Category Archives: Age 3-5

Tieramid Circle Set: $25.99+

Age 3-5, Age 5-7, Age 7-10, Games, Wooden Toys

TieramidI love wooden toys.  They are timeless and bring back memories of the wooden blocks I played with for years. It’s so great to see my kids playing with wooden blocks.

Tieramid blocks are non-toxic, colorful, circular nesting blocks.  Tieramid blocks are great for young children learning colors and the concept of inside and outside, and small and large.  The blocks fit together flat to make designs or be stacked to build a colorful towers.

The large set comes with 52 design/pattern cards to get your child started designing and building.  Sebastian builds ‘mountains’, funny characters, and comes up with really cool patters and Madelyn loves to destroy whatever he’s built.

You will be impressed with the things your child can make with Tieramid blocks like birds, flowers, and silly faces and your child will be so proud of him/herself for creating such beautiful pieces of art! 

Tieramid will bring out the artist in your kids, without the mess of paints and markers.

Click here to learn more about or buy Tieramid blocks.

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MichaelsMind Children’s Books: $15.95

Age 1-3, Age 3-5, Age 5-7, Age 7-10, Books, Educational Toys

Michaelsmindbooks1Sebastian and I read every night.  Sometimes I like the book he chooses and sometimes I don’t. When he picks one of Steve Tiller’s books I am relieved because I know I am going enjoy our reading time just as much as he does that night.

The colorful, fairytale like illustrations and fun writing style keep Sebastian’s attention on the book.  Steve’s books are written and illustrated superbly with each story delivering a message in such a way so that the child understands the message.  Steve is a great children’s book author. He knows how to capture a child’s attention and keep it.  Steve’s books cover topics including self confidence (Just Be Yourself), faith (Boat & Wind), childhood fantasy (Tangle Fairies), and individuality (Inside Outside Who We Are).

Michaelsmindbooks2When we read one of Steve’s books Sebastian enjoys talking about it afterward.  Sebastian usually doesn’t want to talk about the meaning of a book, the characters or illustrations but he gets so into the characters and the stories that he sometimes continues the story with his own ‘next chapter’. 

Most of the books have a free curriculum that parents can download from the website.  The curriculum includes group discussions, recipes, activities and drawing.

You will also find a beautiful selection of posters on the website such as the one to the left.

Visit the MichaelsMind Books website to learn more about Steve’s books and to place an order.

Lands’ End Baby: $12.99 and up

Age 0-1 year, Age 1-3, Age 3-5, Baby & Kids Clothing, Shoes

LandsendbabyLands’ End is known for making durable, comfortable clothes and they didn’t leave the little one’s out. Little did I know, they have a large line of girls and boys baby clothes and accessories to fit ages 0-24 months. The pictures to the left are just a small sampling of the Lands’ End baby line.  Offering everything from ‘footy pajamas’ to knit sweaters their pieces are sure to give your baby a classic, timeless look all the while keeping them comfortable and cozy in the soft materials.

Pieces like the Woven Jumper Madelyn is wearing to the left can be worn alone for a casual look or with co-ordinating onesies, tights, and shoes for a more dressy look.

Machine washable, this Woven Dress quickly became one of my favorite pieces in Madelyn’s wardrobe.  The Mary Janes are crafted with genuine suede leather uppers, breathable leather linings and soft suede outsoles and Madelyn is happy wearing them for hours. I was bummed when the shoes got dirty while we were at a park recently but low and behold, a little wiping got the dirt right off. Priced at just $14.50, Lands’ End’s Mary Janes are a steal.

Click here to visit Lands’ End baby and browse their selection of baby, toddler, and kids clothing.

Cranium Bloom: Let’s Play Count & Cook Game

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

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Cranium® Bloom™
 is a new line of games, books, puzzles, and toys for preschoolers ages 3+ and they are so much fun!

We tried out the Cranium® Bloom™ Let’s Go to the Zoo Seek & Find puzzle and the Cranium®
Bloom™ Let’s Play Count & Cook game. 
Here is our review of the Count & Cook game.

Kids inherently have a negative attention span which is why I love the Cranium®
Bloom™ games.  The Cranium®
Bloom™ Let’s Play Count & Cook game takes about 10 minutes to play and they are fun filled and educational.  In the box you will find a sturdy game board, 20 ingredient tokens, 4 chef movers, recipe book, and die. 

First your child will choose one of the 6 chef movers to play with.  Then she will put it on her favorite ingredient token all of which are on the board when the game starts.  Mom picks a recipe from the book and places it where everyone can reach it. Then all of the players work together to make the same recipe.   Players roll the die on their turn and move the number of spaces shown on the die. If she lands on an ingredient needed for the recipe, she adds the token to the recipe.  Kids can have fun when they land on a star by choosing any ingredient they want to add to the recipe.  The player who adds the last ingredient is top chef and opens a secret window in the recipe book for a surprise.

>Get a closer look at Cranium®
Bloom™ products below:   

Other ways we had fun with the game was by choosing a few ingredient tokens, handing them out to the kids and having them find the ingredient in our kitchen.  Some ingredients are simple while others require a bit of searching.  If you are brave enough, you can even have your child help you make one of the recipes.. for real!

Cranium®
Bloom™ Let’s Play Count & Cook game is available at Amazon.com for $12.99 and is appropriate for ages 3+. 


Cranium Bloom: Let’s Go to the Zoo Seek & Find puzzle

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

Cranium® Bloom™
 is a new line of games, books, puzzles, and toys for preschoolers ages 3+ and they are so much fun! We tried out the Cranium® Bloom™ Let’s Go to the Zoo Seek & Find puzzle and the Cranium® Bloom™ Let’s Play Count & Cook game.

Let’s Go to the Zoo Seek & Find puzzle is not just a puzzle but a seek and find game as well making it a puzzle that your preschooler will want to put together and play over and over again.  The puzzle pieces are large for little hands, and the picture is made up of whimsical, vibrant images of zoo animals.

Get a closer look at Cranium® Bloom™ products below.

First your preschooler will piece together the puzzle. Then you will choose a book of cards, beginner or advanced. Each book includes 15 seek & find cards that show an image or a color for your child to find in the puzzle.  Three year olds should start with the beginner book which asks the child to find things like ‘something blue’, and ‘3 lions’. The color or the requested image is shown on the card so your preschooler can use the card as a reference.  The book and cards in next level, advanced, request that your child find things like ‘something that starts with a Z’ and ‘5 bananas’.
When your child finds the requested color, or image(s) she uses the included erasable pen to circle it, then you move on to the next card in the book until all of the images or colors in the book are found.


Cranium® Bloom™ products are available at Amazon.com or on the Cranium® website.