Check out the Prizes in the b5media Lifestyles Channel Blogtoberfest Two Week Giveaway Event

Tomorrow will kick off the beginning of our Second Annual b5media Lifestyles Channel Blogtoberfest Two Week Giveaway Event! This year, we’re happy to introduce our sponsors, who with a combined effort, are giving away over $7,000 in prizes. Go through the list and see what you can’t live without, or would just love to give to someone you know. Now, to make things especially fun, we’ve mixed up the prizes and placed some on unlike sites so it won’t be so easy to figure out where those prizes are lurking.  Check out the prizes that will be up for grabs: Read more

Step 2 Deluxe Canyon Road Train and Track Table

When my kids were 2-years old, I wanted to get them a train table, but I had nightmares of train tracks being thrown around the house and me constantly rebuilding.  I thought about buying a traditional train table with Thomas the Tank Engine or Brio trains and tracks (actually, we got one of those when the kids turned 3-years old, but I’ll save that story for another time) and gluing the tracks to the table, but then I found the Step 2 Deluxe Canyon Road, Train and Track Table and my problems were solved.

This toy is great.  First, it’s a snap to put together.  Second, the triplets can’t throw pieces all over the house because the only parts that can be removed are the bridges and those have to be pulled off with force.  Matchbox cars, Thomas and Brio trains, and all similarly sized cars, trucks and trains work perfectly on the tracks and roads, and there is even a top that you can use to hide the mess or turn the toy into an actual table.

My kids have been using this toy for nearly two years now, and it’s still in perfect condition (and let’s just say, they are not gentle with it).  I can’t say enough good things about this toy, and I don’t anticipate they’ll get bored with it or stop using it anytime soon.  At $99.99, this toy was pricey, but it was well worth the investment!

What toys do your kids have that have been great investments?

Image source: Step2.com

Barney Celebrating Around the World DVD Release

Do your kids watch the purple dinosaur named Barney? Mine don’t anymore and they wouldn’t admit it, but they loved Barney when they were younger. My 3 year old has never watched Barney because he has always watched what his older brother and sister do.

For those of you with Barney fans in the house, you will definitely want to know about this.

Barney is continuing his 20th anniversary celebration by releasing an all new DVD called Barney: Celebrating Around the World. You can pre-order it now and copies will be available on January 29th. Here’s a synopsis of the DVD:

Synopsis and more Barney info below the cut:

Read more

Road Trip Time!

We’re preparing for our summer road trip. Yeah, yeah, we’re a little late this year. Labor Day weekend seems about the last possible time to take a trip and still be able to call it a summer road trip, so that’s what we’re doing.

I’ve checked my list of Road Trip Travel Toys, gathered up some snacks, borrowed a portable DVD player and stocked up on the movies. We’re traveling mostly in the evening on the way, so I’m hoping the kids will fall asleep! There’s really no precedent for that in our family, but I can hope, yeah?

Any tips for me before we take off?

photo credit: hyak82

KB Toys’ Top Picks for Travel Toys

KB Toys has released their top picks for travel toys this season. With the hope of a road trip or two for the summer, I’m looking for any help that we can get to keep the kids entertained (and not fighting) in the car. I did notice the absence of books in the list. That would be a must have for our daughter’s riding entertainment! Listed here are a few of KB’s top picks, as reported by Yacht Charters Magazine:

• Battleship Folio and other travel games
• Pocket Etch A Sketch
• 20Q Challenge
• V Tech – Quiz Biz – Math Mania

You can find the complete list in this article. Feel free to leave your suggestions for travel toys in the comments section. I’m sure parents will appreciate any and all suggestions offered!

Nostalgia Toy #3: Weebles

A post written by Sandra Pedicini in the Orlando Sentinel Blog reminded me of another of my favorite toys growing up. Weebles!! I always remember calling them “Weeble Wobbles.” Was I mistaken? And do we all remember the tagline, “Weebles wobble but they don’t fall down?” And was I the only one who tried to prove them wrong? Maybe.

Once again I’ll sound like an old fogie and say, “My, how these toys have changed since we were little!” My sibs and I had the Winnie-the-Pooh Weebles and a yellow and orange house, and they more resembled an egg than the Weebles that are out now. It’s the first thing I remember being moved into our new house when we came back to the States. As long as you have your favorite toy make the trip with you, what else do you need?

But why does every toy now have to have a DVD about it and books that feature them as well? Why isn’t just having the toy to play with good enough?

And, my one final fogie moment for the post: I was reading one post about these toys and they said, “These aren’t your mother’s Weebles.” And I went, “Oh my gosh, that’s me now!” Yikes.

Road Trip Travel Toy #2: Car Valet

Oh, how I wish I’d seen this in time for our trip! Too late for me, but keep it in mind for your next trip.

The CAR VALET by Alex looks like the perfect surface for your kids to draw, color, fill in activity books, or do homework on a roadtrip.

A description from the Alex Toys website:

• Play games, create art, or just keep gear within easy reach with a portable, adjustable, mobile play center and organizer. Attaches to the rear of the front seat and folds down for easy access to supplies. Fold and zip up when finished. The perfect bag for travel. Measures 14”W x 12”H x 3”D.

Let me know if you have one of these, and whether or not it’s useful!

Road Trip Travel Toy #1: Magna Doodle

This is the first in a brief “Road Trip Travel Toy” series. We’re leaving on a trip tomorrow, and my dear friend, who is traveling with us, packed up car bags for the older two kids. (She IS awesome, I know!) One item that she included, which we have purchased for road trips before, is similar to a Magna Doodle.

It’s unbelievable how the same kids, who sit in a house full of toys and say they’re bored, will sit and draw on a Magna Doodle for a good hour in the car. As long as it’s the same one as the other kid has, same colors and all.

Of course, ours isn’t exactly a Magna Doodle. We go for the dollar store version. It’s cheap, and gets us through the trip. It usually breaks at some point on the way home, which means it can go in the trash and I won’t be tripping over it for the next 5 years!

Playmobil Toy Story: Fly Away

Now that I’ve got broadband back, I can finally start enjoying some YouTube videos (apologies if you’re on dial-up). Here’s a great one featuring Playmobil toys going on a plane trip.

Technorati Tags: playmobil, toys, children, kids, planes, airplanes, youtube, videos

Art Exhibit About Kids and The Things They Have and Love

Sounds like an interesting exhibit so I thought I’d share the news here…

The traveling exhibition, organized in 1997 by the Vitra Design Museum in Weil am Rhein, Germany, is a study in the design of children’s toys and necessities from the 17th century until now.

It boasts cradles, highchairs, potty chairs, chairs suited for kings, desks designed for proper posture and now for relaxation, and a swivel child’s barber chair fashioned with a carousel-like horse’s head. Pittsburgh is the final stop on a road trip through cities in Europe and Asia, and to the United States in Connecticut and Oklahoma City.