The scooter that will grow with your child

Micro Kickboard provided me with this product for review.  This is a great way for kids to get in some exercise.  The 3 non marking wheels allow them to ride this inside the safety of your home without the worry of destroying your floor!  And you'll love that there is no assembly required!  Simply insert the T bar into the deck and your kids are ready to ride!  The supplied hex wrench ensures that parents are able to adjust the T bar to the desired height and tighten before riding.  You can find a dealer near you by using the dealer locator on the Micro Kickboard website.

The Maxi Deluxe is the perfect Easter gift for kids age 5-12.  Kids love scooters and this one will grow with them.  This scooter has won several awards:  Oppenheim Toy Portfolio Gold Award Seal and Platinum Seal (2009), parents Choice Approved (2010), Universal Design Award and Universal Design Consumer Favorite (2009) and Red Dot Design Award (2009).  It has an anodized stem for extra protection against wear and tear, a unique silicone injected footplate for improved grip and an adjustable T bar.  

Impeccable Swiss engineering, thoughtful attention to detail and innovative design makes this a scooter to bring on every adventure!  It was designed with the lean to steer design, which is the safest and most fun way for kids to ride.  The T bar provides stability as children steer by using their body weight to lean right or left.  It's safety certified by the CPSC, the Maxi Deluxe is recommended for children up to 110 lbs.

This would be a great Easter gift for any child.  Your kids will love you for it and they will think you're the coolest parent ever!

These Crayola products are perfect for Easter!

These products were provided to me by Crayola for review.  Crayola products are always a big hit for Easter, and these are no exception. 

Any little girl would love the Scribble Scrubbie Peculiar Pets Palace.  The foldable palace shaped playset doubles as a carrying case and storage box.  The set features two Peculiar Pets (a unicorn and a yeti) to color and clean.  It includes 3 Ultra Clean Washable Markets, 2 Peculiar Pets, scrub brush and a small tub.  It is recommended for children age 3 and over.  It is available now on the Crayola website and Target stores.  It will be available at other retailers in June 2020.  The suggested retail price is $14.99.

   
Color Wonder Mess Free Trolls World Tour Coloring Pages and Markers are loved by kids and parents alike.  Kids love them because they are fun, parents love them because they don't make a mess.  The special Color Wonder Markers will only write on the special Color Wonder Paper.  They won't write on clothes, furniture, walls or anything else!  This set includes 18 Trolls World Tour Coloring Pages and 5 Color Wonder Markers.  The handy folder style packaging works as reusable storage for your coloring pages and markers when creating time is over.  Works with all Color Wonder Paints, Markers and Stamps.  If your child loves Dreamworks' Trolls, this is the perfect gift for him or her!  Recommended for ages 3 and up and has a suggested retail price of $7.99.  Available at retailers nationwide and from the Crayola website.

The Color Wonder Mess Free Activity Pad is perfect to take along with you when you travel.  Choose from Puppy Dog Pals (pictured above) or Fancy Nancy (pictured below).

Infuse fun into every car, plane or train ride with the easy, on the go coloring activity for kids.  Makes a great gift for girls and boys.  The will delight in watching as colors magically appear on their favorite characters!  Each set includes 16 Color Wonder Coloring Pages, 3 Mini Color Wonder Markers and built in storage.  They are ideal for ages 3 and up.  Available now on the Crayola website and retailers nationwide for the suggested retail price of $4.99 each.

These toys will put a Grin on your face!

I received these awesome products from Grin Studios for review.  Just like their name suggests, these products will put a Grin on your face!  These toys are available at Walmart, Target, Meijer and a host of other retail stores!
 
Every"bunny" loves a contemporary twist on classic Easter Basket gifts, and POOPCHI's Friends are just the kind of on trend plush kids can really go for!  Specially styled for the Spring season, POOPCHI's Friends Chicks and Bunnies are available in three different colors in their full 6" size, as well as in three exclusive mini 4" Li'l POOPCHI's Friends options, featuring a Chick, Lamb and Bunny.  The 6" POOPCHI's Friends Seasonal has a suggested retail price of $6 each and the 4" Li'l POOPCHI's Friends have a suggested retail price of $5 each.  

These Light Up Bouncy Balls are perfect for Easter.  Each ball has a festive Easter character inside.  When you bounce the ball, it activates an LED light up effect.  The suggested retail price is $4 each.

Press the button on the handle to activate the snow globe.  Your kids would be so excited to find one of these in their Easter Baskets!  The suggested retail price is $6 each.

More puzzles to exercise your brain!

Professor Puzzle provided me with these products for review.  With the schools being closed and people staying at home, keep your brain from being idle with these puzzles.

 
The Puzzling Obscurities will put your problem solving skills to the test with this exlectic mix of 10 pocket sized puzzles.  Get those synapses firing with this scorching set filled with over 60 challenges that are designed to spark your curiosity and your mind.  From the Rings of Fire to the Trapeze, each matchbox contains a different little brainteaser to solve.  Once you've mastered them all, see if you can use the wooden sticks to solve the 50 matchstick challenges listed on the cards.  It's the ultimate in brain bafflement!

 

Puzzle And Perplex is a set of 10 Ultimate Metal Puzzles.  It's just one piece from the Puzzle and Perplex range.  Can you take apart the pieces of each one of these puzzles and put them back together again?  Made of solid steel, this set of 10 puzzles is guaranteed to get you flexing your cognitive muscles.  Compete with friends and family as you test your brainpower trying to separate and reattach the parts of each puzzle.  

Ladder Toss is a fun outdoor game that the whole family will enjoy.  Go head to head with this quick and easy to assemble game as you throw the brightly colored bolas so that they wrap around the steps of the ladder.  The higher the step, the more points up for grabs.  The first player to score 21 points wins, so gather your friends and family and head on out for an afternoon of competitive fun!

A puzzle for all ages!

I was given these Smart Egg puzzles to review.

These egg shaped puzzles are perfect for Easter.  They are 3D labyrinth puzzles that vary in difficulty from easy to extreme.  The labyrinth is inside the egg shaped shell.  You need to maneuver the wand through the twists and turns starting from the top and working your way down and out through the bottom.  It's not as easy as it sounds though, because the labyrinth moves!  It isn't a straight path, you have to move the labyrinth around to find the correct path.  It's an addictive challenge that will captivate all ages.

Not only are these puzzles fun, they are beautiful as well!  Each one features a beautifully painted design that you will be proud to have on display.  The thing that I like most about these eggs is that everyone enjoys them, regardless of age!  And they get kids off of their phones and computers for some hands on activity.

You should start with one of the easier eggs so you can get the feel of how they work.  Then work your way up to the more difficult ones.  You need to learn how to listen and feel your way through the inner maze.  Once you learn how to work your way through one, then you can try timing yourself to see how fast you can get through it.  Perhaps race against a friend or family member to see who can do it the fastest! 

Each egg comes with a base for it to sit on.  It holds the wand as well.  But they won't stay on the base for long because you won't be able to stop playing with them!  

  
Of the eggs that I received, the Red Dragon is my favorite.  It is also the most difficult of the ones that I received.  It was quite challenging and took a few tries before I was able to work through it.  But the process of figuring it out is what makes it so fun!

Educational Play Kits to build and play

I received some awesome products from MEandMine for review.  They offer award winning educational play kits for children age 3-8.  Through a new play experience, a child's journey of self discovery becomes a fun, mind blowing and inspiring hands on adventure.  These play kits will help kids discover all the marvelous ways their body and emotions work to help them grow.  MEandMine products are designed by educators, pediatricians and psychologists.   

      

Fish Our Germs is a game for children age 4-7 and has a retail price of $24.99.  Germ attack alert is on!  You need to build the White Blood Cell and fish out the germs!  This box transforms kids' favorite fishing game into a crazy fun body adventure that teaches the art of healing and how kids can help get their healing squads back in shape.    

Coral-laboration is a 2-4 player game for ages 3-6.  It has a retail price of $24.99.  Our sea friend and her baby egg are in danger!  Join the Ocean Rescue Squad, team up and work together to send them home.  In this action packed adventure under the sea, kids practice good listening skills and turn taking.  They will explore their strengths and communicate ideas using their own words.

A cuddly Easter addition

I received these adorable Squishmallows from Kellytoy for review.  These soft and cuddly critters are the perfect addition to any Easter Basket!

Squishmallows are soft and squishable, and they come in many colors and sizes.  Each character comes with a hangtag that details its background story.  They are available in a wide range of characters including sea life, farm animals, jungle animals, zooanimals, domestic animals, food, fantasy creatures and seasonal offerings.   

Squishmallows help to relieve stress and anxiety by giving you something to squeeze and hug.  They are also great for those with sensory processing issue or those on the spectrum.  They have won many awards including NAPPA, Parent's Choice, Creative Child, National Parenting Center, Toy Insider and more.

 
These Sequin Bunny Squshmallows are especially perfect for Easter.  They have reversible sequins on their tummies, that allows you to make designs on them.  These are popular with younger children and with teens as well.

You can find Squishmallows at Target, Five Below, Walgreens, Walmart, Learning Espress, Cracker Barrell, CVS, Costco, Justice, Hallmark, Dave and Busters and many more national chains.  

Easter Gift Guide

Looking for some Easter inspo?  We have it ALL for you!

Great ideas for Easter

Schylling has a wide variety of products, so you are sure to find something for everyone!  I recently received a few products from them for review.

Lava Lamps are always a big hit with kids, especially teens.  Watching the different sized blobs of wax as they move around inside the glass globe is both mesmerizing and relaxing.  You'll find it difficult to look away as the blobs collide and split apart while the lamp provides a soft, peaceful light.  Schylling has a large selection of lava lamps in different colors, so it's easy to personalize one with your child's favorite colors.

The Crystal Squeeze Nee Doh stress ball is a groovy glob of gratifying goo!  Giving it a gentle squeeze will help you to relax by keeping your restless hand busy and calming anxiousness.  The jelly like compound that is completely non toxic, hypoallergenic, and contains no BPA, phthalates or latex.  It's easy to clean with just soap and water.  It's available in several different colors and is a great fidget toy for those with ADD, ADHD, OCD, Autism and anxiety.  It helps promote focus and attention.  Recommended for ages 3 and up. 

The Meteor Storm will mesmerize even the most picky child.  It provides an amazing show of lights with just the press of a button.  There are over 60 different light patterns.  This is for ages 3 and up.  It has small parts that presents a choking hazard for children under 3.  Operates on 3 AA batteries (they are included).

  
This is Daruma Red from Nanoblock.  Nanoblock is the original micro sized building block.  Their construction sets offer a greater challenge, sophistication and detail than any other system.  Build this 3D Daruma Red with these small bricks that are made to securely fit together so you can create display worthy pieces that can fit in the palm of your hand.  This will help develop logical thinking, problem solving and fine motor skills.  Includes step by step instructions.

          
This is Goku from Dragon Ball Z.  It's another construction set from Nanoblock.  This construction set lets you build a tiny Goku that is highly detailed and will fit in the palm of your hand.  Each Nanoblock set comes with spare blocks, a display baseplate and detailed step by step instructions.

Pencils that smell good!

Scentco sent me some great items to try and review!  Just in time for Easter, these products make great basket stuffers.  Your kids will be thrilled!  You can find them at a store near you by using the Store Locator.

This 10" Stuffed pink Bunny is perfect for Easter.  It's soft, fuzzy, cuddly and best of all it smells like strawberries!  It's made with high quality plush materials for superior softness and made to be surface washable.  And the amazing strawberry scent is guaranteed to last for 2 years.  What little girl wouldn't love cuddling with a pink bunny that's strawberry scented?  The suggested retail price is $13.99.

The Water Magic Farm Friends is an activity book that will give your kids something fun to do while stuck at home.  Just fill the brush with water and apply it to the scene boards.  The colors will magically appear on the page right before your eyes!  After drying for 5 minutes, the colors will disappear again, so you can do this over and over!  The brush itself is lemon scented, so your children can enjoy the refreshing smell of lemons as they play.  Since the scene boards react to water, you won't have the mess to clean that you usually get with paints.  This is recommended for ages 3+, comes with 4 Water Magic Scene Boards and has a suggested retail price of $5.99.   
  

The Sketch & Sniff Gel Crayons come 5 to a pack and have a cheery Spring theme.  This is the funnest way to draw!  Your kids will want to draw colorful pictures using all 5 of the colors because they each smell different.  The 5 scents are Bubble Gum, Jelly Bean, Cotton Candy, Tutti Frutti and Sour Apple.  The amazing scent is emitted from the crayon core and is guaranteed to last for 2 years.  The suggested retail price for this is $6.99.

    
The Spring Smencils 5 Pack contains 5 gourmet scented pencils that are made of 100% recycled newspapers.  Each Spring Smencil is a No. 2 pencil and packaged in its own recyclable plastic freshness tube that includes a collectible character top cap.  The 5 scents are Bubble Gum, Jelly Bean, Cotton Candy, Tutti Frutti and Sour Apple.  The scents are guaranteed to last for 2 years.  This 5 pack has a suggested retail price of $6.99.

Imagine your children's excitement to find a strawberry scented bunny, a Water Magic Activity Book, and scented crayons and pencils in their Easter Baskets this year!

Keep your kids occupied with these great products!

I'm going to tell you about some great products from Cryptozoic that I received for review.  Cryptozoic offers a lot of great games, trading cards, collectibles and more!  Check out their website to see what else they have to offer!  

Are you are looking for something to keep your teenagers occupied while they're out of school?  For kids who are used to living a busy daily life filled with friends, sports, parties, clubs and other various activities, this isolation period is really tough. The game Cult: Choose Your Guide Wisely is great to ease the boredom.  You need 2-5 Players age 12+ for this game.  You can even go to Tabletopia and play a virtual game to help you decide if you would like to own a copy of this game for yourself.

To play the game, each player chooses one of eight Gods for his Cult to follow.  Each God has special abilities that determine the best strategy for victory.  You will need to place your Priests on various locations of the board to start, and more locations will become available as your Cult gains Followers.  A winner is determined in each Location based on the Influence of the players’ Priests.  The Miracle and Intrigue Cards are capable of changing the outcome of each conflict dramatically. The player who wins a Location is able to use its unique benefits, while the other present players receive alms for their cause in the form of coins.  There are a few ways to win the game.  You can build five Altars to your deity, control four Fanatical Mobs or perform the Summoning of your God twice.

The contents of this game includes a Game Board, 5 Patriarch Figures, 33 Miracle Cards, 33 Intrigue Cards, 33 License Cards, 1 Supremacy Card, 5 Reference Cards, 8 Cult Sheets, 75 Priest Tokens, 45 Follower Tokens, 16 Fanatical Mob Tokens, 100 Coin Tokens, 1 First Player token and a Rule Book.

If you like mythic creatures from folklore, you're going to love these Cryptkins: Series 2 creatures.  There is a total of 13 characters;  ten are common (Gryphon, Cerberus, Pegasus, Cactus Cat, Blue Dragon, Gargoyle, Wendigo, Kraken and Werewolf) two rare (the Golden Dragon and Adlet the snow werewolf) and one ultra rare (the Unicorn).  There are also the Bone Chilling Variants which are all black and white with skeleton paint.  They measure 2.25" tall and comes in a blind box that looks like a miniature crate.  You won't know which creature you have until you open it.  Each figure also comes with a Bio Card that shows a drawing of the creature on one side and information about the legend that it comes from and its unique personality traits on the other side.  These are perfect for Easter Baskets as well.  Kids love opening blind boxes.  The anticipation of seeing which one you get is so exciting!  Try to collect them all!

Another great Easter Basket Stuffer are these cute DC Comics Lil Bombshells: Series 3.  They are designed by Pedro Astudillo and sculpted by Sam Greenwell.  They're based on the acclaimed DC Bombshells comics and collectibles inspired by 1940s pin up art.  This collection of 12 unique Super Heroes and Villains  figures (9 of which have been seen before in the Lil Bombshells line) now includes the men as well as the women!  There are 10 common figures (Barda, Batman, Harley Quinn with her 2 hyenas Bud & Lou, The Joker, Ravager, Powergirl, Raven, Starfire, Stargirl and Superman), 2 rare (Batwoman Noir and Black Canary Noir) and the ramdom Silver Glitter Variants.  Each figure is 2.75" tall and comes packaged inside Cryptozoic's signature collectible blind reveal tin.  Which one will you get when you open your tin?

For the train lover in all of us...

The nice people at Bachmann Trains provided me with these products for review.  As a kid, I remember my brothers always having a train set.  I never had one of my own, I always got dolls, stuffed animals and other girlie toys, which I loved...but I still loved to join my brothers when they played with their trains.  Even now as adults, they still collect them.  And I still enjoy watching them run.  It's amazing the setups that collectors build, with miniature train stations, houses, trees, lakes and even people.  But that love of trains and the desire to collect them always starts with a single set.  

The Bachmann Thoroughbred train set is a good set to begin a collection with.  It's an HO scale set that is priced at $165. Even if you don't plan to start a collection, it is great just to play with.  And remember, it isn't just boys who will enjoy this...girls like trains as well!  As you watch this train speed down the track, it's easy to imagine being the engineer.  You'll hear the wheels rumble like the pounding of hooves as this iron horse rounds the bend.  Hauling freight with the ease and grace of a champion, the Thoroughbred delivers fun and adventure to your stable of trains. 

    
This ready to run train set includes an F7 diesel locomotive with an operating headlight, open quad hopper, gondola, a wide vision caboose, body mounted E-Z Mate couplers, a 47" x 38" oval of snap fit E-Z Track (includes 12 pieces of curved track, 1 piece of straight track and 1 plug in terminal rerailer), power pack and speed controller and an illustrated instruction manual.

  
If you have a little one who loves Thomas the Tank Engine, this HO scale Thomas with speed activated sound and moving eyes would be perfect for them.  It's priced at $142 and is tons of fun to play with.  It lets you hear Thomas' steam sounds!  With an analog sound system that includes whistle, puffs and steam exhaust upon stopping, this sound equipped Thomas brings to life the sights and sounds of the Island of Sodor.  Thomas is the No. 1 blue engine.  He's cheeky and often gets into difficult situations, and it's usually because he's over eager to do the things that are best suited for the bigger and more sensible engines.  But clouds never last long in Thomas' world.  Before long all of his problems are solved and he's bustling about again, playing his part in the yard and on his very own branch line.  He works hard and always strives to be a "Really Useful Engine." 

This Thomas the Tank Engine Locomotive features a detailed character face with moving eyes and a realistic body shell.  It has all metal wheels with factory installed international style hook and loop couplers.  It performs best on 15" radius curves or greater and runs on Bachmann HO scale E-Z Track.  It is also compatible with all popular brands of HO scale track.

You can purchase the other characters from Thomas and Friends separately.  I received the Annie Coach and the Clarabel Coach, which are two of the Rolling Stocks, along with my Thomas.  They keep him company so he doesn't get lonely.  They are priced at $32 each on the Bachmann website.  

Bachmann has  faithfully reproduced all of the Thomas and Friends characters to run on HO scale track.  All Locomotives feature realistic character faces with moving eyes, operating HO scale electric drive mechanisms, highly detailed plastic body shells, all metal wheels and hook & loop couplers.