Category: goodies

Trick or Treating with Moose Toys Trash Pack and Glitzi Globes

by Jen Rabulan-Bertram

Halloween has always been one of my most favorite times of year. The crisp, cool air, costumes, monsters—oh, and the treats!

With two younger guys, we love getting all into the Halloween fun. I’ve made the boys’ costumes the past two years, and even threw something together for myself too! We went as a Star Wars-themed group with Biggie as Luke Skywalker as an X-Wing Fighter Pilot, the babe as Wicket the Ewok and me as Leia. We had a blast with it, and I’ll always have the boys’ smiles and laughter from the Halloween festivities etched in my mind. Having missed out on two Halloweens in a row, this year made it that much more special.


And speaking of special, one of the Halloween events we enjoyed this year was our community’s trunk or treat. Trunk or treat was a fun way to connect with our lake friends while watching our costumed kids parade around the parking lot. And once again, we teamed up with Moose Toys to hand out some fabulous non-candy treats. As superfans of Trash Pack and a new adoration for Glitzi Globes, I’m not sure who was more excited about our treats.


In fact, as our box of treats arrived, I immediately posted a Vine of the uber cool Glitzi Globes. I’ve been collecting snowglobes for as long as I can remember, so the concept of being able to create tiny collectible globes almost blew my mind.

It turned out, the Glitzi Globe samples that we handed out at Trunk or Treat were quite the hit. Several friends came by not two or three times, but as many as five! I don’t blame them!

The tiny glittery globes that are put together with a few drops of water transform into cutesy collectibles. Glitzi Globes make a fun activity and if you’re like me, they make for a fun new obsession. Like the big kid I am, I have my eye on the Mega Dome Showcase. I just need a girl of my own to help me out with toys like these! Or, I can just get them for myself, ahem.

Trash Pack are definitely a mainstay as well, so it was equally awesome to hand out sample packs of those too. Both boys and girls had a fun time comparing characters. And best of all, after all the parties and candies and trick or treating the kids did this year to make up for last year, it was great knowing that we handed out non-candy treats that we know and love instead of adding to that sugar rush.

A big thanks to our friends at Moose Toys for helping us spread the fun for a very special Halloween.

Full disclosure:  we were provided with samples, but were not compensated for this post.  As always, all opinions on NKT are my own.

Pumpkin Carving with PBS Kids

by Jen Rabulan-Bertram

Halloween time is one of my absolute favorite times of year. Cool, brisk air allowing for sweatshirt and jeans, and of course, harvest time coupled with costumes—what’s not to love?


It’s the art of going to the pumpkin patch, painstakingly choosing the most perfect pumpkin and then, planning and carving our pumpkin to depict something we love, that embodies the kind of family Halloween fun that never gets old.


As crafty and artsy as we are, though, pumpkin carving is almost like a science. Unlike when we were kids, there are now specialized, kid-friendly tools and premade stencils to make this craft much easier.


Even better, many of our favorite kid websites provide these free stencils and other Halloween ideas. Last year, we created a Jack Skellington pumpkin via Disney’s website.

And of course, leave it to our friends at PBS Kids to share a plethora of fun character stencils to make this year’s pumpkins that much cooler. Whether you’re a fan of Peg + Cat, Daniel Tiger, the Wild Kratts or our good buddy Curious George, PBS Kids likely has a stencil fit for your pumpkin. Head to PBS Kids to grab a stencil for your family’s pumpkin!

Today, along with a few of our blogging friends, Jack was invited to join GMA Live for a fun segment just on this topic: pumpkin carving and Halloween fun inspired by PBS Kids. It’s always a treat when Jack gets to make an appearance on tv, so it’s quite fitting that it’s PBS Kids, one of our most beloved kid properties.


And speaking of Halloween fun: “CURIOUS GEORGE: A Halloween Boo Fest” airs Monday, October 28. It is the first ever CURIOUS GEORGE Halloween special.
Throughout the week of October 28, PBS KIDS will feature Halloween programming from other family favorites as well, including new episodes from THOMAS & FRIENDS and its newest series, PEG + CAT, and encore presentations of many other series (check local listings). PBS KIDS will also repeat CURIOUS GEORGE: A Halloween Boo Fest on Halloween.
Kids can also explore a pumpkin patch with George with a new Halloween game on PBSKIDS.org/curiousgeorge.
“CURIOUS GEORGE: A Halloween Boo Fest” is also available on DVD.

Peg + Cat Debuts on PBSKids

by Jen Rabulan-Bertram

When I was first introduced to Peg + Cat at the PBS Annual meeting this past Spring, I was immediately smitten.  A spunky little girl + a quirky cat + a math curriculum—what’s not to love?  With its catchy songs, fantastic graphics, Peg + Cat, which debuts today on PBS Kids, will, no doubt, be an instant hit for the PBSKids core audience.

I love the fact that this new show, created by Jennifer Oxley and Billy Aronson, the minds behind Little Bill, The Wonder Pets and Rent and Postcards from Buster, respectively, has an emphasis on math and problem solving for the preschool/kindergarten set.  The musical elements, including the catchy songs, guitar/ukelele and other accompanying instruments magnify the cuteness of Peg + Cat’s adventures.

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 Through their adventures, Peg + Cat not only help each other to solve problems, but learn from mistakes, which, in turn, teaches young minds the value of learning from mistakes and experimentation, as well as cooperation.

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According to the creators of the show, the learning goals for Peg + Cat include: present age-appropriate concepts and math skills; broaden kids’ thinking about math; inspire creative problem solving; help kids see that math can be cool and inspiring.

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I have a Kindergartener, and from just watching the first few episodes, it’s so interesting to see how close the stories from Peg + Cat are to my son’s actual lessons. Cylinders, sorting and counting to 100 are just a few of the many parallel lessons that I’ve seen so far.

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The beautiful colors and endearing graphics set this new show apart.  Because of its emphasis on math, there are geometric shapes throughout.  The graph paper background is one of the show’s coolest graphic element to me.  As a kid, I was an aspiring artist and creative mind, so I used to draw on graph paper every chance I got.  It’s so cool to see an animated show “come to life” on graph paper. But more than anything, it’s awesome that graph paper still has significance in the digital age of art.

There’s so much to love about Peg + Cat and the conversation that this new property brings to the preschool arena.  Beyond the first glimpse of this show, we’ve also had the chance to preview recipes, a well-planned partnership with Whole Foods and Peg + Cat’s other platforms.  I will absolutely have more to share about Peg + Cat, but for now, check out the initial reading that the star of the show did during auditions.

Peg + Cat, a production of The Fred Rogers Company, airs every day on PBS Kids.  Check your local listings for time and channel.

Full disclosure:  I am a PBS Kids VIP and am often given a sneak peek of new and notable happenings for its properties.  I was not compensated to share this information, but am absolutely enthusiastic about sharing otherwise.  As always, all opinions on NKT are my own.

Developmental Toys for Toddlers

by Jen Rabulan-Bertram

We’re toys (almost) all the time around here, but with baby’s ongoing therapies, my view of some toys have totally changed.  Being in the business of kid products for a few years now, what I once thought was a so-so toy, is now an excellent developmental tool.

We just had another crazy week of doctors visits, therapists and tests, so I wanted to focus on positive aspects of our day: toys.  Toys always make things better, especially when “professionals” are constantly evaluating my sweet guy.

So, I thought I’d round up just a few of our favorite toys of the moment, particularly ones that I consider to have excellent developmental value for my boy with delays. Even though my guy is just about 20 months, most toys’ age designators round up around 18m, hence the photo’s title.  What’s so great about these toys is that they’re geared to kids of all abilities, which basically means, they can be found on “regular” toy shelves or specialty stores and online.

1.  Haba Walker WagonAs first time parents, my husband I invested in less toys, but instead procured quality, eco-friendly baby products.  From our crib to this wooden walker, I carefully researched each item that we welcomed into our home…and I’m so glad we did!  Six years later, we STILL use many of those products, including this amazing Walker Wagon from Haba.

Made of solid wood and touting storage in the back and fun seat in the front, Haba’s Walker Wagon is a sturdy walker and one that can carry toys or a sibling upfront.  Its solid construction makes it a heavy toy, one that’s not meant to be picked up, but instead, serve as a sturdy walker that can help early walkers to balance themselves.  I absolutely this thing and am so glad we opted for this one years ago, now that we have a late walker who needs a bit more reinforcement.

2. Happy Giddy Bowling Set

While the concept of bowling and toddlers may not align well, this Happy Giddy Bowling Set from Melissa and Doug engages would-be knee-high bowlers.  Along with the bright colors, M&D incorporates fun bug faces to engage curious tots, including my own.  We don’t own this set, however, the baby’s physical therapist uses the bowling set to encourage total body interaction—picking up, putting down, rolling— something that helps my late walker to build his core.

3. Tolo Electronic Cash Register

I am a huge fan of Tolo toys, specifically this cash register, which just so happens to be the only electronic toy on this list.  The main electronic feature of this great developmental toy is the noise it makes when a child swipes the mini credit card.  The cash register features Tolo’s primary colors and sturdy plastic construction, all assets that engage my toddler.  What makes this cash register stand apart, is that it’s small enough for a toddler to manipulate with their tiny fingers. It’s easy to operate, which also keeps my toddler engaged long enough to play a pretend game of grocery store with big brother.  Tolo has a great chart on their site that indicates the developmental skill that is used for each toy, which I LOVE!  Dexterity, hand-eye coordination, memory and color recognition are just a few skills that are encouraged when playing with the electronic cash register.

4. Scrambled Eggs Puzzle

This puzzle game from Reeves Toys is another toy that our physical therapist introduced to my toddler.  By incorporating colors and shapes to the interior of the eggs, this toy allows a toddler to handle each piece while figuring things out on their own.  I enjoy the overall concept of the puzzle that helps with cognitive and fine motor skills, I just wish the egg crate was easier to open and close for kids.

5. Sensory Balls from Hedstrom

I’m sure many of you have seen these balls, and probably own a few too.  What I like most about these balls is that they’re colorful and the tiny nobs give toddlers a better sense of grip, hand-eye coordination and color recognition. These sensory balls also allow toddlers to engage in independent play as well as co-play with friends.  Personally, I love the size of these sensory balls and tend to have two or three in the car or stroller to entertain the tot when we’re on the go.

6. Parum Pum Pum from B. Toys

This set is actually one of my favorite toys to give to one year olds for presents, but ironically, we don’t own it ourselves.  Instead, this is one toy that motivates my toddler to walk during his sessions with his physical therapist.  Like many tots, he loves music and banging on things, so this set capitalizes on both with the drum storage and drumsticks. The tambourine, bells and other fun instruments also keep him happy with their fun sounds.  The colors and bug faces, too, keep him on his toes.  What’s so great about this set, like many other B. Toys, Parum Pum Pum set is highly rated by Able Play, a rating system for children with special needs and disabilities.

I’d love to hear about any awesome toys that you and your kids love that also promote developmental skills.

Full disclosure:  samples were provided for the cash register and scrambled eggs.  For everything else, we bought on our own, or don’t actually own.  As always, all opinions on NKT are my own.  And please do not ever mistake my opinions for medical or child professional advice.

Reading Enrichment with Play-Doh and Star Wars

by Jen Rabulan-Bertram

With school back in session, I wanted to share one of the many activities that we’ve been doing to sharpen and enhance Biggie’s reading skills.


Because of his late September birthday, we redshirted our five year old and thus, I’ve been vigilant about bridging the transition to Kindergarten. I have much to say about redshirting and transitional kindergarten in general, but I’ll save that for another day. Today, it’s all about Play-Doh and Star Wars.

Reading enrichment comes in many forms, but for one rainy afternoon, we paired Play-Doh and Star Wars to engage in a hands-on reading activity that just happened to focus on Biggie’s favorite characters. I let J flip through one of his favorite books right now, which is a DK Readers Level One book called Who Saved the Galaxy? by Catherine Saunders. Since he’s not quite reading fluidly on his own, I love the fact that this book has characters he loves and can decipher words with graphic help. Not to mention, it’s a well known tactic that familiar characters engage beginning readers. In our case, my beginning reader is most interested in things like Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, space and Star Wars.


For this project, we used Play-Doh’s new Ultimate Rainbow Pack. The wide range of colors makes this activity fun since the novelty of new colors and variety keeps J interested in the task at hand. Once he picked his colors, he used various cutters to cut out letters for characters like Luke Skywalker.


We moved on to other characters and even picked colors that matched the characters color scheme; yellow and brown complemented C 3P0 quite perfectly!

To change it up, we decided to roll letters, which also works on those fine motor skills, and is important for proper writing utensil handling. By rolling the letters, I found that it was a great way to better understand letter formation since he had to manipulate pieces to form the letters.


Our most favorite part of this project was making a model of R2D2. This project was a fun way to work together to create something we both like! To work further on those fine motor skills, I let J cut out the tiny buttons that make up R2D2’s robotic exterior. I helped J to make the formation of R2D2 himself, but allowed him to make the final touches of all the pieces.


By pairing Play-Doh and Star Wars, not only were we able to keep occupied and have fun on a rainy afternoon, but we made Play-Doh educational by twisting it into a reading activity. Play-Doh isn’t the cleanest activity, so I’d suggest using Glad Press and Seal for easy clean up. To make Play-Doh an educational activity on our own, just grab your favorite book, pull words and play away. The more accessories, colors and words, the better!

I’m so sure teachers do activities like this in school, but for us at home, it’s a great way to sharpen reading skills and express creativity by bringing our favorite characters to life via Play-Doh and Vine!

Full disclosure:  we were provided with a sample of Play-Doh, but we used our own creativity for this fun project.  As always, all opinions are my own.

Mondo DuckTales Posters are Throwback Awesomeness

by Jen Rabulan-Bertram

If you were a kid of the 90s, or knew someone that was, then perhaps the classic Disney cartoon DuckTales has some significance.  My younger brother who is 6 years younger than me, watched a whole different set of shows as a kid, including DuckTales, that crazy cartoon about Scrooge and those mischievous nephews, Huey, Dewey and Louie.  My brother watched that show for years, and until recently, I haven’t thought about those fun characters.

On the heels of the newly released DuckTales: Remastered video game, Disney.com’s blog Oh My Disney collaborated with pop-culture art gallery Mondo to create a limited edition DuckTales poster series.

Even though my kids don’t know who these guys are, I’m tempted to buy a few of them for their playroom.  So fun!  Check out MondoTees.com to snatch these posters up.

The First Lady and an All Star Lineup will Headline Arthur Ashe Kids’ Day 2013

by Jen Rabulan-Bertram

It’s the end of the summer and one of my favorite events is upon us. The 18th Annual Arthur Ashe Kids’ Day will take place Saturday, August 24 at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing, N.Y., from 9:30 a.m. – 4 p.m. The popular fun festival for both children and adults features games, tennis events and the hottest musical acts. Arthur Ashe Kids’ Day is always a fun way to kick off the 2013 US Open, which runs from August 26 – September 9.

This year’s talent line-up includes:
 · Ariana Grande, who had the breakout single for Republic  Records, “The Way” featuring Mac Miller
 · Fifth Harmony, girl group finalist in the most recent season of X Factor
 · Austin Mahone, rising star who is dubbed as the “Next Justin Bieber” and named as the “Ultimate Breakout Star – Biggest Viral Artist” at the Radio Disney Music Awards
· Coco Jones, who was a finalist on Disney Channel’s “Next Big Thing” and whose video, “Holla at the DJ,” has surpassed 2.2 million YouTube views
 · Lawson, breakout boy band who racked up 4 top ten hits in their native U.K.
 · Cazzette, Swedish DJ duo who is a constant at EDM festivals, making them the only group to have ever play the Ultra Music Festival’s headline stage three times in two years and whose most famous song is “Beam Me Up”
 · World No. 1 Novak Djokovic
 · Reigning US Open champion Serena Williams
 · Greatest tennis player of all-time Roger Federer
 · World No. 1 Wheelchair Tennis Champion David Wagner

And as if that lineup wasn’t impressive enough, the First Lady, Michelle Obama will be onhand for the festivities. The First Lady, who has been a champion of leading healthy lifestyles and encouraging kids to Just Move, is expected to emphasize her message at the athletic event that attracts hundreds of thousands of families from near and far.

Arthur Ashe Kids’ Day will be televised on Sunday, August 25 from noon -1:30pm. In the meantime, feel free to check out my photos from last year’s event! Our family will be onhand to hopefully catch a glimpse of the above stars and to tweet/Instagram live. Follow along at #AAKidsDay


Back to School with The Children’s Place

by Jen Rabulan-Bertram

The Children’s Place, as usual, is making back to school shopping fun and fabulous.  This fall, they’re focusing on modern classics, with lots of color and layering. For the girls, they’ve incorporated floral, leopard and snake skin into key pieces like jeggings.  For boys, graphic tees, athletic wear get a lot of playtime at #PlaceFall.

According to The Children’s Place lead designer, Michael Giannelli,

Back to school comes earlier than past years. The weather is still warm, and we want to ensure our clothing is wear-now appropriate. From our brand you’ll see more short sleeves, shorts, skirts, which will all be in store through September. Kids will have a lot more wear-now options.”

Back to School with The Children's Place

In fact, we picked up a few short-sleeved graphic tees that we love to use as undershirts.  Since fall can be so unpredictable, it’s a given to have a short-sleeved tee underneath.

Even though, baby doesn’t go to school for quite awhile, my absolute favorite piece from our #PlaceFall haul was the robot backpack for the little guy.  Perfect for preschool and totally suitable for throwing the essentials for the day.

Check out our shopping haul video on YouTube to see how “entertained” Biggie was during my explanations. ha!

Full disclosure:  We were provided with a giftcard to facilitate this review.  As always, all opinions on NKT are my own.

TV Tuesday: Updates from Disney Junior, Nickelodeon, PBS Kids and The Hub

by Jen Rabulan-Bertram

As we start to get into the back to school groove, the tv industry has been busy gearing up for new seasons, sparkly new shows and the release of a whole new host of characters.
In addition to other weekly features, I’m hoping to start a quick update on Tuesdays with the latest info on new shows and updates surrounding the characters we all know and love.  Here’s a round up of what’s going on in the children’s tv:

Nickelodeon

Just in time for the dog days of summer, there’s a new show on Nickelodeon that focuses on a six pack of rescue pups. Nickelodeon’s new CG-animated preschool series Paw Patrol is where, “no job is too big, no pup is too small.”

The rescue pups, Chase, Marshall, Rocky, Rubble, Zuma and Skye, led by a tech-savvy boy named Ryder, features a curriculum of citizenship, social skills and problem-solving.  To underscore the show’s theme of responsibility and humane treatment of animals, and in conjunction with the Paw Patrol launch, Nickelodeon has partnered with the ASPCA® (The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals).  Head to Nick Jr.’s site to watch the Paw Patrol trailer, print activity packs

Disney

Doc McStuffins has hit the road with a tricked out Airstream Trailer, dubbed the Doc Mobile.  The hit show emphasizes good health and compassion through stories of a young girl, who cares for her ailing stuffed animals and other toys.

The Doc Mobile features an area for kids to perform a “check-up” on their own toys plus other activities and age-appropriate health and wellness lessons including nutrition and physical development and fitness.  The Doc Mobile makes a stop in NYC tomorrow at the Disney Store in Times Square from 10 am- 4pm

To find out where the Doc Mobile is headed next, check out this link.

Doc McStuffins’ season two premieres on Friday, September 6, with upcoming stars including: Geena Davis, Jeffrey Tambor, Tony Hale, Molly Shannon, Sutton Foster, Amy Sedaris and Peter MacNicol.

PBS

Labor Day is “Neighbor Day” on PBS KIDS with the premiere of an all new episode of Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood on Monday, September 2.  In honor of #Neighborday, PBS Kids is offering a free episode download on iTunes.  Be sure to snatch this up before the offer ends on September 3.
And speaking of Daniel Tiger awesomeness, it was recently announced that Daniel Tiger Toys will be at Toys R Us Exclusively next month. These highly anticipated toys are made by JAKKS Pacific, and include plush, playsets and collectible figures featuring the star of the animated TV series, Daniel Tiger, and his friends, Katerina Kittycat, Miss Elaina, Prince Wednesday and O the Owl.

In addition to the toys, other merchandise includes games and puzzles from University Games, books from Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing imprint Simon Spotlight and personalized t-shirts available on Toysrus.com and at Toys“R”Us Times Square through partner Ty’s Toy Box.  Among the initial lineup of toys announced, I’m particularly excited about Neighborhood Trolley with Daniel Tiger figure and Daniel Tiger and friends plush!  I’ll have a more in-depth feature on PBS soon, but I’m super excited about this DT news.

Hub

Over at The Hub, they’re looking beyond back to school and end of summer fun and highlighting Halloween.  The Hub announced that Martha Stewart will appear as the Halloween expert as part of the panel of celebrity judges scheduled to participate in the network’s nationwide costume competition on the “Hub Network’s First Annual Halloween Bash,” to be broadcast Saturday, October 26.

The channel is encouraging viewers to enlist their imagination and creativity for this unique costume contest.  Submissions began Friday, August 16 and 50 semi-finalists representing each state in America will win a trip to Los Angeles to be a part of the two-hour event. One lucky winner will take home $25,000 and will have a chance at a walk-on role on the Hub Network’s Daytime Emmy Award-winning series, “R.L. Stine’s The Haunting Hour: The Series.”
The competition is open to all ages, including individuals or a maximum of five people per group submission. Participants are encouraged to create eye-popping, hair-raising and spooky costumes within one of the following six categories:

·         Howl-arious – Shows the lighter side of Halloween with a take on a fun, funny or otherwise hilarious costume.

·         Spook-tacular – Get ready to frighten America by showcasing the most spine-chilling costume for all the ghosts and ghouls out there.

·         Mad Genius – Unique, original, innovative and never seen before. A knight in
armor fashioned from bottle caps, bat wings made from old umbrellas, or a
cardboard-box jetpack, the possibilities are endless. Display a costume unlike
any other — show your Mad Genius.

·         Blast from the Past – Take a stroll down memory lane with a timeless costume. Memories, nostalgia and yesteryear brought to life. Show your take on great figures from before the 20thcentury or a retro 50’s sock hop get up, 60’s flower child or other “period” inspired costumes.

·         Animal Kingdom – Transform into a living creature from the past or present. Be a roaring lion, a school of jellyfish, a firefly, or a Tyrannosaurus Rex.

·         Everyday Stuff – We’re looking for the coolest refrigerator/freezer, remote control, mailbox, block of Swiss cheese, telephone and more.  Be creative and transform the ordinary into the extra-ordinary.

For more information on the contest check out hubworld.com/Halloween to view a two-minute tutorial detailing complete details and entry information about the nationwide costume competition. The deadline to enter is Sunday, September 29.

Going Back to School with Staples

by Jen Rabulan-Bertram

A few weeks ago, I was invited by Staples to take a peek at their latest back to school gear at their #StaplesHasIt event in NYC. Not only did I get a good look at all the latest wares that the retailer had to offer for students and teachers, but we learned about their new Reward-A-Classroom Program AND had the chance to hobnob with a celeb.

For the trend setters, be on the lookout for these fun styles and great gear:

Back to Neon

Neon isn’t just hot with clothes and accessories, this hot trend continues to overlap onto school supplies and other kid gear. Both Jansport and Puma offer neon backpacks; Bold pink, orange, blue and lime green hues are featured in the Quilted Collection of zipper binders, pencil pouches, tablet cases and clipboards. As a writer on the go and serial volunteer (and forever a college kid at heart), my personal favorites for my bag are the Studio C Neon Zip-It 1 Subject Notebook and Neon Sharpies.

Exclusive Patterns and Designs

Staples offers unique designs on products like the Better binders, sticky notes and index card holders, which give a nod back to the 80s, but still keep it functional and cool.

Twinkle, Twinkle

Going a bit further, school supplies are lighting up with cool fiber-optic treatments. (Y’know, just in case you should ever find yourself doing homework at a rave.) The Glo-Lite collection featuring staplers, rulers and dry-erase boards ($6.00-$8.99), lights up when pushed. Fiber Optic Pencil Pouches twinkle in cool designs including shoe, piano and paisley ($6.99). Need a lunch bag that lights up? #StaplesHasIt. Of course they do.

Locker Sweet Locker

I thought I was the coolest with my awesome locker shelves way back when. Staples steps it up with Magnetic Motion Sensor Locker Chandelier ($19.99) that has seven LED lights, a Glo-Lite Magnetic Pencil Bin ($8.99), to unique glitter rugs ($9.99) and magnetic wallpaper ($5.99).

Tech You Can Touch

Acer Aspire Touch Laptop is very portable at only 11.6 inches and at an affordable pricepoint: $479.99). For even more accessibility and portability, Staples has tablets like the HP Slate 7 with Beats ($169.99), Samsung Galaxy II 7 inch ($195.99) and Samsung Note 8.0 ($399.99), Google Nexus 7 16GB ($199) and Kindle Fire HD 8.9” 16GB ($269).

Jansport sleeves combine fashion and function with a wide assortment of tablet sleeves from animal prints to plaids to neon accents. The Jansport Superbreak Sleeve is a durable and fashionable way to carry a 15-inch laptop like a backpack ($29.99).

Nothing Basic About It

Staples also offers fun basic supplies with novelty features, including: Staples Flexible Calculator, Scotch Magic, the Chameleon tape dispenser ($9.99) actually changes color when touched; Post-It Pop-up Note Karate Dispenser ($9.99) that puts post-it notes at your fingertips and Woodland Animal Pencil Pouch ($5.99) available in a variety of fuzzy critters.

Let’s Do Lunch

I’m all about creating fun lunches, so I appreciate Staples’ lineup of lunch accessories: The Fit & Fresh 14 Piece Healthy Lunch Set with proportioned containers and ice packs that snap into the lids ($14.99); Cool It! Ice packs ($10.99); and the LEGO Lunch box ($14.99).

Reward A Classroom

With many teacher friends and as a mom to a Kindergartener, I absolutely love the premise behind Staples new Reward A Classroom. In addition to the 5% back in rewards all members earn, parents can now earn extra rewards for the teacher of their choice with the Reward A Classroom program. Here’s what teachers get when parents shop:

2% back in rewards on everything, including postage, phone/gift cards and savings passes
5% back in rewards on every Copy & Print purchase

Teachers
Visit staples.com/rewardaclassroom to join the program. Make sure to tell parents and friends to link to your account so they start earning rewards for your classroom.

Parents
Visit staples.com/rewardaclassroom and select the teacher you’d like to earn extra rewards for.

There’s always a photo-op

And as a special treat, we Biggie and I had the chance to chat with Nick Cannon, host of America’s Got Talent. Nick was onhand to promote Monster NCredible Headphones. I’ll review those in a separate post, but it was fun meeting Nick, or as Biggie described, “the guy from American Idol.”

Disclosure:   I was provided with a gift bag at the event, but as always, all opinions on NKT are my own.