Musical Toys

Musical toys make wonderful gifts but how do you know which ones are right for your kids? These wholesome toys bring more to the table than just fun; they are also one of the best educational toys available. The challenge parents face is to provide kids with age-appropriate toys that engage and motivate them.

Musical toys come in many forms. No matter the age or size of your child, there is something to fit their needs. For young babies, simple rattles are an appealing choice. In early years, the best learning toys are the ones that meet multiple needs with the same toy. For example, a toy can provide both soft plush characters with musical features, giving kids a new friend with a smiling face and a soft cuddly body that makes musical sounds when played with. Other toys combine musical elements into teething rings, interesting textures, squeaky parts, and colorful inter-active options. Look for toys with a variety of textures, colors, sounds, moving parts or lights. Babies and toddlers get more use from these multifaceted toys because they meet different needs.

Like with any toy, there are safety considerations, especially with babies and toddlers. The ideal size is a toy that is all one piece, too big to be swallowed yet lightweight so they are easy to grasp. Avoid toys with small pieces that can pose a choking hazard. Even toys that are all one piece should be durable enough to avoid the risk of small pieces or buttons that could break off to become choking hazards. Since the little guys put everything in their mouths, the toys should have smooth surfaces. Wooden painted toys should use only lead-free paint.

Kids of all ages like toys they can interact with. Some musical toys encourage interaction by playing different tunes depending on how they are touched. For babies and toddlers, musical toys are available with flashing lights and other interactive options. For added benefits, look for toys that combine musical tones with color coded buttons which can help teach color recognition. Older babies and toddlers enjoy selecting their favorite songs by recognizing the appropriate buttons.

From about three years old, kids are ready to be introduced to small musical instruments. These classic kids learning toys introduce them to a variety of ways to make sounds, from rattling tambourines, clashing cymbals, clacking wood pieces, and vibrating triangles. Even though kids cannot read music, that is okay because many of these toys include color coded notes and pictures for early note recognition. Some musical toys have optional song sheets for kids who want to play music on their own. Melissa and Doug is a popular brand that offers a variety of wooden musical toys that provide excellent quality musical sounds and are specially designed for young kids.

For older children, toys begin to transition into expensive toy musical instruments, which are the ultimate kids learning toys. While younger children might not want to pick out a tune or follow notes, school-aged kids love to play solos. They readily learn the underlying math concepts of whole notes, half notes, quarter notes, and so on. Counting is also important to making the right tune. From a recorder or keyboard to guitar or violin, a lifetime of learning and enjoyment can lie ahead. To select the right instrument, parents should follow the child's lead on taking up an instrument, as this is more likely to ensure commitment and all-important practicing.

Anatex Play Cubes

For years, Anatex has been an industry leader in the design and production of high-quality, engaging educational toys. Educational toys are designed to encourage healthy cognitive and physical development as they stimulate little ones to explore their world and interact with caregivers and other children. The best developmental toys are created to help children develop specific skills, such as gross and fine motor control, problem-solving, sorting, and numbers. It is important to choose educational toys that are appropriate for your child's developmental stage - most toys are marked with an age range to help parents select the ones that are most suitable for their baby's or toddler's skill level.

There are different types of waiting room playthings available in the market. The Anatex play cubes are some of the most well-liked ones. They have won the hearts of many kids around the world because of their variety, bright colors, design and look. They are very popular because they are excellent as educational tools. With them the children can learn letters and counting in an amazing way. So, the parents also love to buy them for their tots.

Playing with toys not only entertain your child, but they also teach them life skills and early education. Some toys are specifically designed with the purpose to enhance your child's learning abilities and social skills. A activity cube is a great example of this. The toys found on a mini play cubes usually include: pathfinders, letters from the alphabet, an abacus, gears, and beads. All of which are used for different learning purposes that will enhance your child's early education. You have more than likely seen your child choose this toy to play with while you were waiting in a doctor's office, while at school, or in another type of waiting room. This toy is also great to have at your home, not only for educational purposes, because there is no clean up or a way for the toy to get lost and children can learn while at home.

The activity cubes teaches your child so many great things such as counting, the alphabet, hand and eye coordination, and cooperative play. Parents and teachers often find themselves teaching children how to share and play well in a group. The mini play cube is great for teaching them cooperative play. Learning cooperative play at an early age will prove to be beneficial for a lifetime. Cooperation allows for children and adults to form relationships and relate to other people. More than one child can play with a play cube because there are up to five activities on it. One child can learn to count with the abacus while another child can move the beads around on the wire tracks.

Creating an Elegant and Comfortable Bedroom for Children

Parents are happy when their children are old enough to enter their own bedroom. For this reason, they want to make their kid’s bedroom attractive enough to stay in. Kids are very choosy. Every child needs to have some space where they can rest, learn, imagine, create, play and most importantly be themselves. These children value having this special place they can do all these things. You will not find a child who will say no to a bedroom's decorated with furniture and accessories of the favorite cartoon characters they love. Keeping this interest of children in mind, the decision of choosing the right kids bedroom furniture is crucial. The kid’s bedroom furniture comes in various styles and designs imprinted, with their favorite cartoon characters, to provide kids the joy of being with their favorite characters.


There are wide selections of bedroom furniture for children online from bunk beds with trundle to chest bed and shaped beds. There are separate furniture selections for girls’ bedrooms and boys’ bedrooms with matching bedspreads, quilts, chest of drawers, wardrobes, themed wallpapers and other accessories. As we know, actions speak louder than words, and kids do not speak up and tend to be at a lost when they try to understand why they do not like specific furniture. Parents must understand their desires and should be able to design their bedroom as per their children’s needs.


For parents, choosing kids room decor is one of most exciting yet complicated responsibility that they have. To enhance self-esteem of your children, most psychologists advise parents to place an image of their child on the front wall. Placing a personalized wall clock will make your children understand the value of time and sense of time management. Creative photos and frames will make their minds awake. Cabinet full of educational toys guarantee dynamic grooming of children. 

Parents must know how to do kid’s bedroom décor in a classy and pleasant way. A book shelf will make their bedroom look neat and organized. It helps to encourage their children to practice to keep their rooms clean and tidy, which reflects the ways that they taught to their children. Fresh flowers on side table would give the feeling of freshness.

Choosing Childrens furniture is not an easy task. When choosing kid’s bedroom furniture, parents need to keep in mind the age of the child, as well as what decoration theme would suit the child’s mood and mind. If it's a girl, much prefer a theme that focuses on the female dolls and fairy tales and cartoon characters like Cinderella, Snow White, Barbie and Dora. On the other hand boys, will definitely prefer cartoon characters like Spiderman and Batman and posters of football or rugby players his bedroom. A kids bedroom furniture and their matching accessories help make a bedroom filled with fantasy and fun!

Creative Play for Toddlers and its Effects on Growth and Development

Creative thinking is settled as the ability to come up with various innovative ideas, artworks, do basic problem solving skills and constitute unique thoughts based on one’s own personal approach. Creativity and Intelligence are often associated with one another but little do we know, these are two different characteristics that are both important for a growing child.

Children are naturally creative and questioning when it comes to the surroundings and people they constantly encounter. They tend to ask too many questions and come up with strange ideas that most adults fail to understand and acknowledge. Parents should be ready to deal with their children's curiosity and find this as an opportunity in contributing to their child's knowledge and stimulating their imagination which is more advantageous for kids at this point .

Creative play for toddlers is highly suggested for children ages 18 months to four years. At this stage, toddlers have improved hand and eye coordination. They are able to express their personal identity through pasting, tearing, piercing, printing, modeling clay and working with any materials to create collages and artworks. Patience is the key for parents to be able to understand their kids and encourage them to develop their skills further as they tend to discover more out of their environment.

At the age of one year onwards, toddlers love to replicate activities that most adults do and they start looking to distinguish themselves with pretend plays which is also one way in expressing one’s creativity and imagination. Research shows that children that are very active when it comes to pretend plays are proved to be more spontaneous, original and can considerably set to new situations presented to them. Parents should encourage their children to be intricate in creative play by lending them materials like dressing-up clothes, dolls and pretend play toys that will allow them to memorize and enjoy their very own make believe fantasy.

Parents and significant others must be able to recognize the uniqueness of their child from other kids and understand the importance of being supportive to boost their kid's self esteem . Most children, at this point of development, rely on other people’s approval and appreciation in order to gratify themselves with the feeling of self sufficiency and autonomy. The idea of creative play develops a more independent individual and tends to make them less susceptible to peer pressure as they grow up . They become more open and surefooted when it comes to their own ideas and opinions that will eventually give them the opportunity to achieve their optimum level of mental and emotional development.

All About Doll Houses

The laughter of children is invaluable for parents. Parents are willing to give everything to keep a smile on the pretty faces of their children. However toddlers are still innocent that they only need something to play with to be happy. And one of the best toys that would satisfy their needs is a dollhouse.

A dollhouse for children is the best thing to give to let their children stay happy, and develop their creative talents. Girls usually love dolls so they love dollhouses as well. Children love to play with pretend play toys, and the realistic look of the dollhouse is more attractive for them.

There are a variety of dollhouses available in the market; there can be wood dollhouse or plastic dollhouse. You just need to shortlist which fancies your child the most. These are offered in a variety of sizes and designs and it is so amazing to see the variety of these beautiful dollhouse miniatures available today. The best and the long lasting ones can be wooden or wood dollhouses. These doll houses that are made up of wood are unbreakable or do not get damaged easily. Therefore they can be retained as long as you like and can be transmitted to future generations.

Wooden doll houses are safer than plastic dollhouses, because it reduces the risk that your child might encounter. Abstract dollhouses may be more appropriate for young children and has a very contemporary design to attract their attention. Some of them are made out of recycled rubber and wood and uses nontoxic finishes and vegetable dye based colors.

There is a series of beautiful dollhouses suitable for all age groups, which are available on the market. 'My First Dollhouse' is very popular brand for babies aged 9 to 24 months. You also have a talking wooden dollhouse, which is just much-loved by kids ages from 3 to 6 years old. Children who are slightly older, the Victorian Dollhouse is the perfect choice. Among the popular band of dollhouse, the most commended by parents is 'My First Dollhouse' by Fisher Price. Other good choices are the Melissa and Doug. The deluxe wooden doll house is a high-quality option when talking about the wooden doll houses. There are some other popular brands of dollhouses such as Real Good Toys, KidKraft, Plan Toys and Pottery Barn Kids.

Another favorite of kids is the portable wooden dollhouse because they can take it anywhere they want to. They are unbreakable and easy to reinstall. The children really enjoy the unfolding and folding. Playing with wooden dollhouses is an imaginative play and according to child experts, this play is very healthy for a child. They help encourage making new friends. They also learn new social skills and make these children emotionally strong.