Four is a magical age. And for us, it includes a daily account of closet gremlins and nightmares that involve an epic battle between Scooby Doo and armored Transformer/My Little Pony hybrids. I love the imagination. The fear of bedtime, …
LEGO is, in my mind, the quintessential building toy of childhood. I played with it when I was little; both of my kids--their ages in double digits--still love to build with it . The problem, of course, is that no matter what LEGO storag…
These days, my girls would rather get into dress up clothing than play nearly anything else. I'm not complaining; I love all the creativity and imagination it inspires, when they piece together the mismatched accessories, tutus, hats and…
Every week at my daughter's violin lesson, my kids would head straight for the cardboard brick building blocks and play quietly for a solid 30 minutes. That was enough for me to send them as a Christmas gift idea to my mother-in-law, who…
When my kids were younger, they received a big bag of plastic play food filled with such gems as skinny hot dogs, rubbery pizza slices, flat burger patties and even a few brown chicken nuggets. Well, this grass-fed beef buying, farmers-m…
We have wood crates, with toy fruit and veggies, crafts , blocks, trains, etc., but no way to store or organize them. Do you have a toy storage solution? Do you dump everything by category into bins or baskets, and shelve them that way? …
Cardboard cottages are more common than refrigerator boxes these days, and cardboard castles are no longer hard-to-find real estate. But we've found a new line of structures that go beyond the typical rose-covered cottage-- and that boys…
As you probably know by now, there's a bill in Congress to ensure that toys and clothing are free of toxic chemicals and heavy metals. Which is good. Unfortunately, while the Consumer Protection Safety Improvement Act is well-meaning, th…
We have the best time every year seeking out amazing toys and games for babies and kids that we can recommend completely. Our favorites are generally made with love and care by small companies or independent designers. Although we do lov…
If you're sick of the frantic rush of live holiday shopping but still want to take up some real estate under the tree, you need to go check out the cool stuff at Discovery Kids, the exclusive toy section of The Discovery Channel Store. I…
My daughter is obsessed with being a dentist. Yes, just like that Elf on that Rudolph video. Of course, I'm delighted and I want to encourage her, but dentist toys are a little hard to come by. Luckily, I won't have to scour the Internet…
I know that this year I'm going to end up with a bunch of kids I've forgotten about on my holiday list, so I try to amass a repertoire of fun, not too expensive gifts to keep on standby. If they don't get given out this month, there's al…
I have this fantasy every Christmas of convincing my extended family to go together on one big gift for my children. You know, instead of everyone doing their own thing and my kids ending up with a playroom full of blinky-light, noise-ma…
I'm such a huge fan of finger puppets for kids , which inspire all kinds of creativity and good thinking. I'm thinking about tracking down a finger puppet theater this holiday, so we can have a more formal stage for all that tiny enterta…
With all the awesome Black Friday sales online today, I've had the best morning avoiding the crowds at the stores. I've been cuddling up with my girls, watching the Mahna Mahna video for the zillionth time on you tube, and jumping online…
When buying a gift for those sweet toddlers in my life, I tend to steer clear of "white" anything. Let's face it, they aren't the cleanest creatures on the planet. But HABA is one step ahead of me with their new line of snow-white lambs …
Watching The Grinch Who Stole Christmas is a holiday tradition around here and I can only imagine how well this greener version of the grouchy Grinch himself would go over peeking out of my kid's stocking. Now I realize that technically …
Whenever I go shopping for baby toys, I am dismayed at how many toy developers design their blocks in sherbet-y pastels even though babies prefer the colors high contrast and vivid for the first few months. (I am also wondering who decid…
I'm kind of in love with anything vintage, especially when it comes to toys. We always joke that generations of children somehow made it through life without dolls that walked, talked, or did the cha-cha, and ours can too, darn it. And g…
While plastic toys tend to fall a bit lower on my own personal shopping list, I wouldn't complain one bit if the brand spankin' never seen before holiday themed toys from B. Toys just happened to fall out of Santa's sack (or Grandma's pu…
Once upon a time these little critters were cozy woolen sweaters, but thanks to the imagination and ingenuity of Laura Ray, they have been reincarnated as Pogos. Made with upcycled wool and stuffed with sustainable bamboo fiber they are …
Just when I thought my daughter had sort of outgrown the wand phase, a few days ago I watched her snatch up a tulle covered one and attempt to pawn off a pointer to her younger friend. You can be the " teacher fairy " , she said. Not bad…
I can't even walk into a sprawling, mega-selection toy store without breaking into a sweat. Oh sure, they may carry some of the brands I love, or even have an organic stuffed toy tucked into a corner, but I have to weed through so many t…
Every month, each of the CMP contributors pick our favorite pick of the month and write a quick blurb on it for our monthly newsletter . Out of dozens of amazing posts in September, four of us nearly had a cage match over who got to sque…