The Good Toy Checklist

Play is learning and toys are learning tools. If we stop to contemplate how important and essential play is to our children’s’ development, we would realize the importance of careful and well informed selection of their playthings.  Here is our list of characteristics found in good toys.

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Source: grtoys.com via Grandrabbits on Pinterest

Eyes on the Sky

Grandrabbit’s has products to get any little astronaut off the ground, including space suits, books, solar system models and more! Come into the store for our full selection.

Since the beginning of August our attention has been turned to the sky. On August 5 (Neil Armstrong’s birthday by the way) NASA’s Curiosity Rover successfully landed on the surface of Mars. The nights of August 12^th and 13^th were lit up by the Perseid Meteor Shower, and on the 25^th Neil Armstrong, the first man to ever set foot on the moon, passed away.

With all this space talk, you may find your kids wanting to know more about our solar system, NASA and space travel.  Here are some tidbits we picked up to help get your conversations started.

Did you know?!?-- Neil Armstrong was flying planes before he could drive, he served as a Navy fighter pilot in the Korean War and was a student of aeronautical engineering at Purdue University. He never dreamed that he would someday fly to the moon. In fact, during Armstrong’s first year of college Charles E Yeager broke the sound barrier in an experimental aircraft called the Bell X-1 and Armstrong felt that he “had missed all the great times and adventures in flight.” Good thing he was mistaken! Once he got a job at NASA Neil Armstrong piloted many of the most innovative aircrafts of all time, including the successor to the Bell X-1, and eventually moved on to flying spacecrafts. Armstrong took the first human steps on the moon on July 20, 1969 accompanied by his colleague and friend Buzz Aldrin on the Apollo 11 Mission. In a statement regarding Armstrong’s death, his family stated that “He remained an advocate of aviation and exploration throughout his life and never lost his boyhood wonder of these pursuits.” What an inspiration. In remembrance of Neil Armstrong, rekindle your own sense of childhood wonder and see where it takes you. You never know, you could end up on the moon!

Speaking of childhood wonder, who else is still waiting for some aliens to show up on the camera of the new Mars Rover Curiosity?!? Okay, so the Rover is actually looking for microbial life forms, but we can dream right?

Here’s some real info!--Unlike previous mars rovers the Curiosity has greater mobility and the ability to explore more of the red planet than we’ve ever seen before.  Previous Rovers such as the Mars Pathfinder and Mars Exploration relied on solar energy, limiting them to areas of Mars that received enough sunlight to keep them powered. The power for the Curiosity Rover however, comes from a “radioisotope power system that generates electricity from the heat of plutionium’s radioactive decay.” Wow! Thanks to this new power source, over the next martian year (687 earth days) the Curiosity will send us never before seen images of mars, and assess whether or not the red planet has, or ever had, an environment that could support life. We can’t wait to see what’s out there!

Just for fun, if one martian year= 1.88 earth years. How old would you be if you were a martian? (Hint: Divide your age in years by 1.88)

Want to know more?

NASA has heaps of great information and cool interactive material such as Be A Martian so be sure to explore their website if you’re interested in keeping up to date with Curiosity’s location, photos, technology, etc.

Going Green at Grandrabbits!

The demand for Eco-friendly, "green" and all natural toys is slowly on the rise as people become more aware of the effects of synthetic materials on the environment and the human body.

At Grandrabbit's Toys Shoppe we provide parents with Eco-friendly alternatives including, toys that are made of organic, recycled, and wooden materials.

Vendors at Grandrabbit's That Provide Eco-friendly Toys:
Sprig, Plan Toys, Haba, Hape, Educo Toys, Maple Landmark, Mama K's, Blue Orange, Citi Blocs, Green Toys, Kapla, Thames and Kosmos, Clementine Arts, Sara Silks, and Bead Bazaar.

Some of Our Favorite "Green" Toys at Grandrabbits Include:

1. Sophie the Giraffe - a popular teething toy for infants, made of an all natural rubber and painted with a safe, non-toxic food dye

2. Skwish (Manhattan Toy)- a great wooden toy also for infants. Comes in a colorful version or a  plain, natural version with a water-based, non-toxic finish.

3. Recycled Paper Beads Art Kit (4M) - this is a fun art kit that recycles leftover paper by turning it into fashionable jewelry. A great way to get rid of leftover wrapping paper!

4. Green Toys - products from this company are made directly in the USA. Green Toys provides a wide variety of toys made from recycled milk jugs, including trucks, tea sets, building blocks, and pretend play food.

5. Sprig Toys - a fun, Eco-friendly company that provides phalate-free vehicles made of recycled plastic and wood.

6. Earth-opoly - this is the Eco-friendly themed Monopoly made from recycled paper and uses soy ink. As you play you pick up great tips about the Earth and ways to "Go Green".

GOING GREEN FACTS
• Americans purchase 5 billion batteries a year
• Those 5 billion batteries leaves behind 146,000 tons of battery waste
• 25% of the pesticides produced each year are used on conventional
(sources: Children's Health Environmental Coalition, Eco Choices)

Shop Made in America Toys for the Holidays

ABC News image

“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

Our Favorite Advent Calendars for 2011

The first known Advent calendar was handmade in Germany in 1851. Since then, Advent calendars have become a beloved family tradition for both religious and secular families alike. Although the observation of Advent for Christians begins on Sunday, November 27th, the secular observation tends to begin on the 1st of December and counts down to the 25th.

The daily ritual of opening the doors and counting down to the holiday is exciting for both children and parents alike. There are a myriad of Advent calendar options out there, but here are some of our tried-and-true favorites at Grandrabbit's.

PLAYMOBIL puts out a fun series of Advent calendars. With themes such as Dinosaur Expedition, Dragon's Land and Pony Ranch, there are a wide variety of unique themes to chose from. For more a more traditional Christmas motif, they also have a cute Christmas Post Office calendar. No matter which one you choose, each PLAYMOBIL calendar comes with 24 unique figures and accessories, as well as a backdrop. A great choice for PLAYMOBIL fans, that they can play with long after advent is over.

LEGO makes a cool advent calendar every year, and this year is no exception. The LEGO City Advent Calendar features 24 LEGO toys for your children to build and play with each day leading up to Christmas. The toys can be added to other LEGO sets, making the "build-up" to Christmas extra fun!

Everyone likes chocolate, right? Well Madelaine Chocolate Company makes tasty and traditional Advent calendars. Their Santa's Toy Factory and Village Toy Shop calendars. feature a different chocolate treat every day. Yummy!

Finally, for a simple but magical advent countdown, eeBoo's gorgeously designed, charming calendars will inspire holiday storytelling. Each calendar is designed by a renowned children's book illustrator, and printed on sturdy cardboard with eco-friendly ink. The beautiful and whimsical designs include bears dancing in the woods, rabbits celebrating christmas in their den, woodland sprites creating holiday joy, a snowman band, and a sweet scene of a father bringing home a christmas tree with his children.

You can come check out all these calendars at any of our three locations or order them online from grtoys.com. Happy Holidays from Grandrabbit's!

Grandrabbit's is proud to be a part of The 3/50 Project!

Grandrabbit's is proud and excited to be a supporter of The 3/50 Project, aimed at bolstering local economies. 

Here's some history on the project and how it works:

Having been an independent stationery store owner for fourteen years, Cinda Baxter understood the pain felt by retailers when the economy sank and consumers held back. What began as an economic downturn in the autumn had become a psychological tsunami by March 1st.

What the country needed, in her opinion, was a meeting of the minds between two groups that held valuable stakes in the game—small business owners and members of their communities.

Enter The 3/50 Project.

With a tag line “Save your local economy three stores at a time,” the Project’s goal is to promote shopping in locally owned businesses while thanking customers for the positive impact that decision has on a local economy.

“We’re constantly inundated with doom and gloom,” says Baxter, now a retail consultant and professional speaker. “The system is broken, the banks are frozen, the economy is bleeding. That’s all we hear. The images painted by the media are ghastly and devoid of hope. What we need - what we crave - as a nation is to pinpoint areas where positive change can occur, then feel good about having promoted them."

By early March, she’d decided enough was enough, and that it was time to give retailers ammunition to fight back with. Rather than get tangled in complex messaging and deployment, Baxter combined a straightforward theme, a free flyer, and her blog as the mechanism to launch The 3/50 Project.

“We ask consumers to think about which three stores they’d miss if they disappeared, then remind them to return there,” explains Baxter. “Shoppers have become so rooted in thinking about the essentials that they’ve forgotten about the little gift store on the corner whose owner remembers their name.”

“Fifty comes from the idea that if even half the employed population spent a mere $50 per month in locally owned retail stores, those purchases would generate more than $42.6 billion in revenue,” she continues. “That’s a huge impact for a relatively small investment.”

Which leads to a third number on the flyer, sixty-eight—the dollar amount that remains in a community’s economy for every $100 spent in locally owned stores. By contrast, only $43 per one hundred remains local when spent in national chains; little or no revenue results from online purchases.

“In essence, the whole thing boils down to Pick 3, spend 50, save the economy. It’s really that simple."

The year, The 3/50 Project launched their free iPhone app. It's called LookLocal and it allows users to search for locally owned businesses coast to coast, and share their favorite businesses with their friends. You can learn more and download the app here.

For more information and to find out how you can become a supporter visit their website at the350project.net

Building Good Parent-Teacher Relationships

It's back to school time! Parenting.com  has some great tips on how to develop a good parent-teacher relationship. Help support your children's hardworking teachers by learning about what pet peeves to avoid, what you can do to score some major brownie points and what you can do at home as a parent. to make a teacher's life easier.

Read the article here, and think back on all the teachers who inspired you as a child!