I am always on the lookout for the coolest nightlights and look what the awesome people at boon made for us?

In addition to its sexy space-age look, the glowing balls can be removed from the base and taken wherever you need a little light (just a little, the word on the street is that the balls off the base are not very bright). Once separated from the base the balls fade after about 30 minutes.

If you leave them on the base they can change color (there is a sliding thing on the base to change the color) or you can have it cycle automatically through all the colors. You can also set it to white (the brightest setting).

As you would expect from a great company like boon, the base and lights are all BPA-free, Phthalate-free and PVC-free. There is nothing electric in the balls (they are just made of a glow-in-the-dark plastic) so they never get hot. I love this for a baby gift for parents who are into design or trying to be gender neutral.  It doesn’t have to for a kid’s room – I think it would be great as a hallway or bathroom nightlight. Fun enough for the kids’ rooms and yet interesting enough for grown-up rooms too.

Related Toy Reviews:

• The Best Kids Night Lights
• Cool Kids Night Lights
• Boon Stuffed Animal Chair Arrives!
• Boon Grass Drying Rack
• Boon Odd Duck
• New Boon Scrubble Bath Toy

Blocks are such a basic toy that I think they get overlooked. But they are, in my humble opinion, the most versatile toy there is and crucial for proper development. If there was a law passes that every baby came home from the hospital with one toy, I would vote for that toy to be blocks. We have a huge basket of wooden blocks and they are, at this very moment, being used as a castle for a couple of princesses and a mermaid. Even in a house with two one year olds and a four year old they get played with all the time.

I do love a good set of plain blocks like the Bag O’Blocks seen above by Ryan’s Room. However, I am awfully tempted by pretty things and there are some lovely sets of blocks.

This 25 piece set of Organeco extra-large, lightweight blocks are just lovely. They are made of bamboo (hence the lightweight part), the artwork is done in water based inks sealed with beeswax. You couldn’t ask for a more lovely or eco-friendly toy.

Haba, one of my favorite toy companies, can be relied upon for lovely block sets. To name just a few there is the Haba fantasy blocks

The Haba eeny meeny miny zoo blocks

And the Haba fantasy land building blocks

And for a classic alphabet blocks set, there is nothing prettier than this French alphabet block set by Uncle Goose.

They are handmade in Michigan from solid basswood. There are 32 blocks in the set and they include all letters, numbers and 32 different animals and their named in french. Perfect for introducing a little french to your little one. Or for building princess castles, whichever.

Related Toy Reviews:

• Mail Box Toys
• My favorite play food
• More play food
• Play Food
• Oompa Toys Coupon, 5% off or $20 off $200.
• Indoor Swings

Not just toy storage bins, but the most beautiful toy storage bins I have ever seen. And they are organic, did I mention that? Beautiful, organic toy storage. It is like a non-denominational holiday miracle.

They are made by 3 Sprouts, a small company made up of people with serious design street cred, and it shows. There are three different shapes and sizes, the Bin, the Box and the Caddy. The canvas is 100% organic cotton and the felt animals are made from recycled soda bottles.

The fox bin is pictured above, the raccoon bin below, but there are 8 different animals to choose from. The bins are are 17″ by 17″ and they are great for stuffed animals, laundry or dress-up clothes.

Next we have the 3 Sprouts storage box. Love the peacock!

The storage box is 13″ by 13″ by 13″. Perfect for LEGOs, cars, little dolls and action figures. Any little thing that you would like to scoop up and put on a shelf.

And then the caddy.

Oh caddy, I think I love you most of all. If you have a 3 or 4 year old you know about their love of putting things in bags and carrying them around the house. The caddy is perfect for anything that will be carried around like books, play food, hair accessories or doll clothes.

I am going to ask you to remember Christmas morning and all the new toys and the feeling you get every year when you look around and wonder where the heck you are going to put all these toys. My advice? Get a bunch of toy storage bins now and be prepared. Or give them as gifts to friends who are going to end up with more toys than they have places to put them.  You will be their hero.

Most Commented Posts

• Free Bakugan Giveaway
• Vote For Your Favorite Toys of All Time!
• Free Kids Scooter Giveaway – 5 Kick Scooters!
• Has There Been A Silly Bands Recall?
• What is Bakugan And Why Are My Kids Willing to Sell Their Sister To Get Them?
• Free Bakugan Giveaway Winners!

You may not know this about me, but I am always on the lookout for unusual or interesting play food. The princess has spent many, many hours playing with our pretend food collection, starting when she was about 18 months old and still going strong at 4 and a half.

Well, I just stumbled upon this healthy gourmet pita pocket lunch set from Educo. It comes with two soft cloth pita pockets and a variety of sliced vegetables for your child’s sandwich making needs.

It occurs to me that play sandwich sets almost always include pretend meat. This might be a great alternative if you need a gift for kids whose families are vegetarian.

Related Toy Reviews:

• Construction Plate and Utensil Set
• My favorite play food
• Even more play food
• Play Food

Continuing our celebration of International Talk like a Pirate Day, we shall explore our pirate dress up options.  I love this Alex Pirate tent. While it isn’t technically dress-up, it does provide a home base for the pretend play that goes along with dress-up. And have you seen it? Adorable!

As for dress-up clothes – I like this pirate costume from Melissa and Doug.

Perfect for a little buccaneer. If you will be dressing more than one pirate, you might want to invest in this Pirate dress-up treasure chest.

It has a variety of costume pieces, so there is something to make everyone feel like plundering something.

And, lastly, what may be my favorite pirate toy of all time:

This dress up pirate doll from Manhattan Toy.

I just love him! You can button and zip and tie and buckle him and then undo it all and start all over. He is certainly the most adorable buccaneer I have ever seen!

Related Toy Reviews:

• Talk Like a Pirate Day!
• Make Your Own Harry Potter Costume

Tired of all those cheap beach toys that break the first week of summer? I long ago decided that when it comes to sand toys, quality is more important than quantity. I have since found that a lighter beach toy bag (that can be easily carried by each kid) is a great thing too. My favorite high-quality beach toys are made by Spielstabil. Their sand play backpack set is really everything any child needs for playing at the beach or in the sand box. And it comes in it’s own handy dandy backpack – making it easy for kids to carry on their own (because don’t you have enough to carry?).

If you are looking for something smaller, the above Spielstabil sand play set is perfect. It comes in its own tote bag, again perfectly sized to be carried by your child. Can you tell I am tired of carrying everyone else’s sand toys to the beach?

Need something pink? Well, they have this Spielstabil frog set (not really sure why it is called that, there don’t seem to be any frogs involved), also contained in it’s own tote bag.

The Spielstabil toys are made of a super strong plastic, they toys we have from them have lasted for years without breaking. Not so much our cheapo beach toys we have gotten from random discount stores. This summer I finally threw out all the broken and cracked beach toys and we have been so much happier with fewer, but better quality toys.

Related Toy Reviews:

• Beach Toys
• More Melissa and Doug Sand Toys
• New sand toys
• Water Table For Kids
• Water Wheels and Pumps
• Sand Sac

Are you or is someone you love obsessed with Elephant and Piggie? I don’t blame you/them, Elephant and Piggie are awesome! If you don’t know what I’m talking about, well you should go right out and find one of Mo Willems’ Elephant and Piggie books. They are genius, so funny and perfect for beginning readers while still being funny for younger and oldder kids. I have read them to kids as young as two years old who think they are hilarious and I have also seen teenagers reading them and laughing.

The books are about the adventures of two best friends who happen to be an elephant named Gerald and his best friend, Piggie.  I just saw the Elephant and Piggie plush (pictured above), they would be a perfect gift along with one or two of the books. They are all marvelous, but I think my favorites might be There is a Bird on Your Head!

and I am Invited to a Party!

Seriously, go get these books now. Click right here to see all of the Elephant and Piggie books.  I have never seen anyone not love them.

Related Toy Reviews:

• Favorite Pirate Books
• Diary of a Wimpy Kid Game
• Mad Libs
• Piggy Banks: Variations on a Theme
• Library Toys
• Potty Training Book

Looking for a little something for the Easter baskets, but can’t find anything appropriate for babies and toddlers? Most of the Easter toys you see everywhere this time of year in the drug stores and supermarkets is for ages three and up. But what to give to the littlest ones? They need Easter fun too! I love the little Mud Pie Baby Eieio Little Squirts Bath Toys. They come in a package of three and are perfect for Easter basket and bath time fun.

The pop-up book Easter Bugs by David A. Carter will be a big hit – The book is small enough to fit in a basket and features various adorable bugs hiding in Easter eggs. Kids can open the eggs to find the bugs, each with a different color and texture.

And finally, if you have a baby too young for candy but you still want to get them a little something cute from the Easter Bunny, I love this Baby Gund My First Easter Basket. Suitable for newborns, even, it is a soft plush basket with a soft plush bunny and chick. I love toys like this because they are great for babies and I bet you anything that toddlers will still play with it, loading it up with treasures long after Easter is over.

Related Toy Reviews:

• Easter Basket Ideas for Older Kids
• LEGO for Easter
• Water Table For Kids
• Black Friday Toy Sales: Wooden Hopping Bunny Walker
• Hoppy Easter!
• The Kind of Pets It Is OK to Give Other People’s Children

No, I’m not talking about the famous Slinky here, I’m talking about toys for spring.  If you live in a northern climate like we do, the arrival of spring is almost as eagerly anticipated as Christmas.  Well, at least for us parents eager to get the kids outside and playing.  Sometimes it’s hard to pick outdoor toys for older toddlers hitting that 3-5 year age range.

If you’re looking for something to liven up your springtime, here are some great outdoor toys for you to consider for you toddler.

Grow Your Own Butterflies

These grow your own butterflies kits were always one of my favorites as a kid.  You get a kit and send away for the butterfly caterpillars which arrive a few weeks later in the mail.  The caterpillars are pretty boring by themselves, but pretty soon the spin cocoons and turn into beautiful butterflies, which can then be released into the wild.

Click the picture for our review of the most popular butterfly growing kits.

Toddler Scooters

A toddler scooter is a great way to get kids outside and moving at a young age.  They are much easier to learn and ride than bikes or tricycles and many of the three wheeled models are far more stable than the two wheeled versions.

Click the picture for our review of the most popular toddler scooter.

Sports Toys

If you’ve got a little jock running around your house, there are some great sports related toys that could be used both indoors and out.  Can’t want to let your little basketball star on the loose?  Get them a toddler basketball hoop.  Have a future baseball hall of famer on your hands?  It’s time for a toddler T-ball set.  Seriously, what little tyke doesn’t like whacking things!

Click the picture for some great kids sports sets.

Kids Gardening Sets

Try to find a little kid that won’t be interested in a little dirt and mud, I dare you.  Something about digging seems to resonate with most children, and the nurturing instinct of planting also appears to be something that almost all toddlers share.  If you like to garden, make sure to get them involved at an early age with some appropriately sized kids garden tools.

Click the picture for some great kids gardening ideas.

Related Toy Reviews:

• Gardening with Kids
• Mini Kick Scooter Still Going Strong
• Grow Your Own Butterfly Armada
• Plan Toys Caterpillar
• The Best Toddler Scooter
• Kids Love Umbrellas

Looking for a gift for a tutu loving girl? Take a break from all the pink and get this yellow tutu book and tutu combination. The book The Yellow Tutu by Kirsten Bramsen is a wonderful story about a girl who received a yellow tutu for a present and decides to wear it as a hat so she can be the sun and shine on everything and everyone. Most of the kids don’t understand, but another girl with a pink tutu does and the two girls play happily with their tutus. A great story of friendship, imagination and enthusiasm! Pair with this adorable yellow tutu and you have yourself a fabulous present, all for about $20.

Related Toy Reviews:

• How to Train your Dragon Toys
• Paper Toys You Can Make
• Shark vs. Train
• Great Book for the Pre-Teen in Your Life

Many, many kids between the ages of 18 months and 4 years old love dolls. Boys and girls, although little girls are more likely to be given dolls as presents and therefore more likely to have a doll available when they hit this stage. When they enter the stage it will be obvious to anyone who sees this child because they will have the doll in their arms, next to them in the supermarket cart, dragging behind them as they run around the playground and tucked under their arm really everywhere. When a doll is loved this much it gets very, very dirty. Those surface wash only dolls? Save them for when dolls are played with mostly indoors. For this take the doll everywhere stage you need machine washable. My favorite machine washable dolls are from Corolle. I love the doll pictured above, she comes with an enormously long name: Corolle Babicorolle Babipouce Grenadine. She is soft and snuggly and perfectly safe even for infants, so you don’t have to worry about giving her to a child too young. I think a soft doll like this makes a perfect baby or 1 year old present. She will be ready and waiting for adventures as soon as her owner hits the bring a friend with you everywhere stage. And she can take a bath in the washing machine to stay clean and germ free after being dropped on the floor of a public rest room. That is awesome.

Related Toy Reviews:

• Topsy Turvey Dolls
• Lalaloopsy Dolls: Are they the next big thing?
• Penelope Peapod
• Baby Love

I love riding toys. Our kids love riding toys. This is obvious to anyone who comes to our house, we have a lot of them. Enough for all three kids and any visiting friends to have races around the house – and they do.  I adore the Puffy Dragon Ride-On toy from Wonderworld. Look at the cuteness of this dragon! The dragon can be taken off the (environmentally friendly) rubber wood base. This is handier than you might think. There have been times when I have had to convince my children that riding toys can not go to bed with them. Well if the soft dragon part can come off of the hard wooden part then it can go to bed with them!

Some other ride-on toys I am loving are the Prince Lionheart Wheely Bugs. They are super cute and come in a variety of themes. Like this adorable Ladybug Wheely Bug.

These ride-on toys swivel in all directions. This is great for avoiding the frustration of getting stuck in corners or on the edges of furniture. Kids can move in all directions instead of just back and forth. They come in two sizes, but the word on the street is that the small size is very small indeed so unless you are buying it for a very advanced 10 month old, you are probably better off getting the large.

Here is the Bumble Bee Wheely Bug

And my personal favorite, the Cow Wheely Bug

For ages 1 to 4 I really don’t think you can go wrong with a cool riding toy – I’ll bet you anything their older siblings will all want to have a turn too.

Related Toy Reviews:

• How to Train your Dragon Toys
• PlasmaCar riding toy
• Black Friday Toy Sales: Wooden Hopping Bunny Walker
• Pillow Pets
• The Best Kids Banks: Non-Piggy Banks
• Bug playgrounds

Do you have someone is your house who really really really wants a dog for Christmas? Are there reasons (allergies, space, parental inclination) why this is so not going to happen? Well, I have to solution for you: a Melissa and Doug life size (or nearly) dog.  They come in a wide variety of breeds and are so real looking. I got the Melissa and Doug basset hound plush for the Princess because of her Ladybug Girl obsession and because it was half-price at Amazon last week.

They are really quite big when it is breed appropriate. This is the Golden Retriever Plush

I really love the Dalmation Plush

I have the Melissa & Doug Husky Plush at the library and it is the  most popular toy in the Children’s room.

Looking for something smaller, how about the Jack Russell Terrier Plush?

My favorite is the Black Standard Poodle Plush

They are quiet, won’t chew your shoes and never need to be fed! There are so many more breeds that I am sure you can find just the right dog for your kids.  They just may satisfy that puppy love for a while, at least!

Related Toy Reviews:

• The Best Kids Easel
• Beach Toys
• More Melissa and Doug Sand Toys
• New sand toys

Is this adorable or is this adorable?It is the Wonderworld Hopping Bunny Walker- made of wood, the adorable floppy bunnies are removable (great for playing or washing). If you have a one year old on your list this year this is the perfect toy. Kids learning to walk Love to push things and this one is lovely and sturdy. The great thing about walking toys is that even after they don’t need them for balance they use them for carting toys around. Our walking toys still get used as strollers and carts.

If you go to the product page and click on the special deals link, there is an additional discount for the next few hours. Good luck!

Related Toy Reviews:

• Hoppy Easter!
• Easter Basket Toys
• LEGO for Easter
• Riding Toys
• The Kind of Pets It Is OK to Give Other People’s Children
• Melissa & Doug Deluxe Wooden Chomp and Clack Alligator Push Toy Review

There was a post on Ohdeedoh about making noisy toys quieter. We have mostly gotten rid of our noisy toys (or sent them to live in the attic where Mommy can’t hear them), but I would have loved to have this information back when our playroom was noisier. So many of the toys are made to be loud enough that they can be heard above all the other toys in the toy store – manufacturers aren’t all that interested in how loud they are once you have already bought them.

Well, at Ohdeedoh this week someone who used to design toys walks you through how to open up toys to find the speaker, out tape over it to make it quieter, and then put it back together without damaging the toy. I suggest doing this to all your noisy toys before giving them to the kids for Christmas – they will never know the difference if it starts out at a reasonable volume!

The above pretend princess cell phone? We had one exactly like it and it survived far more years of frequent play than a little plastic cell phone should be expected to. Ours was actually Minnie Mouse themed, and it was much beloved by all three of our kids and many friends and relations until finally dying a somewhat natural death a few months ago. It really could have been quieter, though.

Most Commented Posts

• Free Bakugan Giveaway
• Vote For Your Favorite Toys of All Time!
• Free Kids Scooter Giveaway – 5 Kick Scooters!
• Has There Been A Silly Bands Recall?
• What is Bakugan And Why Are My Kids Willing to Sell Their Sister To Get Them?
• Free Bakugan Giveaway Winners!

Looking for a Halloween surprise that isn’t quite as creepy as the Playmobil sets? Something for someone who prefers cute and snugly to creepy and scary? Well, I am loving this North American Bear Company Topsy Turvy Pet Pumpkin. It is a plush pumpkin that turns inside out to reveal a black cat.

Have someone obsessed with Webkinz? I like this completely not spooky Webkinz ‘Mazin Hampster named Spooky. Like all Webkinz it comes with a code so you can play with him in Webkinz World online.

And, of course, no cute and cuddly Halloween collection would be complete without Hello Kitty. Here she is in a cat costume. Adorable!

Related Toy Reviews:

• Headless Horseman LEGO
• The Best Kids Banks: Non-Piggy Banks
• Halloween LEGO
• Halloween Playmobil
• Hello Kitty Diary
• Hello Kitty Scooter From Razor

A friend (thanks E.!) just sent me the link to this popsicle maker 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.

Most Commented Posts

• Free Bakugan Giveaway
• Vote For Your Favorite Toys of All Time!
• Free Kids Scooter Giveaway – 5 Kick Scooters!
• Has There Been A Silly Bands Recall?
• What is Bakugan And Why Are My Kids Willing to Sell Their Sister To Get Them?
• Free Bakugan Giveaway Winners!

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.

Related Toy Reviews:

• Manhattan Toy Snuggle Pod
• Happy Mother’s Day!

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.

Related Toy Reviews:

• More Melissa and Doug Sand Toys
• New sand toys
• Beach toys that won’t break
• Sand Sac
• Beach! Beach! Beach!
• Water Table For Kids

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.

Related Toy Reviews:

• Beach Toys
• New sand toys
• Water Table For Kids
• Beach toys that won’t break
• Sand Sac
• Beach! Beach! Beach!