I enjoy reading with my kids any day of the year, but this particular season is even more fun to snuggle up with a good book. I remember back when they were younger and we’d tear through a pile of picture books in one sitting. If you and your little one are ready for a sweet new story, be sure to check out Lola Gets a Cat. The latest book in the Lola series, it’s the charming tale of a precocious preschooler who’s been itching for a cat of her own, and does everything she can to prove that she is responsible enough. At first glance, readers will understand just how committed she is: Her bedroom is outfitted in all things feline, including Lola herself…right down to [&hellip
I heart Valentine’s Day. As a kid, I couldn’t wait until my teacher gave us permission to “deliver” our handmade cards to our classmates. After school, I would lay out my collection of candy-colored notes on the living room floor, re-reading the silly phrases like “You’re purr-fect, Valentine” from a cartoon cat. (It was almost as fun as cataloguing my Halloween candy, yet oddly more satisfying.) Later, once I became a mom, I relished the chance to transform an ordinary shoe box into a mailbox festooned with pink and red hearts for my preschooler, hoping she too would come to savor the holiday steeped only in sweetness and love. As my daughter grew and developed tastes of her own, I recalled helping her select her [&hellip
Last weekend, we had our first taste of winter for the season: enough snow to pile up for making snow angels and going sledding. And then just like that, it was gone! Fluffy mounds of powdery white quickly turned into muddy puddles, with only dirty, wet tire tracks as proof of their existence. Temperatures soared into the balmy 50s, threatening to turn this winter on its end. So, what’s a snowstorm-loving kid to do without a winter wonderland? Create her own, of course, and we have just the magic touch to get the snowball rolling. Seedling’s Create Your Own Snowflake Fairy Wand puts the power of pretend play into your child’s hand–literally–by providing all the essentials to fashion a decorative wand. From white felt and colorful ribbons, [&hellip
If you’ve been putting off trying to find a gift for the tween/teen in your life, we feel your pain. Gone are the days of cuddly stuffed animals, fashion dolls and action figures…now it seems like all your kid cares about is his phone! If you refuse to resort to a token gift card (good for you!), but don’t exactly want to go to the end’s of the earth either, consider this creative choice that just begs to be played with. Seedling’s Design Your Own Marble Maze gets big points in our book. First, it takes the puzzle concept to another level (literally) by letting kids construct and design their own tabletop-sized maze. They can position walls, add traps and designate stop and start points to [&hellip
The clock is ticking, and you still haven’t found that perfect gift for the kid in your life. (Yes, it’s officially time to give up on those Hatchimals arriving any time soon.) If you’re looking for something unconventional, that doesn’t involve batteries and that you don’t even have to wrap, we’ve got the gift for you. Introducing Little Passports Science Expeditions, the all-in-one curiosity kit that will intrigue and fascinate budding scientists on a regular basis. Available as a monthly subscription, this series provides all the tools necessary for kids ages 9 and up to perform themed experiments right in their own home. For starters, they will receive a science case and lab notebook to keep tabs on their experiments in progress. Then, each month, [&hellip
The clock is ticking and if you’re like me, you’ve put off your holiday shopping for as long as humanly possible. (I’m usually not a procrastinator, but the annual Christmas rush can bring out the worst in even the best of us ). If you caught that emoji, then you’ll appreciate the latest crafting craze that truly lets kids speak their own language. Creativity for Kids Emoji Bracelets is a fun, inexpensive gift for the hard-to-please tween or tween-to-be. This kit comes with colorful gel cord that’s perfectly stretchy to show off the 70 emoji-faced beads: enough to make five unique bracelets to suit your kid’s mood du jour. It works just as well as a sleepover party crowd pleaser as it does for a [&hellip
You know it’s almost Christmas when supermarket pumpkins and mums are being swapped out in favor of wreaths, miniature trees and bags of red and green candies. Seeing those holiday Hershey kisses reminds me that, once again, I packed away our advent calendar in a box that I can’t get my hands on in time for December 1st! It’s one of those kinds with pockets for each day that you can fill with small toys, candy or other trinkets…but it seems to have lost its original allure (in my house, at least). If your family is in the market for a new way to countdown to Christmas, consider one of the latest trends in collectible toys to mark the season. The Disney Tsum Tsum Advent [&hellip
As I watched a cascade of wet leaves swirling around outside my window earlier this morning, it dawned on me: Thanksgiving is next week. If you find yourself staring mindlessly at grocery store displays of cranberry sauce and canned pumpkins, you’re not alone. It seems like so many people are walking around in a daze, feeling like they’d much rather fast-forward past the holidays this year. A strange time though it may be, I can’t imagine skipping the one day of the year when families and friends come together to celebrate and give thanks for all they already have. Pardon the expression, but forgoing Thanksgiving would seem to be un-American…and that’s definitely not the message I want to share with my kids. For those of [&hellip
I remember that Christmas like it was yesterday. I had asked Santa for the Barbie Dream House, but instead received a Barbie Townhouse. I wasn’t entirely disappointed that I didn’t get exactly what I had written in my letter to him, but more because the house didn’t seem to work as I thought it should. The elevator didn’t go up without banging from side to side, and my dolls kept falling out. Some of the furnishings weren’t three-dimensional, but instead were printed onto the walls (seriously, how’s a girl supposed to hang up her sparkly evening gown without a real closet?). That might have been the very year that I began to lose interest in playing dolls, but looking back, I don’t begrudge Barbie for [&hellip
It’s almost Friday, and that means we’re getting ready for the weekend. If your family is like mine, we’re always tuned into what movies are coming out and this time, it’s Trolls. I’m still trying to convince my 8-year-old to go see it–I mean, how can you not like these crazy, colorful little rascals?–so we’ll see what happens there. In the meantime, my 12-year-old is totally on board, and that might just have something to do with the cool new beauty products we just received. Hard Candy’s Trolls Collection has plenty of playful choices to let you experiment with a look that’s as fun as the movie promises to be. From the Mood Lip Balm and Marbelized Lipstick, to the Hair Chalk Tin and Poppin’ Pigments, each product [&hellip