Best Christmas Gifts for Dad » toys

DadLabs Ep.233 The Lab -Saving Santa & Holiday Brainwashing

Larry — Wed, 11 Aug 2010 15:33:52 +0000

SPOILER ALERT: We penetrate the security perimeter of Santa Claus to uncover lots of secrets. NSFH. Daddy Clay and Daddy Brad also offer tips on important holiday skills like how to wrap a present, where to hide presents, where gifts ordered via the internet should be delivered, and which web sites are best to track Santa and his progress online. You’ll also learn about gift wrapping alternatives for dads. Keeping the North Pole magic alive, one video at a time. Happy Holidays from DadLabs! DadLabs The Lab ep. 233.

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DadLabs Ep.233 The Lab -Saving Santa & Holiday Brainwashing

Larry — Wed, 11 Aug 2010 01:04:15 +0000

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6 Great Gadget Gift Ideas for Dad

Larry — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 10:58:13 +0000

Syndicated technology columnist Marc Saltzman shows a half-dozen high-tech gift suggestions for dad. Those shopping for a Father’s Day present should consider one of these cool toys for boys.

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What Can You Do With Plastic Snakes?

Lucile Vang — Tue, 25 May 2010 12:05:02 +0000

Plastic snakes are pretty cool, if only because they can be made to look so life-like. But, to the majority of people, they’re creepy too, just like the real thing. A lot of people don’t like snakes at all. Some absolutely HATE snakes and would do just about anything to avoid them. Others, oddly enough, like them so much they keep them as pets. There are two extremes, as with most things.

Toy snakes have really become authentic looking these days. A good one can easily pass as the real thing and they’re sometimes used to play practical jokes on people. It may not be advisable to put one in Mom’s bathtub but you’re sure to get a reaction of some sort. Or maybe on the floor of the shower would be better. How funny would that be?

The Farmer’s Almanac, that time-tried and trusted volume of useful advice that’s been around for ages untold, has a useful tip. Put some fake snakes in the garden to keep away pests and critters like mice, rats and rabbits. When these guys see a snake in their path, whether it’s plastic, rubber or otherwise, they’ll run (or hop) away. Mother Nature’s instilled some innate desire in them to remain alive and these critters know that snakes eat critters. See ya!

You can also benefit from using toy snakes in other places where you may be having varmint problems, like the patio or the greenhouse. Or the swimming pool. Just let Mom know you’ve put the pretend snake there. You don’t want to shock her again.

Plastic snakes are popping up in another, unrelated area right now also. Sharing the same name with the child’s toy discussed above, there’s another snake made from plastic that’s being used to unclog plumbing drains and traps. Drain snakes used to be made from steel, which is heavy, cumbersome and gets rusty. They worked fairly well at their job but were kind of a pain to use.

But now, with the advent of much stronger and more durable plastics, they’re being made not only better but more efficient as well. Some of the more popular plastic drain cleaning snakes attach to a water source, so you’re not just ‘snaking’ the drain but blasting it with a jet stream of water at the same time. Some models even have rotating side jets and a flusher jet up front to blow everything down the line and scour the entire pipe. That’s a big improvement over the ‘old days ways’.

A water-powered drain unclogger is a pretty useful idea. It can save a lot of hassle and expense down the road if you don’t have to call a plumber to open a backed-up drain. These things work on soap scum and debris and, what nearly everybody has, hair clogs. Plus, they’re small enough in diameter that you can even use them in pipes with really small drain openings.

Now you know what’s what about plastic snakes and their varied uses. Use them to scare Mom, or to scare away the critters from the garden or to unclog your drains and traps. Let your conscience be your guide on the first one, though. Paybacks can be harsh!

Bigger snakes are fed with squirrel, rabbits and other small mammals. plastic toy snakes As the children become proficient, they can take turns using the jingle to present their own words to be blended. If you must have a reptile for a pet, buy one that was raised or born in captivity.

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Lego Building Set – Toy For Future Engineers ?

Ledley Withenshaw — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 10:14:00 +0000

The Lego building set is still one of the best toys around, and its generational longevity speaks to this very fact. Very few toys can make it through the test of time when it comes to such wide-ranging popularity. Legos have not only successfully done this, but they have actually grown in popularity over the years.

Kids love the Lego building set because they are in complete control of how complicated they want their creation to be. Whatever they can imagine they can learn to build. This is a toy that grows with a child, as he or she develops new building skills the Legos can keep up and still provide fodder for new ideas.

A child can learn a lot with his or her time spent with a Lego building set. It creates a way to develop critical thinking skills as well as fostering imaginative creativity. You can start with a basic set or one of the themed sets. By putting together different models your child taps into his or her own natural abilities to learn by exploring and doing.

Math skills, color recognition, and motor skills are developed right along with manual dexterity and imaginative play. The Lego building set is one toy that can be played with in some of the most creative ways imaginable. Even a toddler can get into the action with larger sized, age-appropriate Lego sets.

Your child can be comfortable turning off the TV on a rainy day because the Lego building set will hold much more adventure for them. The creative outlet, which also develops critical thinking skills, can be enough for a small child to refrain from finding destructive outlets.

This is one toy that has no right or wrong way to play with it. In a world filled with pre-set rules, children love to find activities that has no judgment attached to it use. You can’t build the wrong thing and you can’t use the wrong colored Lego bricks. Whatever your child builds in his or her own manner is right, because it is their creative vision.

The more your kids play with their Lego sets the more they start to develop a strong sense of personal independent thought. When they try something and it doesn’t work out so well, they have the ability to change it up, try again, or decide that their mistake is the next great invention. With a good imagination a child can put together just about anything with a basic Lego building set and move on to greater challenges with one of the themed sets like Star Wars.

If lego is not for you or your children then how about a Robotic dinosaur as a christmas present ? Kids love Dinosaurs so this might be a winning idea. Otherwise, what about a Clone trooper helmet with voice changing capability ? Anyone, young or old, who likes Star Wars will like to role play as a clone trooper in a clone war on some far flung planet.

Get your own drex interactive dinosaur or how about a clone trooper helmet at a discount price.

Leapfrog Imagination Desk – Set Your Child’s Imagination Off

Ledley Withenshaw — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 13:01:31 +0000

If you haven’t introduced your child to the Leapfrog Imagination Desk yet, by all means wait no longer. For your child’s early development, there really isn’t an interactive toy that will give so much in return. If you want your preschool child to get a handle on some of the more intricate reading and math skills well before he or she starts her school career, why not make it fun?

Leapfrog has been an education innovator for many years now, bringing new concepts in reading and math skills to parents of preschoolers. The Leapfrog Imagination Desk is another advancement in interactive technology that blends the fun of achievement with the skills of the game that gets a child literally excited to learn. Young children willingly trade in the television for some time with their Leapfrog Imagination Desk Learning System.

In order to develop highly successful reading skills, the Leapfrog Imagination Desk teaches the ever important conceptualization as well as the paired critical thinking skills. This takes learning well beyond just the Imagination Desk. Covering the– most critical reading skills for the age group, Leapfrog has delivered a system that is designed for learning success. When learning is fun, kids can’t get enough. In order to create strong readers in today’s world, many parents realize that they need to start them well before their first day of school.

In line with the latest research studies, the Leapfrog Imagination Desk doesn’t teach boring repetition or information regurgitation but it works on critical thinking skills and reading concepts to help your child excel. In the long run, memorization contributes very little to a child’s education.

The innovative “smart” audio system that is part of the Leapfrog Imagination Desk will help prompt a child along when they get a little lost on a concept. This audio prompt is designed to help direct the child toward the solution without telling them what the answer is. This helps children to perform achievements all on their own.

When it comes to reading concepts and the thought processes that increase comprehension, the Leapfrog Imagination Desk can be very helpful. While your child learn skills such as beginning word sounds, identifying words that they are already familiar with, understanding varying word length, and being able to sort through common words by categorizing them they also learn to recognize patterns in the world that reveal the same ideas. With every detail adhered to your child will practice differentiating between numbers and letters, which direction we read words and paragraphs, and the way sound substitution really works in words.

The Leapfrog Imagination Desk is more than just a tool for learning the basic reading skills. It is a tool for developing life skills, thinking skills, and even self awareness skills that will help put your preschooler at the top of his or her class. Learning is a fun process with the tools offered by this highly sophisticated electronic toy.

Other great products that can help your child, toddler, infant and even baby develop is Jacques the Peacock and the Musical table. They help basic senses develop, like hearing, sight and touch. They also develop simple problem solving and language skills.

Get your own lamaze baby toy or how about a learn and groove musical table at a great price.

Zhu Zhu Pets – The Christmas Must Have Toy ?

Ledley Withenshaw — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 17:47:18 +0000

Almost every year, there seems to be at least one toy that stores can’t seem to keep stock of. In years past, we’ve seen the craze has been for toys likeTickle Me Elmo, Cabbage Patch Kids or Webkinz. This year, the rage is all about Zhu Zhu pets.

These little guys are made to look like real hamsters, so that children can have a closely simulated experience to owning a real pet. This is leaps and bounds past toy pets of even a year or so ago by incorporating real hamster like motion and activity without the need to actually take care of one or the risk losing a cherished pet.

But should you bother getting one? Live hamsters themselves are relatively low in price, although if you decide to accessorize, you might find yourself spending a bit more than you expected. Most people can see a pro in not having to worry about how rough a kid is playing with it or having to change the cage. But some have presented concern that this toy is fails to teach children any sense of responsibility has far as pets are concerned.

Young children often have a tough time adjusting to having a pet in general, no matter how badly they may want one. This is how your Zhu Zhu pet could come in handy. Consider allowing your little one to “take care of” their Zhu Zhu for a while and perhaps they can learn some attention to detail that is required to raise a pet. This toy will never be a real, breathing animal, but It still serves a pretty useful purpose.

An example might be a two year old that loves an older child’s pet hamster. You may not want to get a real hamster for a two year old, because that would be a short, sad fate for the hamster. But with a Zhu Zhu pet, your child can have almost as much fun without the fear of hurting it.

The Zhu Zhu pet is programmed to make it sound and act like a real hamster. From sporadic movements to real hamster sounds, this is the next best thing to actually having a hamster. There are two different modes that the hamster can be in, loving mode and exploring mode. Loving mode allows kids to be able to hold the hamster and have it respond to their touches. Exploring mode allows it to head off and explore on its own, much like a real hamster would do.

While it may true that Zhu Zhu pets are destined to be a passing flash in the pan like many others before it, they’re still wildly popular. Whatever your view on fads or if you don’t like real hamsters, or maybe your kids aren’t ready for real pets, they all are ready for a Zhu Zhu Pet as evidenced by the hundreds of thousands that have already been sold.

Buy these furry critters, including Pets Funhouse and Zhu Zhu Pets Wheel