Children | Page 21 of 54

Raffi is back with Owl Singalong! Alert the 7 and under set

Raffi is not Zamfir. Before becoming a parent I confused the two. Having been a dad for several years now we know Raffi, still don’t know the master of the pan flute-but there’s still time for that. Both individuals have a specific niche that they cater to with a steadfast focus that makes Navy SEALS envious. For kids 7 and under there’s reason to gently celebrate, in a peaceful and mild mannered way, because the new CD from Raffi, Owl Singalong is available for young listeners.

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Daddy, have you been to Sweden?

“Daddy, have you been to Sweden?” our 6 year old asked from the back seat. It would seem a ridiculous question on the surface and it is, but my first reaction was, ‘how did you know’? Our son is not some 6 year old travel savant; he was merely asking random questions. The second thing that popped into my head was “how do you even know about Sweden?”

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Win a 6-pack of Tonka Metal Diecast Bodies #Giveaway

In our garage I have a section where my old toys live. Granted, it’s a small section but all of my old Tonka trucks live there. There’s a Jeep, dozer and crane. The crane is not working too well, but the dozer and the Jeep purr right along in our child’s sandbox with his modern toys. That distinctive yellow and black, plus the construction that gave it the mojo to last 40+ years. The new line of Tonka Metal Diecast Bodies is like that. They’ve got the same quality, have amazing detail and are built for play.

Tonka still makes the trademark yellow and black construction vehicles. They’ve just branched out into smaller vehicles that cover any work situation imaginable. An Ice Resurfacer, Excavator, Dump Truck, Tow Truck, Cement Mixer and more. If you can think of a truck that moves and does work Tonka probably has one for it at 1:55 scale.

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The Not Very Merry Pout Pout Fish swims a familiar tail, but that’s OK

We’re fans of the Pout Pout Fish in this house. Their adventures of the blue fish that could use a little encouragement or confidence are stories that kids through age 6 will really enjoy. The premise in these books by Deborah Diesen is basic, the Pout Pout Fish goes about having a pity party or being scared of something. After a couple attempts and failing they succeed. It’s a simple premise, but one that kids will readily catch on to, enjoy and want to read over and over.

Case in point is The Not Very Merry Pout Pout Fish. Our kids have been chomping at the bit to finally have this book in their room. I needed to take photos of it, put it in the queue, but they were having none of that and simply wanted to look at the pictures by Dan Hanna and read it on their own time.

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This Christmas Comfy Critters partners with CHOA to make kids happy

Hey, we were provided with product for review, all thoughts are our own. The other day we went shopping and our 4 year old made a ‘pillow’ from the socks that we were buying. Sometimes both of our children use towels for blankets around the house. It’s not that we don’t have any blankets. It’s that most of our blankets are sized to fit beds and therefore, not convenient for small people to carry around. This is two issues that have one solution, Comfy Critters. When it’s folded up it becomes a character pillow, unfold it and you’ve got a blanket (with hood) that looks super cute.

It’s all of that plus through December 31 Comfy Critters is giving one away to a child at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta for every one purchased. Your get the warm fuzzies by helping a child in the hospital that you’ll never meet and your child gets the warm feelies by keeping their Comfy Critter on them.

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Laurie Berkner’s Favorite Classic Kid’s Songs, fun for all

The title to her latest release is Laurie Berkner’s Favorite Classic Kid’s Songs. Based on the title alone it wasn’t a release I was interested in hearing. Our kids are 4 and 6; they’re all but out of the ‘kid’s song’ period of life. They like their kindie with a little more edge, played with flannel shirts, cloudy weather and a side of espresso thank you very much. Apparently I was trying to demo my kids out of Laurie Berkner a little too quickly; because after the first listen they had their favorite songs and the classics brought new life to songs I thought were relegated to lullabies.

Let’s face the elephant in the room. When you hear the title ‘Favorite Classic Kid’s Songs’ you immediately think lullabies; sleepy songs for infants who need something calming to get them to sleep. However, out of the 57 songs on this release only six could really be classed as lullabies. The rest of the songs are mid to up-tempo classics that you didn’t know your children needed to hear.

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Voyagers is a multi-format book series that middle schoolers will love

Hey, we were provided with samples for review. Prizes for the #Giveaway are done by Random House Children’s Books. When is a book not a book? It sounds like that dopey riddle on the back of a bubble gum wrapper, the answer was always “when he turns into a store”; but in this case it’s a book that open up to more options. Voyagers is a book series that has a sister app with quizzes, games and activities on smart devices. It’s a logical extension of the publishing world that wouldn’t add up to much if it weren’t entertaining or well done.

Voyagers is a six-book series that puts Earth in an emergency crisis with all of its energy drying out within the next 100 years. The only solution is for a group of space explorers, who are under 12 years old to go to six different planets to look for the power elements that could save the planet. Eight kids are competing for 4 positions on the ship that will take them on the trip. They compete in a training program where their puzzle skills, leadership and team work are all tested in order to ensure that the best candidates are chosen.

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Quality children’s shoes, unicorns and how to tell if you have some

We have two boys, aged 4 and 6. When Jake, our oldest turned 6 he needed a new pair of shoes. He’s active, but not one of those super active, plays three sports a day active. Picture the average kid, running around the yard, throwing the ball, riding the scooter and you get an idea as to how much wear he puts on his shoes. Any shoe will do and he’s keen into the light up shoes, so we went with Pup Patrol light ups that we bought at Target for $24. Within 15 days the shoes were beyond recognition, the bottom tread was entirely gone and there were multiple tears in the shoe itself. Here is what we learned about children’s shoes.

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