I want to give a hand to WeeKnit on Etsy: they've brought together the coolest collection of finger puppets I've ever seen. Where else can you find a vampire, a mummy, Frankenstein, a pirate, and a ninja in one place? And would that not …
Check your tricycles, high chairs, play mats , and more, mamas - Fisher-Price has just this morning issued a recall of nearly 10 million toys and baby gear for all sorts of safety issues. According to the Consumer Product Safety Commissi…
The list of things my 3-year-old daughter doesn't love is a lot shorter than the list of things she does. But if there's one thing she digs more than anything else right now, it's dolls. Specifically, dolls to whom she can assign the per…
Though I have a six-year-old son, I have somehow avoided those plastic transforming toys that are supposed to go from a car or a truck to a robot, though I can never get them to look like either one. But avoid a block of wood that transf…
I'm not gonna beat around the bush: Modern Playhouse makes a seriously cool modern playhouse. We're talking the Taj Mahal of fourteen-square-foot living, folks. No more faded plastic hot dog stands or cardboard that crumples when your un…
Here at CMP, we love the thrill of bringing you something new and exciting-- from gummi bear chandeliers to faux fur blackboards and the practical, super-cool stuff in between. And we really, really love it when one of our picks starts o…
My kids are all puzzle fans, as evidenced by the thousands of cardboard and wooden pieces strewn about my floor at any given time of the day. But we've yet to see anything like the new multiple solution shape puzzles from one of our fave…
In a house full of girls, my son is used to playing with pink ponies and pretty castles. Really, I'm all for it. But it is nice to find pretend play toys that are a little more gender neutral too. The eco-friendly castle tower from Imagi…
My kids really love their stuffed animals, but not knowing what the heck most of these piles of fur are made of, I kind of wish they'd love them a little less. And after seeing a new organic line of plush toys that is not only safe for a…
When I saw these LEGO Man crayons . I fell in love. I'm not sure what to do with them exactly, but that's never stopped me from loving an item (or some men) before. I'm thinking party favors, a new big brother/sister gift for a toddler ,…
CMP loves to turn ABC into ROFL, and we are totally digging on these XYZ Blocks by Fred & Friends. They stack, tumble, and teach letters just as well as more traditional blocks, but they're beautiful, unusual, and entertaining, too. E is…
D anielle asked us on Twitter for the best birthday gift ideas for a 5 year old boy, since her son is about to hit the big number five. She says he likes "things that go" but already has 400 cars. He also likes art projects and writing n…
Thanks to a certain animated show, my daughter now ties her stuffed animals to chairs and then attempts to save them using only teamwork and a pom-pom hat. It's not my cup of tea, but I do like the idea of encouraging kids to help animal…
Today I was so desperate for a new project to pull the tiny whiners off my knees that I gave them a huge cardboard box and some Sharpies. They ended up just stomping on the bubble wrap inside, much to my headache's eternal sadness. But i…
I'm in a bit of a storage kick these days, trying to get all of the toys and games and stuffed animals and books that are out in our apartment, into something. Anything. Aaaaanything at all. Okay, maybe something pretty. Is that too much…
Almost every day, we drive by a castle. No, really-- it's in a field near our house, and the moat is a swimming pool, and the iron fence is guarded by concrete dwarves painted in garish colors. I can't make stuff like that up. "Mommy, ca…
Maybe toddlers shouldn't fish. I remember thinking this as I watched my 3-year-old niece clutch a big fishing pole while my husband tried to keep her from falling into the deep dark water or skewer him with the sharp fishing hook that wa…
If my kids are any indication, Stickermania may in fact be an actual medical condition. It strikes kids between 2 and 3, can last as long as a decade, and side effects may include weak and broken nails--your own--after scraping stickers …
It was a red-letter day in our household when each child was old enough to get his or her own library card. They love picking out books, handing their card over to the librarian and then skipping out with their new reads. What they don't…
Like all children of the 70's, I have fond memories of Rock 'Em Sock 'Em Robots and that Evil Knievel motorcycle that never ever jumped the ramp like it did on the commercial. I also pine for my old Snoopy Sno-Cone maker, which pretty mu…
We're huge fans of Plan Toys around here, and for good reason. These sturdy, eco-friendly and battery-free wooden toys are built to last. And not surprisingly, they're usually priced as such--something I'm more than willing to pay so as …
I still remember my daughter's first "friend" - a garish stroller toy that we dubbed Guy the Giraffe pronounced the French way, Gee , because it was the one sound my three month-old made. Oh how she loved that thing. And sucked its antle…
Well, July is here. And if you are anything like me, you don't even start looking for the beach toys until beach season is well underway, and the kids are sitting in their car seats, eager and ready to go. And that's when you discover th…
The night light is an essential component of the bedtime routine around my place, but no matter what method we employ, which lately has been our hallway light, it never seems to satisfy the kids' need for light right next to them. That's…