play Archives - Page 2 of 4

Build & Imagine with Malia’s Beach House

My daughter loves to build. Whether we’re talking bricks, blocks, or random items she’s squirreled away just for her building purposes, she’s all about it. And, while she’s really good at following directions and building pre-designed buildings and objects, I’ve noticed that she really prefers building toys where she can be the designer. That’s where Build & Imagine sets come in.

Build & Imagine is a brand new line of magnetic construction sets that inspire kids to build whatever they would like. Their unique magnetic dual-sided building panels make it easy for even kids as young as 4 to create structures that they can play with using their included accessories and magnetic dolls.By putting your child in the role of designer and architect, you are giving them the keys to all sorts of imaginative play. They can decide what panels to utilize in their design, which rooms they want to create, and they can even decorate and play when they are done building.

Our Groovy Girls Sweet 16 Tea Party

We all want our daughters to grow up in a world where they are only limited by their own imaginations. Even in our fast-paced lifestyles, such a place still exists and it’s within the world of Groovy Girls. These colorful soft dolls are full of personality and spunk with a message to girls to be true to themselves.

This year the iconic Groovy Girls from Manhattan Toy Company are turning 16 and they are as big of a hit now as they were when they first arrived in toy stores all those years ago. In fact, Groovy Girls just won the prestigious Parents' Choice Award this year!

What we’re playing with: Schleich figures

You know how some toys are so beloved that they are returned to over and over again throughout the years? Schleich figures definitely fall into that category. These were one of the first toys we bought for my daughter, purchased so she could play with them on the long plane ride to Europe, and they are one of the few early toys that she still plays with today.

She {or maybe it was we} got so addicted to these little figures that we eventually had a drawer full, and then two drawers full, and now we've got a massive amount of these little guys.

Home sweet Lundby {SMÅLAND Swedish doll’s house review}

Home Sweet Lundby
I vividly remember when I began to think in miniature. It was one of the many summers I spent with my grandparents in their small town up north. One of our projects that summer was to build a dollhouse for my growing collection of miniatures my grandma and I had collected at swap meets and secondhand stores as well as things we had repurposed around their home that were to scale.

In my mind, my grandpa and I would make a house fit for our treasures, one with intricate details and style that was just like my cousin’s dollhouse my aunt had made from a kit. But, I will never forget when my grandpa and I started to sit down and design my dollhouse and I realized we were making a primitive A-frame house with scrap wood from the garage. My dollhouse would be without doors, windows, or details other than walls.

Don’t get me wrong, I adored the dollhouse we built that summer. It was more than a few steps up from the shelf in my room that had previously housed my miniatures, and it would be perfect for moving a play family into that didn’t mind a little bit of a fixer-upper. I played with that dollhouse for years and did my best to make it feel more homey and inviting by making my own wallpaper and adding realistic accessories.

But, my desire for a real store-bought dollhouse never went away. Even into adulthood, I would look wistfully at dollhouses that were done up to the nines and imagine my childhood dollhouse furniture I had collected filling those big, bright rooms.

In one of those searches, I found Lundby, the Swedish Doll’s House, and it was as if my childhood play family had finally found “home”. I remember bookmarking the site, emailing the link to my husband and asking him how soon was too soon to start buying dollhouses for our baby girl. We both agreed to wait a few years, but I always kept Lundby in the back of my mind.

Last fall, I lost my grandpa after a long battle with illness and I, myself, felt a little lost. My grandpa had been such a strong figure in my life growing up and I wished more than anything that I had held onto that dollhouse we made all those summers ago. I wanted something to help my daughter remember her amazing great grandfather, and wished that they could have bonded over miniatures like we had all those years ago.

So, when a package landed on my porch a few months later with a welcome letter and a “key” to a Lundby Smaland dollhouse, I was beside myself with joy. I knew this was the perfect way to introduce my daughter to the world of miniatures and to provide a link to my past at the same time.

DIY: transform your wagon into an awesome fire truck

My little guy can’t wait to grow up and fight fires and drive fire trucks. On his 3rd birthday he came running in as soon as he woke up and asked if he was old enough to be a firefighter yet, clearly thinking that 3 just had to be grown up enough to fight fires.

Although I can’t do anything about the fact that he’s still got a decade and a half before we can pursue his dream of firefighting, I can encourage him to imagine himself as a firefighting hero every day of his childhood. With the Get Real Gear Jr Fire Fighter costume from Aeromax paired with what is quite possibly the coolest kid’s ride ever, we are well on our way to helping the kids play hero whenever they want.

Hello, Step2 “Fire Wagon”!

Aeromax Get Real Gear for Halloween and beyond

Imaginations take flight with Aeromax
In our house, we take our dress up very seriously. We don’t merely have dress up time; all play time these days is done in costume. On any given day you will find the kids dressed as princesses, cowboys, knights, dragons, fairies, and doctors to go along with whatever they are playing with.

Our love of dress up lead us to fall in love with a company called Aeromax that makes the most realistic dress up gear anywhere. The kids have never been drawn to the fake costumes with plastic and overdone jewels – they want stuff that they can put on and be able to truly imagine themselves as a scientist in a lab, a police officer keeping the neighborhood safe, or a pilot flying a cargo plane full of toys.

With Aeromax Toys, pretend play has never been more realistic because even though their gear is designed for kids, this stuff is anything but child’s play. Seriously, just look at these costumes from their Get Real Gear line!

We’re talking flashing sirens, metal buckles, sewn-on patches, real buttons and snaps, and reinforced fabrics and details that look like miniature versions of the real deal stuff. For over 15 years Aeromax has been sparking imaginations with dress up clothing and gear from baby on up to adult and has received every top toy industry award.

With Halloween on the horizon, now more than ever we are thinking about costumes. But, with how much my kids love dress up year-round, I never consider shopping for Halloween at stores that carry traditional costumes. You know the kind, the ones that are made of those awful polyester fabrics and are designed to self-destruct before you even make it around the block trick or treating and with accessories so flimsy they end up being held together by tape before the big day even rolls around.

No, that won’t do at all. Our dress up gear needs to last throughout dozens of playtimes, so we need high quality stuff that’s built to be played in. Thank goodness Aeromax knows that dress up isn’t just for October 31st and has plenty of high quality gear that is made to be loved. And, trust me when I say that the gear that just arrived from Aeromax is very, very loved.

We received the Jr. Fire Fighter costume in tan, the Jr. Astronaut costume in white and then helmets for both costumes, and to say they were well received would be a vast understatement. Since my daughter is obsessed with space travel and my son is convinced he is almost old enough to fight fires, these costumes really couldn’t have been any better suited to my kids.

Step2 LifeStyle Custom Kitchen

I
am a Step2 Test Drive Blogger. I received a product in exchange for my
review and opinion. No other compensation was provided and all opinions
are 100% ours.

I spend a good deal of my time at home in the kitchen. Whether I’m making dinner, washing dishes, packing lunches, or prepping snacks, the kitchen is where you will find me. My kids have seen me in the kitchen their whole lives and love to watch me cook and prep, so it’s really no surprise how interested they are in how things work in the kitchen.

This is why they are in love with their new play kitchen from Step2 that sits right alongside my real kitchen. They play with it every single day without fail and it’s become one of the biggest draws of our whole house that the kids flock to during playtime.

I love that they adore it so much, because I love to see them figure out everyday problems like how to make stew when all you have in the fridge is a few random vegetables because someone {ahem, the little one} took everything else for his picnic in the living room.

I love watching them work out math problems by dividing foods and subtracting, and I love seeing them problem solve amongst themselves as they figure out how many foods should be allocated to picnics and how many are for the stew.

Gymboree Play & Music classes are a hit {free class thru 8/31!}

Everyone who has ever said “throw like a girl” was probably referring to me. I’ve never actually seen myself throw a ball, but I imagine it looks somewhat like this Volkswagen commercial that makes me laugh hysterically every time it comes on.

Since my lack of athletic prowess is something I hope to not pass on to my kids, I took the first preventative step this summer and signed them up for sports classes at our local Gymboree Play and Music center with a complimentary month-long membership. While they aren’t in the big leagues, or even in Little League for that matter, I love that they are learning the basics of different sports in a cooperative and fun environment with other little kids.

The class is a little over 45 minutes one day a week, but even in that short amount of time I have seen a huge improvements over the past three weeks. Not just with athletic ability, but also with confidence and a desire to be more active.

Motorworks Customizable Cars and Tri-Level Super Garage

One night my daughter came to me, head down and forlorn, and she asked, “Why don’t I love cars like Brother does?” I started by explaining that people like different things and it’s what makes us all special and unique. Then I suggested that she not focus on the one thing the two of them … Read more

What We’re Playing With: Motorworks Customizable Wooden Cars

This little car-loving guy spied something fun on the counter and asked me to get it down "so he could hug it". Clearly, he's got me all figured out. And then he noticed a second Motorworks customizable wooden toy car on the counter and of course he wanted that one, too. Because, you know, "they … Read more