Tuesday, November 2, 2010
Same Blog New Place
It's been a good run but to simplify my work, all of my new toy reviews will only be accessible through Parents & Kids Magazine's new website. Here is the page that houses all of my articles. I'm currently working on moving all of my articles there but in the mean time I will leave this blog up and running.
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
The Monster Mash-Up
It’s hard to think of October without thinking of candy, trick or treating, pumpkins, and costumes. It’s also the time when you watch scary movies, tell ghost stories, and sleep with the lights on. This month in the “Toy Box,” I’ve found some great toys to celebrate this month without giving you the urge to check under the bed when you go to sleep.
First, there’s the Design Your Own Monster from curlyqcuties.com. These aren’t the monsters that go “bump” in the night. They’re the ones that you cuddle with when you sleep. Design Your Own Monster is a stuffed monster that you get to create by going to designamonster.com or curlyqcuties.com and clicking on what size monster you wish to create. Then you are taken to a monster creator where you pick the body, eyes, mouth, belly shape, and colors of your monster. For a little extra, you can even have the monster embroidered. They cost between $25 for the smallest (11.5 inches tall) to $135 for the extra-large (2.5 feet tall), and you can buy them at designamonster.com.
If the design part is more up your alley, Fuzzoodles may be right for you. Fuzzoodles can be easily described as Mr. Potato Head, but instead of a potato you have pipe cleaners. The kits come with several long and short pipe cleaners as well as eyes, mouths, and other accessories that give you a wide range of creation. When I first saw this product, I was a little wary of the pipe cleaners. The pipe cleaners you normally think of are pretty small and wimpy. However, the Fuzzoodle pipecleaners were larger than I expected, and the fuzz in the pipe cleaner is actually pretty lush. The accessories have hooks that keep them in place and the set also comes with an idea booklet that shows you how to make some Fuzzoodles and also gives you some techniques that you can use to design your own. The big box cost $20, but there are smaller boxes that are $10. You can buy them at ToysRUs or at Amazon.com.
Finally, who can think of Halloween without thinking of The Great Pumpkin. From the pages of It’s The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown, comes Yahtzee. I had never played Yahtzee before seeing this, and I have to admit I really like the game. With Yahtzee, you have five dice and you roll them three times with the aim of getting certain sets of numbers. After three rolls, you write your score on the score card, and then it’s the next person’s turn (unless you’re playing by yourself, and then you get to go again). Once the scorecard is full, the person with the highest score wins. What makes the Charlie Brown version of Yahtzee different is that the dice have all your favorite characters on their sides with the number in the corner. I didn’t have a problem distinguishing between the sides, but you may want to start off slowly so you don’t confuse some of the drawings. The cost of the game is $17 on Amazon.com. And if you want more Great Pumpkin, you can also play The Great Pumpkin Countdown at www.greatpumpkincountdown.com and win some prizes.
Find Them Online:
Design Your Own Monster
Fuzzoodles
It's The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown Yahtzee
First, there’s the Design Your Own Monster from curlyqcuties.com. These aren’t the monsters that go “bump” in the night. They’re the ones that you cuddle with when you sleep. Design Your Own Monster is a stuffed monster that you get to create by going to designamonster.com or curlyqcuties.com and clicking on what size monster you wish to create. Then you are taken to a monster creator where you pick the body, eyes, mouth, belly shape, and colors of your monster. For a little extra, you can even have the monster embroidered. They cost between $25 for the smallest (11.5 inches tall) to $135 for the extra-large (2.5 feet tall), and you can buy them at designamonster.com.
If the design part is more up your alley, Fuzzoodles may be right for you. Fuzzoodles can be easily described as Mr. Potato Head, but instead of a potato you have pipe cleaners. The kits come with several long and short pipe cleaners as well as eyes, mouths, and other accessories that give you a wide range of creation. When I first saw this product, I was a little wary of the pipe cleaners. The pipe cleaners you normally think of are pretty small and wimpy. However, the Fuzzoodle pipecleaners were larger than I expected, and the fuzz in the pipe cleaner is actually pretty lush. The accessories have hooks that keep them in place and the set also comes with an idea booklet that shows you how to make some Fuzzoodles and also gives you some techniques that you can use to design your own. The big box cost $20, but there are smaller boxes that are $10. You can buy them at ToysRUs or at Amazon.com.
Finally, who can think of Halloween without thinking of The Great Pumpkin. From the pages of It’s The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown, comes Yahtzee. I had never played Yahtzee before seeing this, and I have to admit I really like the game. With Yahtzee, you have five dice and you roll them three times with the aim of getting certain sets of numbers. After three rolls, you write your score on the score card, and then it’s the next person’s turn (unless you’re playing by yourself, and then you get to go again). Once the scorecard is full, the person with the highest score wins. What makes the Charlie Brown version of Yahtzee different is that the dice have all your favorite characters on their sides with the number in the corner. I didn’t have a problem distinguishing between the sides, but you may want to start off slowly so you don’t confuse some of the drawings. The cost of the game is $17 on Amazon.com. And if you want more Great Pumpkin, you can also play The Great Pumpkin Countdown at www.greatpumpkincountdown.com and win some prizes.Find Them Online:
Design Your Own Monster
Fuzzoodles
It's The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown Yahtzee
Thursday, September 9, 2010
Blog Annoucement
Hey everyone, sorry it took 9 days to post my last article. But there is a reason. I've been working on the Parents & Kids Magazine Website and once it goes live my articles will be easily accessible from there. Stay tuned.
Scott’s Toy Box: The Girls Edition
Sorry fellas, but this month’s toy box is mainly focused on the ladies. They’ve had to put up with action figures and water guns for many months, so it’s only fair that we focus on some toys they would like. Keeping with our feminine theme, in the Toy Box this month we have something old, something new, something to borrow, and something that’s blue.
Something old. Raggedy Ann is turning 95 years young this year, and Applause by Russ has produced a 95th anniversary Raggedy Ann doll. She’s 12 inches tall and has a more vintage look to her. She still has button eyes, yarn hair, and a triangle nose like she has had for years, but her hair is a darker red, and her colors are more muted than that of the more recent Raggedy Ann dolls that have come out. Raggedy Ann’s new look pays tribute to how she appeared in the 1930 storybook Raggedy Ann in the Deep, Deep Woods. This is a great gift for Raggedy Ann collectors as well a great way to introduce her to girls who may not yet know Raggedy Ann. You can find this anniversary- edition doll on Amazon.com for $25, and, of course, you can purchase Raggedy Andy as well.
Something new. Mix Pups are little dogs you can mix and match. Each dog has removable hair and ears and clothing that you can use to create any kind of dog you want. They come in packs of one or two dogs that range from bulldogs to terriers. There are also some accessory packs that allow you to make your dog a fairy dog, a beach dog, or a sports dog. You can also purchase playsets to keep your pup entertained. At the time I write this, Mix Pups haven’t been released yet. The single-dog packs have a suggested retail price of $6, and the double-dog packs have a price of $10. Visit my Toy Box website for more information on when Mix Pups will be available.
Something to borrow. Squinkies are soft and squishy friends who are small enough to hang out on the top of your pencils. They come in packs of 16, and each lives in its own plastic ball, which reminds me of Pokémon. They’re available as kitties, puppies, ponies, pets, friends and babies. You can collect and trade them with your friends. There are also playsets and jewelry that your Squinkies can hang out on. You can find the packs of Squinkies on Amazon.com for $9.
Something Blue. Here is a game for the whole family, and it comes in a blue box. Disney Sing It: Family Hits is full of songs from your favorite Disney films, from Sleeping Beauty to The Princess and The Frog. The game is played like all the others in this genre with the goal of singing the song pitch perfect. It contains 30 songs that are accompanied by videos from the movies they’re in. Find a complete list of songs at disney.com/SingItFamilyHits, and buy the game on Amazon.com for $37.
Find these on-line:
Raggedy Ann
Mix Pups
Squinkies
Disney: Sing It Family Hits
Something old. Raggedy Ann is turning 95 years young this year, and Applause by Russ has produced a 95th anniversary Raggedy Ann doll. She’s 12 inches tall and has a more vintage look to her. She still has button eyes, yarn hair, and a triangle nose like she has had for years, but her hair is a darker red, and her colors are more muted than that of the more recent Raggedy Ann dolls that have come out. Raggedy Ann’s new look pays tribute to how she appeared in the 1930 storybook Raggedy Ann in the Deep, Deep Woods. This is a great gift for Raggedy Ann collectors as well a great way to introduce her to girls who may not yet know Raggedy Ann. You can find this anniversary- edition doll on Amazon.com for $25, and, of course, you can purchase Raggedy Andy as well.
Something new. Mix Pups are little dogs you can mix and match. Each dog has removable hair and ears and clothing that you can use to create any kind of dog you want. They come in packs of one or two dogs that range from bulldogs to terriers. There are also some accessory packs that allow you to make your dog a fairy dog, a beach dog, or a sports dog. You can also purchase playsets to keep your pup entertained. At the time I write this, Mix Pups haven’t been released yet. The single-dog packs have a suggested retail price of $6, and the double-dog packs have a price of $10. Visit my Toy Box website for more information on when Mix Pups will be available.
Something to borrow. Squinkies are soft and squishy friends who are small enough to hang out on the top of your pencils. They come in packs of 16, and each lives in its own plastic ball, which reminds me of Pokémon. They’re available as kitties, puppies, ponies, pets, friends and babies. You can collect and trade them with your friends. There are also playsets and jewelry that your Squinkies can hang out on. You can find the packs of Squinkies on Amazon.com for $9.
Something Blue. Here is a game for the whole family, and it comes in a blue box. Disney Sing It: Family Hits is full of songs from your favorite Disney films, from Sleeping Beauty to The Princess and The Frog. The game is played like all the others in this genre with the goal of singing the song pitch perfect. It contains 30 songs that are accompanied by videos from the movies they’re in. Find a complete list of songs at disney.com/SingItFamilyHits, and buy the game on Amazon.com for $37.Find these on-line:
Raggedy Ann
Mix Pups
Squinkies
Disney: Sing It Family Hits
Monday, August 2, 2010
Creativity For August
This issue is all about enriching your child through drawing, theatre, dance, etc. I fell in love with “the arts” all the way back in first grade. We did a “What do you want to be when you grow up?” assignment, and I chose to be an artist. My props for my presentation were a paint palette, a paint brush, a beret, clothes with paint on them…the works. So this month I wanted to highlight toys that inspire creativity. I came across a collection from Faber-Castell called Creativity For Kids and was blown away at the diversity of all the toys they offer, so I decided to showcase their toys in this month’s column.
First, there is Make Your Own Sock Puppets. This is for ages three and up. The kit comes with three fuzzy socks, googly eyes, yarn and fur for hair, and many different felt shapes. All the pieces, except for the yarn hair, have adhesive on them, so there isn’t any need for glue; the set also comes with a plastic needle to thread the yarn through the sock. This kit comes with instructions that are basic and easy to understand and sells for $18.
For the boys, we have the Wind-Up Workshop: Robots for ages seven and up. The kit comes with five wind-up mechanisms to make up to five robots. You also get several robot cut-outs, cardboard robot parts, and much more to design the robot you want to make. The kit even comes with markers you can use to color in the robot parts. It sells for $15.
For the girls, there is the Design By You Special Occasion Fashion Kit for ages nine and up. It comes with a mannequin and satin dress the size of a Barbie doll. Girls also get everything they need to make a dress including a sewing kit and fabric rolls. This is perfect if your child wants to get into designing their own clothes.. The Special Occasion Fashion Kit sells for $40.
Last, there is the Create Your Own Books kit for ages four and up. It comes with two books with lots of white space to fill up. The left-side pages of the larger book are blank, and the right-side pages feature a blank square with lines underneath. The smaller book has a hole cut out through the entire book that allows kids to place a photo in the center. This kit also comes with crayons and stickers to help start your kid’s imagination and sells for $20.
These four kits are just the tip of the iceberg and can be found at www.creativityforkids.com. They can also be found here in Jackson at Learning Express and Hobby Lobby, according to the site’s store locator.
Find them on-line:
Creativity For Kids
First, there is Make Your Own Sock Puppets. This is for ages three and up. The kit comes with three fuzzy socks, googly eyes, yarn and fur for hair, and many different felt shapes. All the pieces, except for the yarn hair, have adhesive on them, so there isn’t any need for glue; the set also comes with a plastic needle to thread the yarn through the sock. This kit comes with instructions that are basic and easy to understand and sells for $18.
For the boys, we have the Wind-Up Workshop: Robots for ages seven and up. The kit comes with five wind-up mechanisms to make up to five robots. You also get several robot cut-outs, cardboard robot parts, and much more to design the robot you want to make. The kit even comes with markers you can use to color in the robot parts. It sells for $15.
For the girls, there is the Design By You Special Occasion Fashion Kit for ages nine and up. It comes with a mannequin and satin dress the size of a Barbie doll. Girls also get everything they need to make a dress including a sewing kit and fabric rolls. This is perfect if your child wants to get into designing their own clothes.. The Special Occasion Fashion Kit sells for $40.
Last, there is the Create Your Own Books kit for ages four and up. It comes with two books with lots of white space to fill up. The left-side pages of the larger book are blank, and the right-side pages feature a blank square with lines underneath. The smaller book has a hole cut out through the entire book that allows kids to place a photo in the center. This kit also comes with crayons and stickers to help start your kid’s imagination and sells for $20.These four kits are just the tip of the iceberg and can be found at www.creativityforkids.com. They can also be found here in Jackson at Learning Express and Hobby Lobby, according to the site’s store locator.
Find them on-line:
Creativity For Kids
Thursday, July 1, 2010
Family Fun Night
With summer here and kids having more time on their hands, it is the perfect time to start a Family Fun Night. Once you find a night that’s right for everyone, here are some games and toys that your family should look into.
First, there is Clue: Secrets and Spies. Clue is my favorite game, so I, of course, bought this as soon as it came out last year. It still deals with “who, what, and where,” but that is the only similarity (besides the name of the game and the characters) that it shares with the original Clue game.
In Clue: Secrets and Spies, everyone gets a secret identity (the who), which is drawn from the identity cards and is kept secret until the game ends. This solves the argument over who gets to be Scarlet. The object of the game is to have your identity score the highest on the scoreboard. To do this, you need to gain the most points and to gain these points you use cards to hold secret meetings (the where) and complete missions (the what).
Basically, to hold secret meetings, you have to be in a certain city with a certain character. When that happens on your turn, you get the secret meeting card. To complete missions, a player must have two certain objects (the ones on his mission card) in his object squares in order to succeed in his mission and get to draw another mission card. Now, while this is happening, there are tokens that are also receiving points, so you may be scoring a point for another player while collecting your cards. However, card points are tallied at the end of the game, which will count for moving your players’ game tokens up. The game ends when the black token meets any of the player tokens. Then, cards are counted, and whoever is at the top of the point system goes first. Each player moves point by point (each card is one point), skipping any space occupied by another player’s tokens. And that’s the basic game play.
I hope you’ve been following so far, but if you’re completely confused, I’m not surprised. Clue: Secrets and Spies is not your regular Clue game and is hard to explain. If you purchase this game, read the directions carefully, and play some practice rounds. The game can be played with just two players, so start off playing a practice game with one other person, and then invite others to play, with someone standing by who can help explain things when they get confusing. The game sells for $19 on Amazon.com.
If basic Clue is more your style, try finding Clue: Secrets In Paris. The suspects are a high school drama club, the props are the same weapons from Clue: Discover the Secrets (See my review from August 2009 on my toy blog), and the places are landmarks in Paris. Finding the game may be the hard part, because apparently it’s no longer in production. If you’re in the mood for a hunt, I highly suggest scouring the internet or local toys stores for this.
Next, you can’t beat good classic board games. One that I’ve recently developed an affection for is Sorry! If you haven’t played it, it’s simple to get into. There are four pawns for each color, and each one has to make it from the start position all the way around the board and then up a little walkway to its home. Cards drawn by each player determine how many spaces to move. Each
card has a purpose: Players can only move pawns from the home row after drawing a “one” or “two” card; the “two” card allows the player to draw again; the “four” card moves the player’s pawn backwards; the “seven” card can be split between two pawns; and the “Sorry” card allows you to take someone’s place on the board, sending his pawn back to the start position. The instructions even include additional rules that will expand the game for older players. It sells for $15 on Amazon.com.
And lastly, try Make These Toys for Family Fun Night. Make These Toys is a book that gives you the instructions to create 101 toys. The projects in the book are separated by the main type of materials used. For instance, there is a section for clothespin projects and another for drink container projects. The projects are simple to make, and once you complete your projects, you have more toys to play with. We’ve enjoyed this book so much that this is our second mention of it. In our June issue, we featured instructions for making a great party favor, one of the many homemade toys included in this book, which sells for $10 on Amazon.com.
Find Them On-line:
Clue: Secrets And Spies
Sorry!
Make These Toys
First, there is Clue: Secrets and Spies. Clue is my favorite game, so I, of course, bought this as soon as it came out last year. It still deals with “who, what, and where,” but that is the only similarity (besides the name of the game and the characters) that it shares with the original Clue game.In Clue: Secrets and Spies, everyone gets a secret identity (the who), which is drawn from the identity cards and is kept secret until the game ends. This solves the argument over who gets to be Scarlet. The object of the game is to have your identity score the highest on the scoreboard. To do this, you need to gain the most points and to gain these points you use cards to hold secret meetings (the where) and complete missions (the what).
Basically, to hold secret meetings, you have to be in a certain city with a certain character. When that happens on your turn, you get the secret meeting card. To complete missions, a player must have two certain objects (the ones on his mission card) in his object squares in order to succeed in his mission and get to draw another mission card. Now, while this is happening, there are tokens that are also receiving points, so you may be scoring a point for another player while collecting your cards. However, card points are tallied at the end of the game, which will count for moving your players’ game tokens up. The game ends when the black token meets any of the player tokens. Then, cards are counted, and whoever is at the top of the point system goes first. Each player moves point by point (each card is one point), skipping any space occupied by another player’s tokens. And that’s the basic game play.
I hope you’ve been following so far, but if you’re completely confused, I’m not surprised. Clue: Secrets and Spies is not your regular Clue game and is hard to explain. If you purchase this game, read the directions carefully, and play some practice rounds. The game can be played with just two players, so start off playing a practice game with one other person, and then invite others to play, with someone standing by who can help explain things when they get confusing. The game sells for $19 on Amazon.com.
If basic Clue is more your style, try finding Clue: Secrets In Paris. The suspects are a high school drama club, the props are the same weapons from Clue: Discover the Secrets (See my review from August 2009 on my toy blog), and the places are landmarks in Paris. Finding the game may be the hard part, because apparently it’s no longer in production. If you’re in the mood for a hunt, I highly suggest scouring the internet or local toys stores for this.Next, you can’t beat good classic board games. One that I’ve recently developed an affection for is Sorry! If you haven’t played it, it’s simple to get into. There are four pawns for each color, and each one has to make it from the start position all the way around the board and then up a little walkway to its home. Cards drawn by each player determine how many spaces to move. Each
card has a purpose: Players can only move pawns from the home row after drawing a “one” or “two” card; the “two” card allows the player to draw again; the “four” card moves the player’s pawn backwards; the “seven” card can be split between two pawns; and the “Sorry” card allows you to take someone’s place on the board, sending his pawn back to the start position. The instructions even include additional rules that will expand the game for older players. It sells for $15 on Amazon.com.
And lastly, try Make These Toys for Family Fun Night. Make These Toys is a book that gives you the instructions to create 101 toys. The projects in the book are separated by the main type of materials used. For instance, there is a section for clothespin projects and another for drink container projects. The projects are simple to make, and once you complete your projects, you have more toys to play with. We’ve enjoyed this book so much that this is our second mention of it. In our June issue, we featured instructions for making a great party favor, one of the many homemade toys included in this book, which sells for $10 on Amazon.com.Find Them On-line:
Clue: Secrets And Spies
Sorry!
Make These Toys
Monday, June 21, 2010
Checking In
Hey, I just wanted to stop by to first apologize and clear something up. First I'm really sorry about the 90-day work out. I'm a creature of habit and if that habit breaks after three workouts then it doesn't set in. So I rested on day 4 and now I'm apologizing many, many days after. I'm really sorry. Part of me thought that if I actually blogged about it every day it would be easier to continue. I mean there is a reason why I haven't really worked out before (That is I'm somewhat lazy) and I can't expect to change on a dime.
2nd I wasn't lying when i wrote my June article. It was actually written during the time that I was working out and blogging about it. I just want to clear that up. Maybe I can restart in July (It's really a 30-day work out anyway) although we'll see. I'm also working on getting time to add more to this blog like video's about the toys. Would you be interested in that? Leave me some feedback/encouragement in the comments and I'm more likely to continue
2nd I wasn't lying when i wrote my June article. It was actually written during the time that I was working out and blogging about it. I just want to clear that up. Maybe I can restart in July (It's really a 30-day work out anyway) although we'll see. I'm also working on getting time to add more to this blog like video's about the toys. Would you be interested in that? Leave me some feedback/encouragement in the comments and I'm more likely to continue
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