Monthly Archives: August 2008

Back to school with Oompa Toys

Age 3-5, Age 5-7, Age 7-10

Oompa_allerhand_coolkids_messengerbWhen I walk through the halls at Sebastian’s school, I see kids carrying all types of backpacks and bags.  Gone are the days of the traditional school backpack.  Solid colors, two pockets and if you were lucky it came with a matching pencil case.

Oompa Toys is a great place to shop for your child’s next backpack, pencil case, and lunch bag.  Their selection of school supplies is just like their selection of toys.  Colorful, stylish and best of all (for parents anyway), functional.

For example, tOompa_allerhand_messenger_sebastianhe Allerhand Cool Kids Messenger Bag is the perfect size for kids, comes in two colors, and has lots of pockets to keep folders, agenda’s, and pencils in, and even has an insulated water bottle holder.

Sebastian’s favorite things about this messenger bag are the pockets and the insulated water bottle holder.  He told me the other day that the goldfish snacks he has during class make him very thirsty.  I don’t remember getting a snack when I was in school!?  Some other cool features are the splash bag that will keep your child’s mp3 player or cell phone dry when he gets off the bus in the rain and the adjustable and padded shoulder strap.

Check out this messenger bag and other awesome school supplies at Oompa Toys, today!!  You’ll love browsing the Oompa Toys website.

If they run out of stock of this messenger bag you can request to get an email when it is back in stock.

Website: Oompa Toys

K’NEXpert Search, annual building contest. Win a $10,000 savings bond!

Past Giveaways

If you have a child ages 5-12 who loves K’NEX, here is an opportunity to use their K’NEX building skills to create be entered to win awesome prizes including a $10,000 U.S. savings bond!

Three Grand Prize Winners, one from each age category, will receiv3 $10,000 in U.S. savings bonds for college!  The three age categories are 5-6 years old, 7-8 years old and 9-12 years old.

7 additional finalists will each receive $1,000 in U.S. savings bonds for college! All ten K’NEXpert finalists will receive these Fun & Exciting Prizes!

  • A K’NEX Building Set Prize Package worth $500! (That’s $500 of FREE K’NEX Building Sets!)
  • A trip for three to New York City for the K’NEXpert Award Ceremony! Have fun in New York, show off your winning model and meet all the attending 2009 K’NEXperts! **
  • Their very own Photo Gallery page at www.knex.com, which we will update throughout the year with pictures and descriptions of their K’NEX creations!

Plus all semifinalists & finalists will receive:

  • FREE K’NEX gear, including a t-shirt, keychain and K’NEXpert Panel Member I.D.!
  • 25% discount on all K’NEX parts purchased in 2009 on their behalf at K’NEXDirect, the online K’NEX store!
  • A special birthday surprise ($50 value)!
  • An invitation to tour the K’NEX corporate headquarters, with parents or guardians, to meet the designers and learn how K’NEX is made!

Knexpertcontest

It’s So Easy to Enter!

3 Simple Steps to becoming a K’NEXpert!

NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. Use your K’NEX at home or borrow some from a friend! Read the Official Rules and Entry Form for full details! All entries become the property of K’NEX.

Step 1: Build an original K’NEX model that qualifies in at least one of the four categories listed below. This needs to be your own original design. You can enter in one or all of the categories (one model per category). Models will be judged on creativity (50%), uniqueness (25%) and detail (25%).

Building Categories:
A. Futuristic ­ (Use your imagination! Space ships, Robots, etc!)
B. Vehicles ­ (Cars, trucks, motorcycles, etc)
C. Amusement Park Thrill Rides
D. Ultimate K’NEX Model ­ Build anything you want! But it must be built with K’NEX Bricks, Standard K’NEX and Micro K’NEX parts (Model must include all 3 types of parts)

Step 2: Take pictures of your K’NEX model(s). Make sure that your pictures are no smaller than 4" x 6" and no larger than 8" x 10" in size and that your model is up against a solid white or light blue background. Please send up to three photos per entry.

NOTE: If you are chosen as a K’NEXpert winner, the photo entries you submit will be the first photos that we will put up on your web page. So make sure they’re good ones!

Step 3: We’d love to know more about your model! Either in a one-minute video (VCR or DVD), or in writing, tell us:
(1) How you came up with the idea for your model; (2) How long it took you to build; and, (3) How many K’NEX pieces you used to build your model. (Please don’t use a "real world" trademarked name – that belongs to someone else. Make up your own cool name for your creation!)

Learn more about the K’NEXpert Search here

Polly Pocket™ Pop ‘N Swap™ Fashion Dolls

Toys

Pollypocketspopnswaps_2
Polly was a good friend of mine back in the day.  I don’t recall being able to change Polly’s outfit’s when I was young, so I am very excited about the new Pop N’ Swap Polly and can’t wait until Madelyn is old enough to play with them without me fearing that she will eat Polly’s head.

Polly™ Pop ‘N Swap™ Fashion Dolls are totally pose-able and customizable.  Girls can mix-and-match different outfits (included) for Polly™ and friends as they Pop ‘N Swap™ five heads, nine torsos and nine bottoms to create over thousands of different fashion combination’s. I think each doll has the potential of 400+ combination’s.  Don’t forget these on your next road trip, I see a lot of quiet time potential here!

There are several Pop N’ Swap doll sets each with a unique theme including a beach doll set,  a disco doll set, and a sport doll set.  Each doll set includes four 4" dolls and lots of Pop ‘N Swap fashions.

Polly Pop N’ Swap Fashion Dolls make a great birthday party activity!  Buy a few Polly Pop N’ Swap doll sets and let the girls at the party use their imagination to create their own unique Polly by trying on and trading outfits, heads, etc.  Forget the pinata, these will keep them occupied for a while and the girls will have a fun gift to take home!  What fun!!

In addition to making a great gift, when a girl sends Polly an invitation to her birthday party, Polly will send her back a personal birthday wish and the birthday girl will be entered for a chance to win the entire 2008 line of Polly Pocket toys!  One girl will be selected each month from now till the end of the year. Polly’s address is:
Polly Pocket
P.O. Box 877
New York, NY 10108

Price: $19.99

Age: 4+

Buy here: Amazon

Alphabet Magnets from Eager Mind

Age 3-5, Educational Toys

Eager_mind_letter_magnets1_2
Madelyn really enjoys Eager Mind’s alphabet magnets.  Available in lower case and upper case magnet sets, these will help your toddler learn to recognize both.  Each letter magnet has a corresponding
picture such as ‘rocket’ for R and ‘slide’ for S and the magnets are a
good size for little hands at about 1 inch wide and 2 inches tall.

Madelyn puts the magnets on other things like my mixing bowl or a baking sheet and now that she knows they don’t have to go on the fridge, she tries sticking them on just about anything including the air vents and the hinges on cabinet doors.  I find them in the strangest places.  These would actually make a great travel toy if you have a magnetic board you can take in the car.  The magnets are very strong which is great but Madelyn has had to slide a magnet or two off of the refrigerator instead of pulling it off because the magnet was so strong.

Mommy tip:  These magnets are great for leaving short, to the point messages for your husband like ‘clean up’ or ‘bath’.  OK, so they are hints, not messages. 🙂

Giveaway:  We are giving away a few sets of Eager Mind alphabet magnets!  Just stay tuned to find out when the giveaway starts.

Price: $8.95 for a set of upper case or lower case alphabet magnets

Website: Eager Mind

Wooden toy review: Cone stacking rings

Educational Toys, Toys, Wooden Toys

Holgate_toys_lacing_large

Madelyn has the Jumbo Wooden Lacing Beads and the Cone Stacking Rings from Holgate Toys and she loves them!  The beads are laced onto rope, not a string.  The thick rope eases the challenge of lacing the beads and therefore holds Madelyn’s attention longer than when lacing beads on a string.  These lacing beads are great for developing fine motor skills as she is required to hold the rope with one hand and get the bead on the rope with the other.  Sounds easy, but not necessarily so for a toddler.  These toys are great for teaching colors, and counting as well as fine motor skills.  Holgate Toys wooden toys are brightly colored, very durable and the weight and size are just right for little hands.  Madelyn is proud of herself when she gets all of the beads on the rope and the rings on the cone.  It’s nice to see her so proud!

Holgate Toys,  a manufacturer of wooden toys for over 200 years creates brightly colored wooden toys for infants and up.  Holgate’s early toy designer was Jarvis Rockwell, Holgate_cone1brother of famous illustrator Norman Rockwell. Jarvis Rockwell’s concern for safety, durability and educational play earned him recognition as America’s premier toy designer during this period and Holgate has kept their standards high throughout the years.  You will find Infant Toys, Educational Toys, Developmental Toys, and Personalized Toys at Holgate Toys.  Holgate Toys was turned to by Mr. Rogers to manufacture replicas of Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood Trolley and other toys.  If I remember correctly, Mr. Rogers was a bit meticulous so can you imagine what kind of requirements he had for the toy line?  Holgate obviously met and probably exceeded those requirements and to this day still manufacturer’s Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood toys.

Giveaway alert!   Several lucky readers will each get one of these toys!  Check back to see when the giveaway contest starts and join our newsletter to be the first to know when and how you can enter the giveaway contest.

Website: Holgate Toys