President’s Day isn’t usually on my list of favorite holidays, or even ones I remember until I’m at the post office and it’s closed, but this year, because of our historical (and I know everyone’s been throwing that word around ad nauseam) election.

If you’re looking for tools to inspire young presidential hopefuls, here are a couple of great ones: USA Map (the shapes are the shapes of the states, not just random like some map puzzles) and Magnetic Responsibility Chart.

We were in…

Denver Post print & denverpost.com on December 2, 2008 – Lifestyle

Featuring Sophie the Giraffe

We have a bunch of great new playsets from PlanToys, and we’re working on getting some more detail photos to go with them.

When you see the whole set, it’s hard to see all the fun pieces included, so I’m zooming in on different parts to show some of these details.

Do these detail photos help you make decisions about what to order? Is there anything on the site you’d like to see more closely? Let us know!

I’m always annoyed Valentine’s Day seems to come just as my New Year’s resolution to eat right and lose weight is starting to fade.

In my quest for non-candy presents, I came across these two gorgeous Flensted Mobiles: Love D’Amour and Happy Hearts. Both are far less fattening than chocolate and way longer lasting than flowers.

For angel lovers, Haba’s Heart Angel would be a great gift.

One of my son’s favorite parties was a February birthday where they decorated heart-shaped boxes (I still have to have it on my dresser), and we’ve got a Heart Box craft set perfect for such parties.

If you’re talking about kids exchanging cards, your non-candy Valentines have to be really cool if you want to avoid toothbrush-for-Halloween syndrome. Luckily, we have some really great toys small and inexpensive enough to bring for the whole class:

• Monkey Pencils
• Racing Cars
• Moving Mice
• Yo-Yos
• Tops

And if you’re getting the first gift for your new little Valentine (congratulations!), we have some great heart-themed baby necessities:

• Heart Clip
• Heart Rattle
• Heart Pacifier Chain
• and many more

Next week our planet will be a blaze of color and light as people all over the world celebrate Chinese, or Lunar, New Year on January 26.

My son and I had fun looking at moon phases on the calendar to figure out when Chinese New Year might be this year: usually the second new moon after the winter solstice (sometime between Dec. 19 and 22). We talked a lot about how the sun is better for tracking time in days, but the moon probably was better at tracking time in months before paper calendars were widely available.
We also had fun talking about transitioning to the the Year of the Ox. We looked at what years we were born in (like a game of Rock, Paper, Scissors, he decided his Tiger beat my Rat even if it is still my year), and made some predictions about what might happen this year.

The most exciting thing for my son is the importance dragons play in Chinese New Year. YouTube has a great selection of Dragon Dances to watch.

And we made our own dragons! This craft is easy and can be easily tailored to many different age groups. All you need are some empty egg cartons, string and paint.

Want more dragons? We’ve got toys, books and more to bring luck and fun in the coming year.

Yes it is true! You have been waiting anxiously for Yellow Chan Pie Gnon to come back, after months (yes it has been months!) she is finally available on KangarooBoo again. Thank you so much for your patience.

There has been a slight change: her tummy does not say “Gnon” on it anymore. Instead, in the same spot, there is a cute little swirly / sundial pattern for babies to gaze and study! And, Yellow Chanpiegnon comes in a see-through gift box, just like her cousin Sophie the Giraffe.

Made with 100% natural rubber in the French Alps, this little teether is lovely and safe for babies to teeth on. Gnon makes a cute little squeak when squeezed, delighting babies each and every time! It has a cute loop for babies to easily grab onto. You can also use the loop and attach it to a pacifier chain so you won’t lose it during outings or have it dropped onto the floor again, and again, and..

Get your Yellow Chan Pie Gnon here today. Check out the other two colors of the Chan Pie Gnon mushroom-shaped sibling trio teethers.

1. Create a gift Registry

Create a gift registry. It’s easy.

2. Add items to your Gift Registry

Browse and add items to your gift registry. The “Add to Registry” link is on every product detail page.

3. Tell your families/friends

Click on the “tell a friend” button. Tell everyone you know about your registry via email, twitter, facebook, blog, or any of the tools available through “tell a friend.”

4. Automatically entered to win when up to 8 people have viewed your registry!

Once 8 or more people have viewed your registry you will automatically be entered to win!

Contest ends at 11pm CST Nov 29th, 2008. A winner will be randomly picked and announced on Nov 30th, 2008 on this blog post. Winner will also be notified via email. The winner will receive up to $100 worth of products that is in his/her gift registry.

Giveaway is only valid if your ship to address is in the 48 states of the Continental US.