Archive for September, 2010

With about a month till Halloween, we wanted to share some fun craft ideas to extend the fun of this spooky holiday!

Spooky Eyeball Bucket
Ages: 5 and up
Materials: Plastic bucket, sandpaper, yellow construction paper, black marker, white craft glue, black craft paint, scissors
This bucket, adorned with construction paper-made eyeballs, is perfect for trick-or-treating!
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Halloween Favor Boxes
Ages: 3 and up (for decorating)
Materials: Cardboard toilet paper rolls, paint, glue, decorations
Make festive favor boxes out of empty cardboard toilet paper rolls.
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Pasta Skeletons
Ages: 5 and up
Materials: Dried pasta in various shapes, white glue, construction paper
This simple craft from Martha Stewart takes advantage of the different varieties of pasta available.
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Pom-Pom Pumpkin Patch
Ages: 7 and up
Materials: pom-poms, wiggle eyes, felt, pipe cleaners, glue, scissors, wooden skewer
This fall-themed craft makes a great decoration all season long.
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Pretty Paper Autumn Leaf Magnets
Ages: 3 and up
Materials: Cardstock, fall leaves, tissue paper, white glue, paper plate, marker, scissors, magnetic tape
Another craft not only for Halloween, younger kids can enjoy this project.
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Peeking Goblin
Ages: 7 and up
Materials: Cardstock, color printer, scissors, utility knife
Your mini-blinds serve as the home for this spooky goblin.
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Pumpkin Bird Feeder
Ages: 8 and up
Materials: 3-5 lb. pumpkin, pumpkin carving tools, twine, decorations, birdseed
This earth-friendly craft is literally for the birds!
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Pumpkin Masks
Ages: 4 and up
Materials: Paper plates, yarn, glue, scissors, hole punch, construction paper, decorations
Enjoy one of six eco-friendly crafts available at the Go Green Blog.
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Check out all of the crafty Halloween projects available from Martha Stewart,
Kaboose, and the Go Green Blog.

As the weather turns chilly, playtime often shifts indoors. Looking for new ways to incorporate fun inside? How about some fun for the tub? Following is a list of our Top Ten Bath Toys.

1. Water Symphony Bath Toy
Ages: 18 months to 4 years
This set of 8 colorful, floating dolphins each play a different note when tapped on the head. They can be hooked together by their inner tubes or can float freely.

2. Rub a Dub Dirty Dishes Bath Toy
Ages: 2 years and up
One of four Alex Bath Toys on our countdown, this set brings a mundane chore to the tub! The dishes magically become “clean” in warm water.

3. Tidoo Strawberry Baby Doll
Ages: 18 months and up
You may already be aware of our cute Corolle Dolls but how about the Corolle Tidoo Dolls collection, all set for the bath?

4. Pirate Ship Bath Toy
Ages: 18 months to 3 years
Also from the makers of the Water Symphony, Tomy Toys, is the Pirate Ship Bath Toy. This intriguing toy includes a firing cannon, squirting octopus, spinning water wheel, and escape boat.

5. Floating Ducks Bath Toy
Ages: 12 months and up
This mom-and-duckling pair floats in the water but rocks back and forth on a hard surface. The duckling nests on top of the mother in this sleek, modern set.

6. Rub a Dub ABC and 123
Ages: 2 years and up
One of our many Alex Bath Toys, this set includes
62 foam pieces – 2 alphabets and two sets of numbers 0-9 – that stick to the walls of the tub when wet.

7. Gbaby 19-Piece Baby Farm Blocks Set
Ages: 10 months and up
These magnetic farm animals help infants develop dexterity and sensory skills, whether in the bathtub or in the playroom.

8. Rub a Dub Squirters for the Tub
Ages: 6 months and up
A perfect toy for babies, in and out of the tub! Choose their favorite set of five colorful, chubby squirters, like transportation, jungle animals, and ocean.

9. Motor Boat Murray
Ages: 12 months and up
The 2-in-1 wind-up motor boat from Wow Toys features a propeller for water use and wheels for dry land.

10. Morphibians Land Shark Remote Control Toy
Ages: 5 years and up
Now, this is a bit of a stretch as a Bath Toy, but it can sure handle the water! The Kid Galaxy Morphibians Toys are ready for grass, dirt, sand, and yes, even water!

For tons more fun for the tub, as well as the ability to search by age and type of bath toy, check out our entire selection of Bath Toys!

I’ve always enjoyed watching those “other sports” on TV, like World’s Strongest Man, billiards, and darts. It’s neat that certain sports and competitions, such as the Spelling Bee and Sportsmen competitions have become more mainstream. Though it’s been a few years since I’ve caught it on television, my favorite of all these sports has to be competitive juggling!

One juggler that really stood out from the rest is Thomas Dietz of Germany. He makes it look way too easy. Enjoy a couple videos of his routines and practice!

Do you or your kids want to test your skills? Learn the basics with the Juggling for the Complete Klutz Book or Schylling’s Classic Juggling Balls. Take juggling to a new level with Lunastix, all set for aerial tricks!

Those of you readers signed up for email updates from Growing Tree Toys will find out what’s new in our latest email, going out today, which is full of new brands and new toys. Some of them just came in for the first time this week! The email will highlight some of the latest and greatest brands, but you can always see what is new on the site anytime by visiting our New Arrivals category, which is updated as we receive new product for the first time.

We spend much of the beginning of the year searching out exciting new toys to add to our website, some of which we receive right away, and others we have to wait months to see again! That means there is always something new to see on our website – right up until the holiday season! We get excited about the new toys we are adding to the website, whether they are a new spin on an old favorite or a completely new concept in toys. There never seems to be shortage of products that kids are sure to love.

And while new is exciting, sometimes it is the longtime favorites that we always come back to when suggesting toys for shoppers – after all, just because they are familiar to us, doesn’t mean that they aren’t “new” to someone else! Some of the toys featured on our website have been available in our store from the very beginning almost three decades ago! So, how could you go wrong suggesting a toy with that kind of history?

So while I started out this post telling you about what is new, I thought it would be fun to look back and see what’s not new in toys. Like the Pogo Stick – we buy our pogo sticks from the company that originally created them in the US – and you can read all about their history here.

Or, do you know the history of the Yo-Yo? It is the world’s second oldest toy, behind the doll, and is still a favorite of children today. In fact, we have some REALLY cool new versions from Yomega that are sure to amaze – and sometime soon, Ellen is going to show you the tricks she has mastered with her Yo-Yo on our blog.

And, of course, you can’t forget Erector Sets! We still sell many of these popular building sets, making them a brand that has been building fun for over a century!

Which brings me to something that is both old and new – well, a classic building favorite that is new for the website! We have carried this brand in our store for years, but now LEGO® is finally available from us online! An obvious omission from our website for years, we have many of the new exciting sets in the most popular LEGO® themes, so be sure to check out our full selection.

But, I think the best thing about LEGO® and the internet is all cool YouTube videos that are available from ingenious people using LEGO® pieces and figures. Here’s a great one for your viewing pleasure (that some of our current sets could help recreate!):

Photo Credits: Credit to about.com for George Hansburg’s – Pogo Stick picture. Picture of the yo-yo designed by Ettore Ferro (“Mr. BIST”) called “Bistocracy”, the winner of the 2010 World’s Mod Contest.

Today’s Try the Toy guest post is by Shannon of Potamus Prefers! Shannon and her son take a closer look at the Automoblox Mini Cars Three Pack.

We received the Automoblox Mini Cars Three Pack for my three year old to test out. I was eager to test these since I had seen them online and in toy stores and wondered if they would be durable, easy to play with and something my boys could learn from.

The cars came packaged in an easy to open box with no ties, baggies or other annoying packaging. The Automoblox Mini Cars went from box to boy play in seconds. That is a huge plus to this mom and to her kids. What child wants to wait precious minutes while their parents untie and unscrew the toy from the package? I can honestly say that when I am trying to decide between several toys for Christmas gifts or birthdays, I consider the packaging and an overly packaged toy can be a deal breaker.

There is no assembly required. Each car arrives already put together. This set includes a Mini Orange A9-S Convertible, a Mini Purple X9-X Sports Utility Vehicle and a Mini Blue M9 Sport Van. Each car consists of three blocks for the body, four wheels, two body connectors, one roof and two people. I believe this car is age appropriate for my three year old, but if you have younger children, the parts are small, so I would definitely wait until they are older or let them play with it only with an adult. For this reason, I only bring it out when my youngest son is napping or when my husband and I can be right there now because he puts everything in his mouth.

My son loves this toy. He brings it to me and wants me to play with it with him. He loves mixing and matching the cars and I love how easy the pieces pop together. He loves making funny vehicles and then we race them. That always elicits squeals of delight from him. My son has developmental delays from a chromosomal syndrome, but is very smart. He loves puzzles and putting things together and is a huge fan of cars and trains. This toy has really helped with his gross and fine motor skills. He goes to occupational therapy to help his dexterity and his hand-eye coordination (amongst other things) and toys like this really help him. He watches closely as he delicately attaches the wheels and pops on the tops of the vehicles. Another thing that this mother loves is that these toys are durable. The wood is sturdy and it has withstood an entire summer so far of toddler play and still looks brand new. I am glad that we will be able to pass these cars down to his brother when he is old enough for them. He already wants to play with the Automoblox cars as he loves cars and building blocks. This is the perfect combination of the two.

I can honestly say that this is just the beginning of an Automoblox collection for us. These toys are lots of fun, but simple enough that toddlers can start playing right away. Parents will love their durability and easy open packaging. I also love that there are three cars so it’s the type of toy that several children can play with at the same time to learn cooperative play. That is something we are working on and having toys that promote that skill is a huge bonus.

See the cars in action with Shannon’s video review!

For more creative and constructive fun, check out our whole Automoblox section!

Are you, or is someone close to you a teacher of grades kindergarten through 3rd grade? Then you should check out the awesome Playmobil Teachers Grant Program!

For over 25 years, Playmobil Toys have inspired children to play with fun and recognizable examples of real life like Police and City and the newer School, as well as fantasy themes such as Ghost Pirates. This grant program challenges teachers to develop lesson plans based on any of Playmobil’s themes. All lesson plans will be judged by the following criteria:

• Inspires creativity
• Educational content
• Originality
• Ease of implementation

Winning teachers will help their schools and students “win” too with Playmobil awarding $1,400 in grants and $3,175 (retail value) of their fun toys.

The deadline to create a Playmobil-based lesson plan and apply for a grant is February 28, 2011. We hope this program inspires not just teachers, but everyone to explore new ways to play with Playmobil toys!