25 Traditional Toys to Buy This Christmas Season

Although it’s 2018, lately I’ve been reminiscing about older American traditions. Whether this has been brought on by the now common spectacle of  kids as young as 2 staring at screens all day instead of playing with toys or always feeling like I’m going to multi-task myself into exhaustion, I don’t know, but I’m certainly convinced that something has got to change.  Continue reading “25 Traditional Toys to Buy This Christmas Season”

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20 Brain-Boosting Educational Toys to Celebrate Spring

I know there are are ton of people out there who absolutely love the winter. The crisp, clean air. Snow so white you can barely open your eyes. Sipping hot chocolate by the fire.

As for me…I can’t wait until it’s over!

Every year once Valentine’s Day has passed, I find myself getting more and more psyched over the upcoming arrival of spring. Nothing can bring me out of the winter doldrums more than the sight of a freshly bloomed cherry blossom tree.  Continue reading “20 Brain-Boosting Educational Toys to Celebrate Spring”

13 Unique Gift Ideas That Inspire Learning

Now that fall’s in full swing, the Christmas season is creeping ever and ever closer. As a mom who tries to be practical in every way, I try to steer clear of presents for my kids that are mere “fluff.” I want their gifts to have substance; I want them to inspire learning, and I want them to last.

Sound like a tall order?

I used to think so, but the other week, some lovely ladies in my Facebook group shared some of the most unique gift ideas I’ve ever come across.

Today I’d like to share them with you. 🙂  Continue reading “13 Unique Gift Ideas That Inspire Learning”

20 Blind Bag Stocking Stuffers for $5 or Less!

As a mom of 11, Christmas shopping can be tricky for me. Since I have so many children to buy for, I have to make sure that:

a. The gifts are affordable, and

b. They’re something that my kids will actually play with.

In the past, I strictly stuck to items from the dollar store for stocking stuffers. The problem was that, while they were only $1, they always ended up either getting broken, lost, or thrown away within a week after Christmas was over.

Not a good feeling.  Continue reading “20 Blind Bag Stocking Stuffers for $5 or Less!”

Hate Buying Batteries? Try These 25 Gift Ideas Instead!

Batteries are the bane of my existence. As a mom of 10 kids (and 1 adult son), there are two things that really irk me about battery-operated toys:

  1. They’re expensive to keep replacing and a nuisance to remember to replace them, and…
  2. They take away crucial elements of imaginative play.

I don’t know about how things work in your household, but in ours, battery-operated toys are played with when the children first get them. Afterwards, we keep forgetting to replace the batteries once they’ve worn out (or simply can’t afford 100 new batteries every 3 months), and once-expensive toys end up getting broken or thrown away.

It’s a waste of money.  Continue reading “Hate Buying Batteries? Try These 25 Gift Ideas Instead!”