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By Mom Unplugged, November 8, 2007 8:29 pm

None of my children has ever had a favorite lovey until my youngest. She has “Doudou” (baby French for “lovey”). This cute little green bunny in the photo. Other colors and animals are available, but I chose to feature my daughter’s special “Doudou.”

Santa brought Doudou for Christmas last year when she was nearly one. Pretty much from the start, she has loved him.

Now she is 22 months and takes every nap with Doudou, and of course sleeps with him at night. In the morning I ask her if she slept well. If I forget to ask her how “Doudou” slept, she will say to me “Doudou? Doudou?” Until I ask. (He always seems to have slept well thank you.)

He is very soft and comes in a lovely little round box that you will certainly want to keep (he is sitting on it in the photo). He is made in France (not China) by French company Kaloo.

I can tell you that my daughter’s Doudou has met with all manner of natural biological calamities and has been machine washed and tumbled dry numerous times. He always comes out of his bathing experience soft and intact.

My daughter and I cannot recommend him highly enough!

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By Mom Unplugged, October 29, 2007 5:45 pm

I recently found these sturdy cardboard puzzles at Cosco and they are really great!

Each puzzle represents a continent. At the moment the manufacturer, A Broader View, only makes four (North America, South America, Africa, and Europe) but I believe that more may be in the works. Cosco had them bundled in packs of two, so we ended up buying all four and I am so glad we did!

One of my pet peeves with some geographic puzzles is that often the pieces are cut out in such a way as to bear no relationship to the actual shape of a state or a country. Why? Wouldn’t it be much more useful and educational to follow the natural boundaries?

These puzzle pieces do follow the natural shape of each country or state (except in the case of very small countries and states). This makes total sense to me!

Capitals are labeled, as are other major cities, large bodies of water and even lat / long.

It would be nicer if these were made of wood rather than cardboard, but at least the cardboard is quite sturdy, and feels like it will last a long time. One word of advice though: the first time it is unwrapped, an adult should remove the pieces since they are stuck in there pretty hard.

If you can’t get to Cosco (or they don’t have them any more), then you can get North and South America from Amazon (links below). It seems that as of right now, Europe and Africa are out of stock. Hopefully they will return eventually.

You also can find all of them, plus some interesting-sounding global puzzles (a future post!) at the manufacturer’s store: Geography Zone. Otherwise, search online to check for other stores and pricing. It seems to vary between $7.00 and $10.00.

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By Mom Unplugged, October 21, 2007 10:31 am

Amanda from The Rowdy Pea drew my name out of a hat as the lucky recipient of her “crafty giveaway.” I was quite surprised, since I never win anything. But sure enough, Amanda’s package arrived a few days ago much to the excitement of us all!

I wish I had taken photos of how everything was wrapped, because even the wrapping was lovely, but I didn’t get to my camera in time. The children and I joyfully opened the package to find:

- A lovely handmade baby smock (here it is on the baby). Can you see the adorable pattern on the fabric? Kind of a retro kitten print:

- Some clever handmade note cards with sweet illustrations and the cutest little doll I have ever seen (the children have named her Loreena for some reason):

- There was also a very handy Burt’s Bees Lip Balm that my 7 year-old daughter was excited to appropriate.

Amanda’s handiwork is just gorgeous and I am deeply impressed. Not being a “crafty” kind of person, I simply can’t imagine the painstaking work involved in crafting little Loreena for example.

Amanda has just opened an Etsy shop called Dream Child Studio where you can buy your own Loreena and friends, as well as gnomes and adorable wool felt dress-up crowns. Her shop seems to have really taken off as I notice that she has sold most of her inventory already. Please keep checking it though, since I am sure she will be restocking it as soon as she can make some more treasures.

One last thought: Amanda’s acorn-capped dolls and gnomes would make perfect stocking stuffers and they are lovingly handcrafted in Minnesota by Amanda (no toxic ingredients!).

Thank you so much Amanda, for sending us your sweet gifts and brightening our day!

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By Mom Unplugged, October 18, 2007 7:53 pm

Open doors, close doors, open doors, close doors, etc. etc. etc. Toddler heaven!

These doors hide farm themed magnets that your little one can move around from door to door. I found this to be a great travel toy. There are magnets that could get lost, however they are not overly small and there are not many of them to keep track of.

The best age for this seems to be 2 to 3 (recommended for over 3 due to possibility of choking, so be careful). Ours has been on several plane and car trips and is still going strong. By the way, this is from Melissa and Doug Toys, so it is sturdy, wooden, and wonderful!

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By Mom Unplugged, October 12, 2007 10:37 am

I have always thought that those little Magnetix were a fun toy, but unfortunately they can cause a fatal intestinal injury should the magnets be swallowed.

My friend Wishy (thanks again Wishy!) told me about these Guidecraft toys. They are giant magnetic rods and balls. Kids can make cool structures without danger of choking on or swallowing little rods and balls like those found in the sets for older kids.

This seems like a great construction toy for younger children, or for households with a baby who constantly seeks out tiny objects.

There sets with different numbers of pieces to fit different budgets. I have shown here the set for ages 3 and up. But there is also a toddler set, and a slightly smaller-sized set (but not choking-sized small) for older children, ages 4 and up.

For more variety, you can even get curvy Magneatos and glow-in-the-dark sets too!

A 2006 Oppenheim Toy Portfolio Platinum Award Winner.