Category Archives: Age 3-5

Review: Good Nite Lite – a great gadget for kids ages 3+

Age 3-5, Age 5-7, Bedtime, Must Haves, New posts, , ,

This is a great gadget for a toddler or school age child or a parent who’s child’s sleep patterns need adjusted… like mine!  What a dream it would be to sleep in until I WANT Madelyn to get out of bed… 9:00a.m. would be great but I’d settle for 8:30.  With the help of the Good Nite Lite she is beginning to understand that she can’t get out of bed in the wee hours of the night.  The Good Nite Lite sun illuminates at 7:30 a.m., the time I’ve programmed it to so that she knows that it is OK for her to get out of bed.  I’ll let you know when I can push the time back to 8:30a.m… which will be.. uh, never.

Good Nite Lite

More about the Good Nite Lite

  • Program the time you want the sun to illuminate in the morning and when you want the moon to illuminate in the evening so your child knows when it’s time to get up and go to bed.
  • It’s fun to look at!
  • The Good Nite Lite features a friendly, glowing moon/sun face that changes from a Moon to a Sun at the programmed “wake-up” time and from a Sun to a Moon at the programmed “bedtime.” Children rapidly come to associate the moon image with the knowledge that it is still bedtime and the sun with the idea that it is the correct time to wake up. During the day, the Good Nite Lite automatically shuts off to eliminate any distractions and to conserve energy.
  • The Good Nite Lite will help your child learn that he/she needs to stay in bed until the ‘the sun is on’ as Madelyn says.

One minor fault I see with the Good Nite Lite is that it covers both outlets so you can’t have another device plugged into the second outlet while the Good Nite Lite is plugged in.

The Good Nite Lite is available online at www.goodnitelite.com for just $34.99.

Hair Couture.. sushi hair clips from Ruby’s Closet and a coupon code

Age 3-5, Age 5-7, Coupon codes, Featured Articles, Holiday, New posts, ,
Madelyn went through a phase during which she didn’t want anything in her hair.. hairbows, clips, or headbands.  A 2 1/2 year phase in fact.  She’s 3 now and is more open to letting me fix her hair and put hair clips in it especially now that it’s long and she gets annoyed when it falls in her eyes and face. 

I recently received a few gorgeous and fun hair clips from Ruby’s Closet to feature here on The Mommy Insider and Madelyn had them all in her hair within a few minutes of seeing them. 

I love Ruby’s Closet’s Sushi hair clip set.  I love sushi and bright fun colors so I think this is a really fun clip.  I also love the Patchwork clips and have worn the one Madelyn is wearing in the photograph myself and was complimented!

Ruby’s Closet has a huge selection of fun, bright, creative, and colorful clippies and headbands. Each flower or clippie can be slipped through a loop on the headbands or hats to mix and match. This is great for keeping your daughters clippies from infant to child. It also lets you change up your child’s look for each outfit. All clippies come with a chemical and latex free “no slip” liner that works great for keeping the clippies in little or no hair.

Ruby’s Closet hair clips make great stocking stuffers!

Where to buy them: Ruby’s Closet
How much are they? Prices vary – $3.99, $7.50+

COUPON CODE:
Get 20% all products including shipping.
Use code: MOMMYINSIDER
Expiration date: 12/31/2009


Technorati Tags: toddler hair clip, headbands

Toddler Must Have: Melissa and Doug Puppet Theater

Age 3-5, Must Haves, Wooden Toys, ,

This Melissa and Doug wooden puppet theater has a sturdy non-tip base and plenty of room inside. The playful detailed graphics and soft fabric curtains will help inspire expression in any child. The puppet theater features a chalkboard and clock with movable hands.

What age is it for? Ages 3+

How much is it? $100

Where can I buy it? Ciucci Couture

More must-haves for moms, babies, and kids

Musicolor – kids color, play, and listen to their own music art!

Age 3-5, Age 5-7, Arts and Crafts, Featured Articles, New posts, , , ,


Musicolor is such a cool concept.  Both of my kids (10 and 3) love Musicolor and as you know if you have two kids of very different ages, they don’t often like the same toy or game.  Madelyn enjoys the blank ‘Create-a-song’ music cards while Sebastian enjoys coloring, playing, and listening to the detailed cards (pre-printed song discs) that are color-by-number. 

So what exactly is Musicolor and what does it do?
Musicolor is a display of innovative technology mixed with a classic coloring activity. The music player unit is modeled after the classic record player (which my kids have never seen!), the technology, however, is anything but classic.
The Musicolor music player consists of a rotating base and an arm for reading the music discs, much the same as a DVD player reads a DVD. The arm scans over the colored areas of the music disc rotating on the music player, reads the color and translates it to sound. Kids can choose to play their music to the sound of a piano, violin or trumpet.
Using the pre-printed coloring discs, simply color in the spaces according to the letter printed in the area, when you are done, the disc will play the song for the scene you have just colored! If you really want to be creative, use the blank song discs and create your own songs from scratch!

Kids receive the fun and reward of coloring a picture, which is magically transformed into music! A combination of art and music that any child can proudly share with their parents, family and friends!  Three Blind Mice, Hickory Dickory Dock, and London Bridge are just a few songs included in the Musicolor set.

Delta Creative offers kids other great products to bring out their creative side including their rainbow paint set (Madelyn’s playing with hers in the photo to the right) which includes 12 washable tempura paints, 3 paint brushes and a paint tray.  Delta Creative has a selection of Nickelodeon products including the Dora and Sponge Bob stamp sets great for kids 4 and older.

Delta Creative products can be purchased at Michael’s, JoAnn, Hobby Lobby, and other art and craft stores. 

Learn more about these and other Delta Creative products here at Delta Creative’s website.

Musicolor commercial:


Madelyn playing with her Delta Creative stamp set

Zoocchini kids dinnerware sets, hooded towels, rugs, and plush animals AND a giveaway!

Age 3-5, Age 5-7, Featured Articles, Feeding - baby & kids, , ,

My kids run around the house and act like monkeys.  Sebastian has always loved anything to do with monkeys including the obnoxious sound they make.  Maybe real monkeys aren’t as obnoxious as my monkeys?
Sebastian recently received Marvin the Monkey from Zoocchini and sleeps with it every night.  Marvin is super soft and gets tons of love from my kids.  Sebastian uses the adorably decorated plastic bucket Marvin the Monkey arrived in to store small toys in.  These adorable plush animals and the bucket packaging make great baby shower and baby birthday gifts.

Madelyn has a cute Safari dinnerware set from Zoocchini.  For the first few days after getting it, I had to hand wash the plate and cup 2+ times a day so she could use them at every meal.  Nothing else would do.  She scoots her food over so the Giraffe and Monkey’s eyes aren’t covered.  She said, “they have to be able to see me while I eat Mommy”.  Silly me.

My favorite Zoocchini product is the Octopus hooded towel.  If I could, I would totally use this towel myself.  Measuring 20×50 inches, Zoocchini’s oversized hooded towels are made of 100% 5 ply cotton exclusive of embroidery and are softer than our best bath towel.  It might be time for new bath towels.  Madelyn’s Octopus towel goes with us to swim class and when I dry her off in the bathroom after class, the kids gravitate toward the towel like little magnets.   It’s a little freaky actually, but cute.  The bright colors and whimsical characteristics make Ollie a truly special towel.

Kids with varying interests will find a Zoocchini collection they love.  All of the products are available in a Safari, Ocean, and Barnyard collection.

Check out Zoocchini’s full line here at Zoocchini.com.

GIVEAWAY!
We have a Zoocchini Ocean Collection Rug to give to a lucky reader!  To enter to win, just visit Zoocchini.com, then come back here and tell me in the comments below what your favorite Zoocchini collection and product is.  For example, the Barnyard dinnerware set.  Entries accepted until November 5th.