Tis the season of baby showers, christenings and any other gift-giving occasion to welcome a new arrival. If you’ve been invited to a bris, baptism or first birthday bash and are coming up empty-handed on your quest for the perfect present , consider the latest trend in gift-giving: subscriptions. We’re not talking Highlights magazine here, but rather a boxed mail-order delivery. Googaro features an assortment of carefully selected baby gifts (think: your own personal baby store shopper) that are eco-friendly and BPA-free. The selections include toys, books, snacks and other items, and are tailored to specific age ranges: 0-6 months, 6-12 months, 1-2 years and 2-3 years. Subscriptions are available on a monthly basis at $35 a pop, or you can place a one-time order. [&hellip
mail-order gifts for kids Archive
With just about two weeks until school lets out, I am faced with the inevitable truth that my kids will soon be home with me, and I will be tasked with what I like to call a “Herculean feat”: keeping them entertained, while not killing each other. Sure, they’ll be doing some camp time here and there, but with plenty of down time on the calendar, it’s a ripe opportunity for them to do something that’s productive and that doesn’t have to follow a set schedule. Ah, the beauty of unstructured time!…What is that, anyway? After hearing so much about ‘brain drain’ and ‘summer slide,’ I figure it’s my job as a parent to keep them intellectually challenged and mentally engaged even when they’re not [&hellip
Until earlier this week, when our electricity was restored following the wrath of Hurricane Sandy, family time was all about board games, crafts and anything that could be played by firelight. While those first few rounds of Candyland were doable, the novelty soon wore off. (I’d be lying if I told you I wasn’t envisioning an escape plan–for one.) And with school closed for more than one week, I began seeing signs of brain drain I hadn’t seen since summer vacation. Before I was ready to throw my hands up, our mailman delivered a welcome treat: a trial sample of Little Passports, one of the more entertaining boredom busters we’ve seen in a long time. This subscription-based service lets kids ages 7-12 play armchair traveler [&hellip
Both of my girls have a flair for the dramatic. Whether they’ve inherited their parents’ passion for plays or have innocently been bitten by the theater bug, they adore putting on shows and having my husband and I as their hostages…er, captive audience. And because we are always on the lookout for toys and other fun stuff that can appeal to 4- and 8-year-olds, especially ones that are imagination-driven, we couldn’t resist Green Kid Crafts’ One World Puppets. Delivered right to your child’s door, this box is teeming with all the supplies needed to fashion paper doll puppets from repurposed materials. It comes with eight recycled cardstock dolls, an entire wardrobe of cardstock clothes (we love the vintage print romper!), wood craft sticks (in a [&hellip
When it comes to holiday shopping, what do you get for the kid who has everything? I’m exaggerating, of course, but sometimes it feels like my girls have more gifts than Toys R Us. While we swap out old stuff twice a year to make room for birthday and Christmas gifts, it still seems like the stuff multiplies overnight. I don’t remember being this spoiled as a kid, but then my mother reminds me of the infamous Toy Closet, a bottomless pit of toys, dolls, board games and books that was forever busting its seams. Talk about history repeating itself!… This year, we’re on a special lookout for non-traditional gifts that are easy on space and that encourage kids to use their imagination, instead of [&hellip
I fear that in a matter of few weeks, our family room will come to resemble a toy store under attack. I’m not even talking about Christmas morning alone; in our family, the holidays become a month-long event of packages arriving on a regular basis from extremely generous out-of-state family and friends who want our girls to wish our girls the merriest. And yet, every year, these little ladies wind up playing with a couple of select toys, while hardly batting an eye at the loot that would make any normal child envious. It’s not to say my girls are greedy, but let’s just say that they are content with what they ask for and receive. While we would never deny the opportunity for loved [&hellip