Shop Made in America Toys for the Holidays

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“Shop Local” is a vital philosophy when it comes to our purchasing choices. But what about where products are manufactured? In these tenuous economic times, buying products made in the USA, maybe even in your own state or hometown, is a great way to help give our economy a boost and help create jobs this holiday season.

ABC News has been running a great “Made in America”series all year, culminating with a “Made in America Christmas.” According to the interviews with economists that ABC news conducted as part of that series, if every American pledged to spend $64 on products made in the U.S.A. we could create 200,000 jobs – right now!

At Grandrabbit’s Toy Shoppe we are proud to carry many products that are made in America. Here’s a sampling of several products and companies to consider putting on your list when you’re doing your holiday shopping. Make sure to ask a Grandrabbit’s associate for any questions you may have about finding toys made in the U.S.A.!

Made in the USA Toy Companies We Carry

Aerobi

Block-n-Roll

Clementine Art

Constructive Eating

Do-a-Dot Art

Fractiles

Gamewright

Green Toys

I-Spy Books and Games

Keva Planks

Knex

Late for the Sky Games

Lunastix

Mama K’s

Mighty Mind

Perler Beads

Zome Tool

Products Made in the USA

Astronaut Food

Brainquest Workbooks

Boomaphone Whack Pack

Bubblegum Factory Kit by Scientific Explorer

Carson Delosa Home Workbooks

Herd Your Horses! Game

Ice Cream Kit by Scientific Explorer

Illustory

Light Crystal Prism

Name Train Letters and Cars

Melissa and Doug Drawing Pads and Construction Paper

Mentos Geyser Tube

Mindware Coloring Books

Potato Chip Science

Sassafrass Fairy Princess Cookie Kit

Slinky

Spooner Board

Sun-Art Paper

Tasty Science Kit by Scientific Explorer

Trunki by Melissa and Doug

Uno Card Game

Wikki Stix

Yo Baby Kick Flipper

Yomega Raider Yo Yo

Zipfy Freestyle Mini Luge

ASTRA announces it's 2011 Best Toys for Kids

The American Specialty Toy Retailing Association (ASTRA) unveiled its 2011 Best Toys for Kids list this month. The list, which includes twenty-two winning products in twelve categories, is a well-balanced representation of the fun, top-quality, high play value products consumers can find in locally-owned neighborhood toy stores around the country.

"There are lots of top toy lists out there, but Best Toys for Kids is different because the collective expertise of ASTRA retailers nationwide is built into the selection process," notes Gwen Ottenberg, Chair of ASTRA’s Best Toys for Kids Committee and owner of Imagine That Toys in Wichita, Kansas. "Hundreds of retailers who know toys inside out participate in picking the winners. The final list is a useful tool at retail for helping moms and dads and grandparents and other buyers understand the advantages of shopping at a specialty store."

You can view all the winners here!

Terrific Backseat Travel Toys

There’s nothing quite like hitting the highway in the summertime for a good old American road trip. But keeping your kids entertained in the backseat can often be a challenge. Frequent bathroom stops, seat kicking, goldfish cracker fights, and the endless chorus of, “Are we there yet?” means a road trip can turn into a stress trip pretty quick. Being armed with lots of activities is a great way to prevent those backseat meltdowns. Here are some of our favorite travel games and products at Grandrabbit’s.

Travel bingo games are a great way to keep kids engaged in the scenery around them, as they spot road signs, buildings and vehicles to fill their bingo cards. Auto Bingo by Regal Games and Backseat Bingo by Reeve and Jones both feature cards with sliding markers that can be reused again and again. Another option in the travel bingo department is eeBoo’s Travel Bingo, which comes with four pads, each with several pages of bingo games.

Squiggle on-the-go will get your young artists’ pencils moving. The concept is simple – each page on the squiggle pad has a different squiggle on it, with each side of the paper marked with a letter. On the back of the pad is a spinner with the four letters. The pad is rotated so the spun letter side is facing up, and a picture or object is then created from the squiggle. It’s a blast seeing what kids will come up with – you may even want to try your hand at some squiggles yourself.

Bringing art supplies in the car is always a tricky bet. You don’t want to end up with melted crayons on the seat or marker on the windows. Wikki Stix are a fantastic product that will encourage artistic creativity without the potential mess. Kids as young as three can play and create with Wikki Stix. They are made out of hand-knitting yarn enhanced with a microcrystalline food-grade nontoxic wax, the kind used in bubble gum and lipstick. That means they stick together effortlessly, and are also easy to peel up and reposition. The best part is they are endlessly reusable, so one packet of Wikki Stix contains infinite possibilities!

Etch A Sketch is always a fun, dependable choice for a travel. It’s hard to think of how you would expand on such a classic toy, but leave it to the creative minds at Klutz to come up with a fabulous Etch A Sketch Book. The book, which comes with its own pocket Etch A Sketch, contains drawing ideas, games and activities – and even lessons on how to draw good-looking curves and diagonals. There are also 12 see-through game screens that fit on the pocket Etch A Sketch, making this an etch-tastic choice for long road trips.

Usborne Activity Cards come in many different varieties, and several are designed specifically for travel, such as 100 Things for Little Children to Do on a Trip, or Travel Doodles. But any of these sets would make fantastic travel toys, as they contain a variety of activities, are easily portable and wipe clean so they can be used over and over again. We have a wide selection of Usborne doodle, activity, puzzle and things-to-spot card sets. Stop into any Grandrabbit’s location to check out our selection.

There are many travel versions of classic board games, but Camp Travel Edition is a great option if you have a range of ages that need to be entertained – including adults. The compact wooden box is perfectly designed for travel, and the questions include facts about all 50 states, making it an ideal road trip game. With its focus on fun facts about nature and wilderness skills, Camp is a particularly apt choice if your final destination includes some outdoor adventures.

Portable magnetic drawing toys are a dependable travel toy, especially for younger children. We’re particularly found of the B. Toulouse-Laptrec. Not only does it have a thoughtful design, with a squishy pillow on the bottom and a comfortable handle, but it comes with four fun animal stamp shapes to add to the imaginative possibilities of the product. As an added bonus, the B. company donates 10 cents of every toy sale to freethechildren.com, an organization working to alleviate child poverty. A great product that goes to support a great cause, and keeps your younger children entertained on a long car ride? That’s a winner!

Have any other favorite travel toys or activities? Let us know in the comment section!