If you’re looking for a first doll – we love Corolle’s Babipouce line – perfect for older babies and toddlers. No hair makes this a safe choice…the outfits are soft and cozy and extremely huggable! Read our review.
Archive for the ‘classic toys’ Category
Pick of the Day: Corolle’s Babipouce Sky
Tuesday, November 2nd, 2010Pick of the Day: Calico Critters Country Tree House
Tuesday, October 26th, 2010
Calico Critters Hedghogs- Amazing!
Even though I absolutely shunned my own colonial dollhouse (sorry Mom)…I really have always loved the Calico Critters (International Playthings) and their houses over the years. The collections always feature what look like storybook animal families and miniature settings that fit them. I am absolutely obsessed with the Hedgehog family (see pic). This year they have a new Country Tree House that has lots of levels and features. Read our complete review.
Calico Critters Country Tree House
Pick of the Day: I Spy Little Wheels and Little Animal Puzzles
Monday, October 25th, 2010
Looking for a great way to build your child’s patience and ability to stick with a task? Puzzles are a wonderful way to connect and talk about problem solving skills. Give your child some strategies–”can we find all the flats?” “all the pieces that are green?”
The idea is to find puzzles that will build confidence. Save the 1,000 piece puzzles for you! Some kids take to puzzles very easily–for others they are just pure frustrating…that usually means the puzzle is too hard. This set from Briarpatch comes with four puzzles. Our suggestion — take on the pieces out for one puzzle at a time and leave the rest in the box! Read our complete review and shopping info on our site.
Also be sure to visit Jean Marzollo’s website (the author of the I Spy series). It’s chock full of activities for kids that are fun (and not a waste of their time or minds!).
Pick of the Day: Radio Flyer Bumper Car
Thursday, October 21st, 2010
Ride on toys for toddlers is always one of the hardest categories we review. Over the past few years we’ve noticed that one of the ways companies have cut back is to do away with steering mechanisms. Now this bumper car also doesn’t steer but because it’s on casters – it does move easily in any direction your child would like to go. What really annoys me are ride-ons where your child has to stand up and move the toy and then sit down again- where’s the fun in that? To read our full review and for shopping info — click here!
Pick of the day: blabla kids Elephants
Tuesday, October 19th, 2010
Blabla Kids Elephants
Delicious! These blabla kids elephants just make you smile. We love the whole collection of animals and girl/boy dolls- just right for toddlers and preschoolers (and their parents!). For a complete review and shopping info visit our site by clicking here.
Pick of the Day: Plan Toys Planimals
Friday, October 15th, 2010
If you have a child into blocks and mini-pretend settings, be sure to check out Plan Toys new line of wooden Planimals. They are beautifully crafted and just right for adding more dimension to your child’s pretend play. There are three sets (Australia, Africa and Polar). Read our complete reviews by clicking here for Australia, Africa, and Polar.
Rubik’s Cube in 10.31 seconds
Wednesday, October 13th, 2010
How fast can you solve a Rubik's Cube?
Wanna feel slow? Just got word that 15 year old Sergey Ryabko of Russia is now the European Rubik’s European Champion. He beat out the Netherlands’ Erik Akkersdijk (10.38) and Germany’s relatively slow (just kidding!) Cornelius Dieckmann (10.78 seconds!). The championship was held in Budapest, Hungary with more than 250 cubers from 26 different countries. The World Record is still held by Scotland’s Breandan Vallance (8.31 seconds!!)
Erik Akkersdijk, Sergey Ryabko, Cornelius Dieckmann
They also have one handed Rubik Cube winners (Michal Pleskovitz of Poland) and blindfolded specialists (Rafal Guzewicz of Poland). Who knew?!
I still have my old Rubik’s Cube..and I’m still working on it!
Congrats!
This morning on the Today Show
Tuesday, October 12th, 2010
It takes a village--right before we went on
I got there at 7:30 even though our segment isn’t until 9:38. There are a few teases that happen before the actual segment, but I like to be there so there’s plenty of time for hair and make-up! This morning was a great day to be in the Green Room. I assumed that George Clooney and Hillary Swank would be in the upstairs Green Room–but much to the delight of the entire room they were both downstairs. When you hear George speak about humanitarian issues, you just get that he’s more than a great actor. He’s smart and uses his platform and celebrity in a way that should inspire all celebrities. It’s just real. Ok, so that’s my take on the thoughts and works of George Clooney …and now I can also say that the man is just incredibly handsome. To top off the George Clooney experience–he was then hugged by Hillary Swank. Stunning! I don’t know either of these people, but they are polite and friendly to everyone that comes through the green room and the hallway. Sam Rockwell was there as well to promote Conviction (Swank also stars). For trailer, click here. (I’m sure he was nice too–just didn’t get to see him but for a second). It was a busy Green Room!
Cosmo's Bachelors getting ready to go on
Oh and I almost forget the Cosmo Bachelors! My niece (and assistant extraordinaire) Ali pointed out that they were there last year when we launched our list. They all look so young to me!
We had so many kids this morning!
Two of my favorite testers (sister Kena & Dehlina) with their Dollie & Me dolls
Matthew and his mom Jessica
Lots of little boys running around the lower concourse before it was time to go up to the studio. Some of our kids have been on the show before “when they were truly babies” as opposed to just active three and four year olds.
Harper, who did a good part of the my last segment with me, was joined by her little brother Hannes today! Alex (pictured with Al and me) was a pro on all things technical and did a great job demonstrating the Tron Zero Gravity RC. A special thank you to Victor (Matthew’s Dad) for taking all the pictures during the segment!) and to James from Spinmaster –for expertly flying the Air Hogs RC Video Camera Helicopter (something that I would never try in a studio full of high-wattage lighting!). All in all a good day!
Afterwards: Al Roker, Stephanie Oppenheim and toy tester Alex!
Hannes enjoying the Radio Flyer after we were done
Gotta love me some blabla…
Tuesday, August 3rd, 2010
After two very intensive weeks of looking at what seemed like a boat load of plastic toys…I finally decided we were ready for a treat. We opened the box from blabla kids. Don’t get me wrong, I have nothing against plastic toys per se – many are on our top list this year- but there’s something really special about this collection of dolls. They’re both deliciously retro and fresh in design and spirit.
Take a look at just two of the new dolls that we’re reviewing this morning.
Backyard Discovery Jungle Gym Gets High Marks
Monday, June 28th, 2010
Over the years we’ve testing many outdoor play systems. They have become so expensive that you really want to be sure you’re making a wise investment. This season we asked one of our testing families to try a set from Backyard Discovery — a mid-priced brand of wooden sets that is widely available. They tried the Highlander – it comes with a 10′ wave slide, a rock wall, ladder, two belt swings, a two person glider, a picnic table and a four level fort with a covered porch.
What they loved:
The three levels to climb. (This trend for super high climbers makes us a little nervous. It certainly demands constant adult supervision).
The accessories. The telescope, the steering wheel– all fun for pretend play!
Stability. This is super important when kids are swinging high and on the glider.
Rock Wall. The kids really enjoyed this aspect of the set.
Slide. The wave slide is super sleek and slippery–our testers liked that it was super high.
Hardware. Heavy and looks like it will hold up well.
Swings and Glider. A big hit…how high can you go?
Downside:
Swings and glider are a bit close for our parent testers’ taste. Our mom suggested that another three inches between the swings would make crashes less likely (yikes).
The rock wall is awkwardly close to one side of the picnic table underneath–making it almost inaccessible for even a small child to get into the bench on that side.
Overall–this family gave the set high marks. They noted that it took a professional installer 13 hours to put the whole thing together.
Safety First– please note that all backyard equipment needs to have safety material under and around it to help avoid serious injury if your child falls off the equipment. For a complete list of the CPSC’s playground safety recommendations, click here. Playground experts recommend that you have at least 12 inches of wood chips, mulch, sand or pea gravel or safety tested rubber mats. While this adds to the expense of your backyard playground, remember that 200,000 kids end up in the ER due to playground injuries…so buy the wood chips!
