Kids and toy guns

Hi, I’m Tim Sisarich and just recently I went in search for a couple of sets of cowboy guns for my four-year old boys. You know, the kind with the wide belt and twin holsters.

I hadn’t gone out of my way not to buy them buy guns up to this point. Nor do I really have any staunch view of the dangers of boys and guns ... it's just sort of the way it turned out. So I popped into the local toyshop to discover that the only guns they sold were strange looking space lasers, with flashy buttons, lights and sounds. They didn’t even look like guns!

To my surprise, they inform me that they don't stock those sorts of guns ... Nor did any of the other 6 toy stores I went to.

Can you believe that?

Confessions Of a Dropper Offer

One thing about having a two year old or a kid at any age for that matter is that regardless of where you go or what you are doing you always have to bring along a portable toy chest. Now depending on your child and where you are taking it you might be able to get away with something as simple as a couple cars in the bottom of the diaper bag or you may just have to bring a separate "bag 'o' toys".

Want to save money on toys? Here's how ...

Saturday I was sent out to buy a summer hat for Pyper. We really want to get her in the habit of always wearing sun block and a hat. Last time we bought one though it cost $32 for 2 hats (!) This time round I wasn't keen to spend that kind of money on what seems like a very simple item of clothing. So we went to a couple of stores and managed to buy 3 hats of the exact same brand for $23 – bargain! I was over the moon ... I guess it goes to show that it does pay off to compare prices around town.

How to stimulate your baby's development with home made toys

The following DIY toys were made by Vicky Ellison with bits and pieces she found in her household and garage. They are really easy to make and provide hours of fun for your baby / toddler to explore a particular developmental stage.

1) Glitter Bottle
Basically just an empty drinks bottle filled with a colourful liquid (diluted dish washing liquid is quite cool) and some glitter. Is great for young babies to explore how the glitter moves inside the bottle and reflects the light. Make sure the bottle is well closed and doesn't leak (not suitable for toddlers who have worked out how to open bottles).
 

Homage to an all time classic toy - the humming top

Did you know that humming tops have been around for nearly 100 years. A German company called Lorenz Bolz patented the screw handle in 1913 and subsequently created a toy with it - the humming top. It's such a simple (and inexpensive) toy and kids love it to this day. Awesome!

-Stefan

Manky toys

Over the last few months I had to spend quite a bit of time in doctor's waiting rooms, hospitals and other public places where there was a dedicated play area or toybox for kids. First of all I think it's great that there is an area for kids and that many institutions provide toys to keep the little ones entertained. The downside of this is that many of these toys are in a really sad state - broken, filthy or downright dangerous. Some of them look like they have been there for years without ever being replaced or cleaned.

Walking

Walking – well it’s a long road to hoe as any father knows when you have a little person crawling quicker then lightning around the floor but is also pulling herself up and wanting to walk. She is in the in between stages again, she knows what she wants to do but can’t do it straight away and gets very angry with herself for not being able to do it, so what we did do is go to the Salvation Army Toy Library, you pay a membership fee around $50 and you get to use all these difference ages and stages toys for free basically, they are great and it means that you don’t have to worry about having a swing and slide set in your home for 20 years wha hoo! But any way we manage to find this basic trolley for her to push and therefore it’s just tall enough for her to be able to stand up and for one of use to make sure it doesn’t go too fast and her fall over.

Lessons from Africa

A great story from our friend Spain Dad about children and their limitless imagination

A child's play was not defined by toys, but by curiosity and imagination

Byron and Lisa are some friends of ours who live in Tanzania, and for many years lived among the Maasai people in Kenya. For a short time, they lived with their kids in Portugal where April and I would visit them once a year before Alleke was born. They would invite us into their family for a few days, and we would spend most evenings around the fire place with a cup of tea, and they would tell us stories from Africa.

Product Review - Weekly Scott's Lamaze

This week I’m coming to you live from my office like I do every other week, but this week we are talking about learning toys and there are a few out there. Something that we got lots of when Pyper was born it probably seemed the likely choice. It takes into account lots of different learning abilities for the child.

If you are thinking of buying a development toy for your baby then I think you should look at price vs practicality vs size. In this case yes size does matter if it covers the floor then it’s not a learning toy it’s an expensive glorified mat.

Pros:
• They come in all shapes and sized and wonderful colours (make sure your not hung over when operating them, colours may cause confusion)
• Great for developing fine motor skills
• Each toy does a different developmental operation for your baby
• Primarily aimed at babies up to 24months

Cons
• Don’t have a lot for older children

Confessions of a stay home dad - part 5

THE LONG DRIVE

My family and I recently had the occasion to drive most of the length of the North Island, returning home from visiting the relatives. It was a landmark journey - the first long haul car trip undertaken with James, whose toddlerish exuberance is still peaking.

Toddlers aren't meant to sit down for extended periods of time - it is hotwired into their developing brains to runjumpbouncecrawlswingplayshout, not sitsitsitsitsit. So the aim of the game was keeping the small person happy and by extension, us. This wasn’t just pure altruism at work either; we wanted to get to the end in one piece. Avoiding minor catastrophes in the back seat was going a long way towards avoiding a major catastrophe on the road. So we thought it out, took all those incremental lessons learnt from short trips and rolled them together into one big ball of diversionary tactics designed to get the most out of the journey for James and us. Here's what we learnt: