Raise Your Child . org » Holiday Gift Idea

A Real Pet ?

Raise Your Child — Sat, 01 Nov 2008 15:33:40 +0000

We’re not often doing product reviews on this blog. However, this particular toy cat has been the love of my life (and my daughter’s) for two years now, so that when I came across this article on them, I thought to publish it. It’s one of the few toys that I don’t mind giving nor getting. In fact, last year, our daughter’s Fur Real cat pet got a kitten…

“Fur Real Friends Cat, So Real We Can’t Tell the Difference
By Amanda Isbitt

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Fur Real Friends are incredible, sweet and lifelike toys that behave just in the same way that real animals do. The Fur Real Friends cat is a real sweetie, sitting up and lying down just like a real cat would! She responds to being touched and petted by purring and moving much in the same way that a regular pet cat would.

She is capable of moving both her head and neck in all directions, up, down, left and right. Her ears can also move, and her eyes and mouth are capable of opening and closing.

Just like a real cat, she has facial expressions and swishes her tail to convey the emotions that a cat would convey. When you pick her up, she moves her legs in a lifelike way as well.

The Fur Real Friends cat is so real, it’s hard to tell the difference! She’s just the right size to be your perfect companion pet, and loves to play with you and respond to your touches when you pet her. Be careful not to pull her tail, however, as she will hiss at you just like a normal pet cat would!

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You have to take care of her just like a real live pet cat, making sure to treat her right and give her plenty of love. The Fur Real Friends Cat has sensors in her head that are capable of detecting light, and sensors on her back, stomach and in her tail that detect petting, stroking and tail pulling.

Fur Real Friends Cats are designed to be magical companions and friends that literally spring into life in your arms. These Fur Real Friends are designed to mimic the appearance, demeanor and actions of a real live cat. They feature legs, head, neck and ears that are fully animated.

Eyes and mouth are both capable of opening and closing just like a real cat. Your Fur Real Friends Cat will respond to stroking and petting, changes in the light, and even sounds.

Your Fur Real Friend has lifelike eyes and makes lifelike sounds that closely mimic the experiences you would have with a real pet cat. However, requiring only 3 C batteries, which come included with your Fur Real Friend means owning this kitty is a lot easier on the budget, never mind that it does not have to be cleaned up after!

Are you looking for the perfect gift this holiday season? The Fur Real Pets Friends Cat is recommended for children aged 4 and up.

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Because the Fur Real Friends Cat includes small and moving parts, older children can typically get more out of the Fur Real Friends Cats than those that are younger. Insert three included C cell batteries and your brand new companion kitty will literally spring to life, offering truly lifelike motions, sounds and responses to your attentions.

These Fur Real Friends make excellent gifts, especially for children experimenting with the idea of taking care of a real live pet sometime in the future. Before you bring home a real kitten or puppy, give your child a shot at caring for their very own Fur Real Friends Cat, which is as close as you can get to the real thing without requiring a litter box!

For More Information Fur Real Pets

Mother’s Day Crafts For Toddlers – Easy Bookmark Mother’s Day Craft For Toddlers

Raise Your Child — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 06:59:05 +0000

Finding an easy mother’s day craft for toddlers is not always that easy. I know that most people consider making bookmarks rather boring but, we must keep in mind that the toddlers probably haven’t made any yet, so for them, making a bookmark for mom is new. This easy bookmark craft is also a fun way to teach the little ones what happens when different colors are mixed.

Remember, this craft for toddlers needs to be done under adult supervision and the little ones will need help with some of the steps.

This is what you will need for this mother’s day craft:

A small piece of white poster paper
A decorative pair of craft scissors (called zigzag scissors by some)
4 Colors of thin watercolors (you can find watercolors powder to make these at any crafts store)
A medicine dropper
Thin ribbon in a color of your choice
A punch to make a hole for the ribbon

Method for this mother’s day craft:

With your decorative scissors cut a piece of your poster paper to the required size for a bookmark. (Bookmarks do not always have to be the well known size, I have a very pretty one that my granddaughter made that is quite big and it is beautiful. A bigger bookmark also gives you more space to work with.)
Now you have to splatter a little bit of clean water on your bookmark. (Not too much because we do not want the bookmark to become too soggy!)
Draw one of the colors, of your paint, up into the medicine dropper and drip the paint on different places on the bookmark.
Wash the medicine dropper and repeat the procedure with the other the other three colors.
You will notice that the colors will flow a little and where they mix the colors will change depending on the colors you used. For the little ones it may be a good idea to use the primary colors.
Keep an eye on the kids so that they do not get over exited and use too much water and paint, as the bookmark will then become very soggy and the end result will not be satisfactory.
Let your bookmark dry completely.
Punch a hole in the bottom of the bookmark and thread the ribbon through the hole.
Make a not in the ribbon to keep it in place.

Kids really love doing crafts that can be used in some way. With this mother’s day craft for toddlers they make a gift for mom that she will be able to use for many, many years to come. I hope you and your toddler will enjoy this easy mother’s day craft for toddlers.

By Magriet Du Plessis

Get more fun and easy mother’s day crafts at Magriet’s site Fun Kids Crafts at http://www.kidscrafts.topknacks.com/documents/mothersdaykidscrafts.html There is a fun one at Magriet Recommends http://www.our-crazy-world.com/documents/easycraftsforkids.html If you are looking for fun and easy Bible crafts you can visit http://www.squidoo.com/biblecraftsforkids

Lead in Toys – How to Keep Your Baby Safe

Raise Your Child — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 04:59:09 +0000

By Talyse Broogbay

Every responsible parent knows to keep cabinet doors locked so that young ones don’t have access to dangerous chemicals, but what about lead, a toxin found in many common children’s toys? How do you know if your child’s toys contain lead and what can you do to minimize their risk of exposure to this harmful substance?

Lead is a toxic metal that can have devastating effects on the mental and physical development of children. The brain and nervous system of children younger than six years old are the most at risk for lead poisoning. Even low exposure levels can produce damaging effects ranging from impaired growth and hearing, to problems with posture and behavior.

High levels of lead exposure can cause deafness, blindness, convulsions, or in rare instances, even death. Even without severe effects, children exposed to lead are more likely to experience difficulties with reading and vocabulary, attention and focus, and fine-motor coordination.

So how does lead make its way into the products that consumers buy for children? Lead is used in manufacturing in paint and plastic used to make children’s toys. Paint used in houses, on products sold for children, and on dishes has been banned from containing lead in the United States since 1978, but this regulation has not reached some countries that still export products to the US.

In those countries it is still legal to utilize lead in the production of plastic, even when the plastic is used to make children’s toys. The lead acts as a softener to make plastic more flexible, which allows it to return to its original shape. The breakdown of the chemical bond between lead and these plastics forms lead dust, a known health hazard.

You can visit your State Department of Health’s Lead Hazard Product Recall Website for information concerning toy recalls. You will also find a comprehensive list at the US Consumer Product Safety Commission website.

There are home testing kits offered that are designed to test household items, toys, soil, and dust for lead content, but these do-it-yourself kits are not recommended as reliable by The State Department of Health and the Federal Environmental Protection Agency.

Lead screening can help identify children with blood lead levels that may be dangerous. Infants that play with older toys (antique toys, toys passed down through generations, or toys made before the ban on paint with lead) and toys made in other countries may be at greater risk.

Before you buy new or used baby toys, make sure the toys that you intend to purchase do not appear on the recall list. You can even do some research about the country in which the toy is manufactured. Some stores now have information on file compiled to trace the country of origin for the toys that they sell.

You can also inspect toys that your child already plays with for chipping and peeling paint, the number one source for lead poisoning in children. Be careful when choosing colorful jewelry and toys, especially those imported from other countries.

Keeping your baby safe is a parent’s primary concern. Baby Toys Galore offers a huge selection of developmental and just-for-fun toys for baby, including many made with organic products. Baby Toys Galore encourages parents and grandparents to keep baby safe by staying informed.

Holidays – How to Make a Candy Wreath

Raise Your Child — Sun, 09 Dec 2007 22:17:08 +0000

By Vera Lang

This video shows how to easily and inexpensively make a great gift for many holiday situations. It’s fun, great project you can do with children, for other children, for a shelter, for another family, for friends, as a holiday party gift, and of course, for you.

I was surprised how easy it was and how good it looks!!

I am not promoting candy as a general rule, so let this be a happy exception…
HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

About the Author

Vera Lang is a regular contributor to various family blogs including this one: http://www.raiseyourchild.org , http://www.abouttogetmarried.com , http://www.mylastinglove.com/ and http://www.ownhomestyle.com

Hottest Gifts For Christmas 2007

Raise Your Child — Wed, 14 Nov 2007 17:41:36 +0000

Give lots of love and attention to your children this holiday season. Of course, there are ‘the presents’. While you should for sure consider giving gifts of things that your child needs and could use daily, such as bedroom furniture, school & hobby supplies, sports & other ‘fun’ classes, cloths, boots, and so much more, the below article also offers ideas in some mainstream gift categories.

I would like to take this opportunity, to consider the impact of each gift. Promote good values through your choices. Everything you do gives a message — ensure it’s the message you want to give to your child. We are creating our future.

This ‘promote good values’ reminder is particularly important for the video games section in the below article. Avoid those that give your child points for murder, rape, abuse, and other violence. If you don’t know if the game include these, then DON’T BUY IT until you know. You’d be surprised how many of the popular video games promote bad morality. Parents need to be vigilant consumers again this year!!!

A reminder from
RaiseYourChild.org

Hottest Gifts For Christmas 2007

By Charles Quinn

Every holiday season, there’s always a ton of new products and new entertainment releases just in time to take advantage of the gift giving season. Despite a lackluster US economy, 2007 promises to be a strong year for consumer spending during the holiday season. Here’s what’s hot, or will be hot, this Christmas 2007:

Books

Books are always a hot seller during the holidays, though they are often not bought specifically as gifts, but as a gift for ourselves to enjoy over the winter holiday. Hot books this year include the Oprah’s book club selection, Love In The Time Of Cholera, the latest novels from Patricia Cornwell, Alice Sebold, Laurel K. Hamilton, John Grisham, Ken Follett and Robert B. Parker. For kids, the Gossip Girl series as well as the latest from Nick Hornby look to sell well.

Toys

For toys, there’s nothing hotter than WebKinz, racking up a Beanie Baby like following. Also look for the classics to be popular this season with names like Lego, Star Wars, Polly Pocket, Scooby Doo and the Care Bears selling their share.

Video Games

For video games, top sellers will include Halo 3, Mass Effect, Super Mario Galaxy, Assassins Creed, Guitar Hero 3, Rock Band, Call Of Duty 4, Madden NFL 08, Brain Age 2, Tabula Rasa, The Legend Of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass, Ratchet & Clank Future, Mario Party 8, Simcity Societies and Lego Star Wars II.

Movies

For DVD’s this holiday season, the Planet Earth series from the Discovery Channel will be popular, as well as Transformers, 300, Ratatouille, Shrek The Third, Spiderman 3, Oceans 13, Live Free Or Die Hard and Pirates Of The Caribbean 3. Popular TV series sets include The Office, Lost, Heroes and High School Musical 2. High definition DVD’s will also see stronger sales than last year.

Music

American Idol contestant releases abound with new releases from winners Carrie Underwood and Jordin Sparks looking to be hot sellers. Also look for the soundtrack to High School Musical 2 to continue strong sales for the holidays. In the rap field, look for Jay-Z to get alot of attention. For Christmas music, no one will top Josh Groban, whose new Christmas album, Noel, is already a top seller, but also look for the latest album by perennial Christmas music favorites Mannheim Steamroller. In the rock category, legends will dominate with new releases by Neil Young, John Fogerty and Eric Clapton.

Electronics

iPod’s will continue to sell in the millions, especially with the new iPod Touch. Look for the iPod Touch and iPod Nano to show up under millions of trees this year. Laptop computers, surprisingly, have continued to go down in price and will see strong sales as holiday gift items. Some laptops will again be available for Black Friday and after Christmas sales at sub $400 and even lower.

Whatever gifts you choose, don’t forget the old adage, “it’s the thought that counts.”

About the Author

Charles Quinn writes for Brand Names 4 Less, an online shopping mall and superstore with over 500,000 items including electronics, collectibles, tools, toys, office supplies, DVD’s, software and much more. Visit us at: http://www.brand-names-4less.com/

10 Free & Low-Cost Ways to Give Kids the Best Christmas Ever

Raise Your Child — Mon, 12 Nov 2007 17:31:16 +0000

By Norma Schmidt

A fantastic Christmas doesn’t have to mean big bills in January.

The real magic of Christmas – the stuff that makes kids’ eyes light up, gives them a warm glow inside, and creates delicious memories – costs little or nothing.

Here are ten ideas for free and low-cost “magic” the kids will love:

1. Sing Christmas carols with your kids while cooking and cleaning together, while wrapping gifts, or just before tuck-in time.

2. As a special treat during December, serve hot chocolate milk with a candy-cane stirrer. While your child sips and stirs, read aloud a favorite holiday book. Or, if the Nativity story is part of your family’s celebration, point out that the candy cane is shaped like a shepherd’s crook. Then read or tell the story of the angel who appeared to shepherds watching their flock at night.

3. Take a plate of home-made cookies to a homeless shelter or to people who work at night, such as firefighters or hospital emergency staff. If you’re celebrating the birth of Jesus, also put a bit of food outside for animals on Christmas Eve night to honor the animals at the manger -– an old Slovak custom.

4. Give each family member 10 strips of paper in holiday colors. Let everyone write or draw something they’re thankful for on each strip. Link the strips into a chain and hang as a decoration.

5. Make thank-you cards for each other, sharing what you appreciate about each member of the family. Open them on Christmas Eve or Christmas morning.

6. Make paper snowflakes and display them in a window. Here’s how: Trace and cut out a circle from white paper (the flat end of a coffee can or oatmeal box is a nice size for tracing). Fold your circle in half. Next, fold your half into thirds, so that you’re left with a shape that resembles 1/6 of a pie. Now, snip out bits of paper here and there and unfold your masterpiece.

7. Make a simple paper-chain Advent calendar. Cut 25 strips of paper, and number them 1-25. Link the strips to form a chain. With yarn, string or ribbon, hang your chain in the middle of a doorway with link #1 at the bottom. Each day starting December 1, let the kids remove the bottom link of the chain.

8. Go to your local library and check out children’s books about the holidays. Put the books in a special box or basket in your family room or living room.

9. Have a holiday family movie night at home. Get a holiday movie from your library or video rental shop and watch it together. Include bowls of popcorn if your kids are past the age where popcorn presents a choke-hazard.

10. Avoid post-Christmas let-down by planning an outing or special family activity each day until the kids go back to school.

A PURE KID-STUFF BONUS TIP: After dark, turn on your Christmas tree lights and turn off all other lights in the room, including the star or other “topper” on your tree. Now lie back on the floor with your kids and notice the cool shadows on your ceiling.

About the Author

Norma Schmidt is a ficticious person with a not good-neighborhood website, unfortunately.