This is a cool microscope toy that teaches young children about the world of insects. Kids examine prepared slides and hear interesting bug facts or play a quiz game. Some of the questions are wonderfully silly, and our young tester was in the giggle zone.

To view a slide, the child inserts it into the blue holders over the lighted window, then views it using the 5X focusing magnifier. He/she may select one of the green buttons identified as either Facts (!) or Quiz (?), to hear facts or questions about the selected insect. There are a total of 12 slides with 10 facts/questions each for a total of 120 pieces of knowledge. The slides come with their own handy storage case.

Our 6 year old tester was able to take the microscope out of the box and start looking at insect slides right away. He was interested in the different bugs and seemed to enjoy the idea of working with a “real” microscope. Since his reading skills were limited, though developmentally appropriate, he needed some guidance on using the “facts” and “quiz” keys, and on how to key in the code for each slide. The product held up to intense use, on and off, for 3 days. The only difficulty was that (more…)

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Second, is the animal mature enough? I highly recommend choosing an adult dog or cat rather than a puppy or kitten. Puppies will chew, they can’t be left alone for very long, they don’t come housebroken, and they have to be trained. Kittens are a little easier to deal with, but can be delicate for much handling by very young children, and can gleefully bite and scratch, all in the name of fun. If you are willing to take some time, you can find a mature animal that may fit into your family more easily. Sometimes elderly pet owners have to give up their pet when they move into a nursing home, or move in with family. Sometimes people transferred overseas need homes for their pets. Check with a vet’s office or a local rescue group.

Third, are you ready for the financial obligation?? Mixed breed pets can often be found in the paper or at local shelter for under $100, and shelters will often reimburse a part of the cost once you have had the animal spayed or neutered. Purebred animals will be more expensive, running from hundreds to thousands of dollars.

First-year vaccinations, and spaying or neutering will usually cost between $200 and $400 dollars, depending on the part of the country where you live and what vaccinations your pet will need. Annual vaccinations should run around $150 in following years. Preventive treatment for heartworms, fleas and other parasites will cost up to $25 per month, and dental care may run up to $100 per year.

Finally, pet ownership adds expense and complication to family vacations. You can hire a neighbor’s child to take care of your pet, hire a professional pet sitter, or board your pet at a kennel or the vet’s office. The cost can be up to $25 per night.

So, yes, having a dog or cat is expensive. It’s also a fair amount of work, involving vet trips, walks, litter box changing, feeding, and watering. And losing a pet—which is inevitable—can be one of the most painful losses a child will face. But there’s something wonderful, I think, about watching your child learn to nurture another living creature. Children can learn immediate lessons about kindness when interacting with a pet on a daily basis. Be nice to a dog and you will be rewarded with devotion. Be rough or thoughtless, and the animal will avoid you, or worse. In my experience, interacting with animals helps children become more empathetic, a quality difficult to explain or teach to a young one.

My family’s life has been significantly complicated by our own menagerie, which currently includes horses, cats, ducks, a dog, and a highly unlikely armadillo. But I like to think it has been enriched as well. And when I watch my daughters talking softly to their pony, curling up with their cats for a quiet moment, or swimming with their ducks in the pond, I think the trouble has all been worth it, and then some.

For some parents, the question of the right time to add a pet to the family never comes up. Mom or Dad grew up with animals, have always had them, so their children grow up with animals an integral part of the picture.

But for the rest of us, deciding whether and when to bring an animal into our lives is a parenting decision on par with choosing the right college. We are painfully aware that this decision matters—choose the wrong animal, and your child may fear dogs forever. Choose the perfect pet your child loves dearly, and blame yourself when the animal succumbs to age or a speeding car and your child’s heart is broken. Choose an energetic dog, thinking daily walks will make the whole family healthier, only to find everyone dreads the chore in no time, and the dog’s excess enthusiasm is focused on pulling up your new Parquet flooring.

A dog or cat can live a long time—many cats and smaller dogs could be with you when your kids head off to college, so don’t enter into the relationship lightly. Owning a pet is a lot more like a marriage than like a vacation. Make the wrong choice, and it’s hard to undo! What is a parent to do? Arm yourself with knowledge!

So here are some pointers for those among us thinking of bringing a pet onto our lives for the first time. And by pet, I mean a fur-bearing mammal that will look at you with big brown eyes and cuddle up next to you on the couch, not a fish or a hermit crab. Delightful pets, both, but not likely to satisfy the little boy who asked for a puppy.

First, is your child mature enough? Only you can answer that—some children are mentally and physically ready for the responsibility by 5. They are quiet, patient, and gentle, and love to help with chores. They can carry a water bowl to the laundry room, and arrive with most of the water still in the bowl. (I have heard these children exist, but have never seen one.) Others won’t be ready until they are 8 or 10—if your child still needs to be reminded to brush her teeth every night, and can’t keep track of the permission slip teacher sent home, she may not be ready to help with a pet, either. That doesn’t mean a pet won’t be a nice addition to the family; it just means Mom or Dad will be doing most of the care and feeding.

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Our kids enjoyed these blocks in so many different ways. They stacked them, nested them, lined them up, and put things inside them, etc. These blocks are an engaging, open-ended toy that encourages imaginative play and builds cognitive and motor skills.

Wooden Animal Stacking Blocks by Melissa and Doug are 5 sided blocks with colorful animal pictures. There are 8 lightweight blocks in graduated sizes that can be stacked or nested inside each other.

Our test group consisted of children ages 12m+ up to 3 years, in a classroom setting. There was one set of blocks for 10+ children, so they had to share them and find ways to play together. The children talked with each other and pointed to the animals, took turns stacking them and shared ideas about what to do next.

Parents and teachers encouraged the children to name the colors and animals pictured on the blocks, helping to build communication skills. Cognitive and problem solving skills are strengthened as a child learns what size block needs to be at the bottom and how smaller blocks stack on top of larger ones. Manipulating the blocks builds (more…)

All of our kids enjoyed this toy immensely; the only problem was, they had a hard time sharing it!

Hide and Squeak Eggs by International Playthings/Tomy is a matching and sorting toy in the form of plastic eggs with colorful plastic chicks inside. The chicks have faces painted on them that match their eggshells, and when the top of a chick is pressed, it squeaks. The bottom of each egg has a shape like a heart or a star that fits in a corresponding shape in the base of the plastic carton.

Our test group consisted of children ages 12m+ up to 3 years. When the children opened the egg carton, they were surprised to see the 6 eggshells. When they began (more…)

The Chomp & Clack Alligator Push Toy by Melissa & Doug helps pre-walkers learn to stand and then balance as they explore walking. As the child pushes the toy along the floor, three “alligators” open and close their jaws, producing a clacking sound. Three large wooden beads with graphics representing insects are secured to a wooden dowel below the handle, and can be spun and slid by the child.

This toy makes the most of a simple design. The wooden wheels have a thin rubber “tire” reducing side-to-side slippage—this makes for a stable toy as little ones first begin pulling up and taking a few steps. Additionally, a wooden “stop” prevents the toy from toppling backwards onto the child if he or she falls backwards without letting go of the handle. The “clacking” sound the alligators make isn’t so loud it will discourage walkers, or make adult conversation impossible—but (more…)

The Chicco Baby Steps Walker is a 2 in1 walker and activity center made of colorful, light weight plastic. It helps build motor skills and engages many senses with lights, shapes and music.

Although I generally prefer wooden toys and walkers, my baby was able to turn and manipulate this lightweight walker much more easily than the wooden HABA Walker. The handle is low, easy to hold and sturdy, making it just right for little ones pulling up for their first steps. When the walker is moved, music plays; when the child stops, the music stops. This could encourage a child to keep working on his or her new skill.

The wheels are made of hard plastic, and not only make noise, but could scratch some surfaces. Since the Chicco Baby Steps is lightweight, hard surface floors make it go quite fast. Though it has brakes on both back stabilizers, they didn’t work at all in our test. For children just beginning to walk, I recommend (more…)

The Walker Wagon by HABA is a well designed, simple wooden walker. A child learning to walk can pull up to its handle and begin taking their first steps. The walker consists of a handle in the rear for pushing, a stow-away spot in the back, and a chair in the front. This allows the walker to be transformed, by imagination, into a push cart for siblings, a doll stroller, a book/toy caddie—the possibilities seem limitless.

The walker is weighted in the front, making it safe for a baby to pull up on. The wheels have real rubber tires, which provide added traction and won’t scratch your floors. With this walker you don’t have to worry about the safety of plastic parts; it is made of solid wood with non-toxic paint. The wooden construction gives it a very sturdy feel.
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The Stride-to-Ride™ Lion by Fisher-Price is a walker-to-ride-on toy that provides support for standing, first steps, cruising and walking. It is easily converted to a ride-on toy by lowering the handle.

The Stride-To-Ride™ Lion encourages development of gross motor skills as children learn to pull up and walk or ride. Soft textures on the lion’s head and sliding beads strengthen tactile and fine motor skills. Music, flashing lights and sounds provide sensory stimulation, while rewarding baby as he/she walks or rides around.

The toy is lightweight and was easy to maneuver even for our youngest testers. However, the light weight made it unstable on hard surface floors. On carpet, the babies were able to grasp the handle to stand up, and the lion would not slip from their grasp as it did on the tile floor. Our babies also had a hard time pushing the toy on a tile floor, where it had a tendency to slip ahead, making it difficult for the children to hold on and keep from falling down. Some of the youngest children also had a tendency to get their feet caught under the rear wheels due to the proximity of the wheels to their feet. This was less of an issue with (more…)

We love this game, and play it often–all the testers wanted one of their own!

BANANAGRAMS takes a fun and functional approach to classic word play. The game was invented by a a Dad with help from his family, and the name is derived from their claim that it’s the “anagram game that will drive you bananas!”

The game consists of 144 letter tiles, which are stored in a bright yellow banana shaped bag. The rules are easy to follow: simply place all of the tiles face down and each player takes an equal number of tiles with the rest remaining in the middle. Then each player independently uses his/her own tiles to make his/her own intersecting words, taking a tile (more…)