Archive for the ‘Toys’ Category
30
Dec
Craft kits for a chilly weekend
Categories: Arts & Crafts
If you’ve been enjoying a staycation this week while the kids are out of school, chances are you’re looking for activities to keep them busy as this (or any) weekend approaches. Craft kits are a perfect way to pass the time, especially when it’s cold outside. Here are five of my recent favorites, and all… read more!
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14
Nov
Magna-Tiles will be hard to find this year
Categories: Building Toys, Toys
Every year, Magna-Tiles top our list of holiday best-sellers, and for good reason: they’re terrific fun for everyone, and are one of the rare toys that can captivate a preschooler or a teenager. But this year, they will be in very short supply — and for a very sad reason. Magna-Tiles are manufactured in Thailand,… read more!
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5
Aug
A very Smurfy Blog
Categories: Giveaways, Toys
On Saturday mornings in the early 1980s, it wasn’t hard to find my sister and me: like millions of other kids, we were sunk deep into the living room sofa (a plushy red relic that sits in my current living room today), drinking chocolate milk and watching the Smurfs. The Hanna Barbera show was based… read more!
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30
Jul
Day 30: Playmobil Lion Knight’s Castle
Categories: Giveaways, Toys
Unstructured, imaginative play is loads of fun for kids – plus, it helps them to develop their creativity, and learn social skills. Playmobil sets give kids a setting and some characters to populate a fantasy world and then interact within it, and the Playmobil Lion Knight’s Castle, today’s giveaway, is full of fuel for an… read more!
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24
Jun
Smart Storage for Stuffed Friends
Categories: Toys
If you’ve got kids, chances are you’ve got a menagerie of stuffed animals too. Most children have an almost magnetic attraction to stuffed animals. There’s just something about those cute, fuzzy faces that kids (and gift-giving relatives) can’t resist. And while a select few might make for snuggly bedfellows and cute room accents, they can… read more!
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17
Mar
Spring brings petals… and pedals!
Categories: Active Toys
On a hazy Sunday morning, you step out of your house to get the paper, bleary-eyed, coffee in hand, and instead of being battered and chafed by winter winds, you feel… warm. The air smells a little damp and you can sniff the plants growing. The birds are chirping. Little green tendrils are peeking out… read more!
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11
Mar
Khet: An Update on Chess, With Lasers!
Categories: Games, Giveaways
When you were a child, how did you picture the year 2011? The TV series Lost in Space suggested that we’d be traveling in space with robots by 1997, not to mention the colonies on the moon and creepy Artificial Intelligence made popular in 2001: A Space Odyssey. By now we should at least be surrounded by… read more!
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21
Dec
The most fun bath toy EVER
Categories: Toddler Toys, Toys
After watching the Yookidoo Stack n’ Spray Tub Fountain in action at our magalog photo shoot, I was really excited to bring the sample home for my 2-year-old son. Since that day, it has become his absolute favorite bath toy, eclipsing a full bin of other options. I have to admit, I love it too,… read more!
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9
Dec
Confessions of a Toy Copywriter – and a Cool Giveaway
Categories: Arts & Crafts, Giveaways, Holidays
For almost a year now, I’ve had a bit of an obsession. Can I trust you with my secret? OK, I love Sticky Mosaics by Orb Factory. There, I said it. As a writer for Magic Beans, I get to play with all the toys I want. I stack blocks, deal cards, enjoy craft projects,… read more!
22 Comments
6
Dec
In Happyland
Categories: Toddler Toys, Toys
Life is apparently much more fun on Mars. At least, if alien abodes are anything like the new Happyland Martian Moonhouse from ELC USA imagines them to be. This plastic playhouse is packed with wild and whimsical features, including two rocket ship vehicles, a rooftop landing pad, and a garage directly below a trapdoor that deposits… read more!
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