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Farm animal Ice Cream Sandwich Molds let you and your kids make batches of sweet treats until, well, the cows come home. Just bake cookies in a pan, cut out pig, cow, and chicken shapes with the dishwasher-safe molds, then use the press to sandwich ice cream between two of the cookies.
Ages 4 and up; Tovolo, $12.
—By Ruth Spiro, FamilyFun magazine
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A few weeks before my daughter Emma’s most recent birthday — her ninth — she was sitting at the table leafing through supermarket ads.
“Mom, eggs are on sale. We could have scrambled eggs for breakfast at my slumber party. Oh, wait, another store has waffles on sale. That might be easier.”
I smiled to myself. My long quest to teach my kids about budgeting had finally paid off.
The high cost of celebrating birthdays had first become a topic of discussion in our house four years earlier. Our youngest at the time, Daniel, now age 5, didn’t yet have strong opinions on the subject, but Emma and her brother Jacob, now 8, longed to imitate their friends’ expensive...
Finally: a bike helmet that doesn’t require endless fiddling to ensure a proper fit. The True Fit Helmet lives up to its name by offering an elasticized, self-adjusting band with built-in reflectors and — hold onto your handlebars! — just one adjustment strap. Simply click and go. Available in three kid sizes as well as adult.
Ages 3 and up Bell, $17 to $26.
—By Sam Mead, FamilyFun magazine...
Like many parents, Carrie Wright of Sherwood Park, Alberta, believes that every gift-giver deserves a thoughtful thank-you note. But she also realizes that for her 7-year-old son, Jaiden, the idea of sitting down to write such notes isn’t exactly appealing. So Carrie turns a chore into a craft by letting Jaiden decorate blank cards using stamps and stamp pads — “a special treat!” Our binder takes Carrie’s idea a step further, organizing supplies into an easy-to-stow and ready-for-action kit that gets kids excited about creating unique thank-you cards.
HOW TO OUTFIT YOUR KIT
Turn a humble three-ring binder into a one-stop card-making shop by adding homemade supply pockets, a handy printable chart, and plenty of...
“Emphatical Piratical,” the latest CD from the world’s best (and only?) pirate rock band, Captain Bogg & Salty, quickly sailed to the top of my family’s playlist. A few of the 12 songs are peppered with silly sea-faring education: “Port Side” teaches the names of ship parts — including the guaranteed-to-make-kids-giggle “poop deck” — with a hiphop beat. And the witty fun washes over the other tracks as well, in particular “Waltz of the Waves” and the easy-going calypso-inspired “Frogg Island.” Ages 3 and up, Scabbydisc, $15.
–By Suzan Jackson, FamilyFun magazine...
What they are: Friendly bacteria, commonly found in yogurt. Like the good kind that live in your gut, they help keep unhealthy bacteria in check.
Health benefits: They’re thought to aid digestion, especially after a stomach bug or a course of antibiotics. Some researchers think these gung ho microorganisms may also help the immune system.
How to use them: If your child needs a digestive boost, consider giving her chewable tablets for kids (see the package for dosages) or have her eat yogurt with “live” or “active” cultures.
—By Ruth Spiro, FamilyFun magazine
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Many years ago — before, the hormonal super wave hit and my world turned PG-13 — I used to be quite the planner and followed a very strict regime of making lists for, well, everything. Especially, if in a course of one event, I had more than one thing to do, I made a list:
Shop for groceries
Shop for paper products
Make place tags
Make party favors
Clean house and decorate
Go to the bathroom
Flush toilet
Even made my kids’ birthday cakes (thank you, FamilyFun magazine) and then, I dunno, around the time my youngest (she’s 7) entered kindergarten, three years ago, I think,...
At first, “Ninja Versus Ninja” appears to be just a quick, fun game for two. Yet the more my family played, the more we realized there’s more here than meets the eye, which is fitting for a game that stars Japan’s mysterious warriors.
Sure, my rough-and-tumble boys were instantly hooked by the ninja playing pieces and the game’s battle concept.
But as the parent, I was drawn to the clever strategy play. Your goal is to score points by penetrating into your opponent’s dojo as far as you dare, then sneaking back out before time’s up — or before your opponent eliminates all your ninjas, and it’s sayonara.
Ages 8 and up. Out of the Box, $25
—By Kathleen M....
1. CARVE A CRITTER
The humble carrot has never been known for its sparkling personality. Imagine our surprise, then, at these wacky creatures, which morphed in hilarious and fascinating ways as they dried and curled over a couple of days. Our lizard and octopus started as several large peeled carrots. With a sharp knife, we cut the body parts (a parent’s job). The lizard’s mouth began as a straight slice in one end of a carrot segment; it curled and opened as it dried. Similarly, the octopus legs were carefully sliced from the bottom two-thirds of a carrot’s pointed end. We used a lemon zester to make the ridges on the eye and neck slices (a fork works too) and a toothpick to create eye holes and smiles.
After...
You won’t find “Tom the Caterpillar,” by Natalie Teare, on any bestseller list, but it’s my daughter’s current fave.
She’s the proud author and illustrator of this hardcover gem, created online at Tikatok.com, a Web site that helps kids write and share stories. Young authors can start a book from scratch, or get help from StorySparks, a selection of preset themes with gentle nudges about what might happen next. To adorn the pages, parents help scan and upload the artwork, or mail it to Tikatok and have the staff add the images. (They even send the originals back.)
But the real icing on the cake is the site’s sharing features. Kids can invite friends to see their works online, e-mail their stories (for free!)...
