The Toy Report » 1 year old

The best popsicle makers

mrstoyreporter — Thu, 03 Jun 2010 12:19:42 +0000

A friend (thanks E.!) just sent me the link to this popsicle maker from Williams-Sonoma and I felt the need to share. It seems to have a base that is frozen in your freezer like an ice-cream maker. Then you put in your popsicle ingredients and it freezes them in 7 minutes! Instant gratification and yummy home made popsicles all in one! Behold the Zoku Quick Pop Maker

For those of you who feel that $49.95 is too much to spend on instant gratification in popsicle form, I have alternatives for you. Tovolo makes amazing popsicle molds, but you will have to wait for them to freeze in your freezer at the normal rate. My favorite is the Tovolo Freezer Jewel Pops.

They are little, just enough for kids to eat before they melt. The popsicle bases are shaped like rings so they can be worn like ring pops while eating. We have these and they work great. Te base keeps them standing straight in the freezer and they come out of the molds easily (sometimes we run them under warm water for a few seconds). The best part is we only use juice that everyone likes so we don’t get stuck with a freezer full of lonely purple popsicles that no one wants to eat.

Also cool is the Tovolo Blue Rocket Pop Molds. Because juice pops are more delicious when shaped like a rocket. You could probably freeze in stages and make realistic replicas of the ice cream truck red white and blue rocket pops. If you are feeling like being more adventurous in your summer popsicle creations you can always try the book Pops! Icy Treats for Everyone. It looks quite fancy, as popsicles go.

Stroller toys

mrstoyreporter — Wed, 26 May 2010 01:00:15 +0000

I was thinking about stroller toys earlier today. I have absolutely no idea why, but the human mind is a strange place and so for no apparent reason I was thinking about stroller toys. We have never been big stroller people, not for any particular reason except I am lazy and carrying a baby seems easier most days than pulling the stroller out of the car. (As an aside – I loved that scene in Away We Go where one of their many crazy friends said “Why would I want to PUSH my baby away from me?!” – Hilarious!) Nevertheless, there are times when a stroller is important and stroller toys can make a shopping trip much more bearable. Well, I have discovered that cute stroller toys are difficult to find, but I have done to work for you and found not one but two cute stroller toys. The first is the Manhattan Toy Snuggle Pods Travel Toy.

It clips to a stroller, car seat, or just about anything else. The adorable snuggle pod baby comes out if your baby needs it to (and he/she will need it to come out for snuggling and possible chewing).

Also cute is the Tiny Love Sunny Stroll Arch.

I love the yellow sun prism and the crinkly butterfly. These toys do not detach so they might be better for babies than toddlers. The upside of toys that do not detach is that they also don’t get dropped or thrown on the ground.

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Beach Toys

mrstoyreporter — Fri, 21 May 2010 12:52:33 +0000

When you have three kids who each need their own sand toys the beach toy bags can get a little bulky. There are many toys that can be shared, but everyone realy needs their own bucket and shovel. I am seriously considering, in the interest of saving space in the beach bags, switching to collapsible sand pails. I especially like the Melissa & Doug Sunny Patch Cinco Starfish Collapsible Bucket.

Not only for the cuteness (but really, the cuteness!). Holds sand or water and can be smushed flat for ease of storage.

Honestly, this along with the Melissa and Doug Cinco Starfish Scoop and my kids can entertain themselves for hours at the beach. We often bring other toys too, but sometimes if I am the only grown-up and I can’t manage to carry more than the snacks and towels then we jettison all the toys except what the kids can carry themselves. We have found that with a bucket and shovel each, they don’t really need anything else.

For the days when we bring the larger collection of beach toys, I am thinking we may need one of these Melissa and Doug Sunny Patch Clicker Crab Hourglass Sifter and Funnel. Can be used with either sand or water, I can envision the boys timing beach races with this hour glass.

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More Melissa and Doug Sand Toys

mrstoyreporter — Wed, 19 May 2010 12:34:52 +0000

Melissa & Doug Sunny Patch sand toy week continues. I really like the general baking set.

Officially called the Melissa & Doug Sunny Patch Seaside Sidekicks Sand baking Set, it performs all the basic functions of any sand bucket set. It has a mixing bowl/bucket with a lid that doubles as a sifter. It has a mixing spoon/shovel and a whisk. Also includes three measuring cups, perfect for sand baking.

I am also a fan of the Melissa & Doug Sunny Patch Speck Seahorse Sand Ice Cream Set. It comes with an ice cream bucket, ice cream cones that you can scoop sand into with one of the ice cream sand mold scoops and a shaker for sand sprinkles. Because these toys don’t include the kinds of little molds that the cookie set and the cupcake set, I think they have a wider age range, fun for kids as young as one or two. The youngest kids may not get that they are scooping ice cream, but they will have just as much fun with scooping sand into different containers and dumping it out.

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Hoppy Easter!

mrstoyreporter — Mon, 05 Apr 2010 02:22:20 +0000

I can’t resist a good bunny pun! This Wonderworld Hopping Bunny Walker is the most adorable bunny toy I could find, and the cutest walker ever. All my kids loved walking toys when they were learning to walk and they have all done double duty as shopping carts, doll carriages and wheelbarrows after their steadying influence was no longer needed. And look! Bunnies!

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Passover Toys

mrstoyreporter — Tue, 30 Mar 2010 15:44:43 +0000

Passover begins today, and in honor of that I present the KidKraft Passover Set. It includes all the things you need to have a pretend or practice Seder. Looking for a book to teach more about Jewish traditions? I like the book Kiddish Yiddish: Jewish Traditions and Cultures in Rhyme for younger kids.

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Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

mrstoyreporter — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 12:10:37 +0000

Thanks to the good people at Fisher Price, your Little People can have their own St. Patrick’s Day Parade!

Plan Toys Caterpillar

mrstoyreporter — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 15:51:18 +0000

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.

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Boon Grass Drying Rack

mrstoyreporter — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 02:54:18 +0000

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

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Boon Odd Duck

mrstoyreporter — Sun, 20 Dec 2009 13:48:59 +0000

Know anyone who you could describe as an odd duck? Well, here is the perfect present for them. Yes, quite literally, and odd duck. Boon, as anyone who ready this site knows, is a minor obsession of mine (let’s just say I’m a fan). I am still hoping for a Boon animal bag or four for Christmas. The Boon Odd Duck may just be the best thing to ever happen to a rubber duckie. May I introduce to you:

Squish

Bob

Jane

And I know I shouldn’t play favorites, but I think I love this one best, Slim.

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Manhattan Toy Snuggle Pod

mrstoyreporter — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 15:40:12 +0000

While searching for a present for a friend’s baby obsessed 1 year old, I came across this bundle of cuteness from Manhattan Toy. It is their Snuggle Pod Sweet Pea.

And look, it comes in Peanut too!

There is also a Snuggle Bug

and a Snuggle Bunny (naturally).

I love Manhattan Toy, they will crazy awards for their toy design and their quality is exceptional. We have tons of their toys at chez Toy Reporter and have never been dissapointed by their style or quality.

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Mail Box Toys

mrstoyreporter — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 23:12:50 +0000

Kids love mail, it is a scientific fact. I have a round-up of the best mail themed toys for a variety of ages.

Fist up is the Melissa & Doug Fill and Spill mailbox. This is perfect for babies and toddlers (one and two year olds). Toddlers Love to put things inside other things (the “fill” part) and love to dump things out even more (the “spill” part). Plus, the cuteness!

Next up is the Melissa & Doug Stamp and Sort Mailbox. This toy is great for kids 3 to 5 years old. These wooden letters have stamps that stick on with velcro. The letters are all different shapes and each will only fit into one of the three slots on the mailbox, meaning this toy provides similar neurological stimulation to a puzzle (if you like your toys to be “educational” this is the sort of thing you are looking for). The best part of this whole set may be the key that is required to open the mailbox. Every kid I know loves keys.

And lastly, for older kids, Haba Kinder Post is a great mail set. This is really for 5 to 8 year old kids. The yellow metal tin is adorable and it contains stationary, envelopes, post cards, stickers and rubber stamps. In short, all your budding correspondent needs to create realistic mail, cancelled stamps and everything.

Now you have all the information you need to provide any kid with hours of mail related fun. Good luck getting “my baby wrote me a letter” out of your head (or is that just me?).

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Doorway Jumpers

Remo — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 03:56:08 +0000

Not to be confused with indoor swings, doorway jumpers are swings that are designed to actually hang in a doorway for babies and toddlers to jump up and down or swing in. You hook it onto the doorframe with a special spring loaded mechanism, toss your wee one into it and watch them bounce up and down and laugh and laugh and laugh. Well, that is until the crying starts when the become overstimulated and they want to get out. It’s hard to be little you know!

If you don’t have the right kind of doorframe, or you trim is just too thin to attach the hooks too, you can see out article on Installing an Indoor Swing on some suggestions.

Both the Boys and The Princess went through a phase where they loved what we affectionately called the Wally Wumper, since when the out of control, the swing sometimes bounced against the doorframe.

Apparently there was an original company called “Jolly Jumper” that might be no longer in business, at least in the sense that I can’t find any accurate information about them on the web, nor any place that actaully has any of their products for sale. I’m guessing they were bought by some other toddler swing manufacturer at some point. Amazon has listing for a toddler bouncy seat from a “Jolly Jumper” company, but it’s long since unavailable. If you really want to see what my parents generation called a Jolly Jumper just click here.

There is always a debate whether any toy or item that helps a baby to stand up is good for their long term coordination and ability to learn to walk. My take is that as long as they aren’t spending hours a day in it, it’s probably fine, especially for 15-30 minute stretches. The sure do seem to get a kick out of them.

What are the top picks out there for doorway jumpers? The undisputed king doorway jumper is the Graco Bumper Jumper. Ours help up amazingly well through all three kids, then easily fetched $15 at our yard sale at the beginning of the summer. It’s sturdy, attaches easily to almost all door frames, has handles for the little one to hang on while bouncing and is easily adjustable. Probably the best feature is the bumper car type rubber sidewall that goes all the way around the bouncer. If there are any accidental wall impacts, they’re going to bounce right off.

If budget is an issue and the $32 for the Graco is out of your toddler jumper price range, the next best is the Evenflo Jump Up. At only $19.99, it’s a good value, but without the hard bumper sides, your little one might be in for some bumps on the wall.

Note, the Evenflo is also available in Pink for that little jumping princess if color matching is an issue.

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Not The Best Stuffed Animal Storage Options

mrstoyreporter — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 03:09:17 +0000

I have already confessed my love for the boon animal bag in my Stuffed Animal Storage post. One of the reasons I love it so is that the stuffed animals don’t seem terribly miserable inside of it. Sure they get sat on, but any stuffed animal who has had some coveted time on the bed has been squished plenty and I don’t think they mind that so much. Not having bones must help with this. (Can you tell we have been reading Toys Go Out again). What I really object to in stuffed animal storage is making the snuggly toys look as if they are trying to get out.

I think jail is completely the wrong way to go with stuffed animals. What could they possibly have done to deserve this?

Hanging from a chain seems unpleasant, even if you have no bones.

The other version of this is hanging from a tree. I don’t think this is better but it is somehow more disturbing. Like they grew there.

There is nothing wrong with an old fashioned toy box, but I think boon gets points for style.

Sand Sac

mrstoyreporter — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 01:00:29 +0000

I saw this on Cool Mom Picks last week. The Sand Sac is a 100% cotton pail that comes with a bamboo shovel (admittedly it looks more like a spoon but it will still shovel sand). It also comes with fabric markers so you can decorate yourself. It is such a perfect sand toy, especially for anyone concerned about having to much plastic. It will carry sand or water just like a plastic bucket but it made of renewable resources, is machine washable and contains no petroleum products (yay!). It is also collapsible, meaning it takes up much less room in an overcrowded beach bag. I think I may put this on my list for all summer birthday parties. The Sand Sac people suggests using them as party favors – and now I have another reason to wish my kids had summer birthdays.

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Does anyone remember Tamagotchi?

mrstoyreporter — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 00:25:27 +0000

Well, apparently, they still exist, and they are a lot more complicated than they were back in the mid-nineties. Remo had one back then, (yes he was abut 15 years older than the typical tamagotchi owner, but even then had a love of gadgety toys). Well, said tamagotchi was fun for a couple of weeks, and then got left in a drawer or something and what with one thing and another 12 years pass…

Well, last summer, the boys found tamagotchi who had somehow made his way into a box of kitchen implements that remained packed after moving in 2004 and contained several items I had been looking for in the intervening years. They found tamagotchi, asked what it was and when explained they were delighted, enthralled, and a wee bit obsessed. Remo found the right size battery (which we actually had, the first sign that tamagotchi was meant to be with us), put it in and lo and behold it actually still worked (the second sign). He was a fun pet like inanimate object last summer, we took him to the beach in a plastic bag, he went on walks in the woods and trips to the playground and generally lived life along with us.

Then came the sad day that tamagotchi, in spite of being looked after most conscientiously, died a natural death and became an angel, or possibly a fairy, there has been much debate about that and the matter is still not officially put to rest. Well, the subsequent tamagotchi reincarnations have not been as successful. Whenever he is rediscovered and reset he is generally neglected until he turns up an angel (or possible a fairy) after only a few days of life after being left sleeping in several piles of tamagotchi poo. He has most recently spent several months under couch cushions, only to be found the weekend and given yet another chance at life. So far the boys’ attention to him has been at nearly the level of last summer with them remembering to not only feed and clean him, but to play with him too. I don’t know how long it will last, but I have higher hopes for his chances than I have had in a long time.

Oh, and have you seen how fancy the tamagotchis are now?

The can play games and talk to each other and have more than one creature inside them. There is even a celebrity family tamagotchi where if you don’t raise them right they turn into paparazzi. Let me tell you, by the time my children know what paparazzi are I want them to be much to old to be playing with tamagotchis.

Make your own play kitchen!

mrstoyreporter — Sun, 05 Apr 2009 23:15:01 +0000

I think I saw this on the Craft magazine blog first, but I have been thinking about it ever since.

It is a play stove top made from a plastic box and some construction paper swirlies. You can keep all your kitchen toys in the box and take them out to cook.

Brilliant! You can find detailed instructions at the Croc Zine blog. I am so doing this for the next 2 or three year old birthday party we are invited to. I will fill it with some great enameled cookware from Schilling

and some Plan Toys wooden slicing fruit.

Perfect for kids who want to cook but don’t have space for a big kitchen set.

Play Food

mrstoyreporter — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 01:24:49 +0000

The princess has been enjoying the play wooden kitchen, and while anything works for pretend food (buttons, wooden beads, real food,…), there is some extremely cute pretend food out there. I love anything miniature so we have a bit of a collection of play food. Haba makes little tins that, well here, just see for yourself:

Fried Egg

Pineapple

My personal favorite, tea bags!

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The Wooden Play Kitchen

mrstoyreporter — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 14:16:55 +0000

The boys lost interest in our play kitchen a while ago and in the interest in saving space we moved it up to the attic where the rarely played with toys reside along with anything anyone gives us that makes noise. Electronic toy noises make me want to yell and throw things.

Every time they made the trip up to the attic to visit the loud things the Princess has loved the kitchen set, making all kinds of soup for whoever is within the reach of her spoon.

Well, after weeks of this I realized that something she loved to play with would be a great addition to our kitchen, a place where I am often trying to keep her occupied so that I can cook real food or wash the occasional dish.

Her specialties include butter soup, mushroom and cheese soup and goldfish cracker soup. I love our play kitchen, it fits nicely in our real kitchen. It was a present from my mother when the boys were the Princess’ age, but I can’t seem to find one like it for sale anywhere. I really like this wooden play kitchen from Educo, though.

If you are in the market for one I highly recommend getting a wooden one. They are so much prettier than the plastic kitchen sets. If you have the space, this retro kitchen is pretty cool.

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Penelope Peapod

mrstoyreporter — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 12:29:34 +0000

A very dear friend gave this Penelope Peapod to the Princess for her birthday. It is cleverly designed, great quality, oh so cute and one of her favorite presents. It is a little basket with cloth attached all around. You can close the drawstring and it becomes a purse or travel case. Then you can open it and fold it around the basket to create an instant baby bassinet. It comes with a little baby doll, the kind with a cloth body and plastic head and hands. The baby doll comes dressed in a matching outfit and hat. The clothes and hat are removable, this is important if you are a newly minted two year old who would prefer to be naked all the time.

We are delighted by this well designed toy, I recommend it to anyone with a little one who loves babies. I think it will be great to have on our next car trip. Here are some of their other beautiful color choices!

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