Toy Whimsy

Does Pink Really Stink?

Here's a part of an article I was reading today that started me thinking...

"Not long afterward, she felt compelled to do something about it. In 2008, she and Abi, both 38, started an advocacy group called Pinkstinks, which they hope will spark a shift in a popular culture that they say puts girls "into a pretty little box" from birth, offering them toys that emphasize the importance of looking good and being feminine, while the boys are allowed to go exploring and get dirty. The sisters have launched campaigns to pressure retailers to move away from such stereotypes, like their recent effort to help persuade the British supermarket chain Sainsbury's to repackage a doctor costume that was labeled for boys and a nurse's outfit labeled for girls."

The article about two British sisters calling for a ban on "too-girly" toys for girls that was featured in Time, made me cringe.  When my daughter was born 5 years ago, I was determined to stay away from girly toys for her.  I tried to be gender-neutral, buying her wooden trains, cars, animals and more.  But then her first birthday rolled around, and I took her to the store to figure out what she might like.  As we rolled past the dolls, I'll never forget her reaction.  Her little body catapulted, almost all the way out of the cart in order to get at a baby doll. The first time she held her baby, she cooed and cuddled it, and she couldn't wait to feed her a bottle.  I gave in.  I let her have her baby doll and it has been a slippery slope since then.  I was the mother who said she would never let her daughter have a Barbie, and now she has a dozen.  I was the mother who tried to dress her daughter in pants, and in blue, and now she wants nothing but dresses and purple and pink. 

When my daughter was two, we had a son, and by the time he was six months old, and could crawl, he was dragging his little body over to anything with wheels.  He was facinated with cars, and planes, and trains even though he was surrounded by dolls and "girls' toys". 

What I am getting at here, is that while I agree with these sisters, that some toys just don't scream out for "girl-ization" (a pink globe? what?), I think it is part of nature, and not exactly nurture.  I didn't push girl toys on my daughter or boys' toys on my son, but they garavitated towards them.   If I tried to tell my daughter that "pink stinks" she would be motified since she loves anything that is pink (or purple for that matter).  Are we just over thinking it?

What do you think?  Are girls' toys too girly?  Are we forcing pink down thier pretty little throats?  Or is it natural for my little girl to love Barbie because she "so so so so so beautiful mommy!" (that's what she said when I asked her why she wanted a Barbie of all things).  Are we harming them with too much pink?

Leave us a comment and let us know what you think about pink!

--Laura M.

A Beatrix Potter Easter Party - Guest Blogger Lisa Kothari

Easter will be here in a blink! If you are looking to do an Easter or birthday party but would like something a bit more unique, you can certainly take inspiration from Beatrix Potter’s wonderful cast of characters. This is a perfect theme for children age 3 to 7 and for a first birthday too, especially if some older children will be attending. You can base your activities and games on the happenings within Potter’s books. Here are some ideas to help you plan your party:

• Have the kids make their own Easter hats. Provide them with straw hats and silk ribbons and flowers to decorate with.
• Hold a Peter Rabbit Vegetable Race. Hide plastic or real vegetables in your backyard, and supply each child with a basket. Designate an adult to be Mr. MacGregor, and have the kids race into the yard and try to take the veggies without being caught. If they are tagged by Mr. MacGregor, they must drop their veggie, run back out, and start again. The child with the most veggies in his basket wins!
• Help Jemima Puddle Duck find and keep her eggs! Have an Easter egg hunt! Make it color-coordinated. If the child has a pink egg in his basket, he must only find pink eggs during the hunt.
• Read The Tailor of Gloucester aloud to the kids. Just like in the story, have items laid out—some from the story (such as a mouse, red thread, a coat, a teacup, etc.) and some not. Have the kids use their memory to determine which items were involved in the story.
• From The Tale of the Pie and the Patty Pan, have an Easter tea with sandwiches cut into little animal shapes, scones with jam, mini pastries, and chocolate eggs. Assign the kids to sit at the table as one of the characters from the books. They can either decide who they want to be, or you can decide and place them at the table accordingly.

A great idea for a favor is to purchase small Beatrix Potter books to send home with each of the party guests. Everyone appreciates these books: they are classic!

Happy Easter!

--Lisa Kothari
Peppers and Pollywogs, Inc.
www.pepperspollywogs

The Yo-Yo - Flash Back Friday

Today we have one of the oldest toys every, dating back to ancient Greece!

Here's a little bit of history on the Yo-yo from wikipedia:

Ancient History:

"The earliest surviving yo-yo dates to 500 BC and was made using terra cotta skin disks. A Greek vase from this period shows a boy playing yo-yo. Greek records from the period describe toys made out of wood, metal, or painted terra cotta (clay). The terra cotta disks were used to ceremonially offer the toys of youth to certain gods when a child came of age—discs of other materials were used for actual play. Philippine historical records indicate that 16th century hunters hiding in trees used a rock tied to a cord up to 20 feet in length to throw at wild animals beneath them—the cord enabling retrieval of the rock after missed attempts."

Modern History:

"James L. Haven and Charles Hettrick of Cincinnati, Ohio, USA, received the first United States patent on "...an improved construction of the toy, commonly called a bandelore..." in 1866.

However, the yo-yo would remain in relative obscurity until 1928 when a Filipino American named Pedro Flores opened the Yo-yo Manufacturing Company in Santa Barbara, California. The business started with a dozen handmade toys; by November 1929, Flores was operating two additional factories in Los Angeles and Hollywood, which altogether employed 600 workers and produced 300,000 units daily."

The Duncan Era:

"Shortly thereafter (ca. 1929), an entrepreneur named Donald Duncan recognized the potential of this new fad and purchased the Flores Yo-yo Corporation and all its assets, including the Flores name, which was transferred to the new company in 1932. Duncan's first yo-yo thereafter was the Duncan O-BOY. Duncan is reputed to have paid more than $250,000, a fortune by depression era standards. It turned out to be a sound investment, making many times this amount in the years to follow.

Declining sales after the Second World War prompted Duncan to launch a comeback campaign for his trademarked "Yo-Yo" in 1962 with a series of television advertisements. The media blitz was met with unprecedented success; thanks in great part to the introduction of the Duncan Butterfly, the yo-yo was more accessible to the beginner than ever.

This success would be short-lived, however, and in a landmark trademark case in 1965, a federal court's appeals ruled in favor of the Royal Tops Company, determining that yo-yo had become a part of common speech and that Duncan no longer had exclusive rights to the term. As a result of the expenses incurred by this legal battle as well as other financial pressures, the Duncan family sold the company name and associated trademarks in 1968 to Flambeau, Inc, who had manufactured Duncan's plastic models since 1955. As of 2010, Flambeau Plastics continues to run the company."

Here are some awesome commercials from the 70s including an awesome one (the first one in the batch) with professional yo-yo masters!

I totally had a camera like that!  Who else is with me?

If all this yo-yo talk has you hungering to take up your childhood passion once again, we have tons, in all colors, makes, and models, here for you to enjoy-- check them out!

Have a happy weekend everyone!

--Laura M.

Super Hero Squad Party Ideas - Guest Blogger Lisa Kothari

Super Hero Squad is a very popular TV show on the Cartoon Network that showcases many of the favorite super hero characters that kids love: Captain America, Hulk, Iron Man, Falcon, Silver Surfer, Thor, and more. This cast of characters works together to defeat the villains, which also include some likely characters: Abomination, Dormammu, Dr. Doom, Juggernaut, Loki, Mole Man, Modok, and Enchantress.  These characters are slightly stumpy looking, but embody the characters and kids love their escapades.  If your child loves many of these Super Heroes and can’t decide on just one for a party theme, a Super Hero Squad party theme may just serve as the perfect super theme.

For your party invitation: send the kids an Infinity Sword Invitation. Given that the battle between Dr. Doom and Iron Man shatters the sword, using gray heavy card stock, cut out into sword shapes and write your party details on the swords.  Then, cut the sword up and place into the envelope with instructions to your Super Hero Squad guests to put the sword together to find out the party details.  Also, request that the kids bring their Infinity Sword with them to the party.
For your party activities:

• Hold a Superspeed Contest. Who can race the fastest – perfect if playing the game outdoors and you have a yard for the kids to run toward as fast as they can. If you are indoors, give the kids a task to do, i.e. building a Super City tower with Play Dough.  Give the kids 2 minutes and see who can build the tallest tower in the least amount of time.
• Gray Hulk Tag.  Divide the kids into two teams, and designate one person on each team to transform into Gray Hulk.  Have the other kids paint his face with gray paint.  Once painted, Gray Hulk must try and tag the other team members to become gray too.  Continue to play this tag game until everyone is a gray Hulk.
• Super Hero Squad Training. In order to keep up their strength and wits, have the group complete a series of obstacles, exercises, and moves to work together.  Create a training camp around the Squad’s attributes:
•     Speed: races over obstacles, from one end and back, etc.
•     Strength: see who can lift what?  Make it more challenging as the kids complete picking up each thing: small weights, boxes, furniture piece, each other, etc.
•     Elemental: see if the kids can determine which elements are which -  a trivia contest.
•     Animal: Compose a series of races that revolve around animals, i.e. crab and bear walk races.
•     Technology: If you have a Super Hero video game available, let the kids play it together to increase these skills.
•    

For your party menu:
Super Hero Dogs (hot dog bar with all of the fix’ns) and Squad Fries.
Polar Ice Caps: Root Beer Floats with vanilla ice cream.
Red Velvet Cake with a favorite icing in honor of the Red Skull that Dr. Doom brings forth for Captain America’s Birthday. 

Send the kids home with their headbands, Infinity Swords, and Super Hero Squad action figures for the guests to continue the fun long after the party is over.

--Lisa Kothari
Peppers and Pollywogs, Inc.
www.pepperspollywogs

25 Easter Basket Toys Under $10

Check out these great Easter basket stuffers for Under $10 and fill their baskets for less this year!

1. LEGO City MiniFigure Collection

2. Ty Beanie Babies 2.0 Eggs

3. Melissa & Doug Friendship Stamp Set

4. Matchbox 5-pack Assortment

5. LEGO Space Police Raid VPR

1. Play-doh Case of Colors

2. Crayola 52 Count Chalk Carton

3. Alex Little Hands, My Sticker Art

4. Stomp Rocket Jr. Glow Kit

5. Melissa & Doug Sunny Patch Bixie Butterfly Binoculars. 

1. Kids Preferred Pat the Bunny

2. Ty Beanie Baby 2.0, Henley

3. Triceratops Skeleton Kit by Thames & Kosmos

4. Toysmith Volcano Making Kit

5. Alex Tub Tunes Water Flutes

1. Fisher-Price Kai-Lan Cellphone

2. Fisher-Price Talkin' Tools Pat and Rusty

3. Laugh & Learn Teddy's Shapes and Colors Book

4. Talking Thomas & Friends Thomas

5. Thomas & Friends Bath Squirters

1. Sesame Street Swim Time Ernie Building Set

2.LEGO City Car

3. LEGO Power Miners Stone Chopper

4. LEGO Castle Building Set

5. Mega Blocks Yo Gabba Gabba Foofa

You can find hundreds of other great toys for Easter starting at under $10 here.

--Laura M.

Chuggington Party Ideas - Guest Blogger Lisa Kothari

Do your preschoolers love the show Chuggington?   New in the United States, young children are quickly falling in love with these train engines called Chuggers.  The show follows the adventures of three main characters: Wilson, Brewster, and Koko.  Set in the modern world, the colors and animation graphics are truly stellar and pop off the screen. It’s set to become very popular and is a perfect train party theme that includes these lovable chugger characters.

For your Chuggington Party Invitation: 
Using bright square pieces of card stock, print off pictures from the Chuggington website, and glue to the front of the card. Inside or on the reverse side, write all of your party details.
For your party decorations, be inspired by the bright and bold colors used in Chuggington: stoplight red, lime green, bright blue, and canary yellow as the perfect choices for your party colors.  You can purchase balloons, streamers, and tableware in these bright, bold solid colors as the basis of your party decorations.
Create Chuggington Train Tracks leading to the front door of the party.  At the front door create and hang a sign that says “Let’s Ride the Rails of this Party!”
Make sure to have the Chuggington theme song playing in the background as the kids arrive.
For your Chuggington Activities: 


• Chuggington is about exploring, discovering, and teaching positive life lessons — such as listening closely to directions. Create party activities that allow your guests to explore and discover the Chuggington Party area.
• When the children arrive, ask them which Chugger they want to be, and face paint a little Chugger on their face.
• As the kids wait for everyone to arrive, provide them with craft materials and brown paper bags to create their own Chuggington paper bag puppet. The kids can take these home as a party favor.
• Give the kids a series of directions that they must listen carefully to and follow. 
• Play Load a Chugger.  Have train toys available for loading up of rocks, sticks, twigs, dirt, and any other “natural” items you have around your yard. If inside, have the kids load up small toys like marbles, jacks, small balls, etc. Create a relay race by dividing the kids into two teams and having them carry their loads back and forth from one end to the other.  The first team to load/unload and finish the race wins.  However, everyone can win if it’s just for fun.
• Play Brewster May I? like Mother May I?
• Play Chuggington Chairs like Musical Chairs.  Make sure to use the show’s music during this game.

For your Chuggington Party Menu:

• Purchase a train cookie cutter and cut out sandwiches, gelatin, and brownie train shapes for the kids to enjoy together.
• Serve a Chuggington Fruit salad with grapes, kiwis, berries, apples and any other brightly colored fruits.
• Serve Chuggington Mocktails. Use a favorite flavor of Kool Aid or juice and place skewers of fruits inside each drink for additional edible decoration.

Send the party Chuggers home with their Chuggington puppets, boxes of crayons, and small train goodies, i.e. train chocolates, keychain, coloring pages, etc.

Have a Chugger Good Time!

--Lisa Kothari
Peppers and Pollywogs, Inc.
www.pepperspollywogs

Operation - Flash Back Friday

Everyone knows the game Operation.  But do you know the patient's name?  It's Cavity Sam! Here's some more about the game from wikipedia:

Operation is a battery-operated game of physical skill that tests players' hand-eye co-ordination. Made by Milton Bradley, it has been in production since 1965, the year in which the game was invented by John Spinello.

The game is a variant on the old-fashioned wire loop electric game popular at fun-fairs and the flammer stores around the United States. It consists of an "operating table", lithographed with a comic likeness of a patient (nicknamed "Cavity Sam") with a large, red light-bulb for his nose. In the surface are a number of openings, which reveal fictional and humorously-named ailments made of white plastic, and more recently green rubber.

We carry a few different versions of the game:

How about a commercial break?

And another (I think Joey Lawrence is in this one!):

And you have to check out this guy's Halloween costume!

Ahhh that's just good family fun!  Have a great weekend!

--Laura M.

Mad Men Barbie Dolls - We Saw This One a Mile Away

Back a few months ago we here at Toy Whimsy were lamenting the fact that there were no Mad Men Action Figures.  Someone must have heard our cries of anguish - and that someone must have been Barbie herself.  In the New York Times today, there comes news of a Mad Men/Barbie agreement to be part of the publicity behind the new season.

Soon, the show will enter a realm of the pop-culture pantheon that its creator, Matthew Weiner, says has surprised even him: Mattel plans to bring out versions of Barbie and Ken styled after four “Mad Men” characters.

The dolls are part of a premium-price collectors’ series for adults that Mattel calls the Barbie Fashion Model Collection. Although there have been Barbies and Kens based on other TV series, among them “I Love Lucy” and “The X-Files,” the dolls will be the first licensed line for that collection, Mattel says, with a suggested retail price of $74.95 each.

Mattel is licensing rights to the characters from Lionsgate, the studio that produces “Mad Men” for the AMC cable channel. There will be 7,000 to 10,000 copies of each doll, to be sold in specialty stores and on two Web sites, amctv.com and barbiecollector.com.

The characters to become dolls are Don Draper, the show’s leading man; his wife, Betty; his colleague at the Sterling Cooper agency, Roger Sterling; and Joan Holloway, the agency’s office manager who was Roger’s mistress. 

Here's a little sneak peek at the dolls:

 

My birthday is in July.  I see a set of these for my desk in my future!

This partnership shouldn't be too much of a surprise seeing the success Barbie is having with the Twilight series.  So what is next?  I'd love to see some True Blood Barbies.  What pop culture Barbies would you like to see?  Leave us a comment!

--Laura M.

Bella Sara Birthday Party Ideas - Guest Blogger Lisa Kothari

The world of Bella Sara, published by Hidden City Games, is an exciting, popular on-line game for girls everywhere caring for horses.  Back in the 70s, we had figurine horses with long hair that we could brush and style and play with.  Bella Sara is playing with horses new millennium style and it’s popular!  Starting with simple trading cards, girls outfit their cottage rooms with items that they purchase in the Bazaar, using horseshoes to make the purchases. Little girls love caring for their horses and outfitting them as well.  The creator of Bella Sara, Gitte Odder Brændgaard, is particularly interested in providing positive messages on each card as well.
With such a popular game, it would be a lot of fun to create a Bella Sara Birthday Party.  Using the game and its positive messages for inspiration, you can create a fun, creative party for your favorite birthday girl.

Check out these ideas:

For your party invitation, purchase a few packs of Bella Sara Cards, e.g. enough to provide one to each of your guests.  Take purple or pink heavy card stock, and cut it down to the size of your Bella Sara cards.  Write all of your party details on the card stock, and using glue, paste the Bella Sara card to the front of your invitation.  Request that your guests bring along their party invitation to the party so they can use their trading card at the party.  These invitations can either be hand-delivered or sent regular mail.
The decorations can be any color scheme that appeals to the birthday girl.  Pink and purple solid tableware, balloons, streamers, and confetti would make a good choice.  Choosing solid colored patterns will be budget friendly.  On the party table, make sure to scatter markers around and the guests can write positive messages on their cups and napkins and/or pictures of their horses.
Once at the party, as an opening activity, have the guests create their own Bella Sara names, and personalized trading cards.  Make sure to have art supplies readily available for these creations.  After everyone has finished, ask the guests to state the name they chose and why.  Award prizes for Most Creative Name, Longest Name, Shortest Name, etc.  Make sure everyone receives a prize.
Just like each Bella Sara card comes with a positive message, have the guests create their own positive messages and have them share them with each other.  Alternatively, or in addition, create different positive messages and place them into a hat.  Have the guests each pick one and describe what it means to them.
Horseshoes represent the capacity to purchase stuff to take care of the horses.  Have a Horseshoe Hunt where the guests must find as many horseshoes as they can around the party area and yard.  Real horseshoe credits would be an excellent prize and special prize for the winner.
Of course, the guests may want to get on-line and play with their horses.  Make sure to have capacity for this, e.g. if you have more than one computer available, make sure that you have them set to play.  A majority of the party will be taken with playing the game together.
As a party favor, send the guests home with new packs of Bella Sara trading cards and their own Bella Sara cards that they created.

--Lisa Kothari
Peppers and Pollywogs, Inc.
www.pepperspollywogs

Magnetic!

Sometimes the simplest toys are the most popular...and, sometimes, they aren't really "toys" at all.  Case in point: magnets.  Magnets have been always been fun to play with but, this year, magnets seem to be making a comeback.  For example,  Buckyballs are small magnetic spheres which can be used to build various 3D shapes.  Simple, yet highly addictive...and very popular.  (We saw a few knockoffs of it at Toy Fair in New York this year.)

Another popular magnetic toy is Magna-Tiles.  Magna-Tiles are multi-colored plastic tiles with magnetic edges that allow kids to build all kinds of structures.  (It also comes in a both solid and translucent versions.)  They can also be used to help kids understand shapes, basic geometry and basic physics as well.

There are lots of other magnetic toys out there (including puzzles, games, and more) at a variety of price points.  But, the end result is the same -- magnetic toys will be "sticking around" for many years to come. -- E. Christian Moore