I will never forget the first time I read Johnny Tremain, one of the great Newbery award winning children’s books by Esther Forbes.  I was transported to Boston at the time of the American Revolution.  I soaked up every word and lived every moment.  The story created in me a life-long love of the time period and the people and stories therein.  The story — told with such wonder by Ms. Forbes — is still so clear in my mind that I could relate it to you today without missing a scene.

One of the best ways to help your children succeed in school is to help them be good readers.  Whatever the subject — even math — students have a better opportunity to do well when they read well.  Social Studies, History, Science, and certainly English and other languages are built on reading.  It sounds simplistic, but good reading skills are developed by reading, and award winning childrens books are the place to start.  Build your childs vocabulary, help them with comprehension, and teach them to evaluate outcomes and approach new ideas with a well-rounded background in outsanding literature.

Children have all sorts of wonderful information available to them from television and the internet.  It can become something of a trap to let others tell you how to think and what to believe.  Short tidbits and quick soundbites are fun and easy, but do very little to develop an ablilty to understand extended concepts or appreciate the arc of a wonderful story.  To go fishing with Sterling and Rascal or fight the Nothing with Meg and Charles Wallace, one must open a book — an award winning children’s book.

Good writing captures the imagination and stirs the soul.  It can move young readers to a clearer understanding of their own place in the world.  It can also just entertain, enlighten, or enliven the reader.  This is the sort of story-telling that we have come to expect from Caldecott and Newbery award winners, the best of award winning children’s books.  Search through the ones below to choose from old favorites and new selections.  Find the tales that appeal to you or to the youngsters in your life.  Serve up a new one every few weeks.  Sit down and experience the joy of great books with your child or grandchild.  You could watch a tv show or movie — or read a book together.  I recommend a good book, especially one of these terrific award winning children’s books.  Get yours today!

Here are some wonderful Newbery award winners for your consideration:

And for the younger set, Caldecott selections.

As a young child, I absolutely loved to play with kids construction toys.  As funny as it sounds, they were just the most important thing to me when I was a preschooler.  I was not concerned with movies or even playing outside with my friends.  You see, for me, kids construction toys like Lego or blocks meant that I could build things that were in my imagination and that was the best part of all.  Kids construction toys will never go out of style, and now I can provide the same sort of toys for my own kids, which is great.

When you begin to shop for kids construction toys you will want to look for some of the top names in the business such as Lego or Duplo.  Lego has recently begun to reinvent itself with multiple adaptations of famous movies including Star Wars and Indiana Jones.  This combination of powerful pop culture icons has essentially brought Lego back from the dead and made it a great deal of fun for some of the older children to get involved with — construction toys!  The Lego Star Wars phenomenon has gone so far as to spawn video games and rides at Legoland.  Who said kids construction toys were confined to your room?

Of course, the more basic kids construction toys could include train set toys and building blocks, which provide such a wide variety of play for many.  Simple blocks improve gross and fine motor skills as well as incrreasing the capacity to problem solve.  In fact, I recommend kids construction toys as some of the best toddler toys you can invest in early on.  If you invest in a good set of blocks you undoubtedly will get your money’s worth because they will be played with again and again.

Another group in the variety of kids construction toys is based on connectable types of products that are different from the old school norm.  Essentially, these are creative toys that allow children to construct things using bendable materials.  These can be manipulatives as well as play-doh and moon sand.  They may not come to mind immediately in the same category as Legos, but I like to think of these as kids construction toys because at the end of the day they are building things with them and lend themselves to teaching the same ideas.

I would recommend that parents acquire a good solid core selection of kids construction toys so that they are able to really help stimulate their children’s ideas and creativity.  You don’t have to stick with the standard accepted ideas for them.  Think outside the box with your kids construction toys — they will thank you in the long run!

There’s so much to do at the LEGO® City Airport! Enter the terminal through the revolving doors, check in at the ticket desk, go through the security checkpoint with X-ray machine, and relax in the café and lounge while you wait for the call to board your flight. Once the go-ahead comes through from the Control Tower, you’re all cleared for take-off, and it’s off on another adventure! Includes jet plane, flight terminal, control tower, baggage cart, passengers, crew and more! Includes 5 minifigures: passenger, pilot, flight attendant, steward and service man Includes airplane, terminal, control tower, baggage cart, crew, passengers Open the revolving doors on the terminal! Terminal measures over 10" (25cm) long and over 10" (25cm) tall Airplane measures over 20" (50cm) long and over 7" (17cm) tall.

Check out our Lego page here.

Wood Construction Site

Our exclusive three level Wooden Construction Site stands a towering 24" tall and comes complete with husky wood girders, 12 assorted blocks, decals, and laminated wood ramp. Load up the working crane and hoist supplies up to the top! The set provides youngsters with open-ended play while simulating a real construction site. Build their imaginations! (Tonka trucks not included.) Manufacturer requires 2-5 business days to process all orders.

We have more great wooden construction sets at our Back to Basics page.

Lincoln Logs Bicentennial Edition

Special price on our Lincoln Logs Bicentennial edition! These simple all wood Lincoln Logs are as popular today as they were in the past. Each of these redwood stained Lincoln Logs has a flat top and notched edge so they stack and interlock just like real frontier cut timber. These Lincoln Logs are more authentic than ever with every piece in wood including the red chimneys, eaves, green roof boards and floor planks. Packed the way they used to come – in a big tin storage container.Ages 3 and up.By K’NEX

More Lincoln Logs and lots of great toys from Kazoo Toys here.

Since the dawn of mankind children’s dolls have been consuming little girls everywhere with their every waking moment.  Those of you with a daughter you will understand just how much these children’s dolls means to them.  My daughter for instance has a children’s doll that she has had for about six years now and refuses to go anywhere without her.  It was not until recently however did I actually learn about how scientifically these dolls are actually a boon to little girls (and boys by the way) everywhere.  Compared to a decade or two ago the children’s dolls that are on the market right now are simply amazing with features you never knew they needed!

I remember having friends who loved to play with simple dolls that perfomed their basic duties well.  In other words they looked like dolls and played like dolls.  Nowadays the children’s dolls we see our own children play with are much more complex and are even more lifelike than ever.  From companies offering to build a doll in your childs likeness to baby dolls that really do act like real babies some of the designs are outrageous!  Even though it seems like the dolls we have to choose from today are scary complicated they are actually helping our little ones develop much better a sense of companionship and caring.

Recent research suggests that by having children’s dolls that they play with in your home they will learn much more how to take care of one another.  Furthermore as the more complicated dolls emerge requiring more attention we could start to see a decline in the number of young girls wanting young babies of their own.  As crazy as that research sounds it does make a lot of sense to encourage doll play at an early age.  Finding the right children’s doll is obviously going to depend entirely on the type of child you have and their interests so include them in the process if you can.

When shopping for a children’s doll as I previously mentioned you would be wise to include your son or daughter in the process.  If you include them in the process what I have found is that they will be that much more bought into the particular product you are buying.  Now of course this may not be practical if shopping for a surprise gift but think of unique ways to get them to see a few children’s dolls.

As one of the most endearing toys for young children, children’s dolls will always have a place in the hearts of children around the world.  Now we know that children’s dolls are more than just toys: they actually help our children to live better lives.
 

Baby educational toys are some of the most important items you can get (next to diapers of course!) for your newborn baby.  Having the right kind of baby educational toys can really help promote the right kind of development for your young one.  As we continue to research more and more about the science of learning we begin to understand that the more a baby can interact with items at a young age the smarter they become.  The right baby educational toys will stimulate, entertain and help develop your baby’s mind.

Probably some of the most important baby educational toys come in the form of blocks or shapes that can be sorted and played with.  Blocks are the foundation (pun intended) for early learning in much the same way as they are for construction.  It may seem simple but this baby educational toy is actually doing more than just teaching them how to build.  As a baby, playing with blocks helps stimulate their gross and fine motor skills and also color recognition.  While your baby may not be able to hold them properly they are still learning while they attempt to.

Buying baby educational toys that also entertain is sometimes overlooked by overzealous parents who only want strictly learning activities.  To those parents I often tell them that even during play your baby is learning and grasping concepts.  If the educational toy is too complex it won’t entertain them and therefore they won’t want to play with it anymore.  On the flip side it also does no good to simply stick with entertaining toys only.  You will have to find a balance in the educational baby toys that you buy so you get the right mix of strict learning and play learning.

Developing your baby’s mind with the use of educational toys is not a new concept by any means but just how much they develop based on their play is.  Often times even the smallest toy can be the most exciting for a baby (although steer away from choking hazards please) and that excitement creates new neuropathways and connections between the brain.  You see this is all very scientific stuff the development of brains through educational toys.

At the end of the day baby educational toys should be picked based on their contribution to your family life and your baby themselves.  You should know them well enough that they may not like that award winning children’s toy or construction toy but whatever the case is as long as they are playing with it they are learning.  Baby educational toys are paramount to the learning and development process they go through every day.

IQ Knock Knock Blocks by IQ Baby Build, explore, and discover! IQ Baby Knock-Knock Blocks are 3" fabric-covered foam blocks. They are easy to stack and are filled with lots of windows and doors that are fun to explore. The blocks contain sounds of crinkles and squeaks that are fascinating to discover. The set contains 4 black and white triangles and 8 colorful cubes.Ages Birth and up.By Small World Toys

Number Bug by Brainy Baby 3 colorful number buttons teach counting and shapes Light-up antenna flashes to the beat Rolling-activated musical beat keeps count Requires (2) AAA batteries; not includedAges 3 months and upBy Brainy Baby

Preschool DVD Multi-Pack by Brainy Baby (ABC, 123, Art, Music, Animals, Shapes) Brainy Baby DVDs included 6 preschool DVD’s in one package. Set offers ABC’s, 123′s, Art, Music, Animals, and Shapes & Colors. Over 5 hours of fun!Ages 1 to 5.By Brainy Baby

IQ Busy Bee Playmat by IQ Baby Busy Bee Playmat by IQ Baby has bright colors and textures to stimulate baby’s senses for hours.Ages Birth and up.By Small World Toys

IQ Storybook Station Activity Toy by IQ Baby Storybook Station Activity Toy by IQ Baby has six different, themed sides, with discovery around every corner! Magic mirror, musical storybook, fun animal house, toy phone, car game and more! Dozens of different sounds, including a keyboard that switches from key tones to wacky sound effects. Convenient carrying handle. Requires 3 AA batteries, included.Ages 1 and up.By Small World Toys

Bearthoven Musical Bear by Brainy Baby Cuddly plush bear inspires early creativity with imaginative light-up shows Playtime mode engages with upbeat music and colorful confetti show Sleepy time mode soothes with calming dream show and classical music Requires (3) AA batteries; batteries not included with purchase.Ages 0 and upBy Brainy Baby

Baby Ride & Read by Edushape Baby Ride & Read by Edushape will enable babies to explore discover, visualize and verbalize and so much. Your baby will have fun learning and will enjoy hours of fun in this take along toy. Take along soft plush toy attached to your stroller, car seats or crib rail. Complete with teether, music, mirror, squeaker and more. Ages 6 months and up.By Edushape

Baby Educational Toys — just one way to give your child the best start possible in life. 

What wouldn’t you do for the babies in your life?  You hold them, love them, check to make sure they’re breathing.  You bathe them, feed them, change them.  You smell them, kiss them, and you put them in the crib when you’re afraid you’ll squeeze them too tightly.

But you also want to give them everything you can to help them have a good start.  You want them to smile and laugh and learn.  You want fifth grade to be easy, so you start now.  Choose baby educational toys to kick-start those little minds — so that they’ll be big thinkers later on.

Anyway, building sets are great educational fun.  K’Nex and Nitendo are going into business together.  The results should be very cool.

K’Nex has announced a licensing partnership with Nintendo. Through the partnership, K’Nex will create building toys inspired by inspired by Mario Kart Wii. The building toys will use characters from the Mario Kart game including Mario, Luigi, Yoshi, Princess Peach and Bowser.

Michael Araten, president of K’Nex, said, "Our partnership with Nintendo is a win-win,. It lets K’Nex bring popular and recognizable characters to life in a new way and provides an opportunity for kids to interact with Nintendo outside of the gaming console."

The new K’Nex Nintendo line will be available at all major retailers in 2011. The building sets will be designed for children ages 6+.