StoryTime with Miss DeDe
February 27, 2009
Kids big and small came to hear Miss DeDe read Are You A Horse? by Andy Rash yesterday at our Park Place store.
Miss DeDe also talked about horse behavior, the foods horses like to eat, how to feed a horse from your hand – keep your palm flat so you don’t get bitten! – and how to mount your steed. That instruction came in handy because Miss DeDe had a surprise for the children too. They all got to sit on a real saddle!
Kids as little as 8 months all the way up to 7 years old got to experience their own cowboy and cowgirl time in the saddle after the book reading was finished.
Miss DeDe also asked them about what they’d name their own horse if they had one. Those horses would have lots of creative names! Flora, George, Sheba, even Cinderella were some of the names the kids came up with for their own ponies.
Thanks to all the moms who brought their kids to Storytime. The kids really had fun and got to take home some horse stickers too!
We have Storytime each week at our Park Place and Corinth stores. Check our Events Calendar for times and books. Click the Hours and Locations link to find us or call 913-385-1234 (Corinth store) or 913-498-1234 (Park Place store) for more information.
All ages are welcome!
Square Up! Or Be Square!
February 25, 2009
Square is the name of the game – literally – in this best-selling challenge.
But you’ll be anything but square if you solve your puzzle first!
Play Square Up! by yourself or race an opponent – either way your goal is the same: recreate a specific pattern of colored tiles by sliding the tiles around the game board. First shake a cube that determines the pattern you need to recreate, then start sliding your tiles as quickly as possible! The first player to recreate the pattern wins!
We love Square Up! for the plain fun of it, but also for the fact that it helps develop sequencing skills – Do you move the green tile first? The yellow? Which way should you move this row to get this tile over there? – and also for the visual perception skills it encourages.
Square Up! is a fun, fast game for kids 6 and up (warning: adults love it too!) that engages your brain while your brain engages your fingers to move! Each game board is about 8 inches square and each has four tiles of six different colors, with one empty space so you can slide the tiles.
Square Up! is a Parent’s Choice Gold award winner , so it’s a proven classic game that you can’t go wrong giving to your own child, or a gift from grandma and grandpa. It’s also a great birthday gift between school friends and siblings.
For more information, click here.
Storytime this Thursday at Park Place
February 24, 2009
This Thursday morning at 10:30am, Miss DeDe will read Are You A Horse? by Andy Rash.
The instructions that accompany the gift advise him to "1. Find a horse 2. Enjoy the ride." However, the man does not know what a horse is so he asks a red wagon, "Are you a horse?" "’Nope, I’m an old wagon,’ said the wagon. ‘A horse is a living thing.’" He asks a cactus the same question, and it replies, "I bristle at the thought! I’m a cactus. A horse is an animal." Then he queries various animals absurdly found in the same habitat: a snake, a crab, a lion, and a zebra. The crab declares, "I’ll pinch you good! A horse is friendly. I’m a crab! NOW GO AWAY!"
The conclusion delivers a big chuckle. The gouache and India ink illustrations are comical and colorful, and the cartoon expressions capture the burlesque nature of the story. There are some clever visual interpretations. One series of six panels conveys the lengthy passage of time that it takes for a sloth to give his answer. A goofy giggle-inducing read-aloud book.
Come join us this Thursday at our Park Place store at 10:30am for a fun and funny storytime!
Turbo Touch Cars Go Vrrrooomm!!!
February 23, 2009
On your marks, get set…and GO with the immensely fun Turbo Touch cars!
These mini race cars come in 4 models, SuperBig, Wild Red, Climber Yellow and Tropheo Orange. They all sport a press-and-go feature to put them into action – presses on the back of the vehicle charge it up and the more presses, the more charges! After the cars have been revved up, sit back and watch the action as they accelerate to win the race!
Little hands will have no trouble getting these cars going…and little eyes will delight in watching them go; little ears will enjoy the roar of the race and the toot of the horn after the vehicles sharply brake to a stop.
Turbo Touch cars are fun to play with and have been designed with attention to detail…you’ll want to collect all of the colors to build your own racing fleet!
For more info or to purchase, click here.
Castle Logix is a Royal Puzzler
February 17, 2009
Kids can imagine themselves as a prince or a princess in the very castle they’re building with Castle Logix , a 3-D wooden puzzle that’s trickier (and more educational!) than it looks.
This single-player logic puzzle comes complete with 4 wooden castle blocks and 3 wooden towers that combine to create a huge variety of castles. A puzzle guide provides 48 multi-level challenges, from Starter to Master. There is only one solution to each puzzle, so brains will be challenged to come up with the correct combination.
Tower by tower, block by block, logic muscles are flexed; logical thinking skills are challenged and spatial reasoning abilities put to the test as castles are built in their own unique way. The guide uses illustrations to show each castle (puzzle) to build. You just turn the page to see an illustration of the solution. There are starter, junior, expert and master level puzzles and kids improve their problem solving abilities as they move up to the next level.
Ideal for ages 5 and up, Castle Logix will continue to challenge children as they use their noggins to complete the basic, simpler puzzles to the more complex and difficult ones.
This is a great toy for kids who love a challenge, like to play alone, have inquisitive minds (what kid doesn’t?) and for parents who want some quiet time for their families away from the TV.
For more information click here.
Splash Art
February 13, 2009
Splish, splash, art’s a blast!
The element of water covers more than 70% of the earth’s surface…and now it’s the perfect artistic element, too!
Splash Art is a two-sided tablet that transforms into a masterpiece when used by little artists. What makes it splashy? The artist’s paintbrush is actually a pen or stylus filled with water – the pen “paints” on the board.
But that fun is just a drop in the bucket! There’s more to love about this toy. There’s no mess with this great tablet, which kids can use again and again and again. Once they’re ready to move on to a new masterpiece, their previous drawings erase easily.
The tablet is complete with an easy-carry handle and a string that keeps the water-filled pen attached, so the little artists who use it can always create, no matter where they are! Splash Art makes a great travel toy and is perfect for kids 1 to 5.
Kids Make Heart Event Special
February 9, 2009
Our Corinth store was full of beautiful hearts last Saturday.
Our Make a Clay Heart Pendant event produced lots of clay beads, hearts, pendants and fun!
Kids used the clay from the Klutz Incredible Clay Book which includes 8 different colors of clay. In the spirit of the upcoming Valentine’s Day holiday, red and purple were definitely the colors of choice.
The polymer clay is amazingly easy to form into all kinds of shapes. Red and purple "worms" of clay were even rolled together to make some cool striped hearts.
After each child’s works of art were completed, Miss Kathleen popped them in the oven for 10 minutes to bake, making each piece ceramic-like and ready to string onto a ribbon or wire.
Make Room For The Chunky Puzzle!
February 7, 2009
Lots of chunky things out there are good: peanut butter, elephants, a banana-flavored ice cream with the word monkey in the name…and this great puzzle! The Vehicles Chunky Puzzle , to be exact.
We probably don’t have to explain why we love puzzles so much — but we will. They are ideal for hand/eye coordination, matching, all of those great learning moments where the brain works together with the hands to put something where it goes, to make it fit where it is supposed to fit.
This puzzle – the Vehicles Chunky Puzzle – gets extra points for being so stylish and for including so many great features. First, the chunky pieces are easy for little hands to hold, and they are chunky enough to stand on their own so kids can use them as pretend-play toys as well as puzzle pieces. They also help little ones recognize the real-life versions when they see ‘em. "The plane, the plane!"
And there’s no shortage of vehicles here – we’re talking a plane, train, school bus, sailboat and more! There are nine pieces in all.
If the extra-thick pieces are being used with the puzzle board, full-color pictures are beneath each to help tots figure out what goes where. The puzzle measures 1" x 9" x 12" Assembled
This is just one of several Chunky Puzzles we carry by Melissa & Doug . Be sure to check out the safari puzzle, dinosaurs puzzle, farm puzzle, and jumbo numbers puzzle. We love them all and so will you! The puzzles are a great learning gift for kids 2 to 7 years old.
Here’s a link to the Vehicles Chunky Puzzle page with links to the other puzzles .
You’re Bugging Me!
February 4, 2009
You’re Bugging Me….and it’s fun!
Kids will be as attracted to You’re Bugging Me! as bees are to honey, flies to picnics and ants to melted popsicles! We included You’re Bugging Me in our last Game Night at our Corinth store and the kids had a great time playing it. Check out the whole story here.
Bugs turn educational in this fun board game for kids ages 5 to 8. Their goal as they play is to send as many crawly and creepy critters back to the garden or to fellow players as possible — and while they’re doing that they’re learning things like color recognition, the difference between their left and right hands and more!
You’re Bugging Me! includes bug-shaped playing pieces (butterflies, spiders, ladybugs, etc.) and dice, which are put in play to send the bugs from one player to another. Players actually get to wear the bugs on their arms — bugs are perched on each player thanks to included colored sleeves. Will your dice roll send a bug from you to the garden in the center or to a player on your left or right?
Don’t look now, but that praying mantis is helping teach cooperation and that spider is helping encourage following directions! But there are no words anywhere on the board so no reading is required to play!
Add You’re Bugging Me to your child’s game chest or click here for more information.
Who wants gum?
February 2, 2009
We do we do!
And now you can make it yourself!
Bubble Gum Factory is a unique hands-on product that introduces kids to not only the science of food, but the creativity as well! Kits like this are wonderful because the "I want to play by the rules" kids can follow the recipes while the "I want to make something nobody has ever tasted before" kids can combine the included flavorings (including fruity, sour, and minty) into any combination they want.
The recipes include Juicy Watermelon, Sour Fruit Cocktail, Cool Candy Kiss, Junkyard Gum…and more.
Kids start by heating the gum base (Adult supervision is required. You will need a microwave to use the kit – it’s not for kids under 8). Then they add corn syrup, flavor powders and sugar and knead it like bread till all the ingredients are mixed in and smooth. The cool part is they can pop a small piece in their mouth before it’s done and adjust the flavor if it’s not to their liking. They can even maker it sweeter or more sour. That part may be more art than science.
Along with the ingredients for 8 flavor combinations, the factory includes an activity book with recipes, instructions, food science rules (keep it clean!!), the history of gum, some fun facts (like who holds the record for the longest gum wrapper chain) and even great ideas for kids to market their new gum creations! That’s if they don’t chew it all themselves, of course…
Bubble Gum Factory is a creative and educational make-it-yourself (and chew-it-yourself) kit that teaches kids the science of bubble gum. Got a science fair coming up? It’s great for that too.
Bubble Gum Factory is made by Scientific Explorer , a division of Elmer’s (the glue people, among other things). They make a ton of cool kits for kids including Tasty Science , My First Science Kit, Perfumery, and My First Airplane Kit .
