Three Cheers, Tick-Tocketeers! Having Fun with Tickety Toc Toys

 For the Kids, For Toddlers  42 Responses »
Dec 212013
 

I received Tickety Toc toys in order to facilitate my review.  All thoughts and opinions are my own.

If you have toddlers you’re probably familiar with the show “Tickety Toc”.  The adorable twins Tommy and Tallulah are responsible for “chime time” every hour, on the hour.  Their friend, Pufferty the Train, takes them to and from their task each time.  In between, they have lots of fun adventures with their friends McCoggins, Hopparoo, Tooteroo, Madam Au Lait and others.

Tickety Toc Toys

Bubbles loves to sing the theme song (it’s very catchy) and knows a number of the show’s catchphrases, like when Tommy and Tallulah ask each other “Are you thinking what I’m thinking?” and “Well if you’re sure, I’m sure.”  And now thanks to some great Tickety Toc toys, she can create her own adventures for the tick-tocketeers. Continue reading »

Take an Indoor Ski Vacation with Pinypon Ski Lodge and Snow Car

 For the Kids, For Toddlers  10 Responses »
Dec 052013
 

I received the Pinypon Ski Lodge and Snow Car in order to facilitate my review.  No additional compensation was received and all words and opinions are my own.

I grew up in Maine about five miles away from the local ski lodge and lifts.  I wouldn’t really call it a ski resort as there was no hotel involved, but you could ski, snowboard and even go snow tubing.  We certainly had enough snow to support it; we routinely received multiple feet of snow per winter.

Here in Kentucky, though, we don’t get snow like that – thankfully!  While I enjoy watching the snow fall and having snow for Christmas Eve and Christmas, I don’t miss the years when the snow would accumulate so high you could no longer see out the windows.  The one caveat to that is that I wish there was enough snow for Bubbles to enjoy, as playing in the snow as a child was always great fun.

Pinypon Ski Lodge & Snow Car and Tow

With the Pinypon Ski Lodge and Snow Adventure Car & Tow we can at least pretend to have outdoor play.  The Pinypon friends in these two sets can ski, go snowboarding, skate, build a snowman, go sledding and even ride a snow mobile.  And when they’re done their outdoor fun, they can head inside and get warm in the lodge. Continue reading »

Princes, Princesses, and Race Card Drivers – Oh My!

 For the Kids, For Toddlers, Turning 2 Toddler Birthday Celebration  32 Responses »
Feb 252013
 

Inspire Creative Play with Wow Toys

Twin Race Cars and a Royal Princess Carriage from WOW Toys

Bubbles is at a fun stage with her toy play right now.  You can almost see the little wheels turning in her head as she thinks about how she wants to interact with them.  Blocks have gone from just random stacking and tall towers to creating paths for cars to follow and walls to hide behind for hide and seek.  Baby dolls get fed and tucked in, while her pets get “washed” and go for walks.

Of course not all creative play with her toys makes sense – to me, at least.  More than one princess has found her way into the fridge instead of her toy bins when it’s time for pick up.  Horses sometimes get to drive the tractors while the farmers ride in the wagon.  And some of those dog baths have taken place in the soup pot from her kitchen.  It can be hard not to say “Oh no, honey, here, this is how you do it” (though I do have to occasionally remind her the ice cream cone is just for pretend and please don’t actually lick it).   But I try my best to encourage her creativity, imagination, and role play.

So when her princess and horse-drawn carriage ended up at the starting line with two twin race cars (one driven by the prince that normally steers the carriage) I didn’t bother explaining that a horse was going to be no match for a race car.  I just watched the action!  The race cars are friction-powered so once they’re revved up a bit they definitely can out-race the horse, but she evens the playing field by running the horse down the hall ahead of them.  (She also squeals with delight when I send the cars racing after her.) Continue reading »

Entertain and Educate Your Toddler with Toys from Melissa & Doug

 For the Kids, For Toddlers, Turning 2 Toddler Birthday Celebration  70 Responses »
Feb 232013
 

Toddler Games and Toys from Melissa & Doug

Toddler Games and Toys from Melissa & Doug

It’s hard (for me) to believe, but Bubbles turned 2 this past week.  It’s cliché to say but time really does seem to fly by with kids this age.  I can remember when she would fit in the nook of my arm while I was feeding her.  Today when I pick her up to give her a kiss, her feet dangle against my knees.  And that’s when she stops moving long enough for me to pick up!

As Christmas was just a few weeks ago (and because this mama has a hard time not buying things at the store as I see them) we didn’t really want to go overboard for her with gifts.  We did, however, want to get her some things and I wanted to make sure they were toys that would keep her entertained and engaged for a few months (when your birthday and Christmas are so close together, there’s a reaaallly long dry spell for gift-giving occasions in between).  She has a few key interests right now that we’d like to nurture: puzzles, dolls, coloring, her kitchen, blocks, anything Disney, and toys like trucks and trains (the last one much to my husband’s delight).

Continue reading »