I don’t know why my kids like to play with me. I am not a creative sort of person when it comes to play, especially imaginary play. I like board games because there are rules and processes to be followed (oh, I have been badly damaged by my 20-year civil service career, haven’t I?) and I am happy to supply glue and feathers and beads and let them have at it. But I am just not good at imaginary play. I’m a photographer, not an actor! And the reason I had three kids in the first place is so they’d play with EACH OTHER and leave me out of it.
So whenever Lucas wants me to be grumpy Gordon while he is chipper Thomas winning approval from Sir Topham Hat, I divert us to safer ground. As in, to save my sanity. Since you know I’ve been blogging for Fisher-Price Canada lately, I thought it would be fun to share some off-label uses for our favourite Fisher-Price toys. Fun, and sanity saving, too!
1. Hot and cold Little People
I started doing this one when the big boys were wee, and they’ve always loved it. It’s kind of like an Easter Egg hunt without the sugar rush. We gather up a big pile of Little People (because they’re the perfect size for hiding in places that are not too challenging to find) and the boys leave the room while I “hide” them. Then they take turns looking for them while I giggle and give clues like, “Oooo, getting warmer. Feel that tropical sun, you are so warm now. Uh oh, but of a cool breeze, you might be going in the wrong direction!” The kids can do this for hours, and I can spend large stretches of this game on the couch clutching my coffee. Win-win!
2. Kid-Tough Digital Camera scavenger hunt
I like this one – go figure! Choose a theme – blue or round or leaves or dandelions or whatever, and try to find and take a picture of 10 things that have that quality. Or set a time limit: how many can you photograph in 10 minutes? Beware of obscure kid-generated themes here, though. We don’t have a lot of “things that growl” in our house (once mom and dad have had their first coffee, anyway.) And “things polar bears eat” was a bit of a challenge.
3. What animal am I?
We have a jumbled set of animals from the Little People Musical Zoo and the Animal Sounds Zoo. Lucas has to cover his eyes while I choose one, and hide it in my hands or behind my back, and Lucas asks questions to try to figure out which animal it is. “Does this animal have fur?” or “Where does this animal usually live?” We play this in the car sometimes, too, but having the actual animal in his hand tends to keep him focussed on which animal he chose. I’ve otherwise found myself trying to guess an animal that has fur and scales and eats leaves and fish and has both spots and stripes.
4. Pictionary on the Kid-Tough Magnetic Doodler
It is a sad but true fact that Lucas can now draw figures that are both more accurate and recognizable than those that I am capable of drawing. “That doesn’t look like a bird, Mommy! That looks like a squashed mushroom.” (I like this game less and less as their artistic ability outstrips mine.) I stand a better chance at the 3D version of this game where we try to guess what the other is building with Trio building blocks.
Okay, so that’s a few ideas – can you think of any more? Croquet using Corn Popper mallets, maybe?
Disclosure: I am part of the Fisher-Price Play Panel and I receive special perks as part of my affiliation with this group. The opinions on this blog, however, are always my own.
You know I love FisherPrice, and I think everyone loves a good deal. What’s not to love about a whole whack of good deals on great FisherPrice gear?
FisherPrice is offering up to $90 in savings on items from baby gear to preschool toys! Coupons will be available in-store at Toys R Us and Zellers and online via websaver.ca . Coupons are also available inside copies of the April 2012 issue of Today’s Parent Magazine. Some of the savings include:
- Snugabunny Swing – $20 off any Fisher-Price swing priced at $130 or more
- Ocean Wonders Aquarium – $10 off (we had this for all three boys – sigh, happy memories…)
- Little People – $5 off any Little People items with combined value of $25 or more (maybe time to stock up on your DC Superfriends Little People?
)
- Imaginext – $5 off any Imaginext items with combined value of $25 or more
- Thomas – $5 off any Thomas items with combined value of $25 or more
New coupons are released every day on the websaver.ca site, but you have to be quick as they do sell out!
I noticed that one of the “coming soon” coupons is for $5 off Imaginext toys. I adore the Imaginext line! Lucas got the Imaginext Mega T-Rex for his birthday, and it’s a fun toy! At first, I think he was a little intimidated by its big ROAR (Lucas has never been fond of animated toys!) but now he loves to fire the little projectile launchers and push the button to hear him roar.
(There was supposed to be a really fun photoshopped picture for this post of Lucas being chased by the giant Mega T-Rex, but I totally ran out of time. But trust me, it would have been hilarious!)
Don’t miss out on these great deals from FisherPrice!
I was at work when Beloved called with urgent news. “Did you see there’s a Fisher-Price Little People Batcave now?” he asked, excitement clear in his voice.
“What?” I asked, not sure I’d heard correctly. Sure enough, I looked it up on the Fisher-Price website and there it was — Batman and the Batcave , Robin, the Batmobile, and also Superman and Green Lantern, Batgirl and Wonder Woman. And because all superheroes need a nemesis, there’s a Joker Little People (person?) as well. And they even have — wait for it! — Wonder Woman’s invisible jet. How awesome is THAT?! Apparently there’s a full line of DC Superfriends Little People. Clearly, this is the coolest Little People set since the Sesame Street of the 1970s.
So impressed was I to find a line of toys so perfect for a Fisher-Price blogger and a long-time comic book geek (erm, I mean, for the CHILDREN of, of course, yeah, for the kids, absolutely!) that I took to the interwebs to share my discovery. And I sent a quick e-mail to my friends at Mom Central Canada and Fisher-Price telling them how much we loved the idea of the DC Superfriends Little People, and I asked if maybe a couple of the figures could make their way to our house in a future toy shipment (which they send a few times a year as part of my blogging for them) for which we would be ever so grateful.
Imagine my delight when just a few days later — the day before Lucas’s birthday, in fact! — a large carton appeared on the porch. Inside was the FULL SET of DC Superfriends Little People AND the Batcave AND the Batmobile too!
And if you think *I* was delighted, you should’ve seen Beloved and Lucas!! (Sorry for the grainy pix. As Chase Jarvis says, sometimes the best camera is the one you have in your hand.)
But while the Batcave and Batmobile were undoubtedly wicked cool, it’s been a long time since I’ve been as excited about a toy as I was for Wonder Woman and her invisible jet!!
As one cheeky follower on twitter quipped, the only thing that would make that more awesome would be if Wonder Woman was driving an invisible mini-van. 
In addition to the Little People figures and action sets, Fisher-Price has also come out with a full set of DC Superfriends Wheelies. You might think the Wheelies are just for the littlest of boys (and they are perfect for little hands to hold and drive), but all three of my boys enjoy setting them up to race down the tracks. Such a simple, fun toy!
So you know I’m partial to Fisher-Price. I’ve made no secret of that in the year I’ve been blogging with them, and I’ve raved a lot about some of their products with good reason. But this? I would have raved about how much I love the idea of Little People superheroes whether I was working with Fisher-Price or not. I love love love the whole set.
And more importantly, so do all the menfolk in my house!
The only problem is letting the kids play with the sets. I kinda want to keep Wonder Woman and her jet in a place of honour on my desk, and Beloved is talking about building a whole new shelf just to house Batman, Superman, Green Lantern, Batgirl, Robin, the Joker and all their accessories.
You know how it is. Sometimes it’s hard to share.
Disclosure: I am part of the Fisher-Price Play Panel and I receive special perks as part of my affiliation with this group. The opinions on this blog, however, are always my own.
It’s a snow day here in Ottawa today. The buses have been cancelled and while the schools are still open, we’ve decided to let the boys stay home. I usually ship ‘em off as even in the most treacherous conditions I think they’re better off for a few hours at school than at home, but by a fluke of scheduling both Beloved and I were home anyway, so we let them stay home for a treat.
Now that the kids are older, they’re better at entertaining themselves even on a long day at home. They like to play board games, and we’ve always got a craft of some sort on the go. And of course, there are the ubiquitous video games.
Snow days are such a break from routine that it’s fun to find something unique to do. Just a few days ago, I blogged a few more of my favourite indoor activities, including bead crafts and scavenger hunts. If you’re feeling like comfort food, how about baking up some rainbow cupcakes? Or maybe just whipping up a batch of home-made playdoh?
It’s pretty easy to pass the day with older kids, but sometimes not so much with babies, toddlers and preschoolers. Conveniently, my friends at Fisher-Price just shared this awesome new tool for inspiring playtime with your kids. I remember how hard it was coming up with ideas on how to play with a baby, especially when Tristan was a newborn, but there are dozens – maybe even hundreds – of great suggestions here on games to play with kids from newborn to school age.
From the simple idea of tummy talking for babies under 3 mos to the classic “red light, green light” for toddlers to storybook theatre for older kids, there are tonnes of great ideas. I like how each game also has information about which learning skill you’re stimulating and even some basic safety cautions. Wouldn’t this be a great tool for a young babysitter looking for ways to interact with kids as well? I really wish I’d had access to this when I was a new mom!
As I’m writing this post, I’m remembering how long those early days could seem, home with a baby who couldn’t entertain himself with Super Mario Bros or endless episodes of Max and Ruby. Isn’t it funny how while you’re in them, it seems like those days will never end and suddenly you realize that they’re long behind you?
If you could make one suggestion to help another parent pass a long winter day at home with the kids, what would it be?
(Disclosure: I am part of the Fisher-Price Play Panel and I receive special perks as part of my affiliation with this group. The opinions on this blog are my own.)
A while back, I posted my thoughts on some great gift ideas for the six-years-and-older demographic based on my experiences this year with Fisher-Price Canada. I’m a little later than I wanted to be with this follow-up, but I hope it’s helpful for your holiday buying!
If I were to choose any one demographic that was perfect for some Fisher-Price love this Christmas, it would be the two-to-five year old category. I mean, who doesn’t think of chubby little hands clutching Little People figures when you say “Fisher-Price”? There are so many great choices for this age group that this post practically wrote itself!
I started writing out a long-winded description of each toy, but the post got longer and longer and I kept thinking of things I wanted to add, so I’ve cut out the fat and am giving you a quick list of my top ten favourites. I mean, that’s the beauty of Fisher-Price toys – we know most of the best ones already because we’ve been playing with them since we were kids!!
So here’s ten terrific toys for two-to-five year olds from Fisher-Price:
- Any and all Little People sets
- Viewmaster (every kid needs one of these!)
- Fisher-Price Corn Popper (I have never met a kid who didn’t love these things, from my own childhood forward!)
- Any of the Trio building sets
- Chatter Telephone
- Laugh and Learn Learning Kitchen
- Thomas and Friends (or Barbie) Tough Trike
- Wheelies Stand and Play Rampway
- Anything from the Brilliant Basics product line
- Anything from the Imaginext line – dinosaurs and superheros in particular!!
You know why these toys make my top ten list? Because my kids actually play with them. I hate to admit, when we moved last year we found toys that had been played with once or twice and abandoned, and even if we put them out, they don’t get used. The toys in this list are favourites around our house with the kids and grownups alike because the kids play with them over and over again, and they’ve been handed down up to three times and still have lots of play left in them.
Speaking of smart phones (*wink*) Fisher-Price has just launched a free new app for Blackberry, Android, and iSO devices. Here are a few things that the Mom’s Helper app can do to make your life easier:
- Find the perfect toy based on your child’s specific needs
- Keep track of your child’s age, height and weight
- Receive recommendations for the best toys and gear based on your child’s developmental stage
- Build a toy wish list to share with friends and family
Clever, eh? And have you seen those new Fisher-Price ads that are running on TV? I absolutely love them, and that sweet song lyric, “you are exactly one of a kind” gets stuck in my head in the most endearing way. Those are real families, not actors. Fisher-Price treated us to a sneak peek of the new campaign just as it was launching at Blissdom Canada this year. I think they’re terrific.
I’m hoping to cram in one more post with some recommendations for great Fisher-Price gifts and gear for babies, but Christmas is coming up rather quickly! Yikes!!
Disclosure: I am part of the Fisher-Price Play Panel and I receive special perks as part of my affiliation with this group. However, I wrote this post on my own initiative and the opinions on this blog are my own.
It’s only in the last year of blogging with Fisher-Price that I realized how many of the toys and product lines we already love come from them. One of my concerns when I first started blogging with the PlayPanel was that the big boys might feel excluded, as in my mind Fisher-Price had the best baby gear, and great toys for babies and preschoolers — but I wasn’t sure what they’d have for school-age kids.
Well, I needn’t have been concerned. With great product lines like Imaginext, Hot Wheels, and Rescue Heroes, there are great toys for every age and stage. Here’s my top five recommendations for toys for kids ages six and up from the Fisher-Price catalogue. (Note: Although I am compensated for my participation in the Fisher-Price playpanel group, this post is written purely on my own initiative, and all opinions expressed here are entirely my own.)
1. The Kid-Tough Digital Camera
All three of my boys love our Fisher-Price Kid-Tough Digital Camera. I gave up putting it away, because it migrates out into our living spaces so often. Now it resides, just like Mom’s camera, casually on the nearest flat surface, so it’s always within arm’s reach. I wrote a tongue-in-cheek review of this camera here, but no joke – it really does make a fantastic gift. I think it’s my top toy recommendation this year! (Edited to add: I almost forgot to mention that the most fun part of the camera for an older child is the free downloadable digital studio software. Super-easy to use, and the kids have fun adding mustaches and frames to their pictures!)
2. The Imaginext DC Super Friends Batcave
We bought an earlier version of the Imaginext Batcave for Simon quite a few years ago, and we laughed the whole of Christmas Eve at how entranced then 18-month-old Lucas was by it. Even now, it’s a favourite toy for all of them. It’s got action heroes (kids love superheroes!) and moving parts and it also makes a great clubhouse for your Smurf collection. (Well, that one may be unique to us.) Regardless, I think this is a fun toy, and it’s HUGE, which may be either a pro or con in your books. This is one, though, that you won’t resent for the space it takes up, because the kids play with it so often. Three years later, and this one is still in heavy rotation!
3. The Big Action Construction Set with Remote Control
Remote control. Need I say more? The Big Action Construction Set is solidly-built, doesn’t get stuck where the hardwood meets the shag carpet, and happily bounces down the stairs and keeps on ticking. This is a fun set that’s easy for little fingers to manipulate but entertaining for bigger kids who love trucks and heavy machinery.
4. Hot Wheels Trio Super-Stunt Builder
I’ve yet to meet a boy who didn’t like building toys or race cars. This ingenious set combines the best of both worlds. The Hot Wheels Trio Super-Stunt Builder set is a great twist on the classic Hot Wheels set, because you can build and rebuild the set into any configuration that suits your fancy using Trio’s colourful and easy to snap-together and pull apart blocks. You’ll see based on all five of these recommendations that I’m a big fan of toys that allow room for imagination and creativity — this one combines that with a little boy’s need for speed. Another great gift suggestion!
5. Kid-Tough Walkie Talkies
Walkie-talkies are such a classic toy, aren’t they? Give two boys a set of walkie-talkies and they’re cops, then they’re truckers on the long haul, then they’re Mission Control and an astronaut in orbit. These are solidly built, easy for little fingers to use (these seems to be emerging as key criteria for success in this review – and Fisher-Price excels on both counts!) , have a decent broadcast reach, and are another toy that’s great for stimulating active, creative play.
Okay, so it occurs to me that there is a definite gender bias in my recommendations, and they’re clearly geared towards little boys — although most little girls I know would happily play with a lot of these toys! I’m at a disadvantage here, as I can only authentically recommend toys for boys with any sort of expertise. Care to add in your suggestions for girls? Bonus points if you found it in the Fisher-Price gift catalogue! (Or, you can always use the Fisher-Price toy finder tool.)
(Disclosure: I’m part of the Fisher-Price Play Panel and I receive special perks as part of my affiliation with this group. However, as always, the opinions on this blog are entirely my own.)
