We LOVE Shel Silverstein!

We have been reading and reading and reading Shel Silverstein books for the last month or so, and Runny Babbit is our FAVORITE! O laughs and laughs more than I have ever seen her laugh while reading a book. It is truly a classic that I'm sure we'll be reading and enjoying for years. We also really love The Missing Piece, The Missing Piece Meets the Big O, and Where The Sidewalk Ends. If you haven't read these books, you should rush to your library to check them out!

Rainbow Blocks

O's grandparents gave her this set of Rainbow Blocks for Christmas, and we were very excited about all of the creative building opportunities they would provide. The set consist of 24 blocks- 8 sand blocks, 8 bead blocks, and 8 rainbow blocks.

When I opened the box, I immediately noticed that 2 of the rainbow blocks were cracked in the middle. Soon after this discovery, O was playing with the blocks when one of them dropped...it broke. I was VERY surprised since it didn't drop far. A couple of days later, another block broke (the wooden frame broke off of the plastic middle. I think it can easily be fixed with a little wood glue.) We told O not to include these blocks when she builds her tall towers as they will surely break when she knocks the towers over.

I emailed the company about the flaws in the blocks requesting a full refund or replacement blocks. I was surprised when they emailed me back within 2 hours promising a full refund. In the email the customer service representative stated that my blocks must have come from a faulty batch, and the blocks were usually more durable and without flaws. They sent the refund immediately after I emailed my address.

We've had a great time playing with these blocks, and they work well with O's traditional set of unit blocks. However, I doubt I would buy them again knowing what I know about their quality and durability. I guess I shouldn't complain since they sent us a full refund. They definitely have great customer service!

Melissa and Doug Playdough Tools

O LOVES to play with playdough, and until she received this Melissa and Doug playdough tools set, all of her playdough tools were plastic. Since we prefer to have wooden toys for O, I was very excited to find this set of wooden playdough tools. All of the pieces are well made and seem very sturdy. She loves the different rollers (there are 3), and I love the different texture stamps. We are using the chocolate playdough, and it smelled divine! I could have played with it all day! In fact, maybe I should start carrying a little bit of this playdough around with me to help me combat my nausea that is brought on by cooking odors (and the smell of my office. Yuck!).

Beleduc Girl Body Puzzle

O's grandparents gave her this puzzle for Christmas, and she loves it. The puzzle is wooden and very sturdy, and she has learned so much from it. In fact, I need to find some of my old biology and anatomy books, so I can expand on her learning by teaching her the names of the bones and muscles.

Rainbow Glockenspiel

I was recently tagged by Jo for a product review meme. Since I already had this post saved in draft, I thought it would be perfect :) I'm REALLY bad about participating in this kind of thing, but this one worked perfectly for me.

This is what you need to do. Write a review of any kids product, it can be a toy, a book or anything which you have personally used. Pass this meme to five other blogger friends





Guh-guh and Grandpa gave O this beautiful rainbow glockenspiel from Nova Natural Toys for Christmas. It's beautifully made of wood and metal, and I think it will last for years and years. O loves to make music with it, and she and Guh-guh have fun playing "name that tune." Guh-guh plays a song, and O guesses what it is. What fun!

Twig

A generous reader sent a us a set of these blocks to try out and review. Thanks, Kelly! They are amazing! O gasped when I opened the box :) The possiblities for creative play are endless, and they are a great addition to our block collection. The colors are vibrant, and the blocks are beautifully made. The blocks are stained instead of painted, so that the wood grain is visible. These blocks will be around for O's children and maybe even her grandchildren one day!
Twig blocks are fun for all ages! Elliott, Guh-guh, O, and I have all enjoyed creating different structures :) O especially loves to build houses and tall buildings which she then joyfully knocks down! Here is a link to Matt's, the creator of Twig, website and the story behind their journey from Etsy to Fat Brain Toys at Ohdeedoh.










 

Teeny Tiny Food Erasers

I LOVE these teeny tiny food erasers! They are made in Japan, and I bought them at a Japanese store in Epcot when we were vacationing in Disneyworld in November. O loves them, too and plays with them almost everyday, but I have to admit that I got them more for me than her :) O enjoys feeding the delicious treats to her dollhouse people :) I bought one of each set (about 6), and I'm going to give O the sets one at a time at Easter and Christmas. You can find them here. I'm surprised that they were much cheaper at Disneyworld...about 3 or 4 dollars per set. Enjoy!

Guidecraft Castle Table Top Blocks

My dad gave O this set of castle blocks for Christmas, and we have had a lot of fun with them! O likes to build castles for Cinderella and the Prince :) These blocks are very well-made, and I think they will last forever!

They are a good bit smaller than her unit blocks, but we still mix the sets together to make really big castles! Playing with blocks is one of O's all time favorite activities :)

The storage case that the blocks arrived in was cracked, so I called Guidecraft and asked them to send a replacement. Their customer service is fantastic. They were VERY nice and immediately sent out a replacement storage container. I like to buy Guidecraft items since I know I can count on them to replace any missing or defective parts. O's Kitchen Helper is also made by Guidecraft, and they were wonderful about sending 2 replacement Kitchen Helpers when the only thing missing were the screws. I'm still shocked by that!

Bilingual Zingo

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We LOVE Zingo! My friend, Becca, sent this fantastic game to O for Christmas. We let her open in on Christmas Eve along with a few special presents from us (we didn't want it to get overlooked in the craziness of Christmas day). I'm so glad we let her open it early. We were all so excited about it that we immediately played the game. We had a great time, and O caught on quickly. We are going to play in English for a while before we switch to Spanish, but I think it's going to be GREAT for all of us to practice our Spanish vocabulary. I highly recommend this very fun game! Thanks, Becca!!!

Story Time Felts

We LOVE the Terrific Twin Toddler Felt Dolls! My 4 year old niece, M, and O (28 months) were very excited when I told them that I had a new toy for them to try out this morning. They played with the dolls for quite a while. I love how focused and quiet they were while playing! My sister tried to get M to watch the Thanksgiving Day Parade on tv, but she didn't want to stop playing with the dolls. She finished her dinner quickly and immediately went back to playing with the dolls :) O and I had fun playing together, and I really like that the dolls are thick enough that you can dress them and then walk them around like they are figurines. We had so much fun!


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I really like that the dolls are made of VERY thick felt. This makes it easier and more fun to play with them like figurines instead of on a felt board.

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This is the tote that the dolls are stored in.

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M LOVES the dolls even more than O does. My sister is definitely getting her a set of the dolls for Christmas! I love buying gifts for O that are well-made, open ended, and inspire creative play. These dolls definitely meet all of my criteria :) I also really like the photo dolls in felt. These dolls would be a fun keepsake :)

An Upcoming Review

I just received a set of the Terrific Twins Toddler Felt Dolls from Story Time Felts, and I can't wait to write a review on them for all of you. I've been very interested in getting these dolls for O because I love paper dolls, but I'm afraid that she is a little young for them (28 months). Felt paper dolls are the perfect solution! I emailed the owner of the company asking if she would send a set of dolls for me to review. I wasn't really expecting to hear back from her at all, so imagine my surprise when she emailed me back within 10 minutes and said she'd love to send the dolls!!! I was shocked and happy :) The dolls arrived while we were at Disneyworld, but Elliott brought them to us tonight (we are still at O's Guh-guh and Grandpa's house). I was immediately impressed by several things: the dolls and their accessories are packaged in a see through bag (I love it when toys come with storage bags!); I was expecting the dolls to be made of regular felt, but they are actually VERY thick and sturdy; and the clothing and accessories are adorable and very well made (read here to see more about the product and process). I can't wait until tomorrow when I show the dolls to the girls (my niece and O). I hope they love them as much as I do. I'll let you know!

Don't Buy This Sand Box!

O was given a Play Wonder sandbox from Target for her 1st birthday, and we have been very happy with it for the past 10 months. 2 days ago we decided to move it to a different place in the yard. When we picked it up we saw that it had been infested with hungry termites. They did a terrible amount of damage, and if we had not picked up the sand box and seen the damage, they probably would have destroyed it beyond repair within the next few months or so. Luckily, we discovered the damage, and hopefully we've put a stop to it. We'll see!