The first thing I noticed about Colorado's Sprig Toys is that they smell like fresh-cut wood, even while they look like strong molded plastic. Turns out I was right on both counts--their special "Sprigwood" is an eco-friendly, kid-safe m…
I'm a sucker for cute kids' tees. You can tell by taking one look at my kids' drawers...er floor. And one of my new favorite eco designers, Barley & Birch , is doing amazing things with photography to create beautiful t-shirts for kids, …
I had the dizzying pleasure of attending the mammoth Toy Fair in February, and one thing that seemed to be everywhere was cardboard. Of all of them, my favorite was easily the U.S.-made Elia Mini Chair Kit which takes this basic material…
I never really thought the words "eco" and "barrette" would be used in the same sentence, that is until I was introduced to the felt hair clips at Sophia Bella Mia. At first glance, you might think they look like any other cute girl's fl…
In our house, it's not Easter that requires a fancy new spring dress, it's Mother's Day. I can't think of a better excuse to get the girls dressed up in their finest than an excursion to some overpriced prix fixe Mother's Day brunch (fre…
I notice when I hit the mass kids' toy stores that the blocks are always in the boys section. It's bizarre to me because both my daughters love blocks like a frat boy loves Spring Break. And I can assure you they'd go flat out bonkers fo…
Growing up in the Snoopy generation, I certainly had no idea that the Red Baron was some war reference, and no understanding of the whole Marcie-Peppermint Patty lesbian theory. But I did spent countless sleepover parties with my girlfri…
If you had told me a few years back that I'd be counting the days until a toy company released their new trucks, I would have said you were nuts. But if you've seen Green Toys then it's not so hard to believe that I've had the date marke…
After my daughter was born, I had to institute a no-smocked-dresses rule in my house after countless handmade gifts from well-meaning relatives somehow relied on this form of embellishment. Thank goodness shops like Livvysue Boutique exi…
This year for Earth Day, instead of confusing my four year-old son with talk of his "carbon footprint," I plan to mark the day by sharing the four age-appropriate "Green Start" board books from Innovative Kids . The adorable soy-based in…
For more than 30 years, Swedish kids have been lucky enough to frolic around their IKEA furniture in the iconic stripey clothes from Polarn O. Pyret . And now we've just learned that they're primed for a massive US takeover in 2010, but …
Someone gave my son an old-fashioned yo-yo. (As soon as I figure out who it was, I'm going to hurt them. Or at least ask them to spackle the new dents in my walls.) But a yo-yo doll has nothing to do with yo-yos -- it's actually a classi…
The last thing we ever thought we'd be featuring on these pages is a a Virgin Mary softie , or an eco-friendly one at that, created by hand from eco-fi felt made completely from recycled water bottles. But the way we see it, some pewter …
I've always loved the durable, comfy, mix-and-match style of Zutano , ever since I was first pregnant and my BFF tipped me off about this mom-and-pop run boutique brand for kids. And now they've launched a new Itzy Bitzy boutique online …
It's getting tougher and tougher to rock our worlds with kids tee shirts, but when we got a load of the kids tees from San Francisco based Invisible Stripes , we realized that nope, we haven't seen it all. Not by a longshot. First of all…
Now that I have added another daughter to my brood, I have an extra excuse to shop for hair accessories. If I could, I'd go with absolutely every handmade girls' hair clip from the amazing mom-owned Tiny Sweets. I know, I know. That does…
April is already a busy month with Easter, Passover and Earth Day on the brain, but on Tuesday the 7th, I plan to go orange and help the ASPCA kick off Prevention of Cruelty to Animals month whatever way I can. Sure, time and money are t…
I completely understand that repetition breeds learning, but seriously, can someone come up with something other than the extremely original A is for Alligator and B is for Bumblebee? Well leave it to the Aussies to shake things up with …
I realize that you probably have no problem finding a cute baby layette for under $25, and for that, I salute you. But to find one made with vegetable dyes out of soft pima cotton? Well that creates a bit more of a challenge. Well, say h…
I hate to admit this but most of the time, my son's dressier outfits are left as complete afterthoughts compared with my daughters' pretty dresses. It's not like he gets all excited to dress up in his tie each day and run around the hous…
This city mom has a dream, and it includes a second bathroom, a third bedroom, and some actual outdoor space that isn't owned by the city parks department. If I were to magically come across this dream townhouse (which also should, by th…
If you need another reason to be happy it's spring, just check out Eleven's new Spring line of kids' shoes. A sort of "big sister/big brother" to our fave See Kai Run , Eleven offers children's shoes in bigger-kid sizes 9 to 3. I've gush…
Raising two voracious but sometimes picky readers, I've learned that there are a few factors that go into a guaranteed successful kids' board book : Simple concepts, not too many words on each page, and ideally, anything a kid can touch/…
I like doing crafts with my daughter , but usually one of two things happens: either the craft I come up with is lame (like taping purple things to a piece of paper and writing purple at the top) or the sites I visit for inspiration assu…