Silhouette Matching Game

While doodling around yesterday with Freida, I had a lightbulb moment and decided to create a little matching game for today's preschool orientation. You may have read a bit about the Montessori method of shadow/silhouette recognition - it's a bit of a trend at the moment... and the Pre-K kids sure enjoyed it this morning. Here's the mock-up in PDF format for printing. And while it's not very professional (excuse the Sharpie lines), it will keep your tot busy for a bit while you prepare dinner...

PDF file: friedafroo©2010 Rosh Hashana

Calling: Little Pirates and Pixies

Fairy jewels and golden nuggets are just a few of the whimsical trinkets you will find among the goodness at Pixie Toys; a unique toy shop right in the heart of Bixby Knolls in Long Beach. The owner, Heather, moved her toy boutique to this location (down my block!) just when little Freida was born. We've been getting her toy-fix there ever since. My mother-in-law took 2 month old Freida for a walk one afternoon (so this tired mama could sneak in a nap), and she came home gift-laden with all sorts of fantastic goodies (an oball, USA teething rings, a Corolle Minireves...)   from "the new toy store down the block". So it began...

Pixie Toys is chock-full of all those fabulous toy companies (that you won't find in Target or ToysRus), specializing in greener and more sustainable play things. Some of my favorite lines there are: Green Toys, Corolle, Crocodile Creek, Rubbabu, Trumpette, Wikki Stix, Alex,  and Papo. The older girls will go gaga over the abundant collection of Japenese erasers, and the boys will go nuts for the Papo fantasy action figures (a much, much hotter version than playmobile)! And on the way out they can't forget to select a little trinket for good measure from the pirate-booty treasure chest!

Heather is fantastically friendly and always goes out of her way to help me find the prefect baby gift, get down and play tea-party with Freida, and is the most super gift-wrapper I've ever met (thanks, Heather!!). There is just something so gratifying about walking into one store for a unique baby gift, finding the perfect one, having it beautifully gift-wrapped, and writing a card --- all in under 10 minutes! : )

Check out this magical toy boutique next time you're in the neighborhood! Your little one/s are bound to love it as much as Freida does...

Modern House Now - mini edition!

Gitane Royce and Nisreen Witt are the San Francisco based genius minds behind the new company Modern Playhouse. Their goal was to create a sophisticated, sustainable, and safe playhouse for the outdoors that wasn't too insanely priced. They now have two designs, the Wedge House and the Circle House - featuring clean lines and mod designs. They also produced some furniture and accessories to outfit the interior....

The Door Stops Here

Love these minimalist doorstops! Every kids room/playroom needs a great one - why not go for a good design with a splash of pigment? Block of Color doorstop by TVE, $14.00

Built of Blocks: Roundup!

I can partially blame Freida's building infatuation on the fact that her daddy is an architect, but either way this girl is obsessed with stacking/building & demolishing. She's really not bad at it either. She does get frustrated when she discovers one of her designs is not really spatially possible...  then she just goes all "king-kong" on the entire operation! : ) Here's a roundup of some of my favorite ways to enhance this classic,timeless, and important manipulative.

1. Kido Colored Cubes $40.00

Perfect shades of color, for heaps of good looking construction!

2. Step2 Timber Blocks

We love these blocks! I can't find them available at the moment, you'll have to track 'em down...

3. Green Toys Blocks $24.99

These lego-style building blocks are super for underage architects! Easy to grasp, easy to stack.

4. Muji City in a Bag Wooden Blocks $14.00

Awesome geography extras, to use alone as a play-city or to accessorize their man-made structures.

5. Tree Branch Blocks from Romp $40.00

Warm and earthy, these twig-like builders just may be the ticket to get your little tree hugger focused on a very tactile fine-motor-skill activity.

6. City Blocks by artist, Seth Clark $85.00

These detailed city blocks are sure to up the anti on the creativity-turned-playtime factor. Pricey enough to attempt a DIY, which makes a great painting activity along the way...

7. Handmade (with heaps of love!) ModPodged blocks ($-not yet established.)

I made a fabulous set of wooden blocks while I was pregnant with Freida. I'm thinking about making them to custom order... featuring a huge selection of beautiful paper for each of the 6 sides. Just thought I'd give you all the heads-up. They make wonderful baby gifts (for the child's name etc.)...

(possibly in aleph-beis options as well.) Coming Soon! : )