Archive for April, 2010
Even though they don’t have a camera-man following them around everyday, these dolphins sure get good press! But do they deserve it?
When we think about dolphins we think of kind, gentle, smiling creatures. We also might think of the many stories of how a dolphin has saved a person from drowning, or even the songs and stories that have been written about their tremendous feats. Who could forget the tv series ‘Flipper’? I mean, they even named a torch after dolphins, with their adverts claiming that it ‘saves lives’.
Dolphins may look like they’re smiling, but that’s just the way their mouths are shaped….I think though, that they may be laughing at us as behind those kind eyes lurks a darker side.
Dolphins are wild animals, and can be very rough and aggressive…after all, they really do ‘swim with the sharks’!
Marine mammal biologist, Trevor Spradlin, says “People have been seriously injured while trying to interact with wild dolphins, and dolphins have been known to bite, ram, and pull people under the water’s surface”.
You can find more fun Dolphin facts for kids at the website where I found this information: http://www.planetpatrol.info/dolpr.html
We have a puzzle play set for kids 3 and up with a sea life theme. Each puzzle piece is a separate wooden kids toy and is a great learning tool for preschoolers. These puzzle playsets are also available in a Rainforest theme and a Dinosaur theme. 
Great white bears are not left-pawed. Scientists observing the animals haven’t noticed a preference. In fact, polar bears seem to use their right and left paws equally.
Use of tools. Polar bears do not use tools, including blocks of ice, to kill their prey. Scientist Ian Stirling believes that this idea may have come about because, after failing to catch a seal, a frustrated and angry polar bear may kick the snow, slap the ground—or hurl chunks of ice.
Hollow hair conducts UV light. A polar bear’s hollow hairs do not conduct ultraviolet light to its black skin. This theory was tested—and disproved—by physicist Daniel Koon.
Covering its nose. Contrary to a legend among native hunters, polar bears do not cover their black noses while lying in wait for seals. Canadian biologist Ian Stirling, who has spent several thousand hours watching polar bears hunt, has never seen this behavior. Nor have other scientists.
Bi-polar bears? Polar bears live only in Arctic areas that surround the North Pole—not in Antarctica, which surrounds the South Pole. School children often see illustrations of penguins and polar bears together, but this could never happen. In fact, the word arctic comes from the Greek word for bear, and Antarctic comes from the Greek meaning the opposite, without bear.
The above was gathered from: http://www.polarbearsinternational.org/polar-bears/bear-essentials-polar-style/myths-and-misconceptions
Remember to visit our website All I Can Imagine for your wooden kids toys. We have beautiful wood playsets for indoor play. See our Arctic Expedition that includes a tote-able Velcro-closure Igloo tote and 9 chunky wooden figures – for ages 3 up.
Dad’s, if you have young children and want to surprise your wife with a homemade craft you can find ideas online. Here is one craft idea to make with your child’s help that will be one of your wife’s keepsakes.
Use clean baby food jars. Spray-paint the lids with nontoxic paint. Use one of your favorite drawings or cut out a section from it to fit on the jar. Brush the outside of the jar with Modge Podge (all-in-one glue, sealer and finish ) and place the drawing on it. Brush Modge Podge over the drawing. You can then sprinkle the outside of the jar with glitter. When dry, fill the jar with candy and give Mom the beautiful treasure!
This craft idea came from: http://www.alphabet-soup.net/mot/mothercraft.html
Remember to visit our website, All I Can Imagine for children’s wooden toys ideas. Our line of safe 3d wooden puzzles include a large alphabet dinosaur measuring 13” x 5” and is a perfect gift idea for kids age 3 and up. Each puzzle piece is a separate letter of the alphabet.
This bag-like creature does not have any bones and it can squeeze itself into the tiniest of openings. If you guessed the octopus you would be correct.
The world of the octopus - There are about 200 species of octopuses in the world. The biggest is the Pacific Giant Octopus, which weighs over 100 kgs and has a tentacle span of more than seven meters. The smallest is the Atlantic Pygmy Octopus. This one is just two centimeters long.
But unlike their slow-moving cousins, the slowpoke snails, octopuses can move very fast indeed. That’s because their tentacles are covered with small suction pads, with which they cling well to clammy rocks and slippery ocean floors. These suction pads are also super-sensitive to touch and taste. An octopus’ sense of taste is 10 to 100 times more sensitive than that of a human!
Its eyes, too, are highly developed. Thus it can see clearly in dark or murky water. That equips the clever octopus to hunt at night. This clever creature lures its pray by wriggling the tip of a tentacle so that it looks like a worm.
When it is threatened, the octopus secretes an inky substance. This is meant to confuse predators, which gives it time to escape.
Most poisons produced by the octopuses are too weak to harm humans. Only the Blue-Ringed Octopus is an exception – it produces enough poison to kill a human being. You may read more about this sea life creature at: http://www.pitara.com/discover/earth/online.asp?story=111.
If you have a three year old who might enjoy having his own octopus ImagiPLAY has a line of wooden puzzles to teach the alphabet or counting. Count Octopus is one of their brightly colored 3d wooden puzzles to help your child learn counting numbers 1-9. Each puzzle piece has a unique number painted on it and each puzzle piece is a different color.
Great for teaching counting as well as colors our 3d wooden puzzles can be found on our website, All I Can Imagine.
Your child is between the age of 1 and 3 and will learn by playing. All play is learning for toddlers and young children and you will have many teaching opportunities as you interact with your children each day.
Children will be working on their walking, wobbly at first, and beginning to use words. By three years old your children will most likely able to balance briefly on one foot and speak in short sentences.
It is during these fun years that your toddler will enjoy playing simple games with their parents, grandparents and their brothers and sisters. They will also begin to enjoy group games with other young children – although they will need assistance from others.
Although group games offer your children a chance for socialization, toddlers will more often play alongside their friends rather than with them. They do enjoy being around other kids, but will focus more on the leader or parent.
Playing quietly by himself is also important and having many safe natural wood toys such as push pull wood toys will give him opportunity to play using his imagination and give you time to sit and read a book nearby.
ImagiPLAY has a cute selection of three push pull wood toys for kids 18 months and up. See their yellow duck, blue dog, and green Hybrid car.
As you are holding your newborn baby he reaches to your finger and tightly clutches it. He clutches so tightly you may not even be able to release his grasp.
You are holding your baby daughter and she is the most beautiful baby in the world and if you are the dad you know you will work to give her whatever she wants and needs. No boy will ever be good enough for her. You will love her mother so much that your baby girl will see how a man should love a woman.
If you are holding your son and he has hold of your finger you know that none of your buddies will ever have such a smart son! Your son will be the next president or famous brain surgeon. You probably have already bought him his first baseball and glove, or perhaps his first fishing pole.
With just one clutch you are hooked; but why do babies clutch? Babies are born with the grasping reflex — touch your baby’s palm and he’ll curl his tiny fingers around yours. Your baby’s hands will mostly be clenched in a fist, but soon he will begin grasping objects such as wooden baby toys.
When your baby is about three months old he won’t be able to grab onto what he wants but he will be able to bat at his baby toys. He will also be developing hand-eye coordination and begin to take notice of items he wants to grasp.
At four to eight months your baby will be able to pick up larger object like blocks, wooden baby rattles and other clutching toys. Even before he gets his first tooth (usually between three and twelve months) your baby will be picking up and putting whatever he can into his mouth. He will begin moving objects from one hand to another and this is a good time to begin getting valuables and unsafe objects out of his reach.
As soon as possible, after your baby is born, you will begin researching and purchasing safe wooden baby toys for your son or daughter. ImagiPLAY products are a good starting point. There are four rattles (hedgehog, elephant, fish and bird) made from all-natural Beechwood, sanded baby smooth and boiled in beeswax – a natural antiseptic.
And for clutching you will love our eco-adorable wooden toys. Flexible, cute worms made from plantation grown Rubberwood (an earth friendly hardwood). These cute baby toys encourage grasping and will help your baby increase his hand strength.
Once he grips these wooden baby toys he will be hooked, just as you were when you first held you new baby!
This farm animal can see almost 360 degrees and can see colors too! And, the cow can smell up to 5 miles away.
Cows can live up to 25 years. Cows have four stomachs, and no two cows have the same pattern or spots. An adult male cow is called a bull and an adult female is called a cow. Cows eat corn, hay, barley, beet pulp, grass and wheat.
You can read about other farm animals and find neat craft ideas at this website: http://kiddyhouse.com/Farm/
See a neat set of wood blocks, manufactured by ImagiPLAY. These wood blocks are fun kids toys to help teach about six farm animals. These blocks are called 
Buddy Blocks and are a safe Color Matching and Puzzle Toy.
Colorful animals make our wooden kids toys a great puzzle for boys and girls age 18 months and up. Kids learn to match colors and animals.
Each four piece block set forms six different puzzles featuring colorful animals. When choosing our Farm Buddy Blocks set two of the animals you will get are a pink pig and a brown and white cow. (We also have sets of backyard animals and jungle animals.)
Celebrate the season with a decorative collage pot full of vibrant spring flowers! When you have to stay in because of the spring rains that will surely come a bright, new craft idea will help entertain your kids age 5 – 8 years old.
This activity is appropriate for:
kindergarten – 3rd grade / 5 – 8 years
You will need:
- Collage Pots – Set of 15
- Lakeshore Fully Washable Liquid Tempera – Pints
- Collage Buttons
- Lakeshore Heavy-Duty Brushes
- Best-Buy School Glue
- Art Tissue Paper
- Pipe Stems
- Construction Paper – 9″ x 12″
- Safety Scissors
- Super-Safe Craft Tape Center – 1″
- Yarn Laces with Tips
I found this craft idea at: http://www.lakeshorelearning.com/general_content/free_resources/teachers_corner/projects/springFlowers.jsp?f=featured. Go here for the directions to make this pretty pot of flowers.
In the market for a new 3d wooden puzzle? See our six piece cat family puzzle or our six piece dog family puzzle. Both are popular wood puzzles for kids 3 and up. Painted with non-toxic paints. Each puzzle piece is its own cat or dog toy.
According to what I have read children generate knowledge and meaning from their own experiences (child developmental experts at GeniusBabies.com). They suggest that “educational toys for younger children are based on constructivism, a psychological theory”.
Therefore, it is necessary to allow children to create their own knowledge by allowing them to be active in their own learning process. This process applies to infants, toddlers as well as preschoolers.
However, it is also suggested that most toys can be educational through play for all developmental stages of childhood. Parents and educators shopping for their children’s toys are encouraged to read the boxes of all toys they are considering purchasing to ensure they are getting an age appropriate toy.
Remember, though, that it is a good idea to choose toys that are appropriate for your own child’s stage of development – regardless of his/her age.
If you have children age 1-1/2 they will enjoy playing with Backyard Buddy Blocks manufactured by ImagiPLAY. These blocks are safe toddler learning toys which provide puzzle fun play as well as block play.
Whether you purchase Backyard Buddy Blocks, Jungle blocks or Farm blocks, these wooden kid’s toys will provide your child hours of fun matching up the animals. Each block set is also a color matching puzzle. There are 6 different puzzles in each set, featuring colorful animals your kids will love.
Read more at Suite101: Best Gifts for Children: Educational Games and Toys That Teach and Promote Physical Fitness http://kids-games.suite101.com/article.cfm/best_gifts_for_children#ixzz0k3gw1YXG
Besides an hour of unstructured play each day toddlers need at least one half hour each day of structured physical activity. Taking time off from your household chores will benefit both you and your toddler.
Playing with your child helps you to get to know one another and you can watch how your child is developing. Playing open-ended games and make up activities so that you will not have to discipline your child for a while and just have some fun together.
Plan to do several activities each day and to stretch each activity to 10 minutes or longer if your toddler’s attention span will allow. Play in a safe area away from furniture with sharp corners.
One idea you may have fun with is setting up an obstacle course. Use pillows to climb over, then a cardboard box to crawl through. Set up an object such as a foot stool to circle around and then you could dash through a doorway and slid into or jump onto an old mattress.
You could use crepe paper on the doorway to create a “finish line” that they have to break through if there are several kids and a race is in process.
Obstacle courses can also be set up with building block toys such as ImagiBRICKS giant toy blocks. These are crush-proof and come in three different sizes. Each sized block is a different color and they are lightweight so that young children can lift and carry them. Let them make their own obstacle course to run through.
For their unstructured playtime they will love building structures and knocking them down. These building block toys are coated with a drool-proof coating so they can easily be kept clean and sanitized.