Category: toddler

Cool New Kicks for Kids: Yo Gabba Gabba and Dr. Seuss

by Jen Rabulan-Bertram

It’s hard to believe summer is starting to wind down, with August just peeking around the corner.  The end of summer means back to school for many, and back to school for most families also means shopping.

Of all the fall trends I’m seeing, it looks like this school year will be filled with more bright colors and retro designs.  One thing I can’t get enough of, however, are the shoes—smart-looking kid shoes!

I’ve often said that I’m not a fan of gaudy licensed products, but these kid shoes that are coming out transcend the kitschy licensed shoewear of yesteryear.

Photo credit: Vans

 

The littlest Yo Gabba Gabba groupies will have some new options for dancing shoes, thanks to Vans.  The shoe company well known for their venerable line of skate shoes (I’ve been wearing Old Skools since um…) will be rolling out a line of Yo Gabba Gabba themed shoes for kids.  It looks like there are seven designs so far, but none for adults…and now that I’m looking, no sight of DJ Lance on the shoes, either.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Converse has added some fun Dr. Suess-themed kicks to their lineup of timeless shoes.  Kids can choose from eight different kinds of Chucks in the Dr. Seuss Collection, ranging from colorful fish to the subtle Cat in the Hat.  And Converse hasn’t forgotten us: there are six whimsical designs perfect for you and you and you!

 

Freezer Fruit Pops Make for Healthy Summertime Snacks

by Jen Rabulan-Bertram


Summertime snacks for our family are often synonymous with fresh, ripe fruit and chilled frozen yogurt or ice cream.  Actually, with all this heat we’ve been enduring this summer, anything cold sounds good right about now!

This post and activity was inspired, in part, by Healthy Child Healthy World’s weekly twitter party, and by a recipe I stumbled accross on one of my favorite kiddie cuisine sites, Weelicious.

Since we’ve been staying with family for the past few weeks, with three kids in the house and a Costco down the street, we’ve been stocking up on all the delicious fresh fruit.  And fruit from Costco…you know what that means.  We had a ton of it!

 

We had a surplus of strawberries and mangos; meaning, we had more ripened fruit than we knew what to do with!  Cue in Weelicious’ yummy recipes!

With all the extra fruit that was on the cusp of getting too ripe, I enlisted the two bigger kids to help me make some fun homemade popsicles!

I used:

1 set of Tovolo Groovy Pop molds, which yield 6 bigger fruit pops
2 ripe mangos, sliced into thirds and then cubed and pureed
1 cup of ripe strawberries, pureed
1/2 cup of blueberries, pureed
1/2 cup of Mott’s Medley’s juice

I mixed and pureed fruit for each pop, personalizing each flavor for each kid.  Since these fruits had so much of their own fruit juice, I only had to add a few splashes of the juice to help solidify the mixture once frozen.


It was fun to get creative with the kids and let them mix, then help pour each pop.  The making of the pops was a fun outdoor activity, and I’m sure it’d make a great (albeit messy) indoor or rainy day activity too.

 

The beauty of the Tovolo freezer pop molds is that each container is a good size and actually stays put.  I’ve used other molds in the past that used questionable plastic and the sticks never stayed in place.  Plus, Tovolo has a bunch of great shapes to choose from.

Looking for more healthy summer snacks?  Check out Healthy Child Healthy World’s Twitter Party (tonight at 9-10) and their site for more great ideas!

 

 

Imagination Playground Debuts in NYC

by Jen Rabulan-Bertram

Innovative design is all around us, and that often includes our kids’ playthings.

Yesterday, NYC unveiled the long-anticipated Imagination Playground, an innovative Play Space that was designed by architect David Rockwell. The Imagination Playground at Burling Slip in lower Manhattan is the first realization of Rockwell’s site-specific park concepts that can be designed and conditioned for any place or community, and includes a full set of Imagination Playground loose parts and a sculpted landscape, as well as sand and water installations.

According to the Huffington Post, the playground was paid for with $4.5 million from the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation and $3 million from the city’s Department of Environmental Protection.

I’ve been reading a lot of information and preliminary reviews about this playspace that’s being described as “revolutionary.”  One bit of information that I loved reading about was how KaBOOM! partnered with Rockwell Group to help distribute Rockwell’s innovative Imagination Playground to communities across the country.

I’m one of the KaBoom Summer Challengers, and, well, I love how the organization has its hands involved in so many prolific movements relating to play.

I fully expect our travels to bring us to the city to check out this playspace for ourselves, but in the meantime, check out all the cool features of the Imagination Playground.

Sweet and Silly: The Best of The Laurie Berkner Band

by Jen Rabulan-Bertram

Parents Magazine said it best when they described Laurie Berkner as “the Pied Piper of the Preschool Set.”  With her melodic tunes and unforgettable harmonies, The Laurie Berkner Band are just as much magicians as they are musicians—at least for my music-obsessed kid.

First introduced to this well-loved band’s tunes after becoming avid fans of Jack’s Big Music Show on Nick Jr., Laurie Berkner’s song lyrics are now part of our everyday vernacular.  ‘Shaky Egg’, ‘Rainboots, stomp, stomp, stomp’… you name it, Laurie’s lyrics and music have made our entire family fans for the long haul.  Like magic.

Released last month, The Best of the Laurie Berkner Band cd is a comprehensive collection of the band’s best songs.  As their sixth cd, if you’re a longtime fan, such songs on the cd are expected, but for newer fans, this cd is a staple for your budding kindie rock collection.  Unlike the songs recorded for Nickelodeon, Laurie’s Greatest Hits cd have a softer, less processed sound.  Songs like “Shady Tree” exude the sweet, while songs like, “Monster Boogie” reinforces the silly.  But overall, the 20-track cd encompasses the folk sensibility that keeps kids dancing and singing, and their parents humming and smiling.

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They Say it’s Your Birthday: Do Goodery Edition

by Jen Rabulan-Bertram

If I made a laundry list of things that I wanted for my birthday, besides the obvious choices, I doubt any of it would carry that much weight.  I mean, what do I really need?

Given the influx of bad luck, drama, and not-so-happy times our family has been weathering the past few weeks and months, now is the time to negate all of that bad energy.  In fact, the husband and I were talking about how we needed to find ways to give back to our community. So, just in time for my birthday tomorrow, I will be doing some Do Goodery in NYC with some fellow bloggers.

77kids, together with the fabulous TheMotherhood.com have tapped seven bloggers in each of the 11 participating cities (77 peeps altogether!) to do random acts of kindness in our communities on July 14; and I’m so thrilled to be a part of the vibrant NYC team.  It sounds like the other teams have a number of truly wonderful acts of kindness lined up.  Our team is hammering out the last details, but once we’re all set, I’m sure I will be tweeting as we go!

Who is this 77kids I keep mentioning?  In case you aren’t familiar, be sure to remember the name, because you will hear more about them soon!  77kids is American Eagle’s new baby: it’s their baby, toddler and youth division that evokes the same fun, modern, casual and cool style, but for the smaller set.  77kids, which is about to debut a handful of retail locations, seems like they’re all about following through with their do good philosophy.

Do Goodery on my birthday?  Happy, indeed!

Disclosure:  I will be receiving a stipend for my participation in this campaign.

NKT Favorite Sunblock Make EWG Top-Rated List

by Jen Rabulan-Bertram

I hope everyone had a great holiday weekend!  Our family celebrated our country’s independence, perhaps, just like most of you: with tons of fun in the sun, fireworks and good times with friends and family.

Photo Credit: Illuminate Life

I know much of the east coast right now is enduring really steamy weather and with this weekend’s festivities in mind, I thought it’d be a good time as any to share some thoughts about sunscreen. 

Since becoming a parent, I’ve learned so much that I didn’t already know about sunscreen, particularly how it expires, some of those pricey brands are nothing but bottles of toxic lotion and how so many different kinds just are not suitable for the kids.

Earlier this year, the Enivornmental Working Group, released the fourth annual list of their best rated sunscreens.  The nonprofit research organization that says they aim to use information to protect human health and the environment, say their top-rated sunscreens all contain the minerals zinc or titanium. EWG says these types of sunscreen are best for people who are looking for UVA protection without any chemicals considered to be a potential hormone disruptor, and for like-minded parents, these details are pertinenent when selecting sunscreens that work best for our family.  Not-so-surprising observation here:  not a single spray sunblock makes their list

It’s important point out this staggering statistic: 
EWG researchers recommend only 39, or 8 percent, of 500 beach and sport sunscreens on the market this season.

As a full disclosure here, I’m sure I mentioned before that my husband works in the health and beauty sector as a warehouse planner for a big box store, thus I get to try out many great brands (and not so great ones, t00).  When summertime rolls around, I’m always on the lookout for the samples of the “better” sunblock, meaning those brands that aren’t laden with chemicals that I don’t want to slather over the kid’s super-sensitive skin.

EWG’s list this year included many of those brands that I considered tried and true, particularly my two favorite brands for the kid:  Blue Lizard and TRUKids.  Both brands were samples that I came across from husband’s work and haven’t strayed since.  They’re staples in my beach bag and I’m super happy to see them on the EWG top-rated sunscreen list.

Last year, in fact, I reviewed TRUKid’s Sunny Days, which received a 1 overall score from EWG’s rating system.

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Zoocchini Hooded Towel Review and Giveaway

by Jen Rabulan-Bertram

Having spent the past few weeks at the grandparents’ house near the beach, we’re in full-on summer mode here.  With this crazy heatwave we’ve been having, we’ve been so fortunate to be able to spend so much time at the pool and out on the beach.  In addition to all of our summertime essentials, I have to say, we go through quite a few towels, too—not only for beachtime, but for bathtime too.

 

Several weeks ago, manufacturer of fine children’s products, Zoocchini sent us a product sample of Marvin the Monkey, one of the fun designs in their hooded towel collection.  At 20″ x 50″, the Marvin the Monkey hooded towel is generous in size, making him big enough for younger school-aged kids, yet cozy enough for babies.  The towel is soft and playful, and features cute details like an embroidered face, ears, and tail.  I love that this towel is suitable for bathtime and also great to take along to the pool.  These hooded towels are fun, practical and cushy-cool.

There’s a variety of cute animals and original characters to choose from in the Zoocchini hooded towel collection, but Marvin the Monkey is definitely a favorite!  The towels are in the $30 price range, and it looks like Fanny, Clawd and Ollie are on sale for just $20!

Zoocchini has offered NKT readers an exclusive discount 20% off of their products.  Just use the code  ZOOC20 at checkout.

Giveaway

Zoocchini was kind enough to also offer any one of their hooded towels as a giveaway!  To enter, tell me which towel you’d like for your kid(s) and why.

 

For extra entries:

Subscribe to Zoocchini’s newsletter (get +5 extra entries)

Tweet about this giveaway and be sure to @jenrab

Fan NKT and comment on the post associated with this giveaway

Please comment below for all entries.

This giveaway will end on July 16th.  All winners are picked via random.org and will be notified via email and the NKT Facebook Fan Page.  Only entries with a valid email will qualify.

 

A sample was provided to facilitate this review, but opinions herein are my own.

Make Music with Educo Early Melodies Instruments

by Jen Rabulan-Bertram

For the littlest music lovers, age-appropriate musical instruments are few and far between, but leave it up to Hape’s Educo line to think of a few fun and eco-friendly options for instruments for toddlers.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Geared to ages one year and up, Educo offers the Early Melodies Slide Whistle and Flute.  Colorful and whimsical alternative to the plastic and sometimes questionable instruments often found on shelves, the Slide Whistle and Flute are made with maple and finished with non-toxic, child-friendly paints and finishes.

These instruments are perfect for promoting hand-eye coordination, appreciation for rhythm and music and sensory perception.  I love the transition from infant to toddlerhood, where curiosity and awareness of surroundings becomes so much more prevalent.  Musical exploration with fun and safe instruments, such as these from Educo, make for a melodic playtime.

Find the Educo Early Melodies Flute and Slide Whistle at Oompa.com.  At just $3.99 a piece, how can you not want both?

Toy Story 3 Hits Theaters Today

by Jen Rabulan-Bertram

Well, the day has finally arrived!  After years of preparation and months of anticipation, Toy Story 3 officially hits the big screen today.

As Andy heads to college, Buzz, Woody and the gang find themselves in a precarious predicament after mom mixes up the trash and the “keep” pile.  The toys find themselves at a daycare where they befriend new pals in an eclectic lineup of other toys from the daycare.

The third film in the wildly popular Toy Story series, TS3, like the earlier installments, is expected to break the bank, and be one of the biggest tickets of the summer.  The original Toy Story earned $191 million with its original release and $363 million worldwide.  As evidenced by the plethora of licenses for towels, shoes, cereal bowls, Pull Up diapers, bread and more, TS3 is quite the hot commodity in children’s gear.  And I’ll be the first to admit that our toy box has been filling up with our own respective gear in anticipation of the film!


Why is this flick so popular?  Well, for many reasons.  In part, what started 15 years ago as a collaboration between Disney and Pixar, has turned into a fleeting success.  Since their initial partnership, the studio has gone on to develop a laundry list of computer animated classics, with the original Toy Story as its springboard.  The story, cast of characters, exceptional graphics and more have kept audiences engaged for well over a decade.  Now, the original audience’s kids, nieces, nephews and perhaps grandkids, are just as excited for the toys’ shenanigans as we were 15 years ago.

 

Fifteen years ago, I was still in school.  [Let’s just leave it at that ;)]  Today, I’m planning to take my 2 year old who has been harping on Buzz and ‘Wooly’ for months now!  It’s incredible to think how much has changed for me between now and then; but what’s even more incredible is how these characters are still touching lives, even after all these years!

After all of the movie’s clever marketing, the film’s early reviews are looking quite bright!  I can’t wait to share my thoughts, and maybe even a some of our favorite kid gear to boot.  For now, take a look at this pretty cool behind the scenes clip with interviews from some of the voices.  If you go to see Toy Story, be sure to tell me what you thought!

 

 

Check it!

Speaking of how much things have changed in 15 years, did you know Disney Pixar has a Facebook app where you can buy Toy Story 3 tickets via Facebook? You FB-obsessed people (like me) don’t even have to leave the site to secure your own movie tickets!  Just head to Disney Together to get the app and click, click and you’re done!

Bamdino Plates and Bambu Utensils Make Picnics Greener

by Jen Rabulan-Bertram

One of the best parts of spring and summer is the joy that is eating outdoors.  In fact, tomorrow celebrates just that!  June 18th marks national picnic day.

With keeping sustainability in mind, paper plates and plastic forks and spoons have gone by the wayside for many families.  So, besides using reusable picnic gear, what’s a family to do?

Go the bamboo route.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Yes, bamboo!

Bamboo, well known for its ability to grow quickly and decompose just as fast, has become one of the most sustainable materials out there…and that goes for kid plates and utensils.  As much as I dislike the idea of disposable gear, sometimes, for the picnic or beach, there’s no way of getting around it.

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