Most toys are simply garbage. There I said it. Long-ago, most toy companies stopped thinking about what’s best for kids in order to focus on profits, no matter the social and health implications.

This phenomenon explains how cheaply made Chinese products have flooded toy store shelves in recent years, pushing out socially-responsible competitors. A disturbing number of these products were so bad to be recalled due to the presence of lead in the toy.

Lead in children’s toys? I don’t know about you, but that’s inexcusable in my book. Distressed by the potential for harm not only to my own children but to those of friends and strangers as well, I sought out alternative options in the burgeoning market for green gifts.

What I found is a diverse market for high quality gifts – many of which are made in the U.S.A. – that don’t sacrifice function for social responsibility. Generally-speaking, green gifts work directly to protect the environment and public health by eliminating harmful toxins from the manufacturing process.

Either way, the consumer wins. You get well-made, safe toys for your children that do no harm. With Christmas right around the corner, now is the perfect time to take advantage of the benefits of green gift giving.

Here are 5 awesome green gifts your children will love:

Nintendo Wii – Yes, you read that right. It may be a little subjective to call the Nintendo Wii a green gift, but it does have advantages over other game systems. Namely, the Wii is more than 10 times more energy efficient than the Play Station 3 or Xbox 360.

Arbor Collective – This sustainable skateboard and snowboard company produces boards made from farmed aspen, poplar, cork oak and bamboo so that old-growth species can be preserved.

Brookstone Boogie Board – A LCD writing tablet with stylus removes paper from the equation, saving trees while allowing your children to draw or write until their hearts are content. The 8.8” x 5.6” tablet is pressure sensitive to allow lines of varying thickness and use even with the touch of a fingernail.

Plan Toys Eco-Chalet Dollhouse – This modernist dollhouse is made of all-natural recycled rubber wood and includes miniature replica solar system. Two separate units can be arranged and rearranged in numerous variations.

The Lorax – This iconic children’s book by Dr. Seuss tells an enduring environmental tale that should be shared by every parent and child.

Bright colors like red, blue, yellow and green attracts most babies. You might want to buy some that comes in different shapes of even large puzzle pieces to incorporate cognitive development at an early age. But your baby might just probably throw them away or bite on them. This is fine babies love to bite especially when teething. So you have to be very picky when it comes to the texture of the toys, they should never come with small parts or a string. These are hazardous especially to babies, since they love biting on the toys, they might choke accidentally on those tiny parts.

Building blocks are great toys for babies especially those that come in varying bright colors. This will help them develop the hand and eye coordination. You may want to teach them how to build blocks at first and then gradually introduce how to make big blocks out of them. These safe and developmental baby toys are great your child.

The creation of dollhouses is an outgrowth of people’s interest in dolls. Being a plaything that usually resembles a baby or child that is especially appealing to girls, a doll can be further enjoyed by its owner in its own miniature house, complete with objects that make it look like an actual home. Dollhouses for girls have long been a source of joy and entertainment to girls of various ages.

The earliest-made dollhouse was known to have existed as early as the 15th century. Craftsmen filled the miniature houses with every conceivable household article such as furniture, books, clothing, musical instruments, silver, glassware, and china to make them very realistic. Dollhouses for girls come in different styles, most of which reflect architectural trends of a particular place and time.

Dollhouses were used by adults to showcase decorative figurines. It occupied a different level of importance as children were not allowed to get close to them primarily for their preservation. The more famous ones can be found in museums. Germans were believed to be the first ones to use dollhouses as toys. English dollhouses were inspired by the so-called Nuremberg kitchen imported from Germany. It was originally intended as a cooking game being a small model of a room with kitchen equipments. Succeeding variations came with several additional rooms which soon evolved into dollhouses. Americans were introduced to dollhouses in the 19th century.

Dollhouses were only found in the homes of wealthy people until the 20th century. They were objects of intricate and excellent craftsmanship typically having glass fronts and elaborate decoration. They were and are still considered trophy collections, played only by adults. It is a good thing that present dollhouses for girls are a lot more child-friendly and can truly be enjoyed by a child.

Opting for large doll houses necessitate minor assembly work as it is not practical for manufacturers to have them packed fully assembled because of their size. The expected joy derived from having an excellent doll house choice more than makes up for the little extra work. The size also permits the inclusion of more furniture and accessories which are of course, such a delight to young children.

Large doll houses also offer more flexibility in personalizing doll houses while providing more opportunities to highlight a child’s creativity. The small hands of children may not yet be up to the care required by smaller versions of doll houses. The semblance of realism in a child’s point of view is much better achieved in the doll house’s advantageous size.

The size of large doll houses likewise allow for more extra details such as turrets, balconies, surprise rooms, and drawbridges. It also facilitates a wider range of interactive activity such as rearranging rooms and furniture to produce an entirely new look for the house. They are also much sturdier and can handle maximized play of children. Many models are provided in fun designs and colors to make imaginative play more exciting. A custom-made doll house can be as large as a young girl wants it to be.

Parents can encourage their preschool children to read in a fun and entertaining way. On the internet, there are various resources available today and one site I highly recommend is Kabongo.com.

This is practically a new site designed by Dr. Marty Fletcher, an expert in cognitive psychology. Kabongo.com believes that children learn fast when they are able to think and do activities they love particularly those that involve some form of play. The games are meant to develop the different cognitive skills of children which they can use to improve their reading ability as they grow.

On the site, children can choose a variety of online preschool learning games they will surely love. Kabongo features its own cartoon characters that are quite colorful and attractive.

To get started on using the games, parents need to register first after which they can introduce the play and reading activities to their kids. There’s a dashboard available wherein you can monitor your child’s progress in the kindergarten games they play. No fees are involved because playing the online games is absolutely free of charge. Parents just need to sign up and then you can instantly explore the site and play the games together with their kids.

As parents eager to teach your kids the fun way of learning, the Kabongo.com site is definitely a great guide as it provides easy to understand information on the essence of cognitive development, how Kabongo games work and the person behind the brain games. You will also learn how the Go Go Kabongo! brain games teaches children the right techniques in problem solving and critical thinking.

Articles containing tips are also available as additional resources for parents. More updated information can be gathered at the Kabongo blog.

Finally if you have any questions on how to use the games and other concerns, you can always contact the site’s customer service. You can reach them by email, phone or through regular mail.

Here are some web sites that you might like if you’re the type who would want to spend some time on the computer playing games.

Fupa.com is a web site that features tons of flash games. They have a parenting section, which has many alternatives to choose from. Some of the more interesting ones that I saw are Childs Play Word Search Game and Parenting Word Search Game, which I think are perfect if you’re the kind that likes word games – and I sure do. There are also games for little kids, which are pretty safe for your tiny ones. You do, however, have to register for FREE. It’s like an online community of its own, with some benefits.

Another fun site that I discovered is BabyYum.com. There is just one game – Baby Yum. It’s a pretty easy flash game, where you can practice your multi-tasking skills. I love the stork, which is actually your character. For some reason, the game reminded me of that old Game & Watch game where you caught eggs that fell off the shelves, which you can find left and right. Maybe it’s the set up of the graphics. In any case, I think this is a great game to play when you have some free time.

Of course, there are other countless games that you can play online – not necessarily parenting games, but still games that are worth your while. And, if you’re on Facebook (I know very few people who aren’t), you can have all the games that you want to keep yourself busy. If you like cooking, go for Restaurant City and Café World. If you’re into fantasy, try Castle Age.

For you mums who are not into games, what do you suggest?

Still, I am a firm believer in engaging children in other activities and not letting the TV run their lives. While I find the TV useful and entertaining, I also think that children should be exposed to many other activities. There is a whole world of ideas and values to be learned in so many other ways, don’t you think? So, here’s a list of my alternatives to watching TV.

Stickers! There is no doubt about it – children LOVE stickers. Both boys and girls have this thing for stickers so you really should stock up on them. There are a lot of stickers that you can buy in bookstores – whenever you see some that you think your children would like, just grab a bunch. Also make sure that you have a blank notebook where your children could put the stickers. Otherwise, you might end up with stickers on the walls, on the furniture, and even the fish tank! To encourage creativity, tell your children to make up their own story with the stickers. Another idea is to buy sticker books. They have all sorts of themes – dinosaurs, gadgets, and more. Choose the ones that will interest your children and bring the books out when necessary.

Match colors…sock colors, that it. With several children in the house, I have tons of socks to pair up after washing. Instead of doing it myself, I can actually enlist the kids’ help. Toddlers who know the basic colors are excellent helpers. Just ask them to pick out matching pairs and put them together. Older kids will even be able to wrap or bind them up together. That’s killing two birds with one stone, don’t you think?

Audio books! I love to read and I love listening to audio books. I think my children should have the same passion as well. With any mp3 player, they can listen to all the stories they want. It’s better than TV because listening to stories can help sharpen their imagination as well as their comprehension skills.

So what’s on your list of activities?

It’s been busier than usual, what with the school runs (oh why oh why did I join the PTA?), activity runs, Mommy-and-baby classes, renovating our new house, buying food, cooking the food…you get the picture. So I decided to take a breather yesterday and spend a couple of hours on ME, having a much needed wax and mani/pedi. It did wonders for my Halloween-weary soul, so please Make the time for yourself, Moms!

Anyway, after my rejuvenating little spa session, I decided to go full-steam-ahead with my Halloween party planning (a tradition I started with a good friend last year), with a mantra to keep in mind:

Keep it Small and Keep it Simple!

Last year, we went all out, spent far too much money and even if the kids had a fantastic time, we guiltily knew that they would have had an equally fab time with less of pretty much everything. And that goes for our planning time too!

So this year, here’s what we’re doing:

1. The E-Invites – Why waste trees, time and money when you can send a totally free, totally cute e-invite in no time at all? My internet savvy sister directed me to this terrific site, which enabled me to make the most adorable e-vite in about 15 minutes (check out the image I used above). It allowed me to access the email addresses from my account, and does RSVP-ing too- so easy! Oh, and most importantly we kept the number of guests down – 15 or less, including our own.

2. The Decor – This was an easy one – use last year’s!! Borrowing is also an option, as I’m sure you’ll friend plenty of relatives or friends willing to part with a few pumpkins, spiders and the like for one afternoon.

3. The Food and Drink – The kids would rather play games, do activities or simply run amok, so we kept food simple with 2 dishes and a drink each to provide. Another good reason to do it with a friend! Much as I melt at the scary cuteness in dishes like these, we’re keeping the spooky food theme to a minimum, because some of the smaller and fussier kids probably won’t get it or worse, eat it! Also, most of our very nice Mom friends sent their kids with something anyway, like last year some kids arrived with a couple of boxes of pizza, chocolate cake and little bags of treats!

4. The Activities and Games – This is the part my kids most look forward to, and can also be the most emotional! Since the ages of kids will be varying from 2-7, we picked just 4 games, two of which are “team” kinds, so the big ones can help the little ones rather than them winning everything! Spooky twists on old classics are the key here, like the “Black Cat Boogie” (musical chairs) and “Skeletons and Pumpkins Hunt” (scavenger hunt, but in the dark!). A couple of activities like pumpkin decorating (real or less messily done as a craft with cardboard and paint) and/or party masks are fun too especially for those kids who shy away from competitive games. This happily doubles up as something they can take home! I also like to have a “quiet” area, with a nice Halloween video playing and a few toys, coloring pages (print out 3 or so yourself and photocopy) and cutting pages, for the littler ones or kids just needing a breather from all the excitement.

Photo via anjanettew

I get newsletters from a lot of places, and admittedly I mostly just skim through them, only really clicking through if I find something especially interesting – like the other day! In my Fisher Price newsletter was a link to their 50th Anniversary toys, toys from my childhood.

If you grew up with Fisher Price toys like I did, I urge you to visit this page, I honestly got incredibly excited remembering the beloved toys my sister and I once played with for many happy hours. One thing I wasn’t aware of was how the “Little People” toys of today evolved from the ones we played with in the 70′s. My kids have the Christmas sets, which they love playing with, but the characters just don’t have the same appeal. They look too much like cartoons in my opinion (which I admit is completely biased!).

The first “house” I had was this yellow house you see above. I still have it in storage in my Mom’s house but sadly it’s pretty war torn with the pieces all disappeared – boo hoo. Fisher Price now has a “50th Birthday” version, which is just a few “retro” figures in a tin which vaguely looks like the original. A poor substitute, I think! They could have at least made replicas of the original people.

Other favourites which tug at my childhood heartstrings are the Sesame Street “street”, pictured at the top of the post and the airport just above. I could go on, and go the extra mile by actually purchasing these toys on Ebay (tempting, if it weren’t for the exorbitant prices), but for now I’ll just have to be content to look wistfully at these online photos.
For more memory tripping, check out this 1977 Fisher Price catalog, which I think is meant to be a bit of a joke, but for a seventies kid like me, is another lovely walk done memory lane.

We just got back from a perfect beach holiday over the Easter break. Well, it was nearly perfect as holidays-with-kids go if I don’t count:

1. Squabbling between my 4 and 7 year old over so many things I can’t remember anymore.
2. My accident prone 4 year-old’s scraped and bleeding big toes – where he scraped it, we have no idea.
3. 1-year-old Wills getting cut on the lip a grand total of 3 times. He learned to love ice and I found a “cool” way to distract him for a while on the high chair (pardon the pun) – a cube of ice!
4. Our “Marley-esque” Basset hound Wendy going on a destructive spree and chewing 3 bedspreads and a chair, not no mention several toys and my husband’s favourite sandals.

But that aside, my husband and I both agreed that it was one of the most relaxing and lovely holidays we’ve ever had. The kids were outside most of the day, swimming and playing – happily NOT on the DS, Wii, Gameboy or logged on to Nick jr.. Dad had real quality time with them as did I, and we had several family games (amazingly no cheating occurred) of Star Wars Monopoly, Guess Who and The Game of Life, Moms fave which, to my disappointment was too long for my kids (for now). They loved Guess Who, another one of my sister and my favourites. We discovered it on holiday in Paris when we were kids, and I think it was called “Qui est-ce?”. Gosh, how we loved that game, and I think the French did too. Here’s a hilarious video I found of the “Guess Who International Tournament”.

Photo via rycat