by Remo on February 4, 2010
We’ve been on a serious board game kick here at Chez Toy Report lately, with the boys really starting to become interested in playing tabletop games more and more as they get older.
Let’s face it, board games for toddlers are geared toward the 3-4 year old set. Any parent who has been forced to sit for round after round of Candy Land knows just how mind numbing boring it is. There is nothing to do, no choices to make whatsoever, you pick up a card then move to that color. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat. For a 3 year old, it’s great. Don’t make your 5 or 6 year old play it though.
I’d put Chutes and Ladders into this category as well. At least there is some tiny amount of math involved in Chutes and Ladders.
These types of games typically play themselves and help ready our children for adult lives of sitting in front of the television being spoon fed entertainment. That’s not for me, nor do I want it do be for my kids.
With that in mind, I’ll be highlighting some great kids board games that really allow for fun, creativity, learning, and problem solving all rolled into one.
We are big fans of Enchanted Forest by Ravensburger lately. In fact, pretty much every game Ravensburger makes is awesome on some level, but this one particularly so. The rules are a little too long to go into here, but it’s basically a memory game. You need to travel around the board and discover which treasure is hidden under which tree, then race to the castle once you find the treasure. Get there first, guess correctly, and a new treasure card is turned over. Guess wrong and get teleported back to the start of the board. The first person to find three treasures wins. Sounds easy? It’s not. Anyone who rolls doubles can use “magic” to change the treasure card, so if someone is racing towards the castle if they know the treasure, you can thwart them. Be careful though, they might know where the new treasure is as well.
This is a decent length game, typically taking about an hour to play a full game, but it culminates quickly once a few players have seen most of the treasures on the board, typically resulting in a mad dash to the castle by all the players.
It’s a great learning experience for younger kids, since it doesn’t involve advanced reading skills but can involve advanced strategic learning. I’ve been able to teach the boys how to infer when someone knows where the treasure is, how to play defensively, how to bluff, and how to balance the risks of making an educated guess based on available information.
Click here for more info on Enchanted Forest by Ravensburger.
by mrstoyreporter on January 25, 2010
I was looking for a little something to give to a younger sibling at an older sibling’s birthday party and I came across this bit of adorableness. I love Plan Toys. If you are tired of worrying about the toxic chemicals lurking in your kids’ toys then Plan Toys will make you very happy. Their toys are made of organic, recycled rubber wood and no toxic chemicals or paints are used.
The Plan Toys Caterpillar is so clever. The wings of the butterfly come off and button around the wooden caterpillar to form a chrysalis. The wooden caterpillar can then emerge from the cocoon and become a butterfly by inserting the wings and fluffing. This would be a great toy to accompany the Live Butterfly Garden we have mentioned here before. Even a young child can use this toy to recreate the metamorphosis during the long wait for the big event.
by Remo on January 22, 2010
Indoor play tents can be a great way for kids of all ages to have a little inside fun in the midst of winter or just a rainy day. Since the igloo melted and it’s just been slushy and cold where we live, indoor kids activities are well in demand. Having a special spot that the kids can call their own and hide out inside seems to really get them going, as they’ll start packing bags and gathering supplies for their indoor camp out.
Here are some indoor kids tent suggestions for those rainy and cold days.
Haba Tents
Haba makes a BEAUTIFUL line of indoor tents for kids that are really well built, sturdy and look great in any kids room. They are a great size for indoor tents, able to fit a couple of kids inside comfortably. These make great retreat spots, especially any kids with sensory issues that need somewhere they can go and have alone time in a closed space. Of course, the price on these tents can be an issue for some, but if a top of the line indoor tent is in your budget, no one makes them better or more attractive looking than Haba:
Outdoor Tents As Kids Indoor Tents
Crazy as it may sound, the tent police are not going to come throw you into tent jail for putting up a camping tent inside your house. On the other hand, the interior design police may come calling, as most outdoor tents will not match a kids room decor. Of course, you need a fairly good sized room to put it up in, but most one or two person tents will fit nicely in the corner of a room.
In many cases a good outdoor tent will be far cheaper than one specifically designed to be a kids play tent, and far studier. For example, this 5 foot by 6 Nylon tent and frame is only around $25, well worth those few hours of play and sanity you’ll get for rolling this out and setting it up on a rainy day.
We’ve seen the boys spend a good portion of a rainy cold Saturday inside our indoor tent, playing games, eating snacks, listening to the radio, and just pretending.
Other Kids Play Tents
There are lots of other options out there on the market, tents specifically designed as kids play tents. They tend to be smaller and lighter construction than either the real tents or the great Haba ones, but if you are looking for a budget tent, there are plenty to choose from. Click on any of these below for more details:
by mrstoyreporter on January 20, 2010
Yes, there is more delightfulness from Boon. You know all those baby feeding things, sippy cup parts, little spoons, and other paraphanalia. Well, these sorts of little things don’t dry well in the dishwasher and we tend to deal with this by letting them air dry ona dish towel on the kitchen counter. Not very attractive, but it gets the job done. Well, Boon has invented a very stylish solution to the air drying: the Boon Grass Drying Rack.
It is lovely. Perfect for drying all those little parts and pretty too!
Looking for the cute spoons in the picture? Here they are:
Boon Squirt
Boon ModWare toddler utensils
by mrstoyreporter on January 10, 2010
LEGO Storage is a problem for all of us with LEGO Loving Loved ones. Well, I have an example of an amazing LEGO storage system. I was reading The Blue Blog, one of my favorite knitting blogs, the author of which also has LEGO obsessed twin boys. Behold, the wonders of her system:
A contaner store shoe box (I have container store shoe boxes!) for each individual set, with a picture of the set taped to the box. The directions are all in binders. Binders! It is genius! The show boxes in a bookcase take up so much less room than the Trofast drawers where our LEGOs live.
I am worried that it is too late for us. so many of our sets have been mixed together. Every six months or so Remo and the boys make a day of it and sort through all the LEGOs. Maybe the next one can involve sorting back into sets (is that even possible?). Or maybe we just begin now as we mean to go on and keep all future sets in their separate boxes. Hmmm. I will have to ponder. thank you Alison for your example and inspiration!
by mrstoyreporter on January 8, 2010
Our boys are pretty exclusive to the Star Wars LEGOs, they aren’t as interested in the other sets. I imagine that will change once they see the Toy Story LEGOs. I like the Woody’s Round Up set. It includes a LEGO Stinky Pete. I love Stinky Pete.
Bus I suspect the boys will be all over this Construct-a-Buzz set.
He has pop-out wing action. Everyone loves pop-out wing action.
There is also a Construct-a-Zurg. “So we meet again, Buzz Lightyear, for the last time.”
