Books are perhaps some of my most favorite gifts to give kids. They’re great as an add-on gift or a stocking stuffer, too! Though not all kids will put books high on their gift list, you really can’t go wrong with a great book or three!
Baby Love: A Board Book Gift Set
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Tag: gift ideas
Great DVDs for Preschoolers
The next installment of the Next Kid Thing Gift Glossary is all about DVDs for toddler and preschoolers. I’m all about less is more when it comes to tv watching, dvds and video games, especially for the smaller kids. But a great show on DVD is often what separates me from getting dinner cooked without a meltdown. So, here are a few dvd picks for preschoolers (and even one for toddlers) that are entertaining for everyone.
NKT Gift Glossary: great games
Finally! I’m just now getting all caught up and posting my much delayed Holiday Gift Glossary! Over the next few days, I will be unveiling my favorite top picks for the NKT Holiday Gift Glossary. And oh yeah, I’ll be giving away a few goodies, too!
Today’s installment of the Holiday Gift Glossary is all about games! Check them out here or under the Gift Glossary tab above!
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Gift idea: Wooden Jewish Holiday Puzzles
Undoubtedly, there’s a lot of excitement in the air for the holidays, but there’s another important celebration–the Celebration of Lights– that starts next week.
In 2009, Hanukkah begins at sundown on December 11th. For those that don’t know, according to the interwebs, Jews have given Hanukkah gelt to friends and family since the 17th century, but the custom of giving more elaborate gifts has only been around since the 19th century.
Gift-giving goes hand-in-hand with fabulous kid gifts, of course. One of my lovely Jewish friends mentioned this site, and I was hooked. They had me at Jonathan Adler!
Over in the kid gift ideas, I spotted the Jewish Holiday Puzzles. Not only does it include a Hanukkah-themed puzzle, but this set includes Shabbat, Passover and Rosh Hashanah Puzzle as well. By Kid Kraft, the puzzles feature diverse shapes and comes with a puzzle rack for convenient storage. And thank goodness, all paints used are lead free and non-toxic.
Wooden puzzles are definitely a favorite for us, and for many other families. The fact that four puzzles come in the Jewish Holiday Puzzles set, combined with its entertainment, educational and cultural value make these puzzles an ideal Hanukkah gift! These puzzles are in the $30 price point (not bad for 4 wooden puzzles!) and can be found on sites like Modern Tribe.
Gift idea: Zoobies
As I started my day this morning, I just so happened to turn on the Today Show, right as the Top 10 holiday toys you don’t know about segment came on.
I was so excited to see that Zoobies made that list, because Zoobies are another one of those items that the kid just loves. Our guy was gifted his Zoobie Pet, Tama, last year from Santa, and hasn’t let go of it since.
Zoobies are a plush 3-in-1 concept: Each pet is a stuffed animal, a pillow, and a blanket all in one. The velcro latches on each Zoobie is child friendly and can be easily unfastened to transform the animals into the pillows. The zippers at the bottom unzip to reveal the blanket inside. Each blanket can be detached from the pet for machine washing.
Aside from the vibrant colors, great selection of animals and that they’re appropriate from babies to big kids, Zoobies make a practical gift/toy/lovey and are ideal for traveling. They’re durable and truly cozy and soft. Our Tama is often involved an various toddler accident and spills and has had his fair share of baths in the washing machine. A year later, he still looks just like Santa brought him to us.
Zoobies come in small, medium and large; our Tama is the smallest size and he is just right for the little guys. The stuffed animal, itself, is just the right size to cuddle for little grips, yet the blanket is big enough for mom and kid to cuddle under. According to the site, the blanket measures 53 x 34 in.
Zoobies added several new pets to their brood, and I’m definitely in love with Bubba the Black Bear that was just featured on The Today Show this morning. Soft, cute, cuddly and practical!
The small Zoobies are in the $30 price point and can be found online and in stores such as Buy Buy Baby.
NKT Picks: Cyber Monday Deals
I hope everyone had a fun and festive Thanksgiving! And if you hit the sales on Friday, I hope you found some fantastic deals and made it home unscathed. My girlfriend and I are still reeling from the lack of sleep on Thursday night/Friday morning since we hit Toys R Us at midnight and pretty much kept going until 11am!
But for those of you who have saved your money (and sanity) for Cyber Monday, there are lots of great deals! Most of these last until midnight, so be sure to check them out! I’ll be sure to post more as I see them!
Here’s my quick roundup of Cyber Monday deals:
Amazon video game deals
For the teen and tween set, undoubtedly, a few video games will make it to their gift list! Need some ideas, or better yet, some great deals? Be sure to head to Amazon today for some great Cyber Monday deals!
LeapFrog
LeapFrog has a great lineup of Cyber Monday deals today, with select Tag Books and Leapster games as low as $5! I picked up a Leapster for my kid at the TRU Black Friday sale, so I will more than likely pick up a few more Leapster games for to add to the collection. We’re huge LeapFrog fans!
· 25% to 75% off sitewide
· Select Leapster games as low as $5
· Select Tag Books as low as $5
· Up to 75% off on our gift packs
· Spend $50, get free shipping
Scandinavian Child
One of my personal favorite distributors is having some great Cyber Monday deals that start at noon and end at 9pm EST, including 30% off Anka High Chairs and 40% off Svan Scooters! Be sure to go here for their complete list of Cyber Monday Deals.
Target
I cleaned up at Target on Black Friday, but it looks like they have a number of really great deals today, with the $500 off a Philips 47? 1080p 120Hz LCD TV catching my eye. You can check out their Cyber Monday deals here. Here’s a great coupon for $7 off of $70 plus free shipping.
Stride Rite
I’m a bit late on sharing this great info., but Stride Rite is having a ton of fan-only Cyber Monday giveaways…including a mystery grand prize worth $600 and more giveaways every hour! Make sure you become a fan to score some great deals on their shoes, which includes great lines such as Robeez, Saucony, Keds and much more!
Gymboree
Online only & today only! Free shipping on any order & save 20% off. New line online now & in most stores 12/2. http://www.gymboree.com
Green gift idea: Hugg-a-Planet Earth
Last week, I had the privilege of being invited to the annual Blogger’s Brunch here in NYC, where a number of influential bloggers networked and interacted with various companies and marketers. One of the organizations present at the brunch was Goddard Schools, a school that I know a few of my friends and family have turned to in the past.
Goddard Schools had a lot of great information to share with us bloggers, but one piece of information that was especially helpful for NKT was their 10 Eco-Friendly Toys Under $30. Together with Eco-Child’s Play, Goddard Schools unveiled a really great list of eco-friendly AND budget friendly toys.
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Review: YGG’s Music is Awesome!
Over the weekend, the Yo Gabba Gabba Live tour kicked off at LA’s Shrine Auditorium. I loved following the developments on Twitter, which makes me that much more excited to hear about the show in NYC this weekend.
So, with more YGG on the brain, I thought I’d share my much overdue review on the Music is Awesome cd that launched last month.
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Gift Idea: Crayola Telescoping Crayon Tower
Things have been hectic around here lately. Besides my packed schedule of events, I’ve been working on my Holiday Gift Guide (WITH giveaways!) that will be revealed next week. In the meantime, I thought I’d post a quick gift idea.
A few weeks ago, I posted about the Crayola, Lights, Camera and Color online application. I mentioned how you can access this fun feature if you buy the larger quantities of Crayola Crayon bundles, which includes the 150-count Telescoping Crayon Tower.
Via Blogspark, Crayola sent us the 150-count Telescoping Crayon Tower to test out and review. At first I was reluctant about opening up this package because my guy is notorious for destroying anything that comes in large quantities. But surprise, he proved me wrong!
Because of the cool telescoping feature, my toddler was amazed at how the tiers could collapse. It’s easy to turn and reveal the tiers and just as easy to collapse to put them away. This set, which is a nice departure from the yellow and green cardboard box that seems to break down so quickly, includes a crayon sharpener on the top tier. The $15 set also includes 118 regular crayons, 16 metallic FX crayons and 16 glitter crayons making the largest set of Crayola crayon colors ever.
I love the easy storage and assortment of crayons. And better yet, I love how this set includes a code for printing accessibility for the Lights, Camera and Color online 
application—what a fun bonus! Thanks to the novelty of the telescoping feature, we’ve yet to lose or break any crayons, which is quite an achievement! This set would make a perfect gift, and is suitable for preschoolers and older.
Want it?
Crayola and Blogspark is offering one reader a Crayola 150-count Telescoping Crayon Tower!
To enter, just tell me your favorite Crayola Crayon color! Feel free to enter multiple times by sharing your favorite colors and/or by sharing on any social networking site!
New DVD Release: Star Wars The Clone Wars
Tuesdays always marks a fun day of the week, particularly because of all the fun new DVDs and CDs that are released. Well, this close to the holidays, you can be sure to expect even more exciting titles to pop up, with today 
as no exception.
The first season of Star Wars: The Clone Wars, the wildly popular animated series that chronicles “a galaxy far, far away” was released today.
“The Clone Wars sweep through the galaxy, the heroic Jedi Knights – including Anakin Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Jedi Master Yoda and padawan Ahsoka Tano – struggle to maintain order and restore peace. But despite the best efforts of these brave protectors, more and more planets are falling prey to the sinister forces of the dark side…”
In addition to all 22 episodes, the four-disc set offers a look behind-the-scenes and also includes an exclusive 64 page production journal. Exclusive to the Blu-ray disc, The Jedi Temple Archives provides in-depth access to an extensive database of creative materials.
As children of the 70s and 80s, I know many of my parent friends are huge Star Wars fans, so, it’s no surprise, The Clone Wars has garnered a lot of older fans too. At $44.98 for DVD and $59.99 for Blu-ray, The Clone Wars first season would make a great family gift for Star Wars lovers!
The dvd is available in stores today, and Star Wars: The Clone Wars airs on Fridays at 8:00 p.m. ET/PT on Cartoon Network.