Leave Your Mark

We plan on doing this for the 4th of July since the ice is barely off the Minnesota lakes for Memorial Day 2013.  For those of you in warmer climates, you may be able to kick off summer fun sooner than we can.

It is so very simple, just hot glue foam letters, numbers or shapes on the bottom of flip flops. Think of the fun – leave your mark in the sand. Hint: remember that the prints will be a mirror image, so arrange the letters backward.

Words For Wednesday

Monday’s Memories

The Etch A Sketch made its debut as The Magic Screen at a European Toy Fair in 1959.

It all began in 1950. While tinkering in his garage, French electrician Andre Cassagnes dreamed up a drawing toy that kids could shake up and start over.  The new drawing toy was made up of a joystick, glass and aluminum powder.  Before taking it to market In 1960,  it was tweaked; a  joystick with two white knobs in the left and right corners of the screen. The idea was to make the toy look like the hot new adult toy of the time: a television.  Quickly it became the most popular selling toy during the Christmas season that year.  Since then, the Ohio Art Company has sold more than 150 million of them.

The Toy Industry Association named Etch A Sketch one of the 100 most memorable and most creative toys of the 20th century.

If you have ever wondered what’s inside an Etch A Sketch, How Stuff Works will enlighten you.

Just in Case

Holiday travel is right around the corner. Just in case you’re traveling with small children, look what we have for you! The foot powered Skootcase looking much like the iconic Italian scooter wouldn’t you say? Available in pink or blue and ride ready for airports or a spin around Grandma’s house. There is plenty of room inside to store your child’s favorite things.
Plus, it features a sturdy tow strap that makes it convenient to throw over your shoulder when your child gets tired. It is approved for carry-on luggage plus boasts a full steering column and can hold up to 110 pounds.

Check out these tips for traveling with kids and beating backseat boredom. The love story video is sure to put a smile on your face.

 

 

Yesteryear’s pint size suitcase has been up-cycled to a hanging vanity.

How Do You Spot It?

Last week I, Michelle a Marketing Coordinator here at Totally Kids, took home a Spot-It! card game. I thought that the game was really fun and an excellent family game, sleepover game and a great TV substitute. Depending on who is playing the game, it can be as competitive or as relaxed as you want.

How it’s Played:

Each player starts out with one Spot-It! Card and the rest of the stack in the center of the playing space.  The idea behind playing the game is to match an item from your card to an item that is on the center stack of cards. Once you match an item, you call the item out loud and take the center card and place it on top of your current card. The card you took, then, becomes your new card. The object of the game is to obtain the most amount of cards once the center stack has run out.

I love the game because it is always a challenge for all ages. It is very difficult to adjust your brain to train your eye to look for a certain shape or size because between all the cards, the shapes and sizes of the items continue to shift. With the circle-shaped cards, there is no rest or expectation for your eye and memory.

By the time we got to the third and fourth round, we had developed quick reflexes and a strong competitive edge. If you really like card games that involve speed and challenge your brain, this game is perfect for you, your family and friends. It is a game to entertain kids and adults, none of which will get bored playing.

…………………………………………….

Judging from the above photo, looks like Amber, our customer care manager and Michelle were all about fun and games at work today. Stop in any day and challenge them to a game of spot it! Watch out though, they have been practicing.

Cast a Spell on Your Kids This Summer

Schools out, now what do you do to keep your kids from falling into the frightening world of boredom?  Lisa, from Little Bird School of Stitchcraft can show you how to cast a spell on your kids (fingers) this summer. She has a super trick for keeping little hands entertained while learning an age old craft at the same time.

Thanks Lisa for sharing your Finger Knitting post with us.

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Finger knitting is a really good way of getting children interested in wool crafts, and it is very easy to learn.  It also helps to improve a child’s dexterity and ability to concentrate.  No extra implements are required,  just fingers, the best tools in the world!  I often carry balls of yarn in my bag to pass the time in the doctors surgery or similar.

Finger knitting produces a long thin strip of stocking stitch and there are many things you can do with these strips.  In this tutorial, which is suitable for children, I will show you how to finger knit.  You can use any weight of yarn for finger knitting but for this tutorial I used chunky which produces a nice stocking stitch.

To cast on, begin with the palm of your hand facing you with the tail end of the yarn between your thumb and index finger.  Weave the yarn over your index finger and behind the middle finger then over the ring finger.  Wrap the yarn around your smallest finger and weave back to your index finger:

Weave the yarn around the index finger again and continue in the same manner but above the first rows of stitches returning to your index finger again:

Try to keep the stitches fairly loose otherwise it will be difficult for you to make the following moves.

The first row, begins with the little finger, lift the bottom row of wrapped yarn up and over the tip of your finger (see below).  Ensure that you keep the top row of wrapped yarn on your finger as you go.

Continue the process of lifting the bottom row of stitches over the top row of stitches along your hand until you get back to your index finger:

For all subsequent rows, weave the yarn around the fingers again ending with the index finger. It should look like the image below:

Beginning with the little finger, lift the bottom row of yarn over the tips of your fingers.  Continue weaving and lifting the yarn over the fingers.  As you continue the process you will see a long strip of stocking stitch appearing behind you hand:

To cast off, do not weave the work around your fingers instead, lift the stitch off the little finger and pass it across to your ring finger:

Then lift the bottom stitch over the top stitch on your ring finger.  Continue to pass the stitches across and over until you get to the index finger with one stitch remaining.

Cut the yarn, lift the stitch off the index finger and pass the end of your yarn through the stitch and pull to secure the end:

Finger knitting is very addictive and children love it for its simplicity and ease.  I have loads of strips of finger knitting laying around the house and there are lots of things that you can do with them.

For more crafty ideas, be sure to visit Lisa’s blog  Little Bird School of Stitchcraft.

Thanks again for sharing Lisa!

Recipe for Fun

Ralph, you do not have to send Alice to the moon to have this incredibly fun Moon Sand.

Did you know how easy it is to make Moon Sand, (the sand that you can mold) at home? Even with this recipe it is amazing moldable, holdable, squishable, squashable, sand that never dries out!

Now that you know there’s not need for a trip to the moon or the store, here is the recipe for DIY Moon Sand:

• 6 cups of play sand (really fine sand) found at Home Depot or Lowes

• 3 cups of cornstarch

• 1 1/2 cups of cold water

1. Mix the water and cornstarch together thoroughly, this will take a few minutes to get it nice and smooth.
2. Gradually mix in the sand, one cup at a time. You’ll need to really work it in with your fingers. Little fingers especially like assisting with this task.
3. Play with it!
4. Once mixed, store it in an airtight container.
5. When you next play with it, you may need to revive it with 2-3 tablespoons of water. Just sprinkle it over and work it in.

Play sand comes in different colors, so buy different colored bags if you wish.

__________________________

If it’s really a trip to the moon that you were looking forward to, here is the rocketship to get you there!

Blast off and have fun!

You’ll Flip Over This

Exciting new colors are now available for our classic flip chair. If you are  curious about the colors, just click on the chair to view what’s new. If you are not familiar with this popular chair, it opens to a sleeping spot. This chair will shorten any MIL visit, but is most popular with the under 10 year old set.

 

 

 

You can’t help flipping over this one, Flip to Win Hangman. It’s an all time favorite for traveling kids.

Recipe for Fun

This Friday’s no mess recipe requires no cooking, just a ziplock bag, fingerpaint, Q-Tip, and a piece of tape.

Younger children can scribble and doodle  making their own  designs. When a little older, what a great way to practice writing the alphabet.

Instructions are provided by Let’s Explore.

For on the go doodling there is the tried and true Etch A Sketch which a great travel companion.

Green Cribs and Sp-ham

Are you aware that you can not donate a drop side crib or even give it away on Craig’s List or Freecycle.

Look at this brilliant idea of an up-cycle for a defunct or whatcha gonna do with it crib! A Little Learning for Two has the the how to for “green” cribs.

On June 28, the Consumer Product Safety Commission  put new crib safety regulations into effect that not only prohibit the manufacture or sale—including resale—of traditional drop side cribs, but impose stricter guidelines for crib manufacturers.

These new standards,  will require that all cribs have fixed sides, and also require the slats to be made stronger to prevent breakage.  Safety testing will be even more stringent in proving compliance. Crib manufacturers will have to meet these new standards or face possible mandatory recalls and civil penalties.

These new mandatory standards, now gives the U. S. the most stringent crib standards in the world.   After years of advocating by many consumer groups these standards were approved in December 2010 and as of June 28, 2011 they are in effect.

This also applies to cribs used by hotels and childcare centers, although those organizations have been given an extension and won’t have to replace their cribs until December 28, 2012.

Now for a little green cribs and Sp-ham:

You grew up with the great taste of SPAM® (maybe)! Now, play SPAM™ The Dice Game. An instant classic, and it’s fun! Use the SPAM™ tin container as a dice cup and for travel.