“Every girl has the strength to do something amazing. Anything is possible as long as you stay true to yourself and never give up on your dreams!” Sounds good, right? That is ad copy for the newest line of dolls…inspired by Bratz, but somewhat more modest. Moxie means confidence, and the new Moxie Girlz are [...]
|
||||||
|
I am a big fan of KEVA blocks. They are simple wooden planks – and their potential is limitless. Basically, KEVA planks are maple construction blocks, each precisely made to the same dimension. Construction toys are great in general, because they are never the same toy twice, but KEVA planks are the ultimate (in my [...] Earlier this week on American Public Media’s Marketplace, I heard an excellent interview with James Gustave Speth, Dean of Forestry and Environmental Studies at Yale University. The ideas presented in the interview, Taking Stock: Rethinking Consumerism, support many of the concepts I have been writing about in Empowered by Play. Speth talks about over-consumption [...] Today I had the extraordinary privilege of spending a morning at Community Playthings. There, I met a fantastic group of people who are working hard on behalf of children everywhere. This is truly a company that understands what is good for children and has kept faithful to that ideal for decades. Their high quality maple [...] This morning, my sons and their cousin spent and hour playing a game they have invented. They call it “Hot Wheels Checkers” and it involves a chalk-drawn grid and sets of like-colored cars. The elaborate game continues to evolve in complexity every time they play it. “I have an idea!” one of them exclaimed to [...] Nostalgia is a funny thing…a wistful longing for innocent days gone by. In 2009, though, there is a new breed of nostalgia. The youngest generation of parents were raised in a world with hundreds of channels on cable TV, remote controls galore and the explosion of media-linked toys that came with the deregulation of children’s [...] Admittedly, I haven’t see the new Transformers movie released this week. And I have no plans to see it. From what I’ve read, even people who like these kind of action movies don’t like Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. From London to the US, the reviews are in, and the consensus is: skip it. [...] Visit the toy aisles today and you will see dazzling purple and pink displays dappled with sparkles – and decidedly darker aisles dappled with weapons. The difference between “boy” toys and “girl” toys seems never to have been more obvious – or more ludicrous. There is the “Red Giant Slash” action figure from the Fisher-Price [...] LEGOs are great. You can build, create, change, rebuild and recreate endlessly. LEGOs have been around for a long time. In fact, a master carpenter in Denmark started the company in 1932 with wooden toys. Over the years, the company developed the system of interlocking bricks now used worldwide. Check out the company timeline. [...] “My daughter’s friend is obsessed with Hannah Montana. What can I do?” asked a mom. She was looking for advice on ways to manage her six-year-old daughter’s friendship in a way that supported her own values. The “Tween Scene” is hitting kids younger and younger, and it is no joke. First off all, there isn’t [...] |
|||||
|
Copyright © 2012 Empowered by Play - All Rights Reserved |
||||||