Babies & Kids Blog

MSNBC.com featured “The best toy trends for all budgets.”  Check out some popular toys for kids’ today for affordable prices.  Click on the toy name to find out where you can get them (sometimes for cheaper prices than what is quoted in the article):

Games and Puzzles:

Eric Carle Brown Bear Floor Puzzle: $15.95        

Eeboo Travel Games: $9-$15

Create Your Own Pop-Up Book: $13.94

Go Nuts! Dice Game: $6.98

Sorry! Sliders: $29.99 

Fundomino: $15.98

Arts and Crafts:

Elmer’s 3D Pant Pens: $25.99-$4.49  

Crayola Color Surge: $5.36-$24.99

Active Play:

Schylling Color Roller: $23.95

Jungle Bell Skirt: $38.99

Green Toys:

Sprig Sidekick Vehicle Rally Racer and Baja Scout: $27.45

Playmobil Recycling Truck: $28.95

Cheekeyes Wooden Toys: $15.99-$29.99

Plan Toys Parking Garage: $79.99

Toy Dinosaurs:

My First RC Dino: $22.95

LEGO Stegosaurus: $44.99

Fisher-Price Imaginext Spike the Ultra Dinosaur: $129.88

Kota the Triceratops: $145.95

Find at Smarter.com:  Shop through all games and puzzles.
Discounts on kids’ arts and crafts.
Buy eco-friendly toys and toy dinosaurs.

I loved drawing hopscotch squares with sidewalk chalk as a kid.  Imagine if all I had to do was throw on 3D glasses and my hopscotch game would pop out at me!  That would have been ten times more fun.  Again, kids of these days can enjoy this “luxury” because Crayola recently came out with cool 3D sidewalk chalk.  Each set comes with chalk & 3D glasses.

                                                             Crayola 3D Sidewalk Chalk: $5.99

These activity sets also come with sidewalk paint & 4 giant stencils.

                                          Crayola 3-D Activity Kit Underwater Adventure: $11.99

                                                   Crayola 3-D Activity Kit Jungle Safari: $11.99

You & your child can see what this sidewalk chalk will look online through “3D glasses”!  Go to the Crayola.com website.

The 50th birthday of Crayola’s 64 Box was celebrated on April 9th at the Toys ‘R’ Us in Times Square.  They had an adorable kids’ fashion where eight new colors made their debut:

I have to be honest.  I think the only name I have a “problem” with is “famous.”  Apparently, 20K kids were asked about “the things they value & are most interested in”.  It seems that all these reality TV shows have convinced children that in order for them to be anything or anyone in life the need to achieve fame.  That isn’t what I want my kids to aspire to anyway.  Unless they are “famous” for finding a cure for cancer.  It’s cool if you are famous for being an awesome singer, but really…how many of those kids do you think can actually sing or were referring only to American Idol fame?  There are so many other reality shows kids have been exposed to these days.  So, I’m thinking the majority of them just want to be famous PERIOD.  Do you agree?  On a lighter note…the rest of the colors are very cute!

Get your Crayola 64 Crayons Kids’ Choice Colors right here.

Crayola just came out with a collection of crayons, paint, and markers for young kids 18 months and older. It kind of took them a while to realize that even though crayons are typically enjoyed mainly by children not all of them have the same size hands to be able to hold a typical crayon.  It’s actually kind of cute (to me) to see young kids trying to get their artistic energy out while struggling to color with a “big” crayon. 

The Crayola Beginnings collection is designed to fit perfectly into your little ones tiny hands & great for developing muscles. 

These Tadoodles are my FAVORITE of the collection.  These “First Marks” (markers) come in cute, fat & little animal characters which are bottom heavy so they won’t tip over and mark up your carpet, table, or counter tops.  They have no caps, but won’t dry out and are activated by dabbing them on a piece of paper a few times.

Price: $13.95 for set of 6 

Here is Tadoodle ”All In One Paint”.  Same concept here.  They won’t spill and they “help in developing gross to fine motor skills.”
Price: $14.95 for 6                                        

These Triangular Crayons help young kids control their drawing by enabling them to get a better grip on their crayon.  You know, so their scribbles can be more….scribblier (Yes, I just made up that word).

Parents, you will love these because if your kids go crazy drawing on your walls all you need to do is get a sponge with warm water and…VUWALA! 

Price:  $3.95     

Speaking of scribbles, Crayola also released a new book called  Celebrate the Scribble, Appreciating Childen’s Art.  Dr. Kathy Hirsh-Pasek and Dr. Roberta Golinkoff explain how children’s scribbles have more meaning than we think.  This book contains scribbles from toddlers across the US and Canada.  

For more kids’ arts & crafts supplies click here.                                                                                                  

You may have seen commercials for Crayola’s Model Magic Fusion.  It looks like normal clay, but is model material made with a non-crumbling formula that won’t stick to your hands and air-dries.  It is supposed to be much softer than normal clay and easier to shape & mold.   I’ve only seen commercials for the insect & animal models, but today I found some Disney themed model sets that I think all kids would enjoy (recommended for ages 6 & up).

You can purchase an “Ariel’s Castle” Kit, the “Cinderella’s Castle” Kit, the Pirates of the Caribbean “Black Pearl Ship” Kit & “Flying Dutchman Ship” Kit.

Our sister site, CouponMountain.com, has some great coupons, right now, for CrayolaStore.com:

FREE SHIPPING on orders of $25 or more - Enter Code CB2SFREE

FREE SHIPPING on orders of $75 or more - Expires 12/31/07

For more kids’ model kits click here.