by Cool Mom Team | Toys + Playthings
It’s been a while since we found some handmade dolls that we’re really crushing on. After all, December isn’t the only time we need great gifts for the special girls in our lives. A new find comes courtesy the etsy shop Little Big Pants, and its...
by Cool Mom Team | Toys + Playthings
For those of you who have searched high and low to find a finger puppet in the shape of a piece of matzoh, you are in luck, for we have found that very thing in the set of plush 4 Questions Finger Puppets. The matzoh joins reversible friends Reclining Chair, Radish,...
by Cool Mom Team | Toys + Playthings
When brainstorming decorating themes for my daughters’ bedroom, the first thing that comes to mind is definitely hunting lodge. Okay, so it’s not. But I would consider fun-ing things up a bit with this 3-d deer head puzzle mounted over the bed. You or...
by Cool Mom Team | Toys + Playthings
I often find myself gravitating towards European stuffed animals. There’s something quirky and inventive about many of them relative to our own teddies with their ubiquitous neck ribbons. Plus there’s that matter of the stringent EU safety standards that...
by Cool Mom Team | Toys + Playthings
I’m all for broadening my daughter’s exposure to new cultures (Dora not included), and the art of Origami seemed to be a good way to merge craft time with cultural studies. Unfortunately I was doing all the folding, and the animals ended up...
by Cool Mom Team | Toys + Playthings
At Toy Fair last month, I was taken with the series of Jambo Kids adoption dolls. Founded by a mom/pop team who wanted to create a toy their adopted Chinese daughter could relate to, these doll and book sets handle cultural and racial differences in exactly the right...
by Cool Mom Team | Toys + Playthings
At Toy Fair last month, I spent wayyyyy too much time with the very enthusiastic music maker John Hayden of Jamtown, investigating his selection of fair trade instruments from around the world. Okay, so I wasn’t investigating so much as I was playing with them....
by Liz Gumbinner | Toys + Playthings
I recently had the pleasure of meeting the lovely Felicia Steves-Niles and was thrilled to learn that she was not only a cool mom, but a cool mom who ran her own cool online shop which sucked me into a marathon browsing session. Update: this site is no longer in...
by Cool Mom Team | Toys + Playthings
In our house it’s called "the thingie with the round bead-y thingies on it." But now I’ve finally learned the proper term – Bead Maze! Who knew?Whatever it is, my wee ones love it. And one of the sweetest ones we’ve come across is...
by Cool Mom Team | Toys + Playthings
As a young girl, I was a die-hard collector of lifelike plastic horse models and gear, but the best accessory of them all was my wooden stable, lovingly handmade by my grandfather and accurate in every detail. Black Beauty was thrilled with his lavish digs. If...
by Cool Mom Team | Toys + Playthings
My three-year-old must always be doing something with her hands – coloring, painting, or her current favorite, going through my entire jewelry box. Twice on a good day. So, when I saw these Maple Landmark Lace-A-Shapes I figured it was worth a try to save my...
by Cool Mom Team | Toys + Playthings
As a wee lass, I was obsessed with a matryoshka doll my parents had brought me back from Eastern Europe. All the time spent banging those little schmata-clad wooden nesting dolls around yielded plenty of chipped paint and battered edges, turning a stunning keepsake...
