Was just reading a story about the dangers of kids toy storage chests with hinged lids for young children and thought I should pass it along.  Do not ever use a container for storing toys that has a heavy lid and does not have a lid damper installed that keeps the lid from slamming shut.   And also don’t ever use a container for toys that can become even close to airtight when closed.

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) reports it knows of 45 children who died when chests or boxes used for toy storage had heavy lids that fell on their heads or necks.  There have also been incidents of permanent brain damage. Many deaths involved products specifically manufactured as toy boxes or chests, although children have died in other containers used for toy storage, such as trunks, footlockers, decorator cubes, and blanket chests.  Children who climb into storage containers such as cedar chests to hide can became trapped and can suffocate.

How does it happen?  If the lid is too heavy and doesn’t have support, a young child reaching in for a toy can have the lid fall on the back of their head and trap their neck on the side of the toy chest, potentially suffocating them.  Also, heavy older chests even with lid supports can become airtight when closed and if the lid is heavy enough, trap children inside.

And so we present the Toy Report suggestions for toy chests:

1. Use an open storage for toys with no lids.  If you have a great chest for that your want to use for toys, remove the lid completely.
2. Use only toy containers that have plastic lightweight lids or lids that slide open rather than raise or lower.
3. If you have a chest with a heavy lid, make sure it has lid supports to keep it open.  If not, install one of more safety lid supports.  Click here to see some inexpensive lid supports.
4. If you have a chest with a lid that closes completely and makes a tight seal, drill holes in the back near the top or add shims to lid to make sure there is a space for fresh air to enter the chest in case a child becomes trapped inside.
5. Store your toys in something soft instead.  For example, the Boon Stuffed Animal Storage bag is a great choice.

Remember, it can take less than 30 seconds for lack of oxygen to cause brain damage.  Play it safe!

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We have a couple of Zhu Zhu Hamsters that freely roam the living room area on a regular basis.  The dog has learned to ignore them as they roll around the room bumping into things or getting stuck under the couch.

The kids still get a kick out of them though, occasionally building little mazes or houses for them out of cardboard boxes.  The fun of the toys remains the sounds that they make as well as the freedom of movement they enjoy as they maneuver around floor obstacles.

Enter the Zhu Zhu Baby Hamster line, at first glance a smaller and cuter version of the extremely popular Zhu Zhu Pets electronic toys.  At second glance, they offer far less that you would expect, so be careful.  As long as you know what you are getting into, these might still be good toys for your youngster.

Zhu Zhu Baby Hamsters – Are They Worth It?

First off, the Zhu Zhu Babies don’t move on their own.  There are no batteries or electronic parts.  There is a small ball on the bottom much like an old school computer mouse that helps you push the baby hamster around.

Second, they are not plush.  They’re made out of molded hard plastic.

Third, they come with tiny little baby hamster toys, things like a little spoon, a little rubber bottle, or a tiny cradle, that have no use with the toy other than pretending.  There is no opening for the bottle or anything to feed with the spoon.  Note, the accessories are tiny and certainly choking hazards for children under 4, so keep these from the little ones.

That being said, it seems the main use for these Zhu Zhu Babies is as an add on for the real Zhu Zhu pet hamsters.  There is a Baby Zhu stroller that can actually be pushed by one of the real robot hamsters.  the rest is up to your child’s imagination, which is certainly not a bad thing.

These seem to be Cepia’s (the parent company behind the Zhu Zhus) response to the Littlest Pet Shop line of toys, but they have done a horrible job of advertising that these toys are neither fuzzy or robotic in any way shape or form, and thus many people have been very disappointed in what they thought was a smaller and even cuter version of the famous robot hamsters.

Know what you are getting into, and for around $6 you can have a nice little add on for your little Zhu Zhu pet lover.

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If you’ve been looking for a Mattel Mindflex toy, you’ve been pretty much out of luck for a while now.  Since well before christmas, the almost magical device has been out of stock pretty much everywhere.  Unless you were willing to shell out the big bucks on eBay that is.  Even folks hoping for that after Christmas sale or just shelving of the Mindflex have been out of luck.

Looks like Mattel either greatly underestimated the popularity of the mind control toy or is having trouble manufacturing them.  Perhaps it’s both, because two months after Christmas, the Mind Flex is just starting to reappear.

Note, there are plenty of people calling B.S. on this toy (Mrs. TR included) without having experienced one firsthand.   While skeptical, I reserve judgment.  I had an EKG done a few years ago as part of a sleep study and actually got to see my various brainwaves on a screen change while concentrating, relaxing and falling asleep.  The question isn’t whether it’s possible to detect brainwaves since it certainly is.  The question is whether it’s possible to do it at home using a mass produced consumer device at a reasonable price.  Mattel is a big company with a lot to lose by hoodwinking people on this one, so I’m going to give them the benefit of the doubt.

Still skeptical?  Check out this report from someone who disassembled a Mindflex, as well as a video below of it in action:

It look as if they finally have some back in stock at some online retailers for below normal retail price of $99.  If you’ve been looking one since the holidays, now is the time to buy.

Click here to find the Mindflex instock for $79, while supplies last of course.

They might be gone by the time you read this, but it’s worth a shot.

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Having twin seven year old boys means getting two chances for at least one of them to share your interests, and in my case I seem to be doubly lucky.   Of course, some things really are more or less sure bets.  The chances that any seven year old boy would love both Star Wars and Lego’s is remarkably high, as seen by the popularity of both franchises, as well as the juggernaut that is the Lego Star Wars line.

It’s almost as if last years Clone Wars cartoon was invented simply as a vehicle to deliver more variety to the Star Wars Lego kit line and rake in even more cash.

So it’s not shocking that for Christmas this year, both boys wanted little outside of Lego Star wars sets.  I think all told, Santa brought them each two larger sets, and the combined Grandparents brought them each two sets, for a grand total of 8 Star Wars Lego sets.  I think there were only five different sets though, since most of them were doubles, one for each twin.

Now despite being twins (they’re fraternal), the boys are remarkably different in many ways.  Speedy is an engineer.  He can do Lego sets more advanced than his age, and chews through them in a matter of hours.  Rainbow is a social butterfly, he makes friends and can speak his mind far better than any other kids his age, but his building skills aren’t quite as advanced as Speedy’s.  He does a great job and having just turned seven can do 7-12 year old sets with little or no help, and even do the 8-14 year old sets with minimal help.  It’s just that Speedy mad skillz as a makes him appear slow.  Rainbow also seems to have a lucky streak.  Things just seem to go his way more than you would expect, which might be due to his conversation skills more than anything else.

When Rainbow opened his Mace Windu Republic Attack Shuttle Set and had an extra bag that Speedy didn’t have in his set, we were a little surprised.  At closer inspection it appeared to be a Darth Vader Mini Fig all in one bag, which is unusual for sets of this size.  Most of the time the head is in one bag, the legs another, and the body another.  No idea why they do that, but must be something to do with quality control.

We have a couple of Lego Darth Vaders around the house from the Darth Vader Tie Fighter set, but neither of them were as good looking as this one.  It appeared to be powder coated in dark chrome.  What was also odd was that Darth Vader had no business hanging out aboard a Mace Windu Attack Shuttle, considering that Anakin killed him in the third Clone Wars movie, long before Darth Vader existed.

Off to the internet to discover that Rainbow was the lucky winner of a limited edition chrome Darth Vader minifig.  Only 10,000 were made, some given out as prizes at toy fairs, and the rest distributed randomly throughout the Star Wars Lego product line during 2009.  Those are long odds, considering that on average 7 Lego sets are sold every SECOND around the world, and that Star Wars is one of their most popular lines.

Speedy was remarkably easy about the fact that his brother received a special free limited edition mini-fig, saying he didn’t really want one and was happy for his brother to get one.

As for Rainbow, he was given a choice.  Open the special silver Lego Darth Vader minifig and play with it, keep it in the bag and save it as a collectible, or put it up on eBay and get $30 to buy another whole Lego set with.

He’s 7.  He opened it, played with it for a few hours, then added it to the minifig jumble. I was never a MIB (Mint In Box) person myself either.

Want a Chrome Darth Vader of your own?  Buy one now, don’t wait.  Lego apparently handed out a limited number of these at the 2010 New York Toy Fair so prices on the collectors market are fairly low right now. They are in the $20-$30 range. Compare that with the $100+ you’ll pay now for the Limited Edition Gold C3P0 from three years ago.

Click here to check prices on the limited edition Darth Vader minifig.

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It’s amazing how some childhood traditions continue to last year after year and generation after generation, and friendship bracelets are one of those things.

I remember making friendship bracelets as a kid at camp and wearing ones given to me for months it seemed, until they finally fell off in pieces.  Being a child of the 80’s I remember making these bracelets out of gimp, a strong plastic lacing that could stretch a bit

Make A Friendship Bracelet Kit from Alex

If you are looking for the perfect gift for a seven, eight or nine year old, look no further.  The Friends 4 Ever Bracelet Making Kit from Alex gives you everything you need to make tons of different varieties of friendship bracelets.  It comes with two different looms to make different styles of friendship bracelets, as well as eight different patterns.  There are 22 different colors of floss including solid and multi-colored threads, as well as beads, a beading needle and detailed instructions to making many completely different and unique friendship bracelets.

Click here for more infomation on the Alex Friends Forever Bracelet Kit

Wooden Bead Friendship Bracelets from Melissa & Doug

If you have a younger child interested in making friendship bracelets, then the Alex kit might be too complicated for them.  For a four-six year old, you are far better off with a wooden bead bracelet making set.  Small hands make light work of putting beads onto thread and tends to be far easier than trying to weave and knot the patterns required for a thread based friendship bracelet.

Click here for more information on the Melissa & Doug Wooden Bead Kit

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I wouldn’t go right to saying we have a major problem here at Chez Toy Report, but toy storage is an ongoing problem for us.  Let me rephrase that, it’s the toys storage that we seem to have a problem with.   Individually each toy has a place, but when you put them all together as a pile of toys, all hell can break loose. Our plush toy problem has been corralled with the addition of a stuffed animal storage chair to our toy containing tool set.  So far the kids haven’t rebelled at the thought of jamming all their stuffed toys into a giant bag, as long as it’s cushy and they can sit on it. We’ve used a combination of toy organization methods to keep the clutter at bay in our toy room, here are some of our toy storage suggestions:

Step2 Lift & Hide Toy Storage Chest

These toy chests are perfect for babies and toddlers to store their favorite toys.  Don’t let the size deceive you here, these are the perfect height for toddlers.  The front is low so even a typical 12 month old who may just be starting to walk can easily reach what they want without trouble.  All the corners are rounded and there is no where that a small child could get scraped or poked.  The toy box lid actually lifts up and slides into the box so it won’t accidentally slam down while a child is going for that favorite toy.  There is a gap even when the lid closes completely so no fingers will get pinched.  It’s an extremely well thought out option for storing your toys. Click here for more info on where to buy the Step2 Storage Chest with free shipping

Little Tikes Toy Chest

If sheer toy storage volume is more your need, then look no further than the Little Tikes Toy Chest.  This is a great storage option for large toys that can’t find a home anywhere else and is generally considered one of the best toy boxes on the market.  This is a great step up for older toddlers who may have outgrown their Step2 toy chest.  The lid is light weight and can be opened and closed easily by young children and also includes a gap when it’s closed to avoid pinching little finders.  The Little Tikes Toy Chest comes with two drawers underneath for smaller toy storage as well. Click here for more info on where to buy the Little Tikes Toy Chest with free shipping

Smart Basics 3 Drawer Chest

If you are going for that modern look in your kids room, look no further!  This three drawer chest may not look like much, but it has rounded corners, slide out stops to keep drawers from being pulled out too far, as well as Smart Glide built-in dampers to keep the drawers from slamming shut.  But the killer is the price.  Some assembly required of course, but nothing drastic, and it’s only $59.99 so you really can’t lose on this one. Click here for more info on where to buy the Smart Basics 3 Drawer

Disney Princess, Fairies or Cars 3 Bin Organizers

If you have a princess or fairy or just plain old Disney obsessed child, then this is probably the toy keeping option for you.  These are all the same basic storage units with different graphics on them.  Comes with three different storage cubbies and a large rollout box for storing larger toys. Click here for more info on the Disney 3 Bin Organizers

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Just when you thought it was safe to go back to the toy store after the mad Christmas rush, the Ninja Hamsters jump out to destroy you.  Hoping to continue the wild popularity of the Zhu Zhu pet robotic hamsters during the holiday season, the manufacturer of these little furballs have unveiled something dangerous at the American International Toy Fair in New York.  Starting in June this year, you can buy both Ninja Warrior Kung Zhu pets as well as Special Forces Kung Zhu pets.

The Kung Zhu are warrior Zhu Zhu pets that the company hopes will appeal to young boys where the cute and cuddly Zhu Zhu pets failed.  Basically these appear to be your traditional little pet hamsters but dressed up in warrior outfits complete with weapons and such.

Having just caught a glimpse of them, it’s hard to say if there is much more to them than your traditional Zhu Zhu, but the company says that these pets will gain new abilities and sounds when placed within a “Tablet of Zhu” or special warrior hamster area that will likely cost extra of course.

While scarcity is still fueling Zhu Zhu mania, there is something to be said for the little guys.  Our boys were purchased their very first Zhu Zhu’s by their grandmother today while on a trip to the mall and they love them.  As seven year olds attending a Waldorf school, they have no idea that such virtual hamsters existed and do not know how popular they are nor how scarce, yet they can’t stop playing with them over their other toys, at least today.

Their greatest discovery was finding a small little passageway in the kitchen between the counter and a small table where the Zhu Zhus could be placed at either end and let loose for hamster races to see which could pass the other and emerge first.  I can’t imagine how excited they would be to deck them out in warrior armor and have them do hamster battle.

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Does it seem odd that a grown woman is excited about getting a Boon stuffed animal storage chair for her birthday?  Not when she’s a mother of three kids with a stuffed animal collection to rival a well stocked toy store.

We’ve had a major issue storing stuffed animals at Chez Toy Report for a couple of years now.   I remember having 5 or so stuffed animals as a kid, nothing too troublesome, just enough to fit on a shelf with one special bear to snuggle with while falling asleep.

Somehow, our house looks like the Tribble episode of Star Trek, with stuffed animals everywhere, on the floor, on shelves, on the tables, jammed into corners, you name it.

We thinned the herd recently, allowing each child to keep 7 of their favorites out and stuffing the rest into a full sized duvet cover that now acts as an extremely large and lumpy mattress on a full sized bunk bed.

How did we get to this level of plush hell in our house?  No one person is to blame.  Well meaning relatives, gift givers, Rainbow’s obsession with those claw vending machines, and our combined inability to throw out anything cute a fuzzy have all played their parts.

Mrs TR has been coveting a Boon stuffed animal storage bean bag chair for years now, ever since the plush toy problem started to get out of hand.  The problem is, with three kids do we need to buy three of them?  Or one with the three sides to it and they have to share?

Taking matters into my own hands, Mrs TR is now the proud owner of her VERY OWN Orange Boon Trio chair, which I got for her birthday yesterday.  If the kids have a problem sharing it, they don’t get to use it, since it’s HERS.  Problem solved!

Want one of your own?  Click here for more details on Boon Oval Animal Bag colors and sizes.

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We’ve been on a serious board game kick here at Chez Toy Report lately, with the boys really starting to become interested in playing tabletop games more and more as they get older.

Let’s face it, board games for toddlers are geared toward the 3-4 year old set.  Any parent who has been forced to sit for round after round of Candy Land knows just how mind numbing boring it is.  There is nothing to do, no choices to make whatsoever, you pick up a card then move to that color.  Repeat.  Repeat.  Repeat.  For a 3 year old, it’s great.  Don’t make your 5 or 6 year old play it though.

I’d put Chutes and Ladders into this category as well.  At least there is some tiny amount of math involved in Chutes and Ladders.

These types of games typically play themselves and help ready our children for adult lives of sitting in front of the television being spoon fed entertainment.  That’s not for me, nor do I want it do be for my kids.

With that in mind, I’ll be highlighting some great kids board games that really allow for fun, creativity, learning, and problem solving all rolled into one.

We are big fans of Enchanted Forest by Ravensburger lately.  In fact, pretty much every game Ravensburger makes is awesome on some level, but this one particularly so.  The rules are a little too long to go into here, but it’s basically a memory game.  You need to travel around the board and discover which treasure is hidden under which tree, then race to the castle once you find the treasure.  Get there first, guess correctly, and a new treasure card is turned over.  Guess wrong and get teleported back to the start of the board.  The first person to find three treasures wins.  Sounds easy?  It’s not.  Anyone who rolls doubles can use “magic” to change the treasure card, so if someone is racing towards the castle if they know the treasure, you can thwart them.  Be careful though, they might know where the new treasure is as well.

This is a decent length game, typically taking about an hour to play a full game, but it culminates quickly once a few players have seen most of the treasures on the board, typically resulting in a mad dash to the castle by all the players.

It’s a great learning experience for younger kids, since it doesn’t involve advanced reading skills but can involve advanced strategic learning.  I’ve been able to teach the boys how to infer when someone knows where the treasure is, how to play defensively, how to bluff, and how to balance the risks of making an educated guess based on available information.

Click here for more info on Enchanted Forest by Ravensburger.

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I was looking for a little something to give to a younger sibling at an older sibling’s birthday party and I came across this bit of adorableness. I love Plan Toys. If you are tired of worrying about the toxic chemicals lurking in your kids’ toys then Plan Toys will make you very happy. Their toys are made of organic, recycled rubber wood and no toxic chemicals or paints are used.

The Plan Toys Caterpillar is so clever. The wings of the butterfly come off and button around the wooden caterpillar to form a chrysalis. The wooden caterpillar can then emerge from the cocoon and become a butterfly by inserting the wings and fluffing. This would be a great toy to accompany the Live Butterfly Garden we have mentioned here before. Even a young child can use this toy to recreate the metamorphosis during the long wait for the big event.

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Indoor play tents can be a great way for kids of all ages to have a little inside fun in the midst of winter or just a rainy day.  Since the igloo melted and it’s just been slushy and cold where we live, indoor kids activities are well in demand.  Having a special spot that the kids can call their own and hide out inside seems to really get them going, as they’ll start packing bags and gathering supplies for their indoor camp out.

Here are some indoor kids tent suggestions for those rainy and cold days.

Haba Tents

Haba makes a BEAUTIFUL line of indoor tents for kids that are really well built, sturdy and look great in any kids room.  They are a great size for indoor tents, able to fit a couple of kids inside comfortably.  These make great retreat spots, especially any kids with sensory issues that need somewhere they can go and have alone time in a closed space.  Of course, the price on these tents can be an issue for some, but if a top of the line indoor tent is in your budget, no one makes them better or more attractive looking than Haba:

Haba Swinging Tent Solemio

Haba Knight's Indoor Play Tent

Haba Blossom Sky Room Tent

Outdoor Tents As Kids Indoor Tents

Crazy as it may sound, the tent police are not going to come throw you into tent jail for putting up a camping tent inside your house. On the other hand, the interior design police may come calling, as most outdoor tents will not match a kids room decor. Of course, you need a fairly good sized room to put it up in, but most one or two person tents will fit nicely in the corner of a room.
In many cases a good outdoor tent will be far cheaper than one specifically designed to be a kids play tent, and far studier. For example, this 5 foot by 6 Nylon tent and frame is only around $25, well worth those few hours of play and sanity you’ll get for rolling this out and setting it up on a rainy day.

We’ve seen the boys spend a good portion of a rainy cold Saturday inside our indoor tent, playing games, eating snacks, listening to the radio, and just pretending.

Other Kids Play Tents

There are lots of other options out there on the market, tents specifically designed as kids play tents. They tend to be smaller and lighter construction than either the real tents or the great Haba ones, but if you are looking for a budget tent, there are plenty to choose from. Click on any of these below for more details:

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Yes, there is more delightfulness from Boon. You know all those baby feeding things, sippy cup parts, little spoons, and other paraphanalia. Well, these sorts of little things don’t dry well in the dishwasher and we tend to deal with this by letting them air dry ona dish towel on the kitchen counter. Not very attractive, but it gets the job done. Well, Boon has invented a very stylish solution to the air drying: the Boon Grass Drying Rack.

It is lovely. Perfect for drying all those little parts and pretty too!

Looking for the cute spoons in the picture? Here they are:

Boon Squirt

Boon ModWare toddler utensils

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LEGO Storage is a problem for all of us with LEGO Loving Loved ones. Well, I have an example of an amazing LEGO storage system. I was reading The Blue Blog, one of my favorite knitting blogs, the author of which also has LEGO obsessed twin boys. Behold, the wonders of her system:

A contaner store shoe box (I have container store shoe boxes!) for each individual set, with a picture of the set taped to the box. The directions are all in binders. Binders! It is genius! The show boxes in a bookcase take up so much less room than the Trofast drawers where our LEGOs live.

I am worried that it is too late for us. so many of our sets have been mixed together. Every six months or so Remo and the boys make a day of it and sort through all the LEGOs. Maybe the next one can involve sorting back into sets (is that even possible?). Or maybe we just begin now as we mean to go on and keep all future sets in their separate boxes. Hmmm. I will have to ponder. thank you Alison for your example and inspiration!

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Our boys are pretty exclusive to the Star Wars LEGOs, they aren’t as interested in the other sets. I imagine that will change once they see the Toy Story LEGOs that are being released to go along with Toy Story 3. I like the Woody’s Round Up set which also includes a LEGO Stinky Pete. I love Stinky Pete.

But I suspect the boys will be all over this Construct-a-Buzz set.

He has pop-out wing action. Everyone loves pop-out wing action.

There is also a Construct-a-Zurg. “So we meet again, Buzz Lightyear, for the last time.”

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This is a suggestion from a friend. She gave this to a just turned four year old girl who Loved it! It is a Hello Kitty diary set.

It come with a diary that locks with a key (fun!), a fuzzy top pen, a Hello Kitty stamp and a whole bunch of stickers.

The birthday girl in question was delighted and immediately started wrriting all her secrets. I think this is perfect for a 4 to 7 year old Hello Kitty lover.

Not a Hello Kitty lover? (It is hard to imagine, but there must be a few out there). eeBoo makes some adorable locking journals, like this mermaid diary.

Looking for something similar for a boy? Well, unless that boy likes pink or mermaids, you are out of luck. Apparently the makers of such things don’t think that boys like writing or have thoughts that they might like to record.  Some of the eeBoo diaries are sufficiently gender neutral. The travel notebook is way on sale today (but this is Amazon so that may change at any moment!).

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About a week before Christmas we received quite a big dumping of snow here on the East Coast.  We live near the ocean and it’s fairly unusual to get more than a foot of snow in one storm.   But last week we had close to a foot and a half of great packing snow hit the ground in less than 12 hours, and so we set out on Sunday afternoon to build an igloo in the front yard.

Mrs TR had the good sense to stay inside the house during this one, so the boys, the Princess, our good friend Heather, and I took care of the snow construction.

It took about 4 hours total, but mostly because of missteps and the learning curve involved in building an igloo for the first time.

Lesson #1: Those little kids toy snow block makers are useless.

Bad Igloo Maker

Good Igloo Maker

No matter how we tried, we could not pack the snow hard enough into those traditional cheap plastic snow block makers to make a decent snow brick.   Instead, we used Ikea Trofast storage buckets to make large blocks, which turned out to be the perfect solution.  We had to pack them down quite a bit to make solid block forms, as without enough pressure, they would tend to fall apart.  The top layer of snow was too powdery, but the lower three quarters were great slightly wet packable snow.  Once we learned these tricks, the igloo building really took off.   If you don’t have an Ikea in your area, you can typically find rectangular plastic bins or trashcans at a local home store.  Of course, another thing we discovered was that translucent white Trofasts are not all that easy to find in a snow storm, but since we had three of them, we could generally find at least one at any given point.

Lesson #2: Make a circle

Looking back on it now, I’m a bit shocked that the igloo stayed up as long as it did in this form.  But we learned at about the three hour mark that once you start building inward to close off your igloo, the blocks are going to fall unless they have other blocks to support them.  We started out thinking we would leave a hole for the door, but then as the igloo climbed higher, it became far more difficult to keep the pieces up and to close off the hole.  We tore off the doorway section and started building it completely closed with me inside it.

Lesson #3: Build someone inside the igloo, then dig out

Do not attempt to get in or out of the igloo or build a doorway until the igloo is complete.  One person stays inside to place the blocks, the other makes the blocks.

Knowing what we know now, I think next time we could build a better igloo than this one in about two hours.  Having a third adult would certainly have sped up the process.  It was helpful to have Mrs TR inside the house to dry off the kids and provide them with critical hot chocolate breaks, thus allowing Heather and I to work with more efficiency.

Below is a selection of images from the igloo building process, as well as a video we took from the inside after the igloo was completed.  Enjoy!

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It’s Christmas Eve and as a tradition in our house, we’ll have an afternoon dinner feast with friends and family at our house, then go to our local meeting house to sing Christmas carols, then back home for a marathon reading of our favorite Christmas books for children.

Here is a list of some of our favorite kids Christmas books here at Chez Toy Report:

The Night Before Christmas

Yes, the classics are still the best.  This edition of Clement Moore Christmas book classic is beautifully illustrated by Jan Brett in a way that really brings the story to life.  I’m not going to insult you by describing the plot of The Night Before Christmas, as it’s pretty much a cultural institution, but if you’re new to the US and have no idea what I’m talking about here, go buy the book.  Click here to see more about The Night Before Christmas.

Olive, the Other Reindeer

This is another Christmas classic in our house, and was made into a TV special staring Drew Barrymore and featuring Michael Stipe from REM.  But the original Christmas book for kids is a great read.  It’s about a dog named Olive who thinks she needs to save Christmas based on the classic Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer song about “All of the other Reindeer” which she hears as “Olive the other Reindeer” and attempts to reach the North Pole to help out St. Nick.  Click here to see more about Olive, The Other Reindeer

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There are some great board games for sale at Amazon at 60-75% off regular prices right now, but you had better hurry.  Click here to get Clue, Scrabble, Sorry, Monopoly, Connect 4, Twister, Yahtzee and a whole bunch of others on sale for under $5 each!  I hope the sale is still going on by the time you read this.

“But!” you say, “it is too late to get items shipped with free regular shipping before Christmas!”  Well, think again.  With popular games at these prices, it’s worth it to look at your options:

1. Buy them with Free Shipping, get them after Christmas, save for gifts.  How many kids birthday parties did you attend last year?  If you are like us, it seems like one a week at least.  Buy a pile of games, keep them for presents.
2. Click here to get a free month of Amazon Prime all you can eat 2 Day Free Shipping!  Amazon Prime gives you free 2 day shipping and $3.99 overnight shipping on anything Amazon stocks.   We have been members since they started offering it back in 2000, and it’s awesome. If you don’t cancel before 30 days are up, you have to pay $72 a year, but even then it’s totally worth it.  The convenience of shopping AFTER the kids go to bed without having to leave the house, then having the items magically appear on the doorstep two days later is so great.   Think of the gas savings not having to make a special trip to Walmart or Target for that one thing.  Plus the savings make up for it.  Click here to check out our trick on finding sneaky sales at Amazon and you can save a bundle and not have to leave the house.

Sign up for free Prime now, take the free 2 day shipping, then cancel it if you don’t want to pay for it.  But if you are like us, you’ll probably keep it.  It’s as if I came up to you and said “For $6 a month, I’ll go pick up anything you want at Walmart/Target/KMart/Sears and bring it to your front door within 48 hours, or for $3.99 extra within 24 hours”.  You’d think I was nuts.

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Know anyone who you could describe as an odd duck? Well, here is the perfect present for them. Yes, quite literally, and odd duck. Boon, as anyone who ready this site knows, is a minor obsession of mine (let’s just say I’m a fan). I am still hoping for a Boon animal bag or four for Christmas. The Boon Odd Duck may just be the best thing to ever happen to a rubber duckie. May I introduce to you:

Squish

Bob

Jane

And I know I shouldn’t play favorites, but I think I love this one best, Slim.

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While searching for a present for a friend’s baby obsessed 1 year old, I came across this bundle of cuteness from Manhattan Toy. It is their Snuggle Pod Sweet Pea.

And look, it comes in Peanut too!

There is also a Snuggle Bug

and a Snuggle Bunny (naturally).

I love Manhattan Toy, they will crazy awards for their toy design and their quality is exceptional. We have tons of their toys at chez Toy Reporter and have never been dissapointed by their style or quality.

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