Babies & Kids Blog

Here are five awesome learning toys for babies and younger toddlers at affordable prices!

Fisher-Price Interactive Baby Grand Piano $44.50

Little ones can rock out with their very own Baby Grand Piano! This pint-sized piano teaches numbers and colors, as well as exposes them to musical concepts like tempo, pitch and style. Baby is encouraged to play and learn with the eight light-up keys and four activities with four songs led by a dancing character and “magic” music book. Features three modes: Learning, Musical Fun and Imagination.

Leap Frog ClickStart My First Computer $39.99

Turn your TV into a learning PC with Leap Frog’s ClickStart My First Computer. With a child-friendly wireless keyboard, console and mouse that converts for right or left-handed use, your little one will dive headfirst into the digital world. The doggy-designed keyboard has the same QWERTY key positioning as a standard version to advance their typing skills, while the mouse will teach proper screen navigation.

Four included games provide essential skills for school and beyond. Along with computer navigation, your child will be taught letters, numbers, phonics, matching, vocabulary, word building, animal facts and more! There’s so much to learn and do inside this safe computing environment.

Learning Resources Attribute Lacing Buttons $14.99

String-along fun! Easy for little hands to manipulate, this 48-piece set includes large plastic buttons in four colors, three shapes, two sizes and two hole styles. Four 36″ laces and Activity Guide “lace up” a good time! Stringing the easily grasped buttons promotes eye-hand coordination, fine motor, cognitive and visual perception skills. This one is best for kids over 3 years old as the buttons could cause choking.

Vtech Baby’s Learning Laptop $17.99

If I had just seen this one online, I probably wouldn’t have been interested in it but my daughter was given this as a gift when she was about 6-months-old. She STILL loves it and she’s almost two! Three modes of play teach shapes, common objects, feelings and music. Light-up screen interacts with colorful keyboard and moveable mouse sized for little hands.

Leap Frog Brightlings Builders $9.97

Leap Frog Brightlings Builders hold fun surprises that encourage exploration! Nine pieces fit together in different ways, motivating babies to create endless combinations. Different shapes and sizes develop spatial awareness. Colors, textures and sounds stimulate all the senses.

Shop for more affordable learning toys at Smarter.com.

Kids learn best when they don’t know they’re learning.  Science and discovery toys are great because they teach children how things work in a comfortable and non-intimidating way.  All of these toys are for school aged children and will keep their minds fresh over the summer break and help them to get ready for the new school year.

Discovery Kids Glow Star Globe  $34.99

The Star Globe has two great functions in one:  a planet Earth globe and a glowing star map.  It has all of the regulation markings on the Earth globe and all of the major stars and constellations.  Not only is is educational, it’s really cool and decorative and since it illuminates a whole room, it’s a great night light too!

StarScope Telescope $125.55

The StarScope is just like having a real astronomer by your side as you observe the night sky!  An advanced-design telescope with unique computer software to help you experience the night sky like never before!  Install the software on your computer to get coordinates.  Set your telescope with these coordinates to target planets, stars and constellations.  No more frustration over whether you are pointed at a star, a planet, or even a street lamp with this high-quality, high-tech telescope.  Load the included software onto a computer and it provides young stargazers coordinates to find the star field, planet, or solar system they want to investigate.  It features 38X and 103X magnification.

Thames & Kosmos Wind Power $39.99

Build a working wind turbine to harness power out of thin air.  Wind is one of the most promising sources of clean, renewable energy available today.  Wind energy has been used for centuries to pump water and crush grain in windmills, and is now increasingly being used to generate electricity to power our modern world.  Kids can conduct more than 20 experiments with the wind turbine, including experiments with different numbers of rotor blades, different blade angles and profiles, different wind speeds, different gear ratios, and so on.  Use the wind turbine to generate mechanical power to lift a heavy weight, or generate electricity to light up an LED and charge a rechargeable battery.

With these toys, your children will soon be off the couch and out exploring instead!

Find at Smarter.com:  Shop for more science and nature toys.
Discounts on learning toys.

The Science of Sweets Candy Factory: $42.99 Now: $37.99

This is a great excuse for kids to indulge! They are learning after all.  They will learn the chemistry of sugar and the biology of taste while making lollipops, chocolate, caramels and more.

Gear Lab: $29.95 Now: $21.00

Kids will have fun while learning about the special properties of gears and pulleys.

My First Science Kit Color Mixing Laboratory: $19.95 Now: $15.00

Kids can do a number of things with this science kit including color mixing and turning colors into soft crystals.

Newton’s Antics: $14.95 Now: $12.95

If your child isn’t sure who Isaac Newton is, they will after playing with this kit.  They will learn the science of force and motion.

Ooze!: $19.95 Now: $17.95

Kids can make a number of experiments with gooey substances.

Earthquakes and Volcanos: $29.49 Now: $26.54

Kids will learn about plate tectonics, what the layers of the Earth are made of and much more.

Find at Smarter.com:  Shop through all science and nature learning toys.

Julie!

“LOO-CY!! You’ve got some ’splaining to do!! Totally…it is just too, too cute!!”

Julie won this Educo Choo Choo Tracks Magnetic Marble Maze from PetitBaby.com by answering last week’s Freebie Friday question: Which of these Homemade Halloween Costume Ideas is Your Favorite?

Thanks to those who voted! Don’t forget to come back tomorrow for another chance to win free baby toys.

It’s the Freebie Friday before Halloween!

You could win this Educo Choo Choo Tracks Magnetic Marble Maze from PetitBaby.com which is one of their great selection of learning toys.

Below are four of my favorite homemade costumes from around the web.  Vote for your favorite and let us know why it’s your fave in the comments section:

                                                       a) Baby Tennis Ball              b) Lucille Ball Costume

                                                     c) Hoover Vacuum                   d) Purse Costume

Everyone who votes will be entered into the drawing. We will pick & announce the winner on Thursday, Oct 30th.

Please make sure to include your email address in the appropriate field so we can contact you if you are the winner. You must be able to provide a U.S. address for shipment.

Image Source: Associated Content, Coolest-Homemade-Costumes.com

Boscovs.com carries a variety of products.  Right now they are having an awesome sale on some great toys:

                                 CompuKidz Teach & Talk Activity Laptop: $89.99 Now: $19.99

Teach your kids the basics of a laptop with a working mouse & keyboard.  This laptop comes in pink or blue & has over 30 learning games. (Ages 6+)

                                    Fisher-Price T.M.X. Friends Assortment: $34.99 Now: $9.99

Choose either Cookie Monster or Ernie…or BOTH!  They laugh just like Elmo.

                            Playschool Busy Basics Step Start Walk N’ Ride: $26.99 Now: $19.99

This toy can either be a walker or a riding toy as the handle can be moved from front to back.

                                 Thomas the Tank Water Tower Steam Set: $39.99 Now: $19.99

Kids can help feul Thomas with water & real steam comes out of his funnel!

Click here fore more Doorbuster deals from Boscovs.com.

This Smart Cycle “Physical Learning Arcade System” is probably one of the best inventions around.  Why didn’t someone think of this sooner as America is becoming one of the fattest nations in the WORLD??  They really need to make a similar system for older kids.  I know the Nintendo Wii  is supposed to allow for more physical activity during game play, but they don’t have a sort of cycling bike yet as far as I know. 

The Smart Cycle isn’t just a racing game, but a learning game as well.  Kids can race while they learn about shapes, numbers, letters, matching, creativity, problem solving & more.

Your child can play along with their favorite TV characters: 

                      Dora the Explorer: $19.99                                  Sponge Bob:  $19.99

Coupons for online stores selling the Fisher Price Smart Cycle:

eToys:  $5 off $30+ for new customers with a VISA card - Code:  VISA47ET - Exp. 02/29/08

Baby Universe:  Free Shipping on orders of $20 or more.

For more kids’ learning toys click here.

I think Fisher Price’s musical toy Little Superstar Sing-Along Stage is great.  I remember when I was a child my sister and I had one of those guitars that had a microphone attached to it.  We loved it!  I think my mother may have wanted to kill us when we would go on & on for hours. 

Musical toys are a great way to help you kids dance/exercise, sharpen their hand-eye coordination skills, visual skills, auditory skills & more. 

This toy is recommended for ages 6 months and up so I’m sure it will be a long time before your child grows out of it. 

You can buy this toy at The Baby Center Store for $40.49.

CouponMountain.com has some Baby Center coupons:

FREE SHIPPING on orders of $25 or more - Use code:  24938573

Click here for more toy store coupons & deals.

For more musical toys click here.