play food items under the coffee table (her “refrigator”).
Learning Curve asked Gearheadmom to help promote its new Mrs. Goodbee Interactive Dollhouse by sending us one to donate and one to keep and review. Sy did a fantastic job of demonstrating the spirit behind this toy by sharing hers with a family in need. We are demonstrating no such philanthropy in our household by plopping ours in the middle of the living room as a pre-holiday gift and playing with it daily.
We’ve had Mrs. Goodbee and her interactive faux-English accent in our house for a week. Verdict: my little almost-three-year-old, C, loves her Caring Corners House. The mission behind the dollhouse is “learning social responsibilities that will prepare [your child) for the real world.” The toy appeared to be working before I even got it out of the box: Little C was clapping and tenderly telling her mama “Thank you!” at every piece unpackaged. Yes! A little gratitude!
For those blissfully uninitiated into the World of Polly Pockets, “My Pollies,” as my daughter affectionately calls them, are miniature Barbie-like dolls—less busty, perhaps—with stretchy plastic clothes and tiny little shoes and accessories.
Our daughter first fell in love with these infuriating little vixens when she was about two years old, when her interactions with the dolls consisted of bringing them to us for outfit donning or removal. If you’re the parent of a little girl between the ages of two and eight, then you’ve likely uttered nasty expletives while wrestling a centimeter-sized rubber skirt onto a rubber two-inch tart. Or you won’t allow Polly Pockets in your home.
OK, there are so many reasons to get this cool art project in a can: birthday, holiday present, or as a big sibling gift.
Eye Can Art began in Seattle, Washington as the brainchild of three professionals and moms. From the site: Each Eye Can Art kit provides a kid-tested project to delight your child’s imagination, and includes enough materials to experiment. Developed by professional art educators, Eye Can Art replaces the predictable craft kit with a journey of creative exploration based on the fundamentals of visual learning. Make dramatic-looking collograph printed images, multiple-layered drawings on melted wax, and Japanese-style brush paintings.
All kits provide high quality, washable, non-toxic art materials; enough to do the projects multiple times. The easy-to-follow instruction booklets provide clear steps to follow, suggest ideas to further explore, and show the work of professional artists who use the same techniques in their own work. Each kit comes packaged in a reusable, easy-to-carry container. Designed by artists with years of experience helping kids and adults explore together.
Thanks to my sister, Gwen, for writing this review. A brave woman, wading into the world of Webkinz.
I admit it. Webkinz World intimidates me. When my sister asked me to review this website my daughter loves I knew it was time to confront my fears. I had spent long enough worrying about exactly what my child was doing in this cyber-world. It seemed OK, and I had heard an NPR story about the relatively rigorous controls on child-centered websites, but I didn’t really know. So, many hours and a surprising amount of research later, I offer this review so that we can all (pretend) to be better parents.
For those who may not be familiar with Webkinz, a warning: they sneak into your house. For us, it was under the guise of a birthday present. T opened a small package containing a soft stuffed turtle, made by Ganz. She named it Mimi. I didn’t like the idea of having another stuffed animal on the bed, but the turtle was small and – I thought – harmless. Never jump to conclusions.
On Mimi’s front paw was a plastic-wrapped tag that held her ‘code’. T, like most six year olds, was well ahead of me. “Oh boy! It’s a REAL Webkinz! Mom – can I use your computer?!?” And with that, we were off.
You know, I really thought I’d have a baby by now, but no. Stubborn kid. Regardless, I lined up some wonderful women in the blog-o-sphere to write some guests posts for me this month. I hope you enjoy them. Today is the first one!
Big, huge thanks to Dawn from Pink With Sparkles for writing today’s post.
The number of kiddie birthday parties that my girls attend is ridiculous. We have two this weekend…and it’s mid-August, which is usually not birthday party season since school is out and people may be away.
I pride myself on the fabulous original gifts my girls bring to a party. I am not the type who runs out to a big box store on the way to an event, purchasing whatever is on the end cap and shoving it into a gift bag. I put some thought into our gifts!
The gift we are bringing today is for a five year old girl who has EVERYTHING. She’s an only child and only grandchild with well-to-do grandparents, so, you can imagine. This girl is jaded.
I had to be creative, find a gift that would appeal to a five year old girl, yet not another Hannah doll or princess wand. The best place to start? Etsy!
I think a coloring book is a great thing to have in your hospital bag if your older kiddo wants to stick around and visit for a while but isn’t stoked to just stare into their new sibling’s eyes. Taro Gomi’s Doodles: A Really Giant Coloring and Doodling Book is one of my favorites.
And, dude, it is just so much more than a coloring book.
All of my pals with two or more kiddos always tell me how important it is to have activities or special items that are solely focused on the older kid(s). If your Big Sibling is a bit older, how about some personalized stationery? They could write to their grandparents or special friend. I know that one of Sy’s favorite activities is to run to the mailbox to see if there’s a postcard from her grandmother or auntie. Going to the post office is almost on par with hitting a theme park in her eyes.
I really like Dani Notes. Her style is so crisp and fun, perfect for a kiddo. What little kid doesn’t want to zoom off in their own personal rocket ship??
If you have a big tree and a big blue Ikea near you, you should get yourself on down there and pick up one of these nifty little ladder swings. Micky has one in her backyard and it reminds me of Helen, our shopping cart. As in, Helen of Troy, because this swing used to launch a massive battle every time we’d go over there, just like the cart used to do. It is the most coveted of all things at Kara’s house. Sy often asks me if the swing is still there and if so, perhaps we should go visit Kara? She also tells me we need to get a big tree in our backyard so she can have a swing, too. I tell her that the Rolling Stones sang it best, “You can’t always get what you want…”
The whole Ekorre series is pretty bitchin, actually. There are hand rings (Only $8.99 and also hanging from another cool tree in Kara’s yard), a swing, a rocking moose and balls. The swings and rings are meant for both indoor/outdoor use, so I suppose if we wanted to figure out where the load bearing beams are hiding out, we could install a swing in the house. But call me crazy, I don’t think my living room would look all that fancy with a big swing hitting me in the head every time I sat down to watch “So You Think You Can Dance.” (It’s better than me admitting that I watch the Bachelorette, right? I can’t believe she sent Graham packing.) I digress. If you have a cool playroom or basement, then I think indoor swings would be awesome. Maybe even in the hallway so your kid could swing to bath like Tarzan or Jane? Yeah, probably not, hunh?
It’s birthday season around here and boy, was Saturday’s soiree off the hook. Micky outdid herself on Kara’s Pinwheel Party.* There were pinwheels galore, including pinwheel sandwiches, pinwheel decorations, pinwheel party favors - pinwheel barrettes for the girls and hats for the boys. It was all just too fabulous. But the item that most wowed the kids was that Kara got her very own bounce house. I’m not referring to the kind you rent, I’m talking to the super cool Jump N Slide Bouncer made by the folks at Little Tikes.
I was very sad that I was not 3 to 8 years old (not to mention about twenty months pregnant) because dang, did I want to go bounce in there! Micky had it filled with inflatable beach balls and the kids went bananas for it.
Sy is not a girlie-girl at all. She likes to pick her own outfits in the morning and they generally include stripes and spots and mismatched socks, sometimes with a dress on top for color. She usually looks like the pile from the bottom of the dryer, but I think it’s fabulous. The only princess she knows of is the Paper Bag one. But now, at the cusp of three, she is really getting into dress up. She clonks around in her plastic high heels and refuses to take off her “butterfly wings” that we have. They are a sad pair, those wings. Hand-me-downs like most of her girlie dress up gear, they are torn and limp, threatening to unravel at any minute.
I feel I owe it to her to get her a pair of really fluffy, girlie, pink wings for her birthday. But where to start? I grew up wearing black and listened to New Wave. I don’t know how to be a fairy princess or even where to look. So I called on Dawn from Pink With Sparkles to review her favorite fairy accoutrements for us. Her picks after the jump.
Remember Highlights magazines? When I was a kid that magazine was the only reason I looked forward to going to the dentist, because I knew there’d be a whole pile of the two tone magazines for me to devour. I was a huge fan of the hidden pictures page. The magazine covers are a little fancier nowadays, but after 60 years, the content is still going strong.
Now Highlights has introduced a new magazine, High Five, published for readers ages two to six.
Seriously, this is one of the cutest toys I’ve been sucked into buying in a long time. This set is the perfect blend of Tea Party and, as my little almost-two-year-old calls it, “Happy To You” Party, as well as a great accessory for a play kitchen. And I love the color scheme, and the website from which I bought it…the detail…and I would probably buy it again, based on its Sheer Cuteness and Uniqueness. But there are some issues; hence three stars out of five. Let me start with the virtues:
• This is an adorable tea set with many play pieces and lots of accessories: little wooden tea bags on a string, sugar cubes, cake with removable candles…
• It appeals to your child who not only loves Tea Parties but has Special Affection for Birthdays. Oh, that’s me too. Exactly. It comes with cake wedges with painted sprinkles on a plate, along with spoons, tea cups, a tea pot, etc.
Buuuuuuuuuuuuuut:
I think I need to explain why this silly game became the focus of my holiday gift-giving. So bear with me as we take a journey through History of My Family.
I (and my four siblings) were raised in a household in which Potty Humor was Not Funny. Words like “fart”? Never hear them uttered by an adult related to me. Any inclinations we children had to welcome them into the family vocabulary were frowned upon. Heck, we were not allowed to use the word “butt” at any address we inhabited. Hence, I have always had a big “bottom (and I know, Sir Mix-A-Lot, that you are shaking your head at this lyrical travesty).
My brother and I both married people whose family cultures opened the door (or window?) to potty (flatulent?) humor. This Clash of Cultures has been most interesting at my brother’s house, where his wife loves to needle him with fart jokes and make him uncomfortable with references to “boobs,” and where the firstborn is now a five-year-old son (Helloooooooooooo! No one appreciates potty humor—besides drunk frat boys—like a four-to-nine-year-old kid). So when a poor review of What’s in Ned’s Head led me to Gassy Gus, I thought I had hit the Mother Lode. I knew my sister-in-law loved playing board games with my nephew and his siblings. And this one would satisfy her, as well as bug my mother and make my brother uncomfortable. And it wasn’t like I was buying it for My House. It was the PERFECT GIFT. I couldn’t wait to give it to my nephew. (And then we had to sacrifice it to a gift exchange, and then it was sold out online, and then I managed to snatch the last one of the shelf at Target on Christmas Eve Eve! Thereby increasing the value of a Never-Tested Toy!).
Sy’s favorite imaginary game is picnic. She gets all the cloth napkins out, spreads them on the floor and calls it her “picnic rug”. I had the Aquadoodle out the other day and she flipped it over so we could have a picnic. She collects a handful of play food and the picnic commences. Lots of smoothies, bread cutting and imaginary bird sightings.
Her favorite part of her Melissa and Doug Cutting box is the wooden cutting board and bread loaf. We cut a lot of bread, serve a lot of wooden food smoothies and generally eat a lot of wooden green peppers. The best smoothie combination so far is mushroom, green pepper, carrot and onion. Yummy, hunh?
My favorite part of any Melissa and Doug product is that it always comes in a wooden box, I love toys that can be corralled at the end of the day! The box comes chock full of items that are ready for some serious slicing and dicing by your junior Iron Chef. They are all attached by Velcro, which also makes them easier to put away at the end of play (or to make some very silly food combinations). The paint rubs or chips off once in a while, but Melissa and Doug have pretty high toy safety standards, so I don’t worry about it.
OK, side note: I bought Sy’s Aquadoodle basic mat for around $20.00 about a year ago. Why it’s being retailed as high as $48.99 right now, I have no clue. I find that completely preposterous. It’s cool, but not that cool. I wonder if they are marking it up to make up for the massive recall they had earlier in the year with the Aquadots.
