Tag: school age

Gift idea: Wooden Jewish Holiday Puzzles

by Jen Rabulan-Bertram

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!

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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.

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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.

NKT Picks: Cyber Monday Deals

by Jen Rabulan-Bertram

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:

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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!

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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

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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.

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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.

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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

Full of Bounty: Cheerios and the 100,000 book giveaway

by Jen Rabulan-Bertram

As I’m finalizing my holiday gift guides much later than I hoped, I just wanted to take a moment to express my gratitude.  With Thanksgiving just a few days away and all, I have so much to be thankful for—our health and happiness at the top of my list.

We make it a habit to start AND end our days with books.  Like many of you, books will always play a huge role in our family life, but unfortunately, that’s not the case for everyone.

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Did you know that over 80 percent of childcare centers serving low-income children lack age-appropriate books? And a recent study shows that the ratio of books per child in middle income neighborhoods is 13 to 1, while in low-income neighborhoods, the ratio is 1 age-appropriate book for every 300 children.

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Green gift idea: Hugg-a-Planet Earth

by Jen Rabulan-Bertram

hugaplanetLast 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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Gift Idea: Crayola Telescoping Crayon Tower

by Jen Rabulan-Bertram

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.

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TelscpngCrynTwr&Hand_01HRVia 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 Crayola Telescoping Crayon Towerapplication—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!

World Pneumonia Day, November 2

by Jen Rabulan-Bertram

“It surprises most people to learn that pneumonia kills more children than any other disease – taking more than 2 million young lives annually,” former U.S. Senate Majority Leader and Save the Children Board member Bill Frist, MD and co-author Dr. Richard Sezibera, Rwanda`s Minister of Health, said in this week’s edition of The Lancet.

Image courtesy of Save the Children
Image courtesy of Save the Children

Pneumonia takes the lives of more children under 5 than measles, malaria, and AIDS combined. The disease takes the life of one child every 15 seconds, and accounts for 20% of all deaths of children under 5 worldwide.

To be quite honest, I can be included in the ‘surprised’ contingent.

Wear-Blue-Jeans-Vertical-JPEGInstead of the usual posts focusing on material goods, today I will be focusing on a much more serious issue.  If I can help it, I’m hoping to challenge my naivety and help spread the word by taking part in the Global Pneumonia Summit on the First Annual World Pneumonia Day today, November 2. Nearly 100 leading global health organizations from around the world are convening in NYC to recognize World Pneumonia Day to urge policymakers to help prevent and treat pneumonia.

I was recently tapped as one of the 5 top tier bloggers to attend this  event on behalf of Vicks, and I couldn’t be more honored to be a part of this fight. Vicks is an official member of the Global Coalition Against Childhood Pneumonia and has partnered with Save the Children to help and deliver treatment to children stricken with pneumonia all over the world. As part of this effort, I hope to absorb and share as much as I can, as part of this incredibly important outreach.

Join me as I live tweet and blog from the event to help educate and change the way the world responds to childhood pneumonia.

In the meantime, please feel free to read more about World Pneumonia Day, follow World Pneumonia Day on Twitter and if you can, wear blue jeans.

Jeans?

Yup, jeans.

To spread awareness about the single largest cause of death in children worldwide, netizens are urging everyone to observe it by wearing a pair of blue jeans.


Please stay tuned or follow me on Twitter for the latest updates from the Summit.

NKT Halloween Safety Tips

by Jen Rabulan-Bertram

halloween_pumpkinThe spookiest time of year has finally arrived! Happy Halloween, everyone! As you put the finishing touches on the kid’s costumes (or if you’re like me, haven’t even started your own) let’s not forget the importance of safety. According to a report I read, statistics show that pedestrians are twice as likely to be struck by a car on Halloween night as they are the rest of the year. Not only are cars a concern, but so is the potential of getting lost.

There are plenty of sites and articles that offer advice on how to keep safe this weekend, but I thought I’d add my own two cents as well!
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PBS Kids Go Launches Fizzy’s Lunch Lab

by Jen Rabulan-Bertram

With all this talk about eating healthy and reforming the nutrition standard of school lunches, PBSKidsGo.org has impeccable timing with the upcoming launch of Fizzy’s Lunch Lab.

Fizzy’s Lunch Lab is a fun new website (and more) geared to early elementary school kids that addresses smart food choices and living healthy. Through the silly animated adventures of Professor Fizzy and pals, kids can learn about the good, bad and not so yummy foods.

PBS said that the site will feature animated and live-action shorts, interactive recipes, food facts and games that are all geared to engage kids to make smarter food choices.


From the event I sat in on the other day, I learned that some kids really have no idea how to eat healthy. They know what they’re taught; and just like most things, the kids learn from example. I love the idea behind Fizzy’s Lunch Lab and how PBS leverages the web, humor and the quirky Professor Fizzy to engage and motivate kids. The graphics and dialogue are pretty impressive. Well, then again, it is PBS, so there’s no surprise there!

The site doesn’t officially launch for a few more weeks, but you can check out the site and see the above preview and also to get a feel for Professor Fizzy’s antics.
If you’re on Twitter, you can follow Fizzy’s Lunch Lab here, and where I just learned that they will be making an iPhone app as well!

Yum-O! Lunch Program Launches

by Jen Rabulan-Bertram

I had quite the interesting morning; it was actually a super yummy morning! I’m in the midst of catching up on posts and organizing photos, but I thought I’d share a few photos from my morning with Rachel Ray and Sen. Gillibrand at P.S. 89 / I.S. 289 in Tribeca.

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Together with a few other bloggers, I was asked to attend a media event for the launch of Rachel Ray’s Yum-o! Organization’s new partnership with New York City’s Department of Education, Office of SchoolFood. The Senator and Rachel Ray are both advocates of keeping kids healthy and fighting childhood obesity, and I’ll be sure to share more about what they had to say.

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As much as I love awesome kid products, I’m just as passionate about learning and sharing about healthy eating and wellness, in general. I’ve written about healthy eating and the reform of nutrition standards here on NKT, and so, participating in this very informative event and to be able provide exclusive coverage on NKT was such an honor.

There’s much more to come!