The creators of the KIBO™ robot kit, announced the release of the new KIBO Home Edition line. Available for a limited time, this line was created to support parents and children during the pandemic, especially those with limitations on in-person school attendance. The KIBO Home Edition Robot Kit provides families an affordable way to bring a playful, screen-free coding and engineering toy home for the holidays and for years of creative enjoyment. The affordable new KIBO Home Edition introduces young children to coding and robotics, inspiring parents, children, and siblings to engage and collaborate. With KIBO, children ages 4–7 create, design, decorate, and bring their own robot to life. Children build onto KIBO with familiar arts and crafts materials, engaging in imaginative play and storytelling that motivates and guides their learning. They can tell stories, choreograph dances, create a robotic vehicle to explore a cardboard town, create an animal habitat, and more. “We’ve heard from many parents who are struggling to find new ways to keep their children engaged and excited about learning when schooling is limited or remote,” said Jason Innes, KinderLab’s Director of Curriculum, Training, and Product Management. “Unlike so many other ‘tech toys’ for young kids, KIBO is screen-free, open-ended, and creative. KIBO is based on extensive research about how young children learn abstract concepts like coding and the design process—and that’s by getting off the screen and engaging with physical toys, movement, and concrete play.” It is super easy to get the robot to move – you just scan command cards and tell it what to do. Then you can do some really cool things with it like you’ll see in some videos here!   Botley the Coding Robot  The Botley the Coding Robot helps your child learn early STEM skills while playing and having fun. He teaches kids to code with active, screen-free play that’s perfect for promoting critical thinking and problem solving skills.  Botley is ready to code right out of the box and will have your kid coding in minutes!  Botley features completely screen-free coding; no phone or tablet required. Botley’s easy-to-use remote programmer transmits your commands and sends him rolling. Botley’s smart logic lets him detect objects in front of him and avoid them. He can also follow looping commands, take on obstacle courses, and follow black-line paths. He even has hidden features to unlock! This is a more affordable STEM robot your kids can use at home. My girls have programmed a few obstacle courses for Botley to get through and it’s been a fun STEM learning activity in our household! Vivia Colors Gift Set A perfect wholesome gift for an artist, hobbyist, or anyone who is interested in art and watercoloring. The Gift Set includes:

• 1 x Personalized Wooden Case
• 1 x Viviva Colorsheets
• 1 x Waterbrush

Every Viviva Colorsheets Set comes with:

• 16 Incredibly Vibrant Colors
• An inbuilt reusable Mixing Palette
• Special Water Resistant sheets to separate different colors
• Color-Coded sheets for easy use

Personalize this premium African Maple wooden cover set with a Name and a Message. Gift it to someone you love, or to yourself! I personally can’t wait for my oldest daughter, who loves to paint with acrylics on canvas, to come up with some amazing pieces of art using this watercolor set! 500Thames & Kosmos CREATTO™ Light-Up Crafting™ Kits Creatto™ is a simple yet versatile building system that consists of just two primary components that can be woven together into countless 3D creations. The flexible yet durable plastic tiles interlock quickly and easily for all skill levels; no additional materials or hardware required! Each Creatto kit includes assembly instructions for four different configurations, but the possibilities are limited only by your imagination. Add strings of colored LED lights to illuminate your works of art from the inside out. Creatto is available in 3 fun sizes: mini, medi, and maxi. Kids can choose to build: Moonlight Elephant Safari: Ages 6+ MSRP: $9.95; Magical Moose & Forest Friends: Ages 6+ MSRP: $9.95; Starlight Kitty & Cutie Crew: Ages 8+ MSRP: $19.95; Shimmer Shark & Ocean Pals: Ages 9+ MSRP: $29.95; Sparkle Unicorn & Friends: Ages 9+ MSRP: $29.95. With the dark days of winter, this is the perfect craft idea to keep the kids busy during Christmas break. They can display it in their rooms and add some calming light to the room to embrace the winter peace that comes during these months. EXIT EXIT: From Thames & Kosmos – The Game is a series of party games for up to four players that offers a unique, unforgettable gaming experience. These games allow you to bring the excitement, intensity, and team spirit of an escape room to your living room. In each EXIT game, your team starts out locked in an imaginary room, or trapped somewhere. You must solve a series of riddles and puzzles in order to unlock doors and reveal new riddles. Each correct solution brings you to another riddle and eventually to freedom. EXIT is constantly expanding with new stories. AGES 10+ MSRP: $14.95. I can’t wait for when my entire family is on vacation during Christmas for us to have a “family night” where we bust out this game and help eachother solve the riddles so we can have an escape room experience right in our own home! Flip Over Frog – from Hub Games Help your brightly colored frogs take control of your tiny corner of the rainforest. Pay attention and cleverly place your frog tiles, causing those around you to flip face down OR face up. When all squares are occupied, the game ends and the player with the most face-up frogs is the winner. Suitable for all ages, Flip Over Frog packs a surprisingly tactical area control game into a small portable box. Suitable for players ages 6 and up. MSRP: $15.00 Again, this sounds like a fun “family night” game that all of us will enjoy this winter! Magformers Basic Plus 14pc Set Create 3D structures from 2D nets with Magformers Basic Plus 14Pc Set. Build with 4 Squares, 8 Triangles and 2 Inner Circle Square shapes. Create houses, towers and our ‘magic ball’. Learn to build using combine, roll and pull-up techniques and see what your imagination can create! Build along with the step-by-step instructions and develop color and shape recognition, fine motor skills and problem-solving ability. The original and authentic Magformers. Perfect for brain development, critical thinking and STEM education. Follow the Step-by-step educational idea booklet for ideas and instructions. Each geometric shape contains magnets that never reject, so you’ll always hear the Magformers click. When playtime is over, use the magnetic power to simply stack and store. MSRP: $24.99; ages 3+. My daughters LOVE the Magformers sets they already have. I’m going to gift this set to my 2 1/2 year old nephew this year who I know will love creating structures using these Magformers! Air Dry Clay For Kids – 36 Colors For Slime, Molding MOM’s CHOICE AWARD RECIPIENT. Our modeling clay set passed the stringent testing and high standards of MCA and was given the Gold Award! This very soft modeling clay is great for fun based schooling to keep kids away from electronics. Easy to use – even for little hands in a kindergarten classroom. Kids will love this cool set with so many colors and it is also non-toxic, gluten and nut free; We have a Children’s Product Certificate according to CPSIA requirements Stimulating Vibrant Colors: 36 Colors in .70 oz bags (1.59lbs) with limitless ideas for new creations and the clay is reusable My daughter has been begging me for air dry clay. She wants to make different hairstyles out of it for her LEGO people!   Cocoa’s Cranky Christmas: Can You Cheer Him Up?  This delightful interactive holiday book features zany minimalist art, a grumpy dog named Cocoa, and a sleigh full of ideas for how your own little elf can cheer him up! It’s the most wonderful time of the year for everyone—except one cranky pup. What will it take for Cocoa to have some Christmas cheer? Your toddlers or preschoolers will giggle with delight when Cocoa finally gets in the Christmas spirit–thanks to their helpful coaxing!   Printerpix Choose from a range of templates to create your own custom mink touch blanket. Upload your photos or choose stock images, choose the layout, add text and clip art…make it your own and get creative with our easy-to-use online design tool. This soft and cozy mink touch blanket comes in a range of sizes and is perfect for every occasion. Decorate your baby’s nursery, cuddle up under it on the couch, throw it on the bed, keep it in the car… A great gift idea for your loved ones, these soft and silky personalized blankets are perfect for all the family! I personally have a mink touch blanket on order and can’t wait to share pictures when it arrives!   The World Needs Who You Were Made To Be – By Joanna Gaines The World Needs Who You Were Made to Be follows a group of diverse children as they each build their very own hot-air balloons. As the kids work together, leaning in to their own skills and processes, to fill the sky with beautiful colors, readers discover that the same is true for life–it’s more beautiful when our differences are celebrated! With plenty of pink, a bounty of blue, orange and green and yellow too, this vibrant hot-air balloon adventure celebrates every child’s one-of-a-kind strengths as well as teamwork and acceptance of differences. This timeless message of sharing our individual gifts is especially important in our world today. Everything can be made more beautiful when we kindly share our talents and abilities, lend a helping hand, and do our best to take care of one another. This has got to be a lesson not only for our kids, but for adults too during this season! A little more acceptance of our differences can go a long way to increase peace in this nation, during turmoil many of us have not seen in a lifetime!   Screen Grabbers From Wild Republic Screen Grabbers are the perfect “home-school” pals. Screen Grabbers provide an animal friend that decorates a computer screen and covers the camera as needed during on-line class.  Screen Grabbers can also dust your screen with a fun twist.  Choose from the six designs available this fall with more coming in the spring to add to the collection. Available on Amazon in November 2020. If your child is feeling lonely while they school from home during the pandemic, one of these screen grabbers from Wild Republic may help cheer them up!   Pillowkins from Wild Republic New from Wild Republic and considered to be the “the next teddy bear,” comes Pillowkins – fun, brightly designed pieces that combine a pillow with a plush animal to create the perfect go anywhere friend.  With twelve styles available this fall, there is one for every child.  Available on Amazon in November 2020    You’re Pulling My Leg! and You’re Pulling My Leg! Junior – This game was created by award-winning game creator Allen Wolf, lets you test your bluffing skills with completely new questions that range from thought-provoking to zany. The game can be played in person or remotely. During the game, players choose a question from the cards within the book. The secret flip of the coin tells them if their answer should be true or made up. When players hear a story, they vote points on if they think a player is telling the truth or pulling their leg. Players win points if you’re right but lose them if you’re wrong. Players try to bluff others and try not to let other players fool them. The first player to 21 points wins.You’ll be surprised how much you learn about other players in a short amount of time.  

Kiwi-Co Boxes

To try a Kiwi-Co box, you first pick a line – Tadpole, Koala, Kiwi, Atlas, Doodle, Tinker, or Eureka. Each of those is for a different age group and/or interest. The science and art projects inspire kids to become creative problem solvers. When you choose your plan, either just one box for a monthly plan, 3, 6, or 12-month plans at the cheapest at $18.50 per box. The first crate ships in 2 days. Pause or cancel anytime! You can read my full review of Kiwi-Co over here! You can use promo code MERRY for Black Friday Savings! Now thru the end of the year, save 60% off your first month with code EARLY That’s $39.95 for 3 months, $17.95 for 6 months (2 months FREE), and $159.95 for 12 months (4 months FREE)*! *savings based on $19.95 per month, Eureka and Maker crates may vary You can also save 50% off your first month when you join their e-mail list!  

TerraCycle Toy Recycling Program: 

Today VTech® and LeapFrog®, world leaders in state-of-the-art developmental learning products for children, announced the launch of a free, national recycling program for select electronic learning devices and electronic toys, in partnership with international recycling leader TerraCycle. The newly announced recycling program allows fans to easily send in select VTech and LeapFrog electronic learning devices and electronic toys to be properly disposed and recycled. For every shipment sent to TerraCycle, collectors earn points that can be donated to a non-profit, school or charitable organization of their choice. Awarded TerraCycle points can be allocated toward a variety of charitable gifts or redeemed as a payment of $0.01 per point to the non-profit organization or school of your choice. Each VTech and LeapFrog electronic learning device and electronic toy sent in will earn approximately 320 TerraCycle points and will be counted based on an average unit weight of 3.2 pounds.   I hope this list has caused some inspriation on new toys to put under the Christmas tree this year. I’d LOVE some feedback if you buy any of these as to what you and your kids thought of them! Thanks so much and Happy Holiday’s!