Category Archives: Toys

Moon Dough..both of my kids love this stuff!

September 8, 2010Age 3-5, Age 5-7, Toysmoon dough, preschooler, toyAlicia

Moon Dough is an out-of-this-world new molding dough that never dries out and is easy to clean up! See my hint (*) below.

Hypo-allergenic and wheat-free, soft and marshmallow-like, Moon Dough does not stick to or stain material. Because Moon Dough never dries out, kids can use it again and again. Just be sure to set up a mat for your kids to play on so you can wipe it all up and save it for next time.

Moon Dough is the latest and greatest new molding compound for kids ages 2-4 to sculpt into fun creations they will love to play with. The line also offers a variety of enjoyable play sets.

Molding the farm animals is a breeze for my 4 year old and my 11 year old finds it really funny to make his own shapes and ‘alien animals’ with Moon Dough.

What I love about Moon Dough:

Moon Dough is easy for kids to mold into shapes
Lots of colors & molds are available
It’s easy to clean up! Just use a ball of Moon Dough to dab up other pieces. You can even vacum Moon Dough up.

* Compress Moon Dough into a ball before giving it to your kids to play make it less flaky and more fun!

Buy the Moon Dough Magic Barnyard and other Moon Dough products here at Amazon.com.

More about Moon Dough:

Moon Dough website
Follow Moon Dough on Twitter
Become a Fan of Moon Dough on Facebook

Disclosure – The Moon Dough Barn set featured was provided to our family free of cost from Moon Dough as part of a campaign organized by Team Mom. Opinions expressed are my own and are not influenced by monetary or product compensation.
You can read my Disclosure Policy here.

Looking for something fun and easy to do with your kids outside? Try Dip Stix bubble kit.. great for all ages!

August 10, 2010Outdoor Toys, Toysdip stix bubble kit, extreme bubbles, outside playAlicia

Extreme Bubbles Dip Stix bubble kit — Dip Stix Extreme Bubbles

I haven’t met a child yet who doesn’t love to blow bubbles. I buy my kids bubbles for almost every holiday as I’m sure a lot of parents do. Bubbles are easy and entertaining.. two things I love!

We own automated bubble blowing machines, tiny bubble wands, big bubble wands, and spill-proof bubbles. We recently added a new kind of bubble product to our bubble blowing collection called Dip Stix from award winning company Extreme Bubbles and the kids love them. Not only can you make the biggest bubbles EVER but the bubbles last for a long time in the air.

Little kids, Big kids, Parents, and Grandparents all have fun together playing with our bubble products. Extreme bubbles add excitement and fun to parties, picnics, the park, or in your own backyard. Our motto is “Get outside and play,” and we truly believe that bubbles can make the world a better place.

Dip Stix Giant Bubble Maker Kit is a small package that contains everything you need to blow big bubbles anywhere; a set of Dip Stix, concentrated big bubble solution and a very sturdy bag with a zip enclosure to hold the big bubble solution. Madelyn loves watching the bubbles float way up high.. the bubbles last a long time before popping.

Dip Stix are so easy my 4 year old can us them and my 10 year old loves them. As you can imagine.. getting them to share is fun! 🙁 Sebastian is working on perfecting a few bubble tricks featured in this Dip Stix bubble tricks video on the Extreme Bubbles website.

Here are some photographs of my kids, 10 and 4, playing with their Dip Stix bubble kit from Extreme Bubbles.

Visit Extreme Bubbles’ website to learn more about Dip Stix and their other great bubble products and ‘Like’ Extreme Bubbles’ Facebook page here.

Pop On Pals – A World of Endless Popabilities

July 27, 2010Age 1-3, Age 3-5, Toyspop on pals, preschool toy, spin masterAlicia

Spin Master welcomes parents and preschoolers to a new world of endless “Popabilities!”

Spin Master is introducing Pop On Pals – a wonderful world of fun pals, pets, vehicles and playsets! With endless mix n’ match fun, little ones, ages 2+, can be anything they want to be. A fireman can become a musician, a princess becomes a baker, a puppy becomes a ballerina – Pop On Pals encourages imaginative play and helps develop fine motor skills.

Pop On Pals play sets come to life with music, sounds, and lights and will entertain your toddler or preschooler for hours. Don’t tell me you don’t need time to do laundry or a little house cleaning. Madelyn is 4 and she loves the Pop On Pals Amusement Park playset (pictured above) and can’t wait to get more Fun Pal Packs so she can switch up the figure even more than with the 3 rings provided in the playset. She wants the Vet/Gardener mix n’ match girl and the Chef/Princess girl.

It’s simple for a toddler to pop a new ring onto a figure. The Amusement Park playset comes with 3 rings as seen in the photograph above. Watch a video demonstration on the Pop On Pals website.

Visit the Pop On Pals website to see all available Pop On Pals playsets, mix n’ match Fun Pal Packs, and more Pop On Pals toys.

Buy Pop On Pals at your local Target, Toys R’ Us or at Amazon.com here.

Disclosure: The Mommy Insider received a Pop On Pals set free for review purposes from Team Mom/Childsplay PR. The opinions in this review are ours and were not influenced in any way.

These Backyard Safari Outfitters’ toys supply kids with endless hours of outdoor fun

June 23, 2010Outdoor Toys, Summer Time Fun, Toysbackyard safari outfitters, Outdoor ToysAlicia

Sebastian loves to be outside. He’ll easily spend over an hour poking around the yard with a stick. I don’t know what he’s looking for when he pokes around.. I’m just glad he’s occupying himself and is not in front of the TV. I love watching him tiddle around in the yard whether he’s poking around with a stick or looking for mysterious bugs in the flower garden. Madelyn, on the other hand.. she’s not a big ‘tiddler’.. she likes to run around and jump on the trampoline but she’s not into searching for cool bugs and ‘treasures’ (cool rocks) like Sebastian is.

Sebastian was really excited when he got a Bug Wrangler’s Extreme Suction Bug Vacuum and Essential Field Gear Cargo Vest from Backyard Safari Outfitters.

The Essential Field Gear Cargo Vest is geared for kids a little smaller/younger than Sebastian (he’s 10..it’s for kids ages 5 & up) but he romps around in it just the same. He loves that the cargo vest has a gazillion pockets to hold things including his compas, a small flashlight, a granola bar, binoculars, a multi-tool.. and the list goes on. As you can see in one of the photographs below, Sebastian was really excited about the pop-up field guide and was nice enough to share the second one he got, with the bug vacum, with Madelyn. They walk around with their Backyard Safari Outfitters pop-up field guides like they rule the backyard!

Essential Field Gear Cargo Vest Features:

It’s durable – Rugged poly-twill fabric with reinforced detail
4 cargo pockets with velcro closures
1 two inch deep zipper pocket with mesh-net outer pocket
6 D-RINGS
2 over-sized mesh-net cargo pockets in rear

Bug Wrangler’s Extreme Suction Bug Vacuum Features:

Sneak up on bugs and suck them up.. in a nice and gentle way of course! There are THOUSANDS of crawling, flying, buzzing bugs in your backyard – catch them LIVE with your Bug Vac! Look at bugs UP-CLOSE with built-in magnifying glass!

2 catch & release capture cores with built in magnifying glass
An extra cone for the really big bugs like the one Sebastian tried to catch in the video below

About Backyard Safari Outfitters

Children can now get up-close and personal with nature right in their own backyard or nearby park. BackyardSafari Outfitters equips young explorers with all the essential field gear they could possibly need for scoping out local “wildlife,” from insects in the grass to birds in the sky to frogs in a pond — and more! Kids can choose from a broad array of fun gear and tools, including the practical and very snappy looking Cargo Vest, as well as the cool Bug Vacuum, Mega View Periscope – among dozens of other choices.

Follow Backyard Safari Outfitters on Facebook and Twitter.

To learn more about these and other Backyard Safari Outfitters products, visit Backyard Safari online.

Calafant cardboard villa

June 18, 2010New posts, ToysCalafant, cardboard toy, dollhouseAlicia

The finished product! Front view — Calafant cardboard villa toy

If you are looking for a toy and/or activity that will provide your kids (and you!) with hours of fun, challenge, and be something that they will play with for a long time to come.. you will love Calafant cardboard toys.

Madelyn got a Calafant cardboard villa before we left for our Florida vacation a few days ago. I brought the cardboard villa with us to Florida in hopes that it would occupy her for long enough to allow me to get a little bit of work done at some point. Job well done Calafant! Not my job though. I was too interested in watching the kids paint and decorate the cardboard villa to get any work done.
I sat with Madelyn and Sebastian while they painted and I helped Madelyn cut and paste some pictures on the villa. So much for work! Madelyn did an awesome job decorating the villa all by herself.. I just helped by supervising her while she painted and cut & pasted magazine pictures onto the cardboard villa. Oh, I did contribute a little.. I used a brown crayon to draw bricks on one wall.

I have to admit that I had a difficult time letting Madelyn decorate the villa on her own.. there were several times when I wanted to step in and say “no, move that sticker to the right just a tad” or when I thought she should paint something a different color, but I knew while she was decorating the cardboard villa that this is going to be HER villa to play with and as long as she likes the way she’s decorating it and is having fun, I needed to let her be as creative and silly as she wanted. Thus, the final product, a crazy painted, pasted, sticker laden, patchwork style cardboard villa.

This type of play is very important for young kids as it helps build self confidence and allows them to express their creative side. And what is really cool is that Madelyn will actually play with the cardboard villa with her dolls so it’s not like a picture that might get put away in a box after a few days.

Finished product. Back view — Backside of Madelyn's Calafant cardboard villa

Because the cardboard villa requires decoration and assembly this unique toy supplies hours of imaginative and creative play. The Calafant cardboard villa has a balcony and two big rooms on the backside. All of the doors open making for even more imaginative play with dolls and such.