Stephanie appeared this morning on the Today Show with Natalie Morales and shared some of the year's best educational toys that help build important skills - featuring products from Lego, Blue Orange Games, Playmobil, Leapfrog, Silver Dolphin, Eeboo, I Can Do That Games, Briarpatch, Gamewright and Citiblocks. 

You can watch her here! The full article with details on all the products she demonstrated can be found at our site.

Now that school is in full swing, many parents grow increasingly concerned about their child's handwriting. For some kids, they have the fine motor skills early on---for others it seems as if they are practicing to be a doctor!  Here are some tips for helping your child develop better handwriting skills. You may be surprised by what's on our list.

One of the best ways to excite kids about science is to make it a hands-on experience. Here are some of  our favorite picks. Many require some adult involvement - providing a chance to make discoveries together.  Others give you an opportunity to talk about the wonders of nature. Read more here.

As part of our new Meet the Toy Makers series, we turned our attention to the land of dolls...

Jodi Norgaard recently launched  Dream Big Toy Company (a great name!)...so we asked her about her journey... and how she came to create a fun line of dolls called Go! Go! Sports Dolls. Read the interview.

Sleepovers are parent intensive events-so, if you are having a heavy work week- better to say we'll do it another time. If you are having it- you need to have a game plan. Kids come to these events with lots of energy. Part of your plan needs to involve using some of that energy.

As the holidays approach, most parents also want to teach their kids that giving to others is also part of the season. With some planning giving can be as much fun as receiving. You don't need to be a dedicated crafts person or have hours of free time to do this - many innovative kits come with all the materials and directions to walk you through.

For kids it often comes as a shock that learning to read does not come instantly; neither does writing or remembering your multiplication tables. It still takes a full year for your birthday to roll around, you can't make Christmas come until December 25th, and a new tooth doesn't come in until it's ready. Helping kids deal with delays and frustration are major life lessons that they will need in school, work and as members of a family.

So how can we give this powerful virtue to our kids?

Faced with a rainy day or a day off from school...and you start hearing the refrain..."We're bored!!"  No worries--we have some great ideas for entertaining the troops. Here are some of our favorites.

Whether you have a crawling baby or a video game addicted tween, it's important to carve out space where you get to play together!  As silly as it sounds, with everyone's busy schedules play time often gets taken off the "to do" list.   While we spend so much time making sure that everyone is doing all their "work"...the time we spend laughing with our kids  is just as important.

Looking for ideas for outdoor fun? Whether you are the "it" house in your neighborhood or if you're planning a family get together, we have some great games and equipment that can bring everyone together.