Archive for March, 2010

I checked into the “I Love Horses Coloring and ARTivity Book” from Creativity for Kids this weekend.

It’s recommended for ages 3 to 93. I’m sure lots of girls my age like to color and some probably even spend 5 hours on a Sunday morning alone in the kitchen, coloring horses, and drinking pots of coffee by themselves and wondering how long they can put off taking their graduate school entrance exams. Right? Never mind.

Well, I enjoyed it. Coloring gave me some time to let my mind wander and I loved

blending with theFaber-Castell Erasable Crayons that I also grabbed from the Growing Tree Toys Store last week. Creativity for Kids claims that their crafts are fun for all ages and I’ll testify that in this case they are correct.

(The Faber-Castell Erasable Crayons were great! I got the 15 set. They really did erase, the pencil sharpener really did sharpen them AND they looked beautiful. )

“I Love Horses” is a quality, spiral bound coloring book, printed on watercolor paper that held up to a week of travel in my messy backpack. Many text books have not managed to do the same. The activities invite kids (or whomever) to participate more creatively than a standard coloring or activity book. There is even a paper doll horse to color, cut-out and accessorize! Here are some of the prompts:

“What’s your favorite color horse? Does it have spots or socks, or a stripe on its nose?”
“The Pony Express carried mail across the USA. Write a letter to someone far away.”
“The heaviest horse weighed 3360 lbs! Draw yourself on the scale too.”

The last prompt was my favorite because the horse looked so brooding. The book also includes pages with zebras, a hippogriff, a Pegasus and a Samurai on a horse.

The cool thing about the whole Coloring and ARTivity collection is that students in the Illustration Department at the Cleveland Institute of Art did the artwork. And Children’s Illustrator, Nicole Smith, collaborated on the “I Love Horses” book.

My watercolor paints are still in a moving box—so I can’t say with 100 percent certainty that the pages hold up to water, as Creativity for Kids claims. Although, judging by the thickness of the paper, I’m confident that water will not be a problem. I’ll let you know when I try it.

Coloring and ARTivity Books from Creativity for Kids definitely have my approval. They’re open ended enough that kids of all ages should be able to flex some creative muscle while learning about a range of topics.

For those of you that know me, it may come as no surprise that I am NOT a Super Hero. Or am I? And operating a toy store is just my “day job.” You are not sure now, are you?

Practically all Super Heroes (yes, I am going to capitalize it throughout this post – it makes it more extra-special!) have day jobs, other identities, that allow them to function in society without their hidden powers becoming known. Maybe I choose to walk among this earth, playing with and selling toys, but underneath I am hiding a secret identity (more on that to come …).

That’s the best part about being a kid – your “secret” powers or your Super Hero status come to the surface far more often than it does when you are an adult. Throw on a cape, like one of these capes, and you are a Super Hero battling evil and saving the world, and all before dinner. It even takes Superman an entire movie to get that much accomplished!

But, while it seems to still not be totally acceptable to wear capes and show off your Super Hero identity all the time – even for kids – there was an answer that allowed kids, like myself at the time, to don their favorite Super Hero get-up without having to reveal the secret to the world (unless they wanted to, also more on that to come …).

I can’t believe I am going to reveal my Super Hero secret after all this time. But, I guess my days of saving the world and living a double life are now over. Or are they? This could all be a trick …

All this Super Hero can say is: Underoos were my true Super Hero! That’s right – Underoos. While I was known to wear my Wonder Woman Underoos, or my “Woman’s” as I so affectionately called them, as everyday street attire, these fancy underwear sets were actually produced to keep the Super Hero costume hidden. But, at the same time, let kids feel like they were the true Super Hero that they were.

While my choice was Wonder Woman – and why wouldn’t it be – there were plenty of options from which to choose, giving kids different special powers for every day of the week. From GI Joe, Batman and The Incredible Hulk to Batgirl and Supergirl, Underoos were the multi-purpose undergarments that kids loved to wear. Take it from me – I think I wore mine day and night for 2 years straight, which certainly made many people aware of my special powers (apparently cleanliness wasn’t one of them).

In order for you to fully understand my Super Hero secret, here is a glimpse at my Woman’s, and some of the other Underoos styles available, circa 1978:

My Underoos, and the special powers they provided me, are now long gone. While that may be the case, maybe my “day job” allows my super powers to be on display everyday anyway. Maybe owning a business that provides kids with their own Super Hero garb, dress up items and other imaginative toys that allow them to save the world – or just have lots of fun – is my true super power. If so, I need a new costume!

Picture courtesy of:
http://juvenileclothing.com/kidsunderwear/underoosg1.html

One company has constantly stuck out to me as having fun and interesting toys: Scientific Explorer. With a range of science kits spanning from perfume to magic, the series has experiments for nearly every child ages 6 and up.

I’ve heard a few horror stories about projects similar to the Bubble Gum Factory, sometimes a little too much parental involvement was needed or a little creative thinking was required to pull the project together. I was hoping that I wouldn’t encounter such problems, but with a fresh college degree in hand (and a project that was designed for children ages 8 and up), I was confident that nothing could stop me.

The kit comes with (almost) everything needed to get started. Food coloring, measuring cups and a bowl you don’t mind getting a little sticky are all that is needed to be on your way to mastering the craft.The included 9 page instruction booklet is packed with an array of topics including the history of gum, fun facts, flavor suggestions and of course, detailed instructions on the upcoming project.

The entire project lasted about an hour (including clean up!), resulting in multiple unique batches of gum. The instructions were easy to follow and resulted in some very tasty bubble gum. Adult supervision is required, as a microwave is involved in the process. Also remember…a large, incredibly sticky, ball of gum could cause quite the mess if not handled carefully.

Unlike those horror stories I’ve heard, the Bubble Gum Factory was a fun experiment that is sure to entertain any kid who’s interested in science or merely playing with their food. One of the best parts about this project is that after the kit teaches you the tricks of the trade, it’s easy to resupply on the ingredients needed to continue making endless amounts of delicious bubble gum. Not only is the Bubble Gum Factory a fun science project, it’s also a great learning tool that can be used to teach the importance of measuring correctly and inspire creativity.

Smearing paint all-over paper is really fun for expressive toddlers—even if the finished picture looks like the aftermath of a Where the Wild Things Are rumpus. Feeling smooth, cold paint between our fingers is among the great physical sensations that humans experience.

While finger painting is a therapeutic and tactile activity, controlled paintings can be produced with a little patience and technique. Zach, a 3 year-old finger painter and YouTube star, has mastered a pointillist approach to finger painting that is pretty amazing.

In this video, Zach creates a portrait of Leonardo the Ninja Turtle.

Zach is a gifted painter, but his work is a cute reminder that there is more to finger painting than meets the eye. Toddlers can take their own finger paintings further by incorporating some of these easy ideas:

•Folds: Only have kids paint on half the page. While the painting is still wet—fold it in half to create a symmetrical design. Kind of like a colorful Rorschach ink blot test!

•Stencils: Most flat things work as stencils—look for objects with interesting edges or holes. Place these found or purchased stencils onto paper and start painting around the edges, using the stencil to maintain white space on the page.

•Draw First: Sometimes when kids take a few minutes to draw a scene in pencil first, they are happier with their final painting. Drawing a picture before applying finger paint teaches kids to plan ahead. Make sure they draw big shapes so they can fill them in with paint!

•Accessorize: Once a picture is dry, toddlers can use stickers to make a scene! Adults can also help toddlers to glue pressed flowers, sequins, buttons or whatever kids think of onto the dry painting.

This has been a Growing Tree Toys Amazing Kids Post. For other great finger painting ideas check out these Crayola Techniques! The still frame of Zach’s painting was extracted by ManiacWorld.

I can’t think of another toy that has such a specific use for both indoors and out, but is just as fun wherever you choose to play it. I’m talking about none other than a Chinese Jump Rope!

For several years of my young life, I wouldn’t go anywhere without my purple and green Chinese Jump Rope. It’s lightweight, there are no parts to lose, and it’s basically unbreakable. All you needed was two friends, or even conveniently placed tetherball poles to play alone! How long could you go without jumping on or otherwise touching the rope?

Now it took me looking at the Klutz Chinese Jump Rope book to remember the different games you could play. The book even shows how to make your own Chinese Jump Rope from rubber bands.

One of the best things about the Chinese Jump Rope was its practical use on rainy days and such. Of course, it’s a perfect physical activity that can be played inside (provided you have enough room to jump!) Naturally though, my standard, frequent use for the rope was for the handheld fun of Cat’s Cradle!

(Now, after an informal office poll, we reached the conclusion that Cat’s Cradle does not require the elasticity of the Chinese Jump Rope. Klutz confirms this, with a separate book dedicated to the stringy creations, that comes complete with a tie-dyed string! But if you have a Chinese Jump Rope, how could you resist making an Eiffel Tower that can stretch a few feet tall!)

Like the folded paper fortune telling device, (a la Cahootie) Cat’s Cradle was another of those seemingly “girls-only” activities. But really, you could walk up to a lot of kids back then with the string in the starting “cradle” position (wrapped twice around the wrists and crossed, held by your middle fingers) and they’d know what to do next.

I’ll take the opportunity to admit, that as an only child till the age of nine, I had mastered solo play. I would carefully place each Cat’s Cradle configuration down, go over and under (or under and over and so on) and end up with the diamond shape (“cat’s eye”), parallel lines (“candles”), or sometimes, that crazy configuration that was a “dead end.”

So tie a piece of long string in a knot and see what you can do! Take a look back at some more of our special toy memories in our Take me Back Tuesday features. Awesome cat’s cradle photo is from http://www.ifyoulovetoread.com/book/chten_cats1105.htm

Manufacturer of the coolest wooden cars around, Automoblox had some exciting news to share recently:

Automoblox announces their sponsorship of Highcroft Racing. The Automoblox logo will be featured on the rear of the #1 HPD ARX-01c chassis that Highcroft will campaign in this year’s American Le Mans Series.
(via Facebook)

How cool is that? It even goes a step further as kids (and we bet, a lot of BIG “kids”) can have a Highcroft-branded Automoblox of their own. The wooden replica will even have its own trailer.

Watch for these newest additions to the Automoblox family in April! You can get more of the latest news from Automoblox via their Facebook page. (Check us out as well on Facebook or @growingtreetoys!)