Today I took my 13 month old son on a new adventure. We travelled down to Arlington VA to Aladdin’s Lamp, children’s book store, to attend a book signing from David Carter.
If you’ve been to the children’s section of a book store, you probably have seen some of Mr. Carter’s books, including One Red Dot and Big Bug Book. He does some amazing pop-up books with very intricate paper engineering, and always surprises even the likes of me (I go to Toy Fair every year, it is very difficult to wow me, sorry but it’s true.) But my son is a big fan of the Feely Bugs book. This is not a pop up book, but a texture book, each page has a new bug (puffy bug, crinkly bug) which is perfect for his little hands. He loves turning the pages and then spending time getting acquainted with each texture. We particularly like “sticky bugs” which is the backside of a sticker. We still have one bug “un covered” to maintain its stickyness as long as possible.
Anyway, I carry this book everywhere in my manly diaper bag to give to my son whenever he needs a little help focusing on not being fussy. So when I saw that David would be signing books and holding a pop up book workshop at Aladdin’s Lamp, we made the trek. David was very nice and signed not only my son’s well-worn copy of Feely Bugs, but also a new pop-up book I bought, Alpha Bugs (a pop up books going over the alphabet). My little guy was a little young for doing the workshop (elementary school age kids were loving it) so hopefully he’ll come back to the area in a few years.
I have to point you to Mr. Carter’s web site. Just like how I offer all kinds of DIY projects and books you can download, David has pop-up templates you can download and assemble with your children. Fantastic! Check out his official site Pop Up Books.com for lots of fun.
The experts and pundits keep saying that it’s impossible to have a total economic collapse… but you can’t help but wonder… what if the economy did fall apart?, What would happen is suddenly the global market says “We don’t want your money” and then everybody starts thinking “this money is no good” Once the electric company or the beer store decide that money is no good, you’re pretty screwed… Read the rest of this entry »
Yesterday I talked with Magic 106.5‘s Jack Logar about the pirate ship you can make out of a refrigerator box. For free. (Watch my video)
Click below to listen to me break it down. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in 3&up, Magic106.5|Comments Off on Pirate Box shenanigans on Magic 106.5
My son had a blast playing with the fan powered Busy Ball-Tivity Center and the Busy Ball Popper from Playskool, and he just started walking on his own last weekend… was it because we got the Step Start Walk’N Ride in his hands? We may never know.
Anywhoo, you can tell by the video that my little guy loves these toys. They’re available everywhere, like Wal*Mart, Target and Toys R Us, or online at the Hasbro Toy Shop… here are the direct links for the: Busy Ball-Tivity Center (coming soon! — $33) Busy Ball Popper ($20) Step Start Walk’n Ride ($20).
In honor of International Talk Like a Pirate Day we put together this demo of how to make a simple pirate ship (perfect for the little scallywags) out of a refrigerator box. We’ve long been fans of Mr. McGroovey’s pirate ship plans (with box rivets), but we needed something we could build with one refrigerator box (get one for free from a local large appliance store) and a 12 pack of beer. So here is our streamlined “dinghy. ARRRRRRR BABY!
In honor of Talk Like a Pirate Day tomorrow, I just reviewed the new Playmobil Pirate sets. For all price ranges and needs, playmobil contiunes to impress, with all new toys. Addressing both collectors and young pirates alike, you’re bound to find a set that’s perfect for your swashbuckling jones.
And I made a free Pirate Map you can download and print out and give to your little pirate. Ok better get cracking, there are tons of pictures to get through.Playmobil Pirate Sets review
And click below to listen to me discuss these sets on Magic 106.5‘s morning show this morning. Read the rest of this entry »
reviewed by Jager If your pre-schooler is like mine, they love to help. Whether we’re doing the dishes, making dinner, putting things away, or doing anything over his eye level at the counter he wants to be in the middle of it. This usually means a kitchen chair is grabbed and drug across the floor by him so he can see what’s going on and get his hands in there. More often than not, this includes my toes being smashed by the chair or the counter is crashed into by a fast moving chair. Recently, AmazingChildhood.com sent us the Learning Tower from The Little Partners and it’s been great for letting my boy lend a hand safely and without stubbing my toes.
The Learning Tower has been a big help in our kitchen. The sturdy construction means that it won’t tip or break when your child is in it and the adjustable platform is nice too. As your child grows taller, you can move the level down. Now, you’re thinking, “Great, but I have to lug my 30 pound kid onto that thing.” Not true. There are steps on both sides for your child to climb right up and help make cookies… or brush their teeth.
The bad news is that the Tower comes unassembled. The good news is it’s very easy to put together. My wife and I had it fully assembled in about 20 minutes. Everything you need for construction (including tools) is included. But I should admit we used a drill with a hex bit instead of the included alan wrench. The only bad thing about the Tower is its size. It is a bit unwieldy and takes up a rather large area in our kitchen. But I understand the need for stability so the size is needed.
Overall, The Little Partner’s Learning Tower is a great addition to our house and lets our son help with dinner with little worry of him hurting himself by falling. If you have a big enough kitchen and love to let your child help out this is definitely the way to go. AmazingChildhood has these in stock and as an added bonus, 10% of your purchase goes to children’s charities. That’s awesome! Check out their site for other wood finishes you can get, including a playhouse add-on for this tower.
Check out this video we made of the Learning Tower in action.
There’s nothing like handing the kids some Nerf guns and letting them get all worn out. But what about when they ask you to join in? They’re faster, have better hand-eye coordination, and have more energy. Now you can get yourself the NERF Vulcan EBF-25 (EveryBody Flees?) and win from now on. The only draw back in shooting 3 shots a second, is that when you’re out of ammo, you gotta stop and re-load. But check out how bad ass you can look in the process.
(includes my infamous show-down with American Gladiators Titan at the end)
You can pick up the NERF EBF-25 from the Hasbro Toy Shop (this is the Value Pack with extra ammo belt, darts and shoulder strap)
We talked about two types of building toys this morning on Magic 106.5. First up were Playskool’s Clipo Blocks (click to see my video demo) great for kids 18 months and up, that don’t hurt when you step on them in the middle of the night.
Secondly were the Skeleflex bones you can build into thousands of designs by mixing and matching the dinosaur and alien skeletons.
Today I took my 13 month old son on a new adventure. We travelled down to Arlington VA to Aladdin’s Lamp, children’s book store, to attend a book signing from David Carter.
But my son is a big fan of the Feely Bugs book. This is not a pop up book, but a texture book, each page has a new bug (puffy bug, crinkly bug) which is perfect for his little hands. He loves turning the pages and then spending time getting acquainted with each texture. We particularly like “sticky bugs” which is the backside of a sticker. We still have one bug “un covered” to maintain its stickyness as long as possible.
Anyway, I carry this book everywhere in my manly diaper bag to give to my son whenever he needs a little help focusing on not being fussy. So when I saw that David would be signing books and holding a pop up book workshop at Aladdin’s Lamp, we made the trek. David was very nice and signed not only my son’s well-worn copy of Feely Bugs, but also a new pop-up book I bought, Alpha Bugs (a pop up books going over the alphabet). My little guy was a little young for doing the workshop (elementary school age kids were loving it) so hopefully he’ll come back to the area in a few years.
