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Saturday, November 10, 2012

Holiday Gifts to Foster Creativity

As I've mentioned before (be sure to check out my holiday giveaway from Mama May i!), I'm done with the toys that have bells and whistles, are faddish (ie: Zoobles, Squinkies, LalaLoopsy, etc), have a million tiny pieces (Polly Pockets, Barbie) that never get played with or need to be plugged in (ie: ipods, Nintendo DS, Nooks, etc). I decided this year I wanted to think outside of the box. I want to get my kids really thoughtful, meaningful toys that will force them to use their brains, be creative, and that weren't necessarily the latest and greatest in the toy catalog. In fact, I haven't even shown my kids any toy catalogs this year except for the catalogs for Fat Brain Toys and Mindware. I looked through the Target Toy Book and the Toys R Us toy catalog on my own, and I have to say, there was not one single toy in either one that I wanted my kids to receive for Christmas, aside from Legos.

So what DID I put on my kids' wishlists this year? Some of these great items that can really get your little ones' brains working and the creativity flowing:

For my little artists:

Building Materials to foster creativity, fine motor skills, spatial reasoning and perspective:
CitiBlocs Neon (for building with a black light on)
Crazy Forts (and playsilks to cover it with)

Games & Puzzles:
Puzzle Blox This one is actually on MY list. 
But great for older kids (12+)

 What's on your kids' wishlists this year??? Happy Holiday shopping!



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3 comments:

  1. Tales of a Librarian MomNovember 12, 2012 at 8:27 PM

    HI Holly,

    I love the Crazy Forts! Do you have a place you like to get your playsilks? I've been meaning to buy them for years, but whenever I look at them I'm amazed at how much they cost!

    ReplyDelete
  2. HollyNovember 12, 2012 at 8:33 PM

    Hi Tara!

    I agree that Playsilks can be very overpriced! I'm actually going to put a "kit" together to give to Lily. I'm going to buy the playsilks here:
    http://www.dharmatrading.com/html/eng/1741-AA.shtml?lnav=scarves_silk.html#

    And use kool-aid to dye them with. So for the kit I'm going to wrap up the white playsilks with packets of kool-aid and the instructions so we can make them together.
    Here's a link to the instructions:
    http://www.gerberadesigns.com/triedandtrue/?p=390

    ReplyDelete
  3. HollyNovember 12, 2012 at 9:32 PM

    Oh! And I'll probably throw in some clothespins or clips of some kind into the kit to clip the playsilks together or to the Crazy Forts.

    ReplyDelete