• Home
  • About Me
  • Policies
  • Work with Me
  • Guest Posting
Stuff Parents Need

Stuff Parents Need

Easing the chaos in the nest, one find at a time.

  • Style
  • Parenting
  • Giveaways
  • The Kitchen
  • DIY Projects
  • Fun Things To Do
  • My Favorite Finds

Trolls Toys: The Top Picks

November 3, 2016 · by Tiffany Merritt · Leave a Comment

Trolls is releasing in theaters tomorrow!!! My kids have been seeing previews for this fun new animated feature since early summer, so we are excited to be having a family movie theater date very soon.

One of the ways I like to build up the excitement for a new feature film is to pick up a few related toys. Hasbro sent along a few different items and I packed them up in the trunk of my car, unbeknownst to my kiddos, and took them on our fall family vacation last weekend to the Cherokee National Forest. We were able to get out in the woods ahead of our kids and hide some Trolls in the forest for them to find. Can you spy one in this shot? I snapped it just a second after my youngest spotted him and started toward her new friend!

trolls toys 3

Y’all….that was some SERIOUS fun for all of us! The kids were already having a great time being out in nature, and about 10 minutes into our journey the first sighting occurred, and they went absolutely nuts. I very highly recommend doing something like this if you are able…what memories we made!

Ok, so let’s talk about the hot Trolls toys for the season. Kids are going to be so thrilled to see these cute items under the tree this year! The toy that is getting the most “tote around” time with my kids is definitely the Hug Time Poppy Doll. She’s 14 inches and comes with a bracelet for your child to wear that lights up and causes the doll to sing and talk. BIG hit!

trolls-dolls-1

The Glitterific Guy Diamond Doll is usually played with at the same time, and these 2 dolls will be what the girls choose to take with them to the movies for the big viewing party. The key difference with this doll is that he doesn’t light up or talk. He does, however, come with some rockin’ sunglasses.

trolls-dolls-2

If your kids are more into miniature figures, there is no shortage of great Trolls options! I highly suggest putting some Blind Bag Assortment packs in a stocking this year. There are 24 different Trolls figures and you won’t know which one you got until you open it.

You can also check out the Multi-Pack Assortments which each come with 4 Trolls figures. These are dressed to impress and have awesome hair, too!

trolls-5

And to put all those mini figures in context, you need a play set. Check out Poppy’s Coronation Pod Playset so your kids can recreate the moment when Poppy becomes the queen, complete with a light-up spinning dance floor.

coronation-pod-2

 

If your kid likes softer toys, you’ll also find an assortment of plush options to love on, too. ย Our favorite is Harper. Can’t wait to learn more about her story when we watch the movie; she seems like quite a character!

harper

Basically the Trolls toy options this year are seriously on point and available at a multitude of price ranges, from $2.99 up to $49.99. Which ones will your kids want?

trolls-6

Filed Under: My Favorite Finds · Tagged: best toys, gift ideas, trolls movie, trolls toys

(Giveaway!) Happy 60th Birthday, Play-Doh!

September 17, 2016 · by Tiffany Merritt · 76 Comments

Thanks to Play-Doh for sending along the fun kit!ย 

Yesterday was a big day for one of America’s all-time favorite brands for kids. It was Play-Doh’s 60th birthday! So many generations have enjoyed squishing, rolling, and making new creations out of that awesome stuff that comes in the yellow can.

One of my favorite toys growing up was a Play-Doh ice cream and soda fountain shop I had as a child. I loved making ice cream with blueberries sprinkled on top for all of my dolls. ๐Ÿ™‚

Now my own girls get to enjoy Play-Doh and it’s one of my favorite things to get to play with them.

play-doh-60th-birthday

I love to watch their little minds get busy with all sorts of ideas for creation. I love the fact that playing with Play-Doh can result in some serious art time, some entrepreneurial time (my girls love to “sell” what they make!) and some time getting to imagine different awesome careers (engineer and cupcake maker all in one? Sure!).

play-doh-cupcake-celebration

I also love watching them work on their motor skills and strengthening their little hands while they make different shapes and designs. You never quite know where a play-doh session will take you, and I love that open-ended nature of it.

We’ve been playing with the Cupcake Celebration kit since Play-Doh just had a big birthday to celebrate. It’s loads of fun and very nicely priced at $19.99. I thought perhaps your child might enjoy getting to do the exact same thing, so let’s have a giveaway, shall we?

Entry-Form

Filed Under: Giveaways · Tagged: best toys, giveaway, play doh

New My Little Pony Toys: Sweet Apple Acres!

September 14, 2015 · by Tiffany Merritt · Leave a Comment

Product provided for review consideration. Additional product purchased on my own because Applejack is amazing. ๐Ÿ™‚ย 

I have to give a big thank you to my BFF, Leslie, who encouraged me (and by that I mean yelled at me) to start watching My Little Pony with my girls. I’ve been going through the episodes with them for about 6 months now (maybe longer, actually!) and that show is GREAT! The episodes are funny and thought-provoking, and provide a lot of great material for discussion.

They also provide a lot of great inspiration for play! And it seems that for me, I have TWO areas of weaknesses when it comes to buying toys for my girls: one is stuffed animals, and the other is My Little Pony.

A few days ago I was out running errands and while I was inside one of the big box stores I thought I’d just see if there might be any fun Apple Jack toys. And yes, there was something SUPER fun!

applejack 1

I bought the sweet apple juice stand because LOOK AT APPLE JACK! She is in mid-buck! ๐Ÿ™‚ Those apples on the tree come off, too, which means my youngest can have her favorite pony kick that apple tree again and again and again.

I also bought it because I knew something extra awesome was headed our way from Hasbro.

applejack 2

Sweet Apple Acres! Hot Diggity! ๐Ÿ™‚

Please note the AWESOME figures included: Granny Smith and Crimson Gala!

sweet apple acres 3

Y’all Granny Smith is one of my FAVORITES. She crosses the road like a BOSS with that walker. And she has a lot of hilarious lines, too. My youngest absolutely adores Apple Jack, so to be able to play at Apple Jack’s farm is SO fun!

sweet apple acres 1

The set includes a picnic blanket, a bushel of apples and some yummy treats and a table so that you can get ready for the Apple family reunion or for Apple Bucking Day. There’s even a cute little chipmunk included, although I really wish they had inclued Winona, Apple Jack’s pet dog, instead. Oh well!

sweet aple acres 2

The Sweet Apple Acres Barn play set is available from most national retailers for $19.99 and the set I purchased with the bucking Apple Jack is available for $9.99.

Who is your favorite My Little Pony of the bunch? Mine is Twilight Sparkle, although I have such a soft spot for Fluttershy! ๐Ÿ™‚ย 

Filed Under: My Favorite Finds · Tagged: best toys, mlp, my little pony, my little pony applejack, my little pony characters, my little pony house, my little pony toys, review, sweet apple acres

(Giveaway) Gears! Gears! Gears!: Raising Little Engineers!

August 20, 2015 · by Tiffany Merritt · 8 Comments

Special thanks to Learning Resources for providing complimentary products for review and giveaway. All thoughts and opinions are my own, as always.ย 

I am so deeply in love with the maker movement happening in our world right now. I love any opportunity to encourage my children to use their minds AND their hands and to create! This can be purely artistic in nature, purely functional in nature, or even somewhere in between.

So I totally dig the Gears! Gears! Gears! products that Learning Resources is currently offering.

sweet shop 1

We have been checking out the Sweet Shop from Gears! Gears! Gears! but please know that they have a wide variety of offerings just in case your kid wouldn’t necessarily be thrilled with lollipops and cupcakes. ๐Ÿ™‚ The gears are really easy to put together in a wide variety of ways to make some rather cool movements. My 3-year-old feel comfortable and confident arranging them to make the perfect sweet shop, usually for Pinkie Pie to work in and for all her My Little Ponies to come enjoy.

sweet shop 2

This is a fantastic toy to encourage fine motor skills and to encourage a child to create something of their own invention. We are really pleased with it!

Win it!:

One lucky Stuff Parents Need reader will win your choice of the Sweet Shop or the Pet Playland from Learning Resources!
Learning Resources

Be sure to enter my other current giveaways, found on the right sidebar of the blog.

 

Filed Under: Giveaways · Tagged: best toys, gears building set, gears gears gears, gears toy, giveaway, learning resources, learning resources gears, maker movement

Finding the Best Toys to Encourage Creating and Building (at Target!)

October 8, 2014 · by Tiffany Merritt · 16 Comments

This shop has been compensated by #CollectiveBias, Inc. and its advertiser, #TargetToys. All opinions are mine alone.

Friends have you started your holiday shopping lists? I am knee-deep in shopping for the 10 children on my list because, quite frankly, they are the REALLY fun ones to shop for. And this year, I’m looking for the best toys I can find that will encourage creating and building. I want toys that children simply can’t resist, and not because they are electronic!

Do you wish you could more easily identify toys like this, too? I find them to be among the very best resources for setting up invitations to play. When I take a few minutes to set up these kinds of activities, my kids make their way over to them with little to no prompting, and they figure out exactly what they want to create or build without my help.

target best toys for building 1

For the nieces, nephews, cousins and school friends you might be buying for this year, consider a LEGO set. They come in a wide variety of price points (the one featured above was just $9.99) and they have really great, really clear instructions for kids to follow, or they are free to build whatever the heck they want!

target best toys 2

Darah got right to work doing a little building. She followed the directions for a spell (she’s a HARDCORE direction-follower…gets it from her mama) but even she couldn’t resist that dolphin in the corner, and found herself making up a story about an adventure with it after just a few minutes left to figure out how she most wanted to play. It was a delight to witness!

target best toys for building 3

Kiwi Crates are also available at Target (look for them near the games!). My oldest absolutely adores Kiwi Crates. When I set out a set for her consideration, she was thrilled.

target best toys kiwi crate 1

Every child is goingย to have a different reaction to an invitation to build. Darah is highly verbal, so her first reaction was the pick up the book that comes with the Kiwi Crate and to start checking out the comic strip that was inside. The book was a great way to get her warmed up to the idea of building wind cars. After flipping through it, she was ready to go!

target toys best toys kiwi crate 2

Target is also a great destination for items that help encourage a child to create. I was particularly impressed with the Kid Made Modern line that I found in my local store. It’s actually in the stationery section, so don’t forget to look beyond the toy section for great, creative finds!

target toys kid made modern 1

Here are just a few items I picked up from Kid Made Modern. Everything was very reasonably priced: perfect for stocking stuffers, filling up the gift closet with inexpensive-yet-awesome finds, and great gifts to put under the tree this year. I’ll definitely be getting more from this line for my girls this Christmas.

target toy emporium kid made modern 2

My 2-year-old absolutely LOVES coloring and painting, so I set up invitations to create for her quite often. Just by providing fun and engaging materials, I am continually surprised by how long she can stay engaged and focused on a creative play activity.

The next time you head to Target, be sure to take a good look around for items that encourage creating and building, and help kids put their imaginations and their talents to work. Don’t forget to look near the games and to head over to the stationery section, too!

target toy emporium 6

Additionally, Target has an amazing Toy Emporium (found only online) and there are some truly fantastic brands that you may not have even heard of, but that will blow you away. You MUST check it out as you put together your ideas for people on your gift list. These toys will be particularly good for kids who like to get their hands on creative toys that everyone in their class doesn’t already have! You’ll find great options to help kids explore, discover, imagine, create, build and to promote being active. Something for everyone, for sure.

Want more inspiration to help you provide invitations to create and build? Check out this Pinterest board for some more great ideas!


Filed Under: Parenting · Tagged: best toys, create and build, creative toys, invitation to build, invitation to create, kid made modern, kiwi crate, lego, Target, target toys, toys

Connect

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Google+
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter

Welcome!


Grab your beverage of choice (mine is iced coffee) and let's hang out for a spell! I'm Tiffany, and I've rambunctious little girls and a fierce desire to share any tip and trick I can find to make lives with little ones a bit less hectic and a lot more fun. [Read more...]

Popular Posts

Keep Slowing Down. You’ve Got a Race to Lose

Keep Slowing Down. You’ve Got a Race to Lose

Free Summer School for Moms (You’ll Love It!)

Free Summer School for Moms (You’ll Love It!)

The Best Cheap Mattress is Also The Best Quality Mattress: A Must-Read

The Best Cheap Mattress is Also The Best Quality Mattress: A Must-Read

25+ Moana-Inspired Easter Basket Ideas

25+ Moana-Inspired Easter Basket Ideas

The Book Every Child Should Own (And How to Get a Free Copy )

The Book Every Child Should Own (And How to Get a Free Copy )

Recent Posts

  • Best Types of Educational Wooden Toys for Kids 1 to 3 Years Old
  • Embracing Sustainability: How Holle Advances Eco-Friendly Farming Practices
  • 6 Ways to Maximize Credit Card Points when Shopping
  • When in Rome: Great Things to Experience With Your Kids
  • 6 Skin Concerns and How You Can Treat Them

Search

Sponsors

Copyright © 2023 | Innovative by The Pixelista | Built on the Genesis Framework