The Toy Trends

Importance & Benefits of gardening

2010-03-19T11:36:00.000-07:00

Gardening with kids is a great outdoor activity which allows the whole family to participate. Selecting your flowers and vegetables, making the earth and planting and harvesting, gardening with kids could be a wonderful way to spend time with your child/children and a healthy hobby which all can enjoy. Working in the garden, helps a child build all senses and children learn to work together and share.
Now a day, children spend more time sitting in front of their computers & TV than playing outdoors. A study by the California Department of Education, kids' fitness levels may affect their performance in school. The Study done by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found exactly the same results on academic performance. The study revealed that increased amounts of physical fitness translated into higher academic achievement. The benefits were most evident in tough subjects like math scores. It is also found that girls at a higher fitness level had better achievement than boys.
Does your child consume the recommended five servings of fruits and vegetables each day? We have known for years that fruits and vegetables provide essential protein, vitamins, minerals, and fiber that keep us healthy. According to the nationwide nutrition survey research, daily consumption of fruits and vegetables decrease risk of stroke, cancer, and heart disease, improved memory and lower blood sugar levels. So why not try this.
Following are the Benefits of gardening with your children:
• Social and Life Skills
• Science
• Relaxation
• Environmental Awareness
• Quality time with family
Following are some tips for gardening with your children:
• Before you start, Study what kind of climate you have. Once you know your zone, you can find out and choose what plants to select.
• Allocate a place where your child will be gardening.
• Guide them about the importance of quality soil and soil preparation.
• Before starting a garden with your children, the first thing you should do is remove any large debris, rocks, and branches.
• Let the kids lay out the shape of the garden.
• Ask your kids what kind of plants, vegetables or flowers they like to plant and let your kids pick them out.
• Explain them what will work well in the garden and what won't.
• Let them help in the seeds selection and blossoming plants at the nursery. Let your child do the money calculations.
• Depending on your kid's age, let him dig, weed, or watering. This is a great way for your child to explore.
• Get them their own gardening gear. Nothing will motivate your little gardener more than having their own little shovel, gardening gloves, watering pail, and colored rubber boots.
• Plant some quick growers to keep the child's interest or purchase plants from garden center.
• Watch plants breed and enjoy time together in nurturing nature.
Gardening with children could benefit both children and adults and it's all about having fun and learning together. Gardening & nature are great stress relievers, enhance the environment, develop individuals, and build communities.

We at toyscamp have a range of gardening supplies for kids

Toyscamp Coupons to share

2009-10-28T17:30:00.000-07:00

For your upcoming holiday gift needs use following toyscamp coupons for diffrent purpose:

use Toyscamp coupon code "PTHNK09" to receive FREE SHIPPING on orders over $49 and above at http://www.toyscamp.com

use Toyscamp coupon code "10OFF009" to receive $10 off on orders over $50 and above at http://www.toyscamp.com

use Toyscamp coupon code "5OFF2009" to recieve $5 off on orders over $30 and above at http://www.toyscamp.com

Time for Lego Advent Calender

2009-10-28T17:12:00.000-07:00

We at toyscamp have always been big lego fans. we like to build them, suggest them as gifts and always wait for the new ones to come out. Lego is a number one recognized brand in the world and we know that they keep up to it.

The one product we always anticipate is the Lego Advent Calendar. They come up with new advent calendar almost every year.I highly recommend this. I have a 7 year old and a 11 year old and bought this for the first time last year and my kids went crazy. They loved waking up every morning and making their lego for the day before going to school - it was so nice to see big smiles on their faces before leaving for school. The pieces you get are really neat and can be used all year long...I will purchase this every year until the kids tell me otherwise. GREAT HIT in our Toyscamp family.

For more info click here Lego Advent Calender 2009

Essay Writting Contest

2009-09-08T09:57:00.000-07:00

After the reaction of my kids of the first day of school, I decided to start a contest for essay writting for Toyscamp, Inc. To enter the contest a child just has to to submit an essay of its experience of the first day of school. Would like to see how children express the experience and what they like and dislike about the first day of school!

Schools First Day

2009-09-01T17:54:00.000-07:00

Wow on Thursday both my kids start school!!! and i got both of them cute backpacks from toyscamp . Well both of them are a little nervous. The older one starts middle school and is anxious about lockers, changing classes, and a new large school. The younger one is just anxious if the teacher would be Fun. Well i have tried talking to them about not being nervous and going easy but would like to see how other moms handle this!! Feel free to post your thoughts....

The Winter Months with Kids

2009-02-02T09:30:00.000-08:00

This winter has been really colder than usual. Cutting down the skiing weekends due to the cold not sure what activities to do with the kids. My older one is lately actually getting interested in cooking and so I have decided to teach him some basic cooking. He can usually come up with good Nachos in the microwave but i think he is a little young to handle the stove yet so I try to stick with simple oven recipes. So if you have any good kid friendly recipes let me know. Till then i got some kids cooking aprons and mitten and a recipe box for him. They were good and quick on shipping the item.

2008-11-04T12:44:00.000-08:00

I went shopping outside on my lunch break and I realized the cardio isn't worth the hassle. I ventured out to toy stores, department stores, 99 cent stores and everything in between and every time I reached for a box of jolly-good-times for the kids' Holiday Party, my hand hesitated: Am I getting a good deal? Do other parents like this make-at-home kit? Will this entertain thirteen children on a sugar high? So, of course, I did what any exhausted mother would do after work, picking up her sons, feeding them and taking them to soccer practice and feeding them again. I ate and slept. Well, for ten minutes. Then my husband needed to eat and my sons wanted to eat again and my youngest one wanted to dazzle me with his admittedly impressive addition skills. Finally, with the house quiet except for occasional squeaks and giggles coming from the boys' room, I did my kind of shopping: with hot chocolate, a toasted bagel and in a padded chair. I surfed through millions of toy sites and online shops selling everything from Little Einsteins Christmas Wish (ironic, no?) to entire Santa's workshops bigger than my house and read more product reviews than I would have liked. Finally, glimmers of hope. I came across some creative DIY toys that were perfectly priced and culturally encompassing that seem like they could hold the interest of a gnat for hours. I'm loving the Two Square Plates and Memory Tiles because my oldest one likes to have a blank canvas to create on rather than working with something already cut out for him. And I know all the kids will love the Holiday Cards and it's something we can do with them. Plus it'll be a nice break between the 8 dinner courses. Let's see, three toy projects for thirteen kids? Probably not enough. Darn, guess I'll have to plop myself in this comfy chair and make more hot chocolate tomorrow...

Holiday Party Planning ???

2008-10-23T06:57:00.000-07:00

Who, me? I don't think so. Twelve beady eyes are glaring down at me. They belong to six tired, hungry women, all posing like Angry Mom statues. Except they're not posing. Arms crossed, head tilted down, tightened mouths and those glaring eyes. They're not taking “no” for an answer. They're not taking any answer, I have no choice. I'm hosting our children's Holiday Party this November. I've managed to avoid it the last six years and I thought by pretending to be asleep through the Pre-K parents meeting I could slip out, dodging any kind of real responsibility except for making my famous ice cream punch (famous for its “punch”), which I make every year with or without a party. The parents love it – except for one POS, Poor Old Sap elected to make sure no child or adult drowns in glitter or cake. They all knock the happy juice back, wolfing down reindeer cake and making fun of their cherished spawn who are ten feet away creating beautiful works of holiday-inspired art that could rival any Jackson Pollock painting. I shouldn't complain too much. The kids love it – they get to play with shiny stuff and impress us with decorative creations so we can ooh and ahh in amazement. And the parents get to drink and eat cake and we all listen to a mixed CD of holiday songs from every culture so nobody feels excluded. Sounds like fun right? The problem is the host provides everything except the food. Ok, so I don't have to slave over an oven or a mixing bowl or some godforsaken piping instrument. But what do I distract our little critters from running around my house, leaving dinner splattered on my walls and inevitably upchucking on my carpets? Ah, if only Jim Henson's beloved muppets were still around...

Flower Press Kit

2008-10-22T07:55:00.000-07:00

With the cold weather creeping in so quickly it is sometimes sad to see the flowers go away. But it is also perfect time for the kids to enjoy fall and learn about the lifecycle of the trees and plants. We visited my brother in california and it is still warm at this time and they have more flowers than us so I decided to teach kids the art of pressing flowers and make cards for the holidays. We collected a ton of flowers in various colors and let both of them pick their favorite. My sister in law had a Flower Press Kit by Alex in house.

So we used that and pressed a lot of flowers. The kit came with directions so it was so easy to follow for the kids. And finally we brought back our pressed flowers to New Jersey and maybe after the flowers are fully dried we will do some card making activity. I think the kids enjoyed the process and I liked them watching pick out their flowers. That was our weekend in CA....love the weather in California!!

Making Kids Responsible

2008-10-15T08:27:00.001-07:00

If your house is anything like mine in the morning before going to school you would know what I am talking about. I am yelling in the morning to my little one to find his homework he did yesterday and put it in the bag. My older one needs to be reminded to fix his bed before he leaves. And a lot of time I give in and end up doing everything for them. I know this does not help them to be responsible so I asked few other parents and most of them suggested to have chore chart by day and make sure they follow. In my search for a good chore chart I came across a really good one called Do-N-SlideT Chore Chart.

This product is designed for children ages 4 and up and will help to teach daily routines, reinforce participation in household routines, and reduce the need for repetitive reminders! Will start using this as soon as I get my order!!!

Kids School Conferences

2008-10-14T12:08:00.000-07:00

My kids school have conferences. My boys are pretty good students but they need help in some areas. My little one who is in first grade they practice writting and simple spelling. I saw another child praticing writting on a little electronic pencil box.I saw the child sit quitely and trace the letters without any adult help also how the toy was easy to follow for the child. I think i will invest in this toy for my child. The conferences are not till the end of the week but I will get back to what the teachers suggest doing. But looks like the Learn-to-write-pencil-box is helpful!!! If your child has any special need do post or anything that has helped your child in other areas. Thank you for reading this post.

2008-10-14T12:07:00.001-07:00

As a mom, I am always in discussion with so many other school moms asking what will be top toys of this year which are safe, non violent, educational and reasonably price. I thought I would write my thoughts what I beleive top educational toys for this year. I have read so many magazines and talk to different people regarding to what will be hot toys for this holiday season. I will keep adding to this list as I come across more:

Lego Dino Valley

Welcome to Dino Valley, where dinosaurs and cavemen live together in peace. But watch out for the T-Rex – it’s coming to steal all the food! This would be great toy for any boy to play with.

I Play Build a Road: I beleive Build a Rolad will be one of the best selling toys in educational category which fits into your budget and kids will have lots of endless fun constructing and deconstructing this toys

Round The Farm :This is parents magazine featured toys which has great potential and you cannot go wrong with this toys if you have a kids with age of 1 to 3 year.

Yookidoo: Discovery Playhouse Dome:Yookidoo is another parents magazine featured toy for 1 to 4 year old kids which gives your kids unlimited fun and likely to be big hit.