All posts by Alicia

Toy review: Balancing Coral toy from Plan Toys

Age 3-5, Age 5-7, Educational Toys, Games, Toys, Wooden Toys, , , ,

Plan Toys Balancing Coral gamePlan Toys makes some of the nicest looking and well made wooden toys I've seen.  

Made of earth-friendly and replenishable rubber wood, Balancing Coral, is a game for up to 4 players ages 3 and up. The idea is to take turns putting pieces of coral on the coral base and see who makes the coral topple by not keeping the coral balanced.  Madelyn works very hard at putting a few pieces on but manages to topple the coral within a few tries.  That is to be expected though as she is only 2. 

Balancing Coral is great game for young kids as it will help develop good cognitive and fine motor skills.  I always supervise Madelyn when playing Balancing Coral because the pieces could potentially be a chocking hazard for children 3 and under.  Madelyn stays too busy putting the coral on to try to put the pieces on her mouth.

Plantoys-firestationGIVEAWAY!
We have a Plan City Fire Station
 to giveaway to a lucky reader!   Go to Plan Toys website and tell me in the comment box below what you think makes Plan Toys stand out and tell me what other product (1 only) you would love to have of theirs and why.  You just might get it too!

You can buy Balancing Coral at Plan Toys or at Oompa Toys, one of my favorite online toys stores, for about $35.

Check out some of our other givewaways running now (Expire Dec. 31, 2008):  invisibelt giveaway, Little Tikes Rated Green products giveaway, Fisher Price Zen Collection Swing giveaway, Precious Girls Club book and goodie bag giveaway.

Toy review: architecture abc blocks by Parents®

Age 1-3, Age 3-5, Educational Toys, Toys, , , , , ,

Madelyn loves, loves, loves Parents® abc architecture blocks.   TParents® abc architecture toddler blockshese blocks are colorful, squishy soft and stack easily.  One of my favorite things about the abc architecture blocks is because they are soft, they don't make a loud crashing sound when they are knocked down.

Parents® abc architecture blocks can even go in the bathtub.  They float making them lots of fun.  Just be sure to sqeeze all of the water out when the kids are through playing with them.

There are 9 different shapes including squares, columns, and curvy pieces that can go on top of the column pieces to make a cool tower.  Each block has an animal and/or a letter of the alphabet molded on it. 

Parents® also makes wooden toys including a Doctor's play set that Madelyn is getting for Christmas.  I am so excited.. she'll have so much fun with it.  Something that I really appreciate about Parents® toys is that they are all practical and educational.

Recommended for ages 6+ months.

You will find Parents® ABC architecture toddler blocks at your local Target (check first) or Target.com here for about $19.

smart-e-bear: click, connect, and cuddle for ages 2-6

Age 1-3, Age 3-5, Educational Toys, Toys, , ,

162_2438A super snuggly bear for kids ages 2-6, smart-e-bear is a huggable, loveable friend that plays award-winning kids music, fun games, and interactive stories right out of the box!

Madelyn’s favorite activity is listening to Five Little Monkeys and Head and Shoulders which Sebastian also loves.  They both crack up and have a blast when smart-e-bear starts singing really fast.  Madelyn is learning songs and stories and Sebastian,  9 years old, is learning things like Head and Shoulds in Japanese!

He’s the only bear with a computer interface, a lesson plan that you can customize, AND he’s totally wired into the children’s music scene – with access to thousands of songs by artist like Sara Hickman.

To set up smart-e-bear, plug him into your computer’s USB port for download, and he’s ready to engage and interact as your child sings and reads along, while answering questions by squeezing his paws.

smart-e-bear asks Madelyn questions such as “Do you want to play simon says?  If yes, push my hand, if no push my foot”.  Then smart-e-bear says “simon says push my yellow foot” and she pushes his yellow foot.  She loves that smart-e-bear interacts with her when she pushes his hands and feet.  Madelyn finds smart-e-bear very easy to understand and follow.  smart-e-bear’s interactive design lets Madelyn decide what games to play, or stories to hear, with a squeeze of his hands or feet.  When she first got smart-e-bear she had to push around on his hands and feet to find the sensor but after a couple times of playing, she knows where they are without a problem.

smart-e-bear speaks English and Spanish, and calls your child by name. I can select age-appropriate content, customizing Madelyn’s learning experience with thousands of songs, stories and games.  Like iTunes, most songs and activities are .99 to download.

smart-e-bear is soft and cuddly.  Other than having a small module box stuffed way into his back, he is a regular super soft and plush bear and can be squeezed just like any plush animal.

Learn more about smart-e-bear here.  You can buy smart-e-bear at amazon.com here.  There is also a smart-e-dog or smart-e-cat.

Watch a short video of smart-e-bear singing.

Dyson DC16 Root 6 Vacuum – Pink

Electronics, Gadgets, , , ,

I've 41CdHZGPUqL._SL160_
had the cordless pink Dyson DC16 Root 6 Vacuum
for a little while and everyone in my family loves it, including the kids.  We have two hand vacuum's and 9 times out of 10, the Dyson is the vacuum we use.  This hand vacuum has uses Root Cyclone technology and has great suction, about twice the suction of other hand vacuums and it recharges about 3 times faster. and tools to make cleaning easier in tight spaces, as well as on hardwood floors.  
The Lithium ion battery lasts for 6 minutes or so giving amply time to clean small messes hand vacuum's are intended for.  The battery charger can be wall mounted and the vacuum features a low-battery indicator which is awesome for me because my 9 year old forgets to put the vacuum on the charger and I can tell how much battery is left.  
The DC16 is a bagless hand held vacuum cleaner and has a 1-touch cup-emptying system which I LOVE!  The 1-touch emptying system is great for those of us who make our kids vacuum their own small messes because they can easily empty the vacuum themselves.  Image that!

You can buy the pink Dyson DC16 Root 6 Vacuum
at Amazon.com for about $149.  Dyson and Target will partner to give $30 of each upright purchase and
$10 of each hand vac purchase to The Breast Cancer Research Foundation
for a total donation of $1.4 million