Melissa & Doug: Item of the Week!

Melissa & Doug's Smarty Pants cards let young kids test their smarts and load up on new facts and funny trivia. The cards are colorful, creative and packed with illustrated activities, including picture puzzles, math challenges, tongue-twisters, mazes, vocabulary builders and much more. Each educational card set is thoughtfully developed to suit the learning style and curriculum standards of each age range . . . then spiced up with fresh, lively design and an infusion of humor (including a whimsical pants-shaped case!) to keep kids giggling, engaged and excited about learning.

Stocking Stuffers

With Christmas 6-Days away, it's time to start thinking about those stocking stuffers!  Make sure you stop in here before you try to battle the crowds at the mall. 

All Melissa and Doug items are buy 1 - get 1 50% off today only!

Melissa & Doug...Item of the week!

Fashion Press

The Fashion Press is great for young girls to show off their design skills. It features an amazing tri-fold playboard featuring two models. With different settings such as neighborhood and fairytale settings, and 12 fabric swatches, kids can create hundreds of designs. They can even add their own swatches! It is a great gift for birthdays and holidays.

Melissa & Doug...Item of the Week!

Ok, lets face it, cooking with kids is fun but it also has a time and a place.  While you are slaving over your stove all day and night getting ready for Thanksgiving, the last thing you want is little hands grabbing everything and "helping you" - but how can you say no without hurting everyone's feelings?  Don't sweat it, you can keep the little ones involved with their very own food to prepare.  

Here are some we have in stock right now...and if you mention this post you will receive 20% off all play food TODAY ONLY!  Don't forget - we are open until 8pm tonight :)

Who doesn't love dessert? The cookie set is so cute because it has the container for the cookie dough, utensils, an oven mitt and a cookie sheet, it also has individual cookies that have mix and match toppings. The doughnuts are the same in the way you can mix and match the different toppings and the brownies are so cute because they have a box of brownie mix and serving utensils!

The Bake and Decorate Cupcake Set is awesome because you can actually decorate the tops of the cupcakes with the markers provided and they will wipe clean with a wet paper towel. The Ice Cream Cone set is great because there is a magnet inside the scooper and when you press the button it releases the ice cream into the cone, they have also added the ice cream container to this set, so it's perfect for storing all of the pieces when it's time to clean up.

Cutting fruit and the Sandwich Making set are also some classic items...the fruit is so fun to cut up and make fruit salad out of, and the sandwiches can be made to fit anyone's order!

Pretending it is someone's birthday is always a great time! You actually decorate this cake with velcro toppings and candles and you can actually cut and serve this cake! The same goes for the pizza party...you can roll it with the pizza cutter and when you cut the velcro apart it sounds like you are cutting a real crispy crust!

Food groups are fantastic because it really helps the kids to understand the different food groups and learn a little bit more about nutrition!

Felt Food is a new addition to Melissa and Doug's collection as well...this Create Your Own Cookie Set is awesome because it comes with a cookie sheet, cookie cutters and decorations!! You can also add your own felt pieces for a little art project.

Unpack these "chilled" wooden groceries into your play fridge and freezer for delicious food play. Perfect for make-believe play, or as novel manipulatives for counting, sorting and more. The Pantry Products are some great staples every little chef needs to have in the pantry. This 9-piece wooden set of dry goods includes tuna, ketchup, spaghetti, soup, sugar, crackers, salad dressing, mustard and cereal.

Add wasabi, if you like! This elegant 24-piece wooden sushi play-food set is packed in a beautiful storage box and includes sliceable sushi rolls, shrimp, tuna, easy-use chopsticks, a cleaver and more. Sushi rolls make realistic chopping sounds when sliced!

The "Cutting Food" set contains eight pieces of wooden food, a cutting board and a wooden knife. Cutting the food makes a satisfying "crunch"--and a playful introduction to concepts of "whole," "part," and fractions.

Young hosts and hostesses will want to add elegance to every tea party or special occasion with this selection of fancy wooden desserts! Mix and match toppings increase the fun and variety of this three-tiered presentation, and the recessed shapes on the trays make this a great shape-sorting activity, too.

Melissa & Doug Item Of the Week!

Sprayza is the "no-fuss airbrush" that's powered by kids! Create unique airbrushed designs without batteries or electronic equipment. Just attach the Sprayza tool to the pen and blow to "airbrush" vibrant colors. Use the sturdy stencils to make shapes or freehand original creations onto the page.

The Sprazya fashion kit is great for those little fashionistas, let them use their creativity to make adorable shirts!

Melissa & Doug Item of the Week!

    While we are still all recovering from the unfortunate damage and power loss resulting from Hurricane Sandy, many of you may have run out of ways to keep the kids busy. And with the snow already moving in with today's nor'easter, it's a great time to stock up on toys to entertain them over the next few days. Here are some of Melissa & Doug's arts and crafts kits to get you started.

                                                       Decorate-Your-Own piggy banks.

Sand Art

Decorate-Your-Own wooden chest.

Decorate-Your-Own Figurines

                                    
                                                                        Suncatchers

Melissa and Doug: Item of the week!

Melissa and Doug have done it again.  They have come out with some fantastic games just in time for those cold winter game nights!  Don't forget they are 20% off until the end of the month as well!!

Suspend

Suspend is by far, my favorite game in stock right now...so much so, that I have my very own at home.  It comes with 24 notched, rubber-tipped wire pieces to hang from a tabletop stand.  It may sound easy but each time a bar is added, the balance shifts and the difficulty changes.  It's like reverse Jenga and trust me...so fun!

Press and Spin Games

Press & Spin games fit in little boxes - but they're big fun on game night!  All of the game instructions include multiple ways to use this colorful game set, so it can be enjoyed by preschoolers and their older siblings too!

Birthday Bear features a four traceable pictures of a festive teddy, plus a press-and-pop spinner and colored pencils.

Picture Dominoes features a colorful spinner and a deck of two-sided domino cards to bring extra excitement to this classic game.

Farm Animal Pairs features a colorful spinner and a deck of 24 memory cards with animal artwork.

Picture Bingo features a six-color spinner and four colorful game cards filled with fruity illustrations. 

Classics are back in stock!!  Pick up Sticks and Jacks!

Show your kids what fun was like BEFORE video games with these great classics!

Bingo, Memory and Hangman all back in stock!

These are great because you never lose any pieces since they are all attached and they are perfect for the car.  Get them quick while we have them in stock...they sell out every time we order them!

Melissa and Doug: Item of the Week!

These question sets are so great to help get conversations going with your little ones.  With over 40 questions in each box, you are sure to find something to talk about!  

Family Dinner - Family Road Trip - Thanksgiving Dinner

Is your dinner table filled with silence or the noise of electronic games?  These boxes are great for getting some dialogue going during dinner time or long car rides.

Birthday Girl - BFF

With 82 questions, The Birthday Girl Box of Questions is great to get your child's party started.  The BFF Box of Questions is recommended for ages 8 and up and is a great idea for any play date.

Truth or Dare - Slumber Party - Camp Bunk

These boxes speak for themselves...how much would your daughter love to have these for slumber parties or play dates with her friends??

Melissa and Doug: Item of the week!

Melissa and Doug is letting us run a promotion this month, EVERYTHING is 20% off through October 31!  

The item we decided to highlight this week are the sticker books, at $4.99 you can't go wrong.  With hundreds of stickers in each book, the kids will be busy for hours!  Take a look at some of the books we have in stock, and also the extension activities which are more ways to play and learn recommended by Melissa and Doug.

I'm sure you remember Colorforms...

the re-usable sticker pads are Melissa and Doug's version!

Make a Meal Reusable Stickers

• Fill a place setting with your dream meal. You can choose anything you like--donuts for dinner, fruit piled high or pasta and more pasta!
• Pick the right number of items from each food group to fill your plate with a well-balanced meal: 2 vegetables, 2 grains, 1 fruit, 1 protein, 1 dairy. Then treat yourself to a dessert sticker!
• Make a restaurant! Set a table with placemats in the same design. Then create the perfect atmosphere: You can make a sign, add a centerpiece to the table or put on music to set the right mood. When your guests arrive, bring out a "tray" of food stickers and let them place their orders. Serve the customers by peeling up the stickers they request and placing the food on their plates!

Habitats Reusable Stickers

Visit a farm, a prehistoric landscape, a desert oasis, a jungle, or the deep blue sea, all in this interactive sticker book! The glossy, full-color backgrounds are ready to be filled with over 150 stickers: Stick a dinosaur by the prehistoric pond and a shark in the ocean - or mix them up and make silly scenes! The easy-to-peel vinyl stickers can be lifted off and repositioned again and again, so kids can follow their imaginations fearlessly.


 Sometimes it's fun to play with real stickers as opposed to the reusable pads. 

Make a Face Stickers

The popular Make-a-Face sticker activity pad gets a wacky makeover in Crazy Characters Make-a-Face. Over 160 stickers add silly, heroic, disgusting, scary or even extraterrestrial personality to 20 background pages. Kids will love filling in the faces to create sensational characters in this hilarious arts-and-crafts activity!

Alphabet and Numbers Sticker Collection

 Add pizzazz to scrapbooks, posters, cards and school projects with this massive collection of alphabet and number stickers. Aspiring graphic designers will enjoy using the more than a dozen different alphabets and over 1,000 stickers to enhance and personalize any craft project!

Jewelry and Nails Sticker Pad

With over 360 stickers in glamorous, glimmering jewelry and nail designs, young stylists can transform illustrated models from simple to sensational. Just use the glittering nails and accessories stickers to fill 15 colorful background pages and make your own fabulous fashion spreads!

Kids and tweens will have a blast as they express their creativity in this unique arts-and-crafts activity.

Fashion Sticker Collection

This exiting sticker activity has everything kids need to outfit 80 "paper doll" stickers! The collection includes more than 600 stickers, including clothing and accessory stickers for every occasion. Choose from swimwear, party dresses, dance outfits and more, then dress the models in fabulous fashions. Great for arts & crafts and pretend play, too!

Sticker Collection - Blue

Over 500 stickers are compiled in one giant sticker book. Each page is packed with stickers to illustrate favorite topics including dinosaurs, construction, outer space and many more. Create a picture or tell a story with these favorite themed stickers.

Sticker Collection - Pink

Cute couture, adorable animals, flowers and fairies, are just some of the favorite themes in this giant sticker book. Over 700 stickers are ready to create a picture or tell a story. Your young artist will find this book designed for creative fun!

Best of all, don't forget...

Melissa and Doug...Item of the week!

Ok, so the stockings need to be stuffed in 2-DAYS!!!  Yes, I said it, 2-DAYS!!!  Melissa and Doug make some great little toys that will fit just perfectly.

We opened a box of these here at the store and we can't stop playing them!!

What a fun childhood memory to share with your kids - who probably have no idea what either Jacks or Pick up Sticks are.

The snowman stacker is so cute, I gave it to a friend of mine's son and he ran around the party screaming "look! it's frosty!"

The decorate your own crafts are a great way to keep little girls busy

What boy doesn't love bugs!  We also have crafts for them as well :)

Mention this blog for 10% off any toy that can fit in a stocking...today and tomorrow only!

Melissa and Doug...Item of the week!

 

Out of every toy from Melissa and Doug, I have to say that the 'Get up and Go Games' are my personal favorite.  They are interactive board games which promote gross motor skills, balance, hand-eye coordination, memory, auditory skills and color recognition - not to mention, they are REALLY fun!  Each set includes 10-action packed games to engage your children's body and minds.

The Puppy Pursuit is adorable, it comes with 6 stuffed puppies and 60 paw print cards and the instructions include variations on all 10 of the games so you can enhance the fun.  Games such as Puppy Hunt, Jumping Puppies and Paw Pickers, will truly encourage the development of memory, patterning, sequencing, color recognition and matching skills.

The Block Balancing Games look like the most fun to me, I haven't actually played it yet, but trust me it's on my list!  Games like Brain Block, Blocked Memory and Out of Shape, will inspire action and lots of laughter. Using 20 brightly colored foam blocks, 20 cards and 4 wooden discs, children will find lots of challenging game fun in this box! Matching, stacking, and relay racing make physical and mental fitness a giggling goal for all. Instructions include variations on many of the games to extend the fun.

The Funny Frog Games such as, Lilypad Landing, Musical Lily Pads and Pad Hop and Go will improve hand-eye coordination and balance using 4 beanbag frogs, 9 colorful lilypads and a spinner. Following directions and taking turns are reinforced as children match, toss and hop in these exciting activities.

This cool set is the perfect excuse to play with your food! Slip the bread-shaped gloves onto your hands, then follow the sandwich cards to "grab" sandwich fillings and make the winning sandwich. A variety of game ideas include Fast Food (race to match the sandwich on the picture card), Service on the Fly (toss a sandwich filling onto a bread glove) and more! Inspiring children to get active and improve memory and matching skills will put fun on the menu every time. Set includes four bread-slice gloves, 14 sandwich fillings and 20 sandwich cards.