Little Tikes Easy Score Basketball Set

Hi Fans!  Sorry I've been away for so long!  Mommy and Daddy have been keeping me so busy that I haven't had time to write.  Well, to be completely honest, I've got so many great toys that I spend all day playing.  And eating.  I really should start reviewing foods too.  Since I'm a toddler, we all know that I should be an expert food critic.  Sorry, I'm off-topic.  Let me get going on telling you about some of the best toys that I play with now.  Maybe someday soon I'll tell you about my favorite foods; it won't take long since I only like six foods right now!

Well, I was a very good girl this year, so Santa brought me some good presents.  One of the best presents is my new basketball goal, which my Mimi and Granddad delivered.  It's awesome!

This Little Tikes basketball goal would be good for tots 18 months and older.  I was 21 months when I got mine, and Daddy could already raise it up to the second level.  That's one of the best things about this toy; it can go up or down, depending on how tall you are.  One of the bad things about this toy is that the levels are too far apart.  Right now, I play with it on the second notch, but I'm too tall for it.  Daddy says it's too easy for me to dunk.  I don't mind, though.  Daddy tried raising it to the third level, but then it was too tall.  I stretched and stretched, trying to reach the rim, but most of the time the ball just fell on top of my head.  So we're back on the second notch, and I'm dunking left and right.  I think I'm going to grow soon (remember what I said about food?  By noon today I had already eaten French toast, fresh pineapple, a yogurt tube, a cup of Easy Mac, and 2 tortilla chips), so maybe this won't be a problem for long.

Anyway, I really think you should get this basketball goal for your favorite tot.  Mommy and Daddy say that it is teaching me to take turns while also helping me practice throwing balls.  I like that whenever I want to play that Mommy and Daddy always play with me.  It's a fun family toy!  We all have our own special balls that we use every time we play.  Hurry, go get this goal before the stores sell out and your tot becomes tall enough to play with those ginormous goals that are on the basketball courts outside!

Little Tikes Slide

I have the world's best mommy and daddy!  Do you want to see what they put in my second play room the family room?

A SLIDE!!!  It is so much fun!  Mommy got it at a yard sale a couple of years ago and was storing it in the attic until almost two months ago.  Then, one day I went down for a nap and woke up to see that Mommy and Daddy put a giant slide together IN THE HOUSE!  Yes, they will both deserve "World's Best __" coffee mugs for Christmas.

Mommy helped me look on the Little Tikes website today, and we don't think they sell this model anymore.  I think lots of toy companies sell similar models, though, so I'm not necessarily reviewing this specific slide as much as I'm just reviewing the concept of having an indoor slide built for young tots.

Let me tell you about this slide!  It has three steps on the side that you climb to get to the top.  Then, you sit on your bottom and slide down.  You can also crawl underneath the slide, and it's like a little fort.  I've only done that once, though, because I'd rather just slide!

You have to be careful, though, because you will get into trouble and your grownups will threaten to remove it if you stand at the top of the slide.  You must sit on your bottom immediately.  They will also get mad if you stand at the top and try to walk down the slide.  I think I tried that once.  I kinda tumbled forward and would have done an unexpected somersault if Mommy wasn't there to catch me.  I must admit that it was fun, but Mommy did not have a happy look on her face.  I've learned and do it the right way now.

Mommy and Daddy pulled out this slide at the perfect time: I was 16 months old.  I was already getting good with climbing and enjoying going down slides at the park.  It took me a couple of days to learn how to go down the slide without my feet slowing me down.  Daddy put socks on my feet, and that helped.  Then I just learned to pick up my feet, and I went really fast down the slide!  So, tots, please tell your grownups to get you a slide and set it up inside so you can play on it anytime, day or night, rain or shine.  I guarantee it will be the biggest hit in your house!

Sesame Street Playville Play Tent

Let me just say that this toy is the best!  It's the first thing that my friends go to when they come over for playdates. 

My play tent has three parts:
1) A ball pit, as you can see in the picture.  I got this from my aunt, uncle, and cousin when I turned one.  They saw that it didn't come with enough balls, so they bought me a pack of 100 more.  I have so many balls now!  They are so much fun to sit on!  And throw...
2) A hut.  This part is completely closed in.  It has a material 'door' that closes with Velcro.  Once you climb in nobody can see you!  This is where I come to hide sometimes when I just need a little Kayla time.  Mommy and Daddy always find me, though.
3) A tunnel.  The tunnel connects the ball pit and the hut.  I'm sort of particular about things and only go from the hut, through the tunnel, to the ball pit.  Never the other direction.  Weird?  Anyway, the tunnel is definitely fun to crawl through.  I really like it when somebody is waiting for me in the ball pit so I can crawl through and giggle and think, "Peekaboo!" when I get there.

The material that the ball pit and hut are made out of is really thin, but it's held up well.  It also folds flat so you can move it out of the way when you want to play with other toys.  I think those are things that our grownups like to know.

This toy is so much fun for tots who have started crawling.  You know I'm a walker now, and I still love it!  My big cousin likes it too, and she's already three years old!  I think I'm going to like it for a very long time.  So go get this toy for your favorite tot because it's so much fun, and they'll use it forever!

Fisher-Price Laugh & Learn Learning Home Playset

Sometimes I wonder how Fisher Price comes up with their toy names.  How do they expect tots like us to be able to say Fisher-Price Laugh & Learn Learning Home Playset?  What about Fisher Price House?  I think that'd be a little easier, but what do I know?

Despite it's long and confusing name, this toy ranks up there with the best ones in my play room.  I don't know how the Fisher Price people do it, but they have come up with some winners!  Are you ready to find out why this toy is so amazing?

First off, this house makes lots of noise!  For some reason, I keep finding the switch on "off," so I've learned that I have to slide it to "Learning Time" or "Music Time" whenever I play.  I'm not sure why that's happening.  Once you slide the switch, though, you'll have lots of fun with it.  Here are some of the fun things to do that involve sounds:
1) Ring the doorbell (and the light even lights up inside and outside of the house!).
2) Open/close the mailbox (and put mail in).
3) Change the address.
4) Rotate the dial on top to morning or night.
5) Open/close the door.
6) Drop balls in the ball droppy area.
7) Buttons on the radio.
Mommy and Daddy say that the sounds are there to help me learn cause and effect.  I don't really know what that is, but if that's why they put sounds on toys like this, then I think it's a great thing for me to learn.

What are the best things about this toy?
*I got this toy for Christmas, when I was about nine months old.  I was army crawling back then, and I loved opening the door and crawling through.  I did that over and over.  I really liked closing the door behind me because it sounded like it was slamming!  Nowadays, I still like opening the door, crawling through, and slamming the door behind me.  I guess that's something that even big tots like me still like!
*The ball droppy thing on the side.  I never paid any attention to it until recently.  Maybe it's because I'm taller now and can stand and do this.  I don't know, but I have so much fun putting the ball in the top and watching it drop down to the bottom while making funny noises.  Mommy and Daddy say that it is helping me with eye-hand coordination.  Whatever.
*Mailbox.  I think the mailbox is something I've liked since the beginning too.  It's so much fun to open and close the mailbox!  I really like opening it from inside the house, sticking my arm through, and handing the mail to whoever is on the other side.
*Pressing the buttons on the radio.  It's just fun to press buttons.
*Opening and closing the window.  I like playing 'Peekaboo' with it.  It makes me giggle every time!

This toy has so much to it that I think I'll be playing with it for a long time.  There are a few things that I don't really play with now, but I might someday:
*Shape sorter on the door
*Address above the door
*Day/night dial

I love my house!  My friends always like to play with it too when they come over for playdates.  It's big enough that I can have lots of friends play with it at the same time.  I really think you should get this house too because it's got something fun on it for everyone!

Swimming Pool

It's been a few weeks, so where have I been?  No, Mommy and Daddy haven't bought me anything new.  No, Mimi hasn't made me another repurposed gift (although I'm having even more fun with that wipes container lately).  It's been really hot here, so Mommy has set up lots of playdates with my friends at the neighborhood swimming pool!  Yep, that's where I've been.

A swimming pool is like one gigantic toy.  It's sort of like a big bathtub, but it's even more fun because there are always other tots there.  I especially like splashing on the steps and jumping off of the edge into Mommy and Daddy's arms.  If I really want added fun, I can even bring little toys into the big swimming pool.  I have a special bag that I bring every time I go to the pool.  It has squirt toys, toy boats, diving rings, measuring cups, a watering can, and a baby doll in it.  I really like pretending that I'm pouring my friends tea with the watering can.  So there you have it: the best toy in the whole wide world is a swimming pool.  It's huge, though, so you won't be able to bring it back home to put in the play room.  That's a little bit of a bummer, but at least I have my Step2 water table to play with when I'm at home!

Playskool Busy Poppin' Pals

I've had this toy since I was a mere six months old.  It was a great yard sale find, and I loved pushing the animals back down after a grownup popped them up for me.  That's how I played with this for months and months.  It was sort of like peekaboo, and I loved seeing the animals pop up!  Mommy and Daddy always then talked to me about the animals, where they live, and sounds they make.

Fast-forward several months to my first birthday...  Now that I'm a big one year old, I can make the animals pop up on their own!  This toy had been put away for awhile, and then my mommy decided to bring it back out to see what I could do with it.  You should have seen her surprised expression when I went down the line opening every single animal's secret compartment! 

Mommy and Daddy love this toy because it is great for developing my fine motor skills.  All five functions require me to do something different, from sliding a switch to pushing a button and even turning a crank!  I love it because I'm able to sit and play with this toy all by myself now!

Mickey Ride-On Plane

Hi!  My name is Will.  I am an 18 month old boy who loves toys just like Kayla!  One of my favorite toys right now is my Mickey Ride-On Airplane.  I got this toy for Christmas back when I was 13 months old, and it has been one of my favorites ever since.  When I first got it I was just learning how to walk so I liked to push the toy around the house as I worked on making my legs stronger.  Now I love to sit on the toy and ride around.  I also like how the propeller lights up and rotates when I push buttons on the control panel.  The plane even plays music, and I love toys that make lots of noise!  Under the seat of the plane there are four shape sorting blocks so I can work on matching up my shapes.  As a bonus, this toy is also very popular with some of my friends who are already three and four.  When we host playgroup this toy is everyone’s favorite.  I think all kids need one!

Calling All Tots!

In the past several weeks you have gotten a glimpse of some of my favorite toys.  Most of them were made in a factory somewhere (a couple even at Santa's Workshop!), but one was made by my very own Mimi.  What has been your all-time favorite toy?

If you're between the ages of 0 and 4, I'd love to hear from you!  Tell your grownup to leave the name of your favorite toy, your name, and an email address in the "comments" section below.  My mommy will contact your grownup about you becoming a guest writer.  It's really easy - all they will have to do is log in with a Google account and write what you tell them about your toy.

I can't wait to discover some fantastic new toys that you have at your homes!

Repurposed Wipes Container

Like any tot, I love to make diaper changing a fun experience for my parents.  Once I hit about eight months old I figured out that I didn't really need to stay on my back for Mommy or Daddy to change my diaper; I could roll over onto my belly and pull diapers, wipes, diaper rash ointment, etc. out of the adjacent basket and either chew on them or throw them to the floor.  My parents never seemed to really appreciate this new-found skill, and I soon started witnessing them having to wipe the sweat from their brows after changing me since they insisted that I lay on my back.  They started giving me stuffed animals and diapers and books and basically anything imaginable just so I would stay on my back.  BORING!

Wanna know the funnest thing to do while someone is changing your diaper?  Pull the wipes out of the container one by one!  It really drives your parents crazy!

Well, my Mimi had heard about this new hobby of mine and decided to search the Internet one day for a solution.  She saw that some mommies put colorful pieces of fabric inside of old wipes containers so that tots can pull them out without getting into trouble!  Mimi headed to a fabric store in search of bright fabrics in a variety of textures (satin, fleece, velvet, cotton, tulle, etc.) and stuffed a wipes container full of them.  During diaper changes these days, Mommy places my special wipes container on my chest so that I can pull out these awesome fabric swatches while she cleans me up.  It's so much fun, and I can never get all of the swatches out before she's done!

According to Mommy, the best part is that she can just open the top of the container and stuff the swatches back in so that it's ready for next time.  Easy clean-up and no wasted wipes!  If I'm really good, I can even take this "toy" to the floor to play with while Mommy does things in my room.  It's very portable, which makes it great when she wants me to stay in one place and be entertained for awhile.  I really think you should ask your Mommy or Daddy to make one of these containers for you!

Do you have any toys made of recycled materials or that have been repurposed for you to play with them?  Tell me about them in the 'comments' section below!

Fisher-Price Brilliant Basics Stroller Styled Walker

The name of this toy is a mouthful, but we just call it my "baby stroller."  Right now, this toy ranks up there with the best!  Why?  It not only lets me practice being a mommy, but it also helps me practice walking.  I received this toy as a Christmas present when I was around nine months old.  At the time I was still rolling to get from one place to another; I hadn't begun crawling.  That was okay because I still had fun sitting in front of the stroller and spinning the toy that is on the front or hitting the button to play the music.

About a month later I was crawling and began pushing my stroller around by walking on my knees!

After I started "pulling up," this was the perfect toy!  It was a great height and super stable.  I never had to worry about it falling over like some other toys that I tried to stand with.  It wasn't long before I began pushing the stroller by walking on my FEET!  This stroller is one of the first toys that I crawl to in the mornings and last ones I play with at night before bedtime.  In the past few weeks I've even figured out how to take my baby doll out of the stroller seat and put her back in!

I think this toy is great for pre-walkers, as you can have fun just sitting and playing with its features, and walkers, as it makes a great 'first doll stroller.'

Step2 Water Wheel Play Table

I first learned about water tables when I went to my friend Olivia's house.  She had a fun one with little balls and a spiral ball drop in the middle.  It was great, except that I was too short to reach the spiral.  Then, I went to my friend Mccoy's house, and he had the Water Wheel table.  I stood for two hours playing at it!  So, Mommy and Daddy did some research and decided this one was the best option.  Imagine my delight when I saw it sitting in the foyer one evening!

 It was even fun crawling on the box!  You know it's a winning toy when you have fun before even opening it!

I had a blast this past weekend when Daddy finally took it out of the box so I could play with it!

 

So, what's so great about this water table?  It's the perfect height for me!  It has two fun sailboats; I like pulling the sails off of the boats and then splashing them in the water.  The shark cup is easy to hold.  The water wheel is fun to watch, but I also like taking it apart and dropping it on the floor.  All in all, it's a lot of fun on warm days!

Do you have experience with a water table?  What do you think about yours?  Leave me a comment and tell me all about it!