What are the most-wanted toys on kids’ holiday gift lists for 2011? Best to ask the experts — the kids themselves!

And that’s just what The Children’s Museum of Indianapolis does to produce its annual Top 10 list of kid-tested, kid-approved toys.

Each fall, the museum store invites children to test the newest toys, then vote on their favourites for the upcoming holiday season.

Can you begin to imagine how much fun that would be for the staff? I’m so jealous. :)

Here is the list of this year’s winners — I’ve sorted them by recommended age group — all available from The Children’s Museum Store or online:

• Barbie “Jam with Me” Rock Star Guitar (Ages 3+)
  Jam with Barbie with this toy electric guitar. Connect your MP3 player to jam along with your own tunes, take the guitar challenge and play along with Barbie, or just freeplay to create your own awesome songs!
  $39.95

• Water Wizard (Ages 3+)
  The water wizard lets you draw and create over and over again using only water! As the screen dries the images disappear leaving it ready for another amazing creation.
  $19.95

• Barbie Giant Activity Floor Pad (Ages 3+)
  This complete activity set includes crayons, marker, paints, paintbrush, scissors and gluestick along with 40 fun fashion activities!
  $14.95

• Flying Turtle (Ages 3-12)
  The best toy for active play, kids have a blast zipping around on the flying turtle! But since it is entirely kid powered, they get a ton of great exercise at the same time!
  $79.95

• Playmobil Pirates Prison with Ship (Ages 4+)
  This fun Pirate themed set from Playmobil includes large pirate ship, small row boat, island, prison, and all the people and accessories you need to create an amazing imaginary world.
  $59.95

• Darda Fireball Climb (Ages 4+)
  The World’s Fastest Motorized Cars! This race car and track set is completely kid powered! No batteries or electricity required. Just wind the car and watch it zip through the loops and twists!
  $39.95

• OgoBild Pod (Ages 6+)
  A brilliant combination of active and constructive play. Ogo Bild Pods lets your child build giant structures like bouncing balls and forts.
  $39.95

• Perplexus Original (Ages 6+)
  Perplexus Original is a bendy, trendy, can’t put it down challenge! With plenty of twists, turns, and barriers between start and finish, this puzzle ball will leave you perplexed!
  $24.95

• Laser Pegs 3D Lite Board (Ages 7+)
  This is the Ultimate Laser Pegs Kit – the world’s only lighted construction set! The 3D Lite Board gives you 40 power connectors on one board so you can build anything you can imagine.
  $85.95

• FyrFlyz (Ages 8+)
  Create amazing light shows by spinning, swinging and twirling your FyrFlyz.
  $11.95

Adults in need of holiday gift ideas for the children in their lives can make purchases from the Kid-Tested, Kid-Approved list and The Museum Store holiday toy catalogue both in the store or online at www.childrensmuseum.org/kid-tested.

What I like about most of the toys on this list — and most of the toys you’ll find carried by most museum gift shops, come to that — is that they’re both fun and educational, and especially good for stimulating the creativity of young minds. And most of the toys on this list would be fun for siblings to play with together, even where there are a couple of years between the kids in age.

Also very cool for parents’ on-going expenses, a number of these items are totally kid-powered and run on imagination — no batteries required — like that awesome Darda Fireball Climb race track!

Of course I’d love to see a most-wanted toy list where and fewer of the toys that are pointed at a particular gender (I’m looking at you, Barbie!). A losing battle, there, do you think? Okay, okay, the politically-correct Grinch is moving on…

Stay tuned for more great out of the ordinary gift ideas for kids — and for us big kids, too!

Allow me to introduce the lovely and talented Ching Ya, a dear friend and social media geek with a delighthful creative streak. Today, she’ll teach us how to fold our own paper stars in this photo tutorial. Enjoy! ~ Jen

The Cute Little Stars

Twinkle twinkle little stars
How colorful and adorable you are…

I’ve always loved them, it’s my dream to hold the stars in my hands and admire their beauty.

Guess what? My dream came true after all!

Cute isn’t it?

I sprinkle these little ones around my Christmas corner, along with the tree of course.

So, do you want to spice up your Christmas decorations with these little ones? I can assure you, by the time you finished reading these instructions, you’re gonna shout out, “OMG!! It’s THAT simple??”

How To Fold Your Little Paper Stars

What do you need?

A half-used colored/wrapping paper (I prefer recycled ones, you could use brand new if you like), a ruler and scissors. That’s it.

Are you ready to rumble?
Here goes:

Step 1.
Measure and cut a strip approximately 1cm width and 20-25cm in length (depends on your liking).

Step 2.
Do it as if you are making a perfect knot.

Step 3.
Make sure ‘A’ is on top of the tail. Then continue to tuck ‘A’ inside the hole.

Step 4.
Pull ‘A’ through gently and flatten the knot.

Reminder – Make sure ‘A’ is neither too long nor short. A considerable length as shown in the picture will be just right.

Step 5.
Bend the excessive end to the back. (Cut it off if too long.) Now a pentagon is formed.

Step 6.
Bend the long tail according to the sides of the pentagon. That is, go up from underneath the pentagon as illustrated, following the direction of the blue dotted line.

Continue the ‘pentagon-wrapping’ method (see next 4 photographs) until it almost reaches the end.

Here’s what your star will look like at this point:

Step 7.
Slip the tail into the body of the pentagon. Cut off the excessive part if necessary.

Step 8.
Hold your pentagon as shown in the next photograph. Press in hard until the pointed ends are formed.

Continue pinching with other sides until the star becomes “puffy”…

… and VOILA!!

Now you can carry on with as many of them as you wish. Even fill up a jar with stars, and give it as a present to your loved ones. Now they’ll never running out of wishing stars for Christmas!

Ching Ya loves traveling, photography, and acoustic guitar! She owns a blog It’s My Life ~ It’s Now Or Never where she talks about her interests in movies, music, events & occasions, fun sites, personal thoughts as well. It’s her passion to write and share the fun with her readers. That’s why she has a Christmas theme on-going right as we speak!It’s All About Christmas so why not check it out and get into the groove? Or visit Ching Ya at Drama Sum It Up, where she follows her favourite TV drama -– currently, that’s “Prison Break.”

Today’s guest is DazzlinDonna, who lives up to her name with a simply dazzling personalized gift idea that combines the virtues of thrift and creativity with the kind of real meaning we seek in the holiday season. Thanks for sharing this, Donna! ~Jen

Christmas Remembrance Gifts

The holiday season is meant to be a joyous one, but as we age we often must deal with loss. Many of us have lost parents and grandparents, or other family members in the past, and they are very much missed at holiday gatherings. Nevertheless, they can still be a part of the festivities as we honor them with remembrance gifts.

I like to give remembrance gifts that utilize some bits of the loved one’s favorite clothing, knick-knacks, or crafts. For example, this year, we purchased several cobalt-blue glass jars from the local Dollar store (for $1 each), along with a few bags of pot-pourri. We then used my grandmother-in-law’s old lace doilies that she had crocheted many years ago, wrapped one around each vase, and tied a ribbon around the neck of the vase to keep the doily “attached” to the vase. Next, we simply filled the vase with pot-pourri, and it was ready to be given to her grandchildren as a gift to remember her by.

Of course, you don’t have to use a doily. You could cut up an old flannel shirt that your father used to always wear, or a cotton sweater that was a favorite of your mom’s, or any piece of cloth that represents someone’s past life. As long as the item evokes memories, it can be used in some way to create a remembrance gift, even if it is as simple as placing it within a nice frame.

A few years ago, I purchased several hair brushes that were identical to the one that my mother had used for as long as any of us could remember. I gave one to each sibling. It wasn’t the exact same brush we’d all used as kids, but it looked just like it, and that is enough to keep her in our hearts each time we use it now.

Little remembrance gifts such as these can make the holidays much more special as we honor those who used to share the holidays with us. May you and your family have a wonderful holiday season, and may you share your memories in very special ways, each and every year.

~ DazzlinDonna

Technorati Tags: Christmas, gifts, guest post

Outside, the sun sparkles off about a foot of pristine snow. Indoors, the kitchen smells deliciously of cinnamon and chocolate… and the pre-Christmas baking continues…

Each of the keen cooks among our friends and extended family has a different couple of specialties in the Christmas treats category, so one of our annual holiday traditions is for a few of us will get together to bake — using the heat from one oven, so environmentally friendly, plus it’s always more fun to cook with company.

This year is an extra-busy one, however, so we’re going for a straight cookie swap.

You bake yours, I bake mine — and we all get together with our cookies and make a trade. It’s a bit of a relaxed social time (sampling the cookies is a must!) and everyone goes home with an impressive mix of holiday goodies…

Robin Olson has a cookie-exchange party idea that I rather like — you collect all the cookie swap recipes in advance, and print them up in a little booklet as a take-home party favour. Or maybe do up recipe cards, tied together at the corner with a ribbon? Make a nice cover for it (put the kids to work with crayons) and your cookie cookbook could even double as a Christmas card.

Anyway, I didn’t get my truffles made in that last mad flurry of storm day baking, due to a critical shortage of condensed milk (substitute for cream) in the pantry. But it’s on the shopping list, along with the tiny festive paper cups in which to nestle those tasty chocolatey morsels.

Meanwhile, I’ve moved on to meringues — since the Reynolds people were good enough to send a packet of parchment paper today, in a cookie tin along with recipe cards and party invitations and all manner of cookie-related goodness. (If you’re in the US, by the way, you can get Reynolds to send a free sample of parchment paper to you.)

Yeah, yeah, I know, me too… “parchment paper” always reminds me of snooty restaurants serving Aubergine en papillote and such.

But for meringues, it’s just practical.

Non-stick cookie sheets, ordinary cookie sheets, it doesn’t matter — if I don’t use parchment paper under my meringues, a few will always stick and crumble when I try to slide them off the pan… Of course, that does mean I have to eat the crumbs…

Oh! how I love meringues!

Tiny little light-as-air confections to melt on the tongue…. why is it that not a lot of people make them anymore? Perhaps these could be my “signature cookie” for the exchange.

Half of my recipe, I’ll shape as dainty dollops about the same size as the truffles — package them up together in a pretty tin, and there’s a perfect hostess gift for when you’re making the festive rounds!

The other half, I’ll pipe out the meringue into finger shapes, and dip the ends in dark bttersweet chocolate, maybe roll in thin shavings of milk chocolate, too, for decorative effect.

Because really, there’s no such thing as too much chocolate…


Photos: Reynolds, ifindkarma

I just came across this “non-traditional book” in the Potter Style (Random House) line-up — the Holiday Motif Box of Boxes. Basically, it’s 9 self-folding boxes, 12 stickers, 12 wrap bands, and 12 sheets of tissue paper, all done up in a festive holiday motif.

With three size options, you can mix and match bottoms, tops, ribbons, and stickers to create the perfect presentation for the perfect gift.

At $16.95, it may be a smidgen steep for the DIY’er who likes to create and fold her own custom boxes — but such a dandy item for the gift-wrap-impaired male (we won’t mention names) who’d want a special presentation for a tiny hard-to-wrap gift… Like, oh, say, a breathtakingly-expensive handmade charm bracelet…

Elizabeth, over at the Chic Design Cafe, got me into browsing the Christmas ornaments at West Elm — Not your Grandma’s Christmas ornaments, she says, and right on!

Venetian glass lizards for the Christmas tree, anyone?

Nothing says “Happy Holidays” like an elegant reptile…

Can the way you shape your family’s Christmas traditions help your kids to avoid those adult diet pitfalls? Our favourite guest foodie, Guilherme Zo’C, thinks so — and he makes a compelling point about the role of food in our holiday memories. ~ Jen

Start a Healthy New Holiday Tradition

How your Christmas celebrations can help your children to succeed with their New Year’s resolutions

Christmas is upon us and at this time of the year we are often full of the fondest memories of childhood, of simpler times, of delicious Christmas feasts, of a time where, for most people there was no concern about the weight. But also these days, in some cultures, it is time to see that another year has passed and maybe it’s time to include, once again, lose weight into the New Year’s resolutions list.

I have seen, time and again, people who are on some kind of weight control make a break during Christmas celebrations because, in theory, it is too hard not to abuse of food on Christmas. Christmas is this time of the year when all should seem magical and effortless but requires us a lot of effort to do it so.

Going through Christmas without food abuse seems a complete betrayal of our childhood memories, and we must sacrifice something to honor them. After all, this kind of memories help us to hang on when difficult times arise along the year and they deserve to be as special as they can.

The taste of food is strongly cultural, you learn to like food as you grow. That is clearly visible when you see how cuisines can be easily classified by geographical criteria, and how the taste of a culture is often linked to products available in the region: naturals as well as industrialized.

The very fact that Christmas food remains the same year after year is proof of that. There is no reason why some food is better on a certain day of the year, other than a cultural one.

Now, what if our fondest Christmas memories were linked to healthy food and healthy habits in healthy amounts? Probably it would be those habits that would help us overcome the difficulties along the year, and maybe we would reach New Year’s Eve without having weight-loss as a challenge for the following year.

Even if it seems impossible to change old habits and seems that is too late for us, the old ones, it is just the perfect time for those who are children today and will have healthier memories in their future. And because food taste is strongly cultural, there is no reason why a healthy Christmas feast can’t be delicious.

Guilherme is a Web Designer and works freelance in northern Italy.

He is happily married to Anna, and in his free time he enjoys cinema, traveling, cooking and eating.

Hint, hint!

Saturday and Sunday, December 1 and December 2, would be a wonderful time to jumpstart your holiday shopping…

On those first two days of December, 50% of all proceeds from www.worldofgood.com will fund health and education projects in Africa, Asia and Latin America.

www.worldofgood.com works with 142 artisan cooperatives in 34 countries to help women gain access to the US consumer market so they can build a sustainable life and their children can thrive. Every single product at www.worldofgood.com is fair trade which means that the person who made it was paid a fair wage and treated with dignity.

Their 2006 fundraiser made it possible to provide medical equipment to a lab in India, build a fresh water system in Guatemala, and build a computer lab in South Africa — let’s see what small miracles we can help to make happen this year!

Much as I absolutely despise the kabillion pop-ups that plague the Better Homes and Gardens site, I do enjoy some of BHG’s quick-and-easy holiday decorating ideas.

Here, for example, asparagus spears and long green beans make Thanksgiving-theme wrappers for simple pillar candles. It’s all done with a couple of strong elastic bands, and a length of satin ribbon to hide them.

And see that hollowed-out artichoke candle holder?
Very cool.

Grouped together with a few white chrysanthemums (easy to come by this time of year, and good tough flowers that stand up well to handling while you fiddle with your centrepiece), and you’ve got yourself the kind of table decor to make your Thanksgiving dinner guests feel special indeed.

The folks who spread the good word about Ferrero chocolates (a traditional stocking-stuffer in our family) dropped a note the other day about a new way to help fight childhood hunger in this no-holds-barred season of holiday treats. And how appropriate…

Send a virtual snowglobe to a friend by email, and Ferrero makes a donation to Share Our Strength.

Share Our Strength is a national nonprofit that inspires and organizes individuals and businesses to share their strengths to help end hunger. We raise funds in innovative ways–from holding volunteer-led special events across the country, such as the Great America Bake Sale® and Taste of the Nation, to developing cause-related marketing ventures and corporate partnerships.

I’m not usually a huge fan of electronic greeting cards (although saving a tree is always good), just because I’m a bit of a traditionalist here… but when you can combine a bit of festive cheer with a bit of festive charity, why not?

Pick from the selection of seasonal photographs for your snowglobe scene — or upload your own photo, for a truly personal greeting.

Technorati Tags: e-greeting cards, charity

I’ve just been looking at HGTV’s ideas for sewing a table runner, thinking of seting a special table for all those holiday dinner guests.

If you’re going to do the festive holiday table runner, why not make it much more than just a simple strip of cloth down the middle of the table?

Especially with an opulent fabric like a tapestry or brocade, pointed ends that are weighted with thick silky tassels add flare to a classic, and classy, dining room decor!

And here’s the best tip for laundering your fancy table linen that I’ve come across in some time, courtesy of Mary Wilkins:

Machine washing can turn your tassels into a tangled mess. Instead of sewing them to the runner, sew a small shirt button on the wrong side near the point. Slip the loop of the tassel over the button and no one will be the wiser. Next time it goes in the washing machine, slip the tassels off and wash as usual. Your tassels will be just like new when you put them back on.

I’m reminded of the button-on collars that were standard wear for men in earlier times, and of the fancy beaded pieces that Victorian and Edwardian ladies fastened on to perk up a plain dress.

This handy tip could apply to any delicate trim or embellishment on an item that’s otherwise machine-washable — not only table linens and bedding, but everything else from blouses to handbags.

Technorati Tags: sewing, tablewear, embellishments, laundry

This past weekend was Thanksgiving, here in Canada, and I think I’ve figured out why we have our Thanksgiving so much earlier than the Americans do — it’s to take advantage of the fabulous Fall weather.

Around these parts, the colourful autumn leaves near at their best in the first week of October, and the apples are practically falling off the trees.


The weather is cool enough that you can cook up a big huge turkey dinner without overheating the kitchen to the detriment of the cook, and frosty nights make the ripe apples sweet… yet the sunny days are still warm enough for us to go out in shirtsleeves — on Saturday, the younguns were out in shorts and tee-shirts!

We get a lot of the seasonal yard work out of the way, on the weekends around Thanksgiving time, and entertain a lot of guests — sometimes both at the same time, as in the case of apple picking — and still (somehow) have enough energy left over to take the dogs for a hike in the autumn woods.

Here’s a little bit of show-and-tell (for Lara’sTalk About Tuesday to share the joy. No pictures of the big Thanksgiving turkey dinner, however — everyone was too busy eating to bother with a camera!