If you spend a great deal of time going from point A to point B, having some wonderful stories and music to listen to can make the journey part of the fun (even if it's just coming home for school, soccer or Grandma's house).  As you know we complain most about this aspect of what we review.  So much of children's audio is really annoying...sugary sweet and full of good-for-you-messages. When we started reviewing children's audio, we literally used to sit in the car and anyone (young or old) could throw the audio out of the car. (The car was parked.)  After several afternoons in the car, the lawn would be full of rejects.  While we don't do that anymore (it is so not green), we do have the same high standards.  So a special congratulations to the winners this year!  Click here to see our list of award winners!

Matchbox Monty a bit bored by Tonka Chuck...

If you have a child with ADHD on your gift list, finding the right toy can feel more challenging. Here are our basic guidelines to keep in mind when you're shopping.  Our recommendation is to share these tips with family members!  We also have listed some of our favorites. Click here to read more.

eeBoo is one of our favorite game and puzzle companies. Founder Mia Galison has brought some of today's top illustrators to the world of boardgames and puzzles. As a result the products have a lovely retro feel to them. While so many games have cartoonish looks--these are happily and decidedly artistic. The art is married with games that are age appropriate for preschoolers and early school age kids. Read the interview.

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.

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.

School skills in preschool? Sounds ridiculous. In fact for most of us, preschool was not about academic skills.  We were introduced to some concepts, but it was really more about learning how to be part of a group.  Today's preschoolers have a heavier diet of academic skills...colors, numbers, letters, etc. Here are some ways of helping that are age appropriate.

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?