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Buy it: Melissa & Doug Sunny Patch Blossom Bright Sprinkler
My five-year-old daughter Ally isn’t like most kids. She doesn’t like to just run through the sprinkler and get soaking wet and sprayed with water from every angle.
She’s pretty timid around water. She doesn’t like to get her face wet at all and she doesn’t enjoy any surprise splashes of water.
So when I went looking for a sprinkler for her to play in, I was disappointed to see that most children’s sprinkler toys today spin or flail around, spraying water unpredictably in any direction.
But my prayers were answered when I finally found the Melissa & Doug Sunny Patch Blossom Bright Sprinkler. This sprinkler just sprays a nice simple fountain of water and nothing more. And since we can adjust the height of the water, Ally now happily jumps through a fountain that hits at about chest height.
Not only is this the perfect sprinkler for a more timid child like mine, but it’s also adorable, soft and durable. The sprinkler looks like a collection of pink flowers. The flowers are soft though, which is great when Ally accidentally steps right on the sprinkler.
I would highly recommend this sprinkler!
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Buy it: iPlay Stomp Launcher
The iPlay Stomp Launcher is a very easy to operate and durable stomp rocket for young children.
I got this stomp launcher for my five-year-old daughter, Ally, for a camping trip. It turned out to be a fun outdoor toy for camping and continues to be fun in the backyard.
This toy is very simple to set-up and operate. Ally was immediately able to place the rocket on the launcher and launch it without any help. The safe foam rockets have stood up to being launched and crashed several times and they have held up great.
It has also been a wonderful science lesson since Ally quickly figured out that the strength of her stomp determines how much air is pushed through the tube which therefore determines how high the rockets fly.
This toy is very affordable and is recommended for ages 3 and up.
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Buy it: Insect Lore Ladybug Land
For kids who enjoy watching bugs and trying to capture them, the Insect Lore Ladybug Land makes it easy and fun.
My daughter Ally, 5, loved taking care of a caterpillar last summer and watching it transform into a butterfly. So when she got the Ladybug Land, she was thrilled to try her hand at raising ladybugs.
And the Insect Lore Ladybug Land makes it so simple. Our Ladybug Land came with a coupon which allowed us to order the live ladybug larvae, shipped right to our mailbox. Then we simply opened the top of our Ladybug Land and dropped in the live larvae and food. All we had to do to maintain the ladybugs was to regularly add a few drops of water.
Each day, Ally and I watched as the larvae grew, explored the ladybug land, reached the pupa stage and hung from the dome, and eventually emerged as adult ladybugs. There is a magnifying glass built into the top of the dome, so kids can get a closer look.
Ally watched with amazement as the ladybugs went through each stage and loved dropping in raisins to feed the adult ladybugs. We ended up with seven adult ladybugs in the end.
This fun and educational toy is a great way to allow little ones to experience the wonders of nature up close.
Ally is looking forward to setting our ladybugs free in the backyard soon and can’t wait to try another of the Insect Lore kits. Who knows what creepy crawly creatures we’ll be raising next…
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Buy it: Do-A-Dot Art Set
The Do-A-Dot Art Set is a fun and clever spin on traditional paints, markers and stamps, without the mess.
Each set includes six sponge-tip bottles with the paint inside. Children can simply stamp the bottle down on the paper for a dot of paint or they can slide it across the paper to make lines or other designs.
These applicators eliminate the need for cups and paintbrushes and they also eliminate any potential spills and messes.
And these paints last a long time. My daughter Ally got her set when she was 2 years old. Now at the age of 5, she’s still using that same set.
The paint is washable and the applicators are very easy to use and just the right size for young children. The set is recommended for ages 3 and up.
Ally loves these paints and the “dot” designs she can make with them. She has made some very creative art projects turning the dots into pictures.
Do-A-Dot books are also available, with pictures children can paint using these special applicators. But they are just as much fun on plain white paper.
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Buy it: Orb Factory Sticky Mosaics Jewelry Box
The Orb Factory Sticky Mosaics Jewelry Box is a fun craft project and a great lesson in fine motor skills.
The jewelry box has a decorate-by-number pattern on each side. The child can stick on the included jewels and sticky foam pieces to create the butterfly designs.
My daughter Ally, who is almost 5 years old, loved this toy both as an art project and her first jewelry box. She happily peeled and stuck the jewels and foam pieces for hours. The toy’s recommended age is 6 and up and I would agree with that. Ally is still a little young to have the patience for a project like this and sometimes got frustrated trying to place some of the tiny pieces. But with my help, we were able to finish it.
Ally loves the jewelry box and it seems pretty sturdy. It features a lift-up lid and a drawer that slides out. We’ve only had the jewelry box for a couple of weeks, but so far the jewels and foam pieces are staying on just fine.
I would definitely recommend this toy for girls 6 and up or for younger girls who have the patience and fine motor skills for the project.
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Buy it: Alex Toys Crafty Fashion Show
The Alex Toys Crafty Fashion Show makes a great arts and crafts project, a wonderful rainy day toy and a perfect (and inexpensive) gift for little girls.
My daughter Ally, 4, loves doing craft projects and also loves fashion and dress-up so she was thrilled with this toy.
And as a mom who is not great at crafts, I loved that this kit is practically fool-proof. The kit includes four very-sturdy 14″ paper dolls as well as pre-cut clothes and accessories for each. Each doll’s outfit, as well as any and-on accessories like stickers, ribbons and pom-poms, are all packaged together into four separate kits inside the box, so you can work on making one doll at a time without making a mess of everything.
Everything you need to make the dolls is in the box, including a glue stick, crayons and very simple instructions.
But whether your child decides to follow the instructions exactly, or whether she decides to do her own thing, these paper dolls will turn out adorable either way. Ally followed some of the instructions, but also found ways to make them her own.
I love that the four dolls are ethnically-diverse and have a variety of clothing styles.
The dolls are certainly sturdy enough to hold up to being played with, but Ally likes to just display them as decorations in her room.
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Buy it: Learning Resources Pretend & Play Cash Register
The Learning Resources Pretend & Play calculator cash register is an excellent toy and a great choice for little kids who like to play store.
My daughter Ally, age 4, got this for Christmas this year and I was really impressed with its quality. First of all, it is solar-powered so no batteries are required – ever!
It comes with realistic-looking play money in bills and coins, which fit nicely into the divided cash drawer. I’ve found it is a great toy for teaching that different bills and coins have different values. It also comes with a credit card, notepad and activity book.
The buttons beep when pushed and the drawers slides open with a satisfying ding. This is also a great toy for teaching children how to use a calculator.
Ally loves this toy and enjoys using it to play store. I love its great quality and knowing that it will never suffer from dead batteries. In fact, I chose this cash register over others because I saw it being used in my daughter’s preschool classroom and at our local children’s museum. I figured if it could stand up to that kind of daily wear and tear, than it would certainly hold up to Ally’s play-times.
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Buy it: Pretend & Play Doctor Set
My daughter Ally, age 4, has recently become very interested doctors and the different tools they use to examine their patients.
So my husband and I shopped around for a good doctor set to give Ally for Christmas. And we found a great one in the Pretend & Play Doctor Set. The set includes 18 different doctor tools. It features a stethoscope that makes a heartbeat or coughing sound when pressed to a “patient’s” chest as well as a cell phone and beeper, which make realistic sounds.
In addition, the doctor set includes items like a thermometer, syringe, blood pressure cuff, ear scope, bandages and more. It also comes with a sturdy case to keep all the items together.
Ally has loved using this set to examine and operate on her dolls and stuffed animals. She loves listening to the “heartbeat” best of all.
My husband and I love that this toy has been great for Ally’s imaginative play. And it’s also teaching her about the different tools a doctor uses to examine her body and keep her healthy.
This is a high quality doctor set, with a great variety of items. I would definitely recommend it for any parent with a “little doctor” at home.
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Buy it: CooCoo The Rocking Clown
CooCoo, the Rocking Clown, is a fun game for children and parents and makes a great addition to family game nights.
CooCoo is a wooden clown that rocks from side to side as players try to place wooden balls on his arms, head and feet. The different-sized balls add different weight, so if players aren’t careful they can cause CooCoo to tip over and drop all the balls.
This is a fun game that teaches children about the principles of balance and weight. My daughter Ally, age 4, quickly realized that the biggest ball would cause CooCoo to tip the most to one side.
What’s great about this game, which is for ages 3 and up, is my husband and I had just as much fun playing with CooCoo as Ally did. It’s rare to find a children’s game that appeals to both parents and children, but this one does.
Another great feature is that a child can also play with CooCoo by themselves. The game is for 1 to 6 players.
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Buy it: eeBoo Tell Me a Story
The eeBoo Tell Me a Story cards are the perfect example of the most simple toys being the best.
A friend of mine gave my daughter Ally, age 4, the Tell Me a Story “Mystery in the Forest” cards for Christmas this year. The set includes 36 beautifully illustrated flash cards which show different scenes of a story. Ally’s set includes picture of a princess, forest animals, a castle and party scenes.
There are no words on the cards and the point of the game is to make up stories using just the pictures as a guide. Ally loved this game instantly. We played it over and over and were amazed that every time we made up with a completely different story to tell, even though the cards were the same.
The Tell Me a Story cards can be used in different ways. A child can use the cards to make up an entire story on their own. Or a parent can use the cards to create a story to tell their child. Or multiple players can take turns drawing cards and making up a piece of a story that everyone adds to.
Ally and I like to take turns drawing a card out of the pile and finding a way for the scene that is pictured to fit into the story we’ve been telling.
This game is great for teaching children about sequencing, listening and vocabulary as well as using their imagination. There are a variety of these card sets available, including Fairy Tale Mix-Up and Little Robot’s Mission, so parents should be able to find one that their child will enjoy.
