Philadelphia Moms

Last Minute Shopping

Okay, so only a couple of days left to get all that shopping done.  And who wants to head to the malls?  Not me.  So...shop local!  Head to Happily Ever After, on Pine Street, between 10th and 11th Streets.

I've mentioned Happily on this site before, but they have such a fun selection of toys and books, it's worth popping in.  Not sure what to get a kid on your list?  The owners always have great suggestions.  They have a nice selection of infant gifts but I'm always impressed with their collection of Playmobil and WOW Toys, not to mention all the dolls.  It's like doll heaven. 

Black Friday Sale--Learning Express Toys

Okay, so you're likely getting all sorts of emails and circulars for Black Friday shopping.  Here's one you may not know about it: Learning Express Toys in Cherry Hill, NJ (other locations in Broomall, Springfield and Exton, PA).

I've written about Learning Express Toys before: it's sort of a perfect marriage between Toys R Us and independent retailers.  This weekend, Friday through Sunday, everything in the entire store is 20% off.  And from 6am until 9am on Friday, November 27th, there's an additional 10% off!  That's 30% off everything in the store during those three hours.

I, for one, will be all over it.

Big, Red and Furry

Have I told you yet about Learning Express Toys?  There are several of them in the general area, but the one closest to Center City is in Garden State Park in Cherry Hill.  These stores are like the end result if Toys R Us and a mom-n-pop toy store got married.  The stores are a good size, have plenty of toys for kids to test out and have a great selection of products by companies like Alex, Viking, miYim, etc.

And this weekend everyone's favorite (or not so much) furry red friend, Elmo, will be at the Cherry Hill Learning Express Toys. Friday, 1-5pm, Saturday, 12-6pm and Sunday 1-5pm.  For babies, it'll make for adorable photo ops.  For toddlers, it will be a terrifying lesson that Elmo is actually 6 feet tall. 

How About Saving A Little Moola?

I've mentioned eBeanstalk here before and right now, in their infinite awesomeness, they have extended a 15% savings coupon to all Philadelphia Moms readers. 

Code: THANKYOU15% 

Simply enter the code at the shopping cart.

Need help deciding what toys might be best for your baby?  Visit eBeanstalk's "Best Developmental Baby Toys."

Too Late for Bunnies

So, I promised you more bunnies before Easter and didn't deliver, right?  God, I'm a jerk.  An absent-minded one too.  Well, better late than never, I suppose.

I wound up purchasing the Manuella bunny, which incidentally, has those annoying beanie filler things in the feet.  You know, that stuff that if the toy ripped open (or hmmm, was chewed open) would spill everywhere causing a lovely choking hazard?  Probably a somewhat toxic choking hazard.  Regardless, I had to get one anyway (because sometimes I am guilty of allowing cute to trump safety; clearly my parenting license should be revoked)and Manuella also makes an elephant and a duck, among other cute things.  Piccolini carries the elephant as well as the bunny in their Rittenhouse store. 

If you're looking for other cute and perhaps safer stuffed animals, head over to Happily Ever After, which has a decent collection of miYim bears, bunnies, monkeys, you name it, available in their store.  You can read my review of miYim products over at SafeMama.com.  Happily Ever After also stocks a number of Kathe Kruse toys, which are made with all natural materials. Kathe Kruse has some adorable rattles and soft toys for infants.  Including this bunny.  Which is darling, despite it being a little too late for bunnies. 

Bunny Love

So, speaking of Piccolini, I passed by the store yesterday before it was open and saw these in the window.  Is that not the cutest bunny you've ever seen?  I'm in love with this bunny. Okay, it IS a little pricey for a stuffed animal, but I still love it. The design seem vintage even though the colors are pretty modern.  And I'm a sucker for ridiculously long ears.

I've been on a Google search all morning trying to figure out who manufactures said bunny.  I'll be posting soon with other bunnies just in time for Easter!

Update: The bunny is made by Manuella.  Boy, is my wallet in trouble now that I've found this site.

Holidays in Review: WOW Toys

Remember how I was so excited to check out WOW Toys? Well, we did.  Fireboat Felix for my son and Dynamite Daisy (times 2) for friends of ours.  Can I just tell you how much I love that some of the WOW vehicles are pink? 

Anyway, the WOW Toys seemed to be a hit with the kids.  The colors are great, and toys themselves are sturdy and well-constructed.  The "people" are considerably smaller than Little People figurines, but not too small.  (By the way, in interest of full disclosure, my son did receive several Little People toys and is more than happy to play with those as well--although so far I'm less than impressed by the quality of the Racin' Ramps Garage.)

Fireboat Felix is a bath toy and squirts water.  We chose that one for our son because "Felix" is a family name, but honestly, the day I was shopping I was like....well, a kid in a candy store.  There were so many WOW Toys I thought my son would like and I'm trying to find excuses to pick up Police Chase Charlie and Flip and Tip Fred.  And Katie's Camper Holiday Friends may be on tap as a gift for some upcoming birthdays.

WOW Toys come in a fairly large variety of sizes and do seem more expensive than Little People, but they are PVC-free.  I found a great selection of WOW Toys at Happily Ever After.   At the time of this post, Amazon has several WOW Toys on sale.

Holidays in Review: Viking Toys

I know the last week was light on posts, but you know with the holidays here, there were so many gatherings,most involving spiked eggnog, and Philly Mama couldn't always find her way to a computer. 

Our particular household celebrates Christmas and let me tell you, was Santa ever good to my son.  Over the next week I'm going to highlight a couple of toys that he and/or his cousins received that are particularly charming for one reason or another.

First up are Viking Toys' Chubbies.  Now because I apparently have the sense of humor equivalent to that of a 13 year old boy, I can't really say the word chubbies without giggling.  But I digress.  Months and months ago, my mother gave my son a toy truck and car made by Viking Toys.  Both were very cute and well-made.  I didn't know anything about the company, but my mother seemed pleased to find that the company was based in Europe.  Sweden, specifically, and since she's partially Norwegian, she enjoyed supporting her Scandinavian brethren.  It seems that the toys are actually manufactured in Thailand, but whatever.

At any rate, the plastic car and truck were a hit with my son and the truck was the first toy he began saying "Vroom, vroom" with as he pushed it around.  Then a few weeks ago, around the same time I was hunting for some small toys for stocking stuffers, I came across this review by Z Recommends. From the photo, I immediately realized that these distinctive-looking "Chubbies" must be Viking Toys. 

Now, if you've been reading this site for awhile you know I love me a good, well-made, wooden toy. And I still do.  However, as we enter the toddler years, what I've learned so far is that wooden toys really, really hurt when launched at you.  So I'm not opposed to trying to find safe, plastic toys as well.  After reading the Z Recommends review, I read up on Viking Toys on their website, confirmed that the plastics are all free of phthalates, PVC and BPA. While they use all new materials when making the toys, the toys themselves are recyclable.

I found a box of seven Chubbies at one of my local children's stores, Lolli Lolli.  These toys were a little smaller than the Viking Toys my son had previously received.  It was the perfect stocking stuffer and let me tell you, these Chubbies are awesome to have around.  They are small enough to keep one or two in the car, your diaper bag/purse, wherever you might need a "distraction" toy that doesn't make noise.  I even brought one to church.  I like that they aren't "blinky-blinky" toys and still require some imagination. Best of all, my little man loves them and we have a ton of fun racing them around the living room. 

Good things come in small packages.  Check them out.

 

Happily

Still looking for holiday gifts for the little ones?  Head on over to Happily Ever After, located at 1010 Pine Street, which very well be one of the best toy stores in the city.  Happily specializes in all kinds of dolls, but there is also a wide array of other toys and books.  In fact, the overall selection was pretty impressive.  There was everything from some Fisher Price toys to other wooden toys by European manufacturers to plush animals by miYim.   If you're looking for something "a little unique" for that kid in your life, this is the place.

The store is stroller-accessible and the owner is very knowledgeable.  In these tough economic times, I decided that I would still try to patronize local toy shops, instead of exclusively shopping the giant national retailers.  The benefit of going to stores like Happily Ever After, in addition to supporting local shopkeepers, is that it's a great way to become familiar with toys that aren't usually carried in the national retail chains.

Happily Ever After has a great selection of books, including a number of Hanukkah-related books.  Plus, there are a TON of Golden Books, which I can never resist because they make me completely nostalgic.  Actually, I think Happily Ever After makes me all nostalgic.  Go there!

An Alternative to Little People

I've been making a mental list of toys for my son for Christmas (a list only because I haven't had the courage to brave the stores this holiday shopping season yet) and my quest for greener, less plasticky, less made-in-China-y toys continues.  I'm always willing to make a few exceptions, provided they are generally "safe" toys. 

My son has taken a liking to Fisher Price's Little People, which I find endearing as I have find memories of playing with Little People as a kid myself.  So I planned on getting some version of some Little People toy for him for Christmas, and yet.  Yet, I feel funny about it, because although it would be nice to give him Little People for sentimental reasons, Fisher Price has had about a bzillion recalls (see here for an example). 

Then recently, while on the hunt for another child's birthday present, I stumbled upon some WOW Toys.  I didn't know anything about them, but they seemed cute and fun, but they are plastic so I vowed to do some research on the company when I got home. 

And then I forgot about it.  Until, that is, I checked out Z Recommends review of WOW Toys.  As usual, ZRecs does a great job of providing detailed information--according to their research, WOW Toys are PVC free and "As a company, WOW Toys appears to be materials-conscious, proactive on testing procedures, and inspired to deliver great design through self-imposed constraints."  Plus ZRecs does a fairly comprehensive side-by-side comparison between Little People and Wow Toys.

At any rate, when I FINALLY do head out for some Christmas shopping, I'm going to take a closer look at the WOW Toys.  Maybe baby doesn't need Little People after all.