My three-year-old son couldn’t tear himself away from a miniature sandbox set he saw at a local toy store the other day. The set, called My Little Sandbox, is a box about ten inches square, filled with fine sand and a variety of themed toys. The one on display was a little farm, with animals, […]
My first attempt at monkey bread was a traditional herbed loaf based on a white-bread recipe (but with a little whole-wheat flour added because I like it that way). Not willing to leave well enough alone, however, I then decided to try it with a challah dough. Challah, as you may know, is a Jewish
Here’s a recipe for a simple yet festive bread that’s both fun to make with kids and suitable for company. It comes out in a cake-like shape that makes a great centerpiece for a dinner party—a nice alternative to a basket of rolls. Its pull-apart sections are easy for little monkey fingers to grab, too.
Several bloggers, including Mike the Mad Biologist, Shakespeare’s Sister, and Amanda at Pandagon, have written about the Discovery Channel Store’s appalling choices in science gifts for girls. The top boys’ gifts include things like the Discovery Whodunit? Forensics Lab and the Discovery Speed Detector, while the girls have the Discovery Deluxe Nail Salon and the
The fine folks at PG Toys contacted me and asked if I would write about their first kids’ toy project, The Gender-Play-Doh Kit. The kit includes: A convertible bag Lipstick Nail Polish Clip-on Earrings Make your own bracelet! Black makeup for drawing on facial hair Suspenders A Bow-Tie A set of flash cards with fun
When I give gifts, I like to create a theme by matching several items—and I don’t mean buying multiple products with the same branded character. An “action item” and a book or CD can allow kids to have fun with a subject from a variety of angles. Here are a few ideas for those (like
I was all set to write about making “gingerbread” houses from graham crackers, an easy, clever project my son did in art class this weekend. Turns out Martha Stewart beat me to it. (Thanks to Blogging Baby for the sighting.) I’m including, nevertheless, a photo of the house my son decorated, to prove that one
LEGO Bricks were one of the favorite toys of my childhood. I can’t wait until my son is old enough for the gear-filled LEGO Technic sets. I therefore enjoyed reading Business Week’s recent article on The Making of a LEGO Brick (thanks, Slashdot), which details the precise production process (“only 18 out of 1 million
As both the mother of a train-obsessed child and a refugee from grad school in history, I was delighted to find a Wikipedia article on the history and geography of the Island of Sodor, home of Thomas the Tank Engine. It’s not quite world-building on the Tolkien scale, but it’s a step in that direction,
Turkey not defrosted in time? Diaper disaster with your toddler means you won’t have time to make stuffing? Hop over to Joe Kissel’s column at Wired News and learn how to Deal With Turkey Day Disasters. Disater or no, my family always uses his trick of baking the stuffing in a pan, not in the
