You will find many wooden kids toys on the market today, especially if you shop online. Children’s wooden toys are made with quality craftsmanship in small family businesses as well as mass produced by large companies.

A natural made material, wood can be recycled and often wood blocks and indoor play sets are made from recycled materials. Wooden toys are more durable and children have always been more attracted to a wooden toy. When you teach your children to properly care for their children’s wooden toys they could possibly last their entire childhood and even be kept and passed down to their children.

When you see a room full of toys and children you may easily notice they gravitate to the toddler learning toys that are made of wood.  Wood toys make us feel nostalgic. Wood is comforting and is one of the reasons they are worthy enough to be passed on from one generation to the next.

A Day at the Zoo Wooden Play Set

Wood toys remain a sensible choice for toddler toys and will keep your children busy playing for hours on end.  Play is an essential part of all kid’s learning and emotional development. A wood toy is most often a toy that comes with no rules.  Whether a truck, a doll house, a miniature farm animal set, or a play set such A Day at the Zoo children will be encouraged to learn by touching and exploring.

Parents and educators can utilize a child’s play time as an educational lesson as they ask open ended question pertaining to their play activities.  The individual play pieces can be used in other make up games or incorporated in other games.

When you visit our website All I Can Imagine you may notice some changes.  Many of the wooden toys have been discontinued and are no longer available.  ImagiPLAY has been purchased by BeginAgain Toys, an eco-toy company based in Fort Collins, Colorado.  This company is going to be offering many of the ImagiPLAY toys you are used to seeing online and they also plan on updating several of the current designs for release in 2012.

Updates will be provided on our website and this BLOG as they come available.

Christmas will be here before you know it; shop early!

 

 

 


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For Tech-Less Savvy Parents

posted by gbowen
October 16, 2011

When you visit your parents or grandparents do they give you a “tech-to-do” list? Are you living in the “dark ages” just as I am?

My first experience with a type-writer (A writing machine that produces characters similar to typeset print by means of a manually operated keyboard that actuates a set of raised types, which strike the paper through an inked ribbon) was a Smith-Corona.  This manual typewriter was my mother’s (we won’t go into the century) and I remember it having a cloth ribbon with black on the top and red on the bottom.

During my working years I typed on something called a Selectric typewriter.  Goodness me, I just did a Google search and they are still selling them; read the ad I found:

“IBM Typewriters play an integral role in the business world. The superior quality of work, and the increased speed with which this work is performed, have increased efficiency in offices everywhere. IBM Wheelwriters & Selectric Typewriters offer the widest choice of options for electronic typewriters. The original manufacturer’s warranty is included, plus available extended protection option plans. We will buy, or use as trade, your old IBM Typewriter.”

I don ‘t know about you but when I wander into the electronics section of Wal Mart or Best Buy I am not able to identify 98 per cent of the products on the shelves!  Several months ago when I needed to purchase a new VCR I had to ask the sales person to help me, as I could not find them.

Back to the year 2011 and the common situation occurring all over the world; adults are not smarter than a fifth grader, or even a third grader maybe, when it comes to computer usage. If we adults have a computer and no children we are up a creek!

The solution; either rent or borrow a child or visit a website I just heard about called “TeachParents Tech.org.” http://www.teachparentstech.org/.  This is a website created by Google and it offers more than 50 two-minute videos with step-by-step instructions on everything from how to cut and paste copy to creating a blog.

Luckily, the site is set up so “kids” can e-mail a tech support “care package” to their parents or anyone needing help.  When you go to the website you can click on the topic you need help with and a video will be e-mailed to the desired recipient.

Since the inception of this website it is said to have received over 1 million views and I can only guess that you and I may be bookmarking this link!

Counting Bunnies 3D Wooden Puzzle

Now, with Christmas coming up and quickly, I might add, let’s think about simple toys.  These toys do not come with an instructional manual and you can easily play with them with  your toddlers! Educational in nature, 3d wooden puzzles and giant cardboard building blocks are still popular with toddlers.  You can visit our website All I Can Imagine and browse around all our children’s wooden toys including wood blocks and other unique toddler learning toys.


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For over a decade, ImagiPLAY has created high-quality educational toys that inspire children’s imaginations and the desire to explore. With the abundance of toys available for children today, ImagiPLAY sets itself apart from the rest through its motto: “Toys with Integrity.” By producing quality products that connect with nature, have eco-friendly sources, and hold educational value, ImagiPLAY works to benefit the earth we share and the people that inhabit it.

Founder and President Barbera Aimes offers children’s toys that represent her true passion: our planet. After studying languages and music in Japan and across the US, this nurturing earth mother explored ways in which she could communicate her desire to make the world a gentler, move loving place. In her mid thirties, she found that the natural beauty of Boulder, Colorado was the ideal place to call home, establish her business, and create a positive change amongst the people around her. “All my life I’ve wanted to leave this earth with some kind of beneficial legacy,” Barbera explains, “If there is one thing I can leave on this earth, it would be to help children appreciate our world.” Through the language of play, Barbera and ImagiPLAY have inspired children across the globe to discover the world on their own terms and communicate with the environment. With ImagiPLAY’s child safe and earth safe toys, games and collectibles, children enrich their ability to count, learn the alphabet, and identify different animals while gaining a true sense of the world’s beauty and diversity of species.

Producing toys using only materials and processes that show respect for the planet and all the people and creatures upon it has remained ImagiPLAY’s promise and challenge. All of ImagiPLAY’s toys are made from eco-friendly materials, with plantation-grown rubberwood being a favorite. Rubber trees produce a sap that is used to make latex products. At the end of their latex-producing years (generally 25-30 years) the trees are harvested and new ones planted. But these wonderful trees have one more gift to give us - their beautiful, splinter-free hardwood, from which ImagiPLAY makes many of its award winning, heirloom quality toys.

ImagiPLAY’s factories are placed close to the neighborhoods where its craftsmen live so that the majority of them can walk or ride their bikes to work each day, enabling its craftsmen to maintain quality relationships with their own children while they make toys for others.

ImagiPLAY products have been recognized by the media, children’s advocacy groups, and parents’ organizations for their outstanding quality, design and ability to inspire imagination. It has received awards from Parenting Magazine, Creative Child Magazine, Dr. Toy, Parents’ Choice Foundation and many other well-respected groups. But most importantly, ImagiPLAY’s products have helped thousands of children worldwide to discover themselves and their world as they navigate the waters of the human Age of Exploration.

Aimes’ lifelong commitment to her values finally allowed her to discover something she is proud to leave as her legacy to this earth and a worthwhile contribution to its people. And having a kid-focused business keeps her young, young-at-heart, and joyful.

ImagiPLAY’s children’s wooden toys, toddler learning toys (including wood blocks) may be viewed at All I Can Imagine.


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It is 90 plus degrees and too hot to go outside; but, still I began thinking about Christmas shopping as I picked up a few items yesterday afternoon while I was at my favorite dollar store.

Christmas shopping can be fun, profitable, and best of all, stress-free. Stay with me here; picture this. You have just discovered you have some “unscheduled time”, time to yourself and no one needs anything and you do not have to go anywhere – it can happen!

Because there is no rush and no time constraints, boot up your computer and have some fun shopping for some new children’s wooden toys either for your kids, grandkids, or extended family and friends kids.

Parents who shop early as in July, August or September have more time to explore toddler learning toys on various websites and locate wood blocks, indoor playsets and other wooden kid’s toys which you will most likely not find in retail stores.

Take your time; it is fun to meander around different online toy stores and your feet won’t begin to hurt! Think about the excitement on Christmas morning when your toddlers open up that special gift, that unique toddler toy no one else on your block has yet to provide their kids.

Maybe you will select an African Safari indoor playset, or a dinosaur puzzle playset

Dinosaur Puzzle Play SEt

Each dinosaur is an individual toy.

 found at All I Can Imagine. Or you might begin getting your child (or add to a previous) set of ImagiBRICKS, giant cardboard building blocks.

Because you have chosen to shop early you will not have to worry about delivery issues that often occur in December when you wait to shop. Shopping will also be fun because you will enjoy browsing around different stores and not have to think: “I’ve got to find a nice toy today, I waited until the last minute, again, with no idea of what I want to get.

Take your time shopping for your toddler’s toys; it is only July and it is too hot to go outside. If you find a toy that is on sale so much the better.  Shopping on line is profitable even if you do not find a toy that is on sale because you saved on gas, buying a drink when driving from store to store and you were able to eat from you own refrigerator.

Yes, Christmas shopping can be fun, profitable, and best of all, stress-free and you will feel proud of yourself for being so smart to shop early!

 


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Popular Toy Blocks for Young Children

posted by gbowen
July 6, 2011

Sooner or later you will be purchasing some ABC blocks for your young children. With the variety of ABC blocks on the market this will probably be sooner. Alphabet blocks, which are thought to be the first type of building block toy produced,  have been around since the 17th century in England.

Located at the Strong Museum, the National Toy Hall of Fame has recognized the ABC toy blocks as America’s toys of national significance. Spawned from the simple concept of the basic toy block, many toys have been developed over the years.

These types of blocks are children’s wooden toys which are both fun as well as one of the best toddler learning toys on the market. This type of block will help teach your children about shapes, colors and might very well be the first exposure your children will have to letters and numbers besides some children’s TV shows.

Another popular toddler learning toy for young kids are wood blocks with pictures on them. These  wooden toys are manufactured by ImagiPLAY, located in Colorado. Backyard animals, farm animals and jungle animals are the three sets of wooden blocks sets available.

Each set of wood blocks (mentioned above) will form six different puzzles featuring colorful animals. Each four piece kid’s toy block set comes with its own storage tray that measure 3.5″ x 3.5″ x 2.5″.

When going to a baby shower blocks with either ABC’s or pictures will make a very nice gift. Always remember to buy blocks that are splinter proof and painted with non-toxic paints.

 


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Homeschooling While Working – Part Two

posted by gbowen
June 6, 2011

There are four tips here today for you to implement if you are a working home school parent.  The first part of this article was posted on May 30th.

Make Smart Use of Your Daily Drive – There are a lot of people who home school and commute to work every day. One of their secrets is making smart use of their daily drive to and from work. Instead of making extra trips to the art supply store or library with their kids, they take the time to run these errands as they are going to or leaving work.

Assign Lessons to Children During the Day – Obviously, if you and your spouse are working daily jobs, then someone has to be at home with your children. You can assign your children lessons to do during the day and ask your childcare professional to oversee the work and make sure that it gets done.

Home school at Night – How many college students take night classes? There are many that do, so why can’t you home school your children at night after you get home from work? You can easily go over lessons at the dinner table or a couple hours before bedtime.

 Always Plan – For those who work outside the home and want to home school too, planning is essential. You need to make a weekly schedule that clearly dictates when lessons will take place. This will save you a lot of time and make homeschooling go much more smoothly.

If you have toddlers that need a quiet type toy to play with while you are teaching your older children browse through our childrens wooden toysOur toddler learning toys, such as our Jungle Buddy wood blocks are an interesting educational for young children to play with.


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Homeschooling: Quality vs. Quantity

posted by gbowen
May 23, 2011

As a concerned parent you will want to understand the importance of using quality materials as often as possible. While quality is more important than quantity, sometimes it does costs more. However, sometimes you can compromise quality, but there are other times in homeschooling where you can’t. Therefore, it’s important that you understand the times when quality is crucial and when it isn’t.

When cost is an issue you will find you have many resources to help cut the cost and still get quality materials. By making heavy use of the library, used book sales, borrowing, and common materials on hand, one can do an adequate job with minimum cost.

Packaged curricula and video courses come higher, up to several hundred dollars per child per year (this is still much cheaper than a private school), but do your research using the Internet and/or talking to other parents and homeschooling groups to help you locate quality yet less expensive materials.

Parents who have to purchase used materials or look for things online will spend more time and energy finding those items, but they might have a greater sense of accomplishment and be teaching their children how to manage their money well.

 Educator’s Family Services puts on conferences and book fairs several times yearly at various locations. State homeschool support groups often sponsor book and curriculum fairs yearly in conjunction with conferences and workshops. These are open to the public (there is a cost) and are wonderful sources of teaching materials. Some local support groups operate libraries, too.

 Of course, extras such as dance, art, martial arts, voice or instrument, public speaking, sports, horseback riding, or summer camp can add much more to the bill, but most parents would choose at least some of these for their children even if they were in a conventional school.

Often the cost of homeschooling can depend on a parent’s goals. If their goal is for their child to attend an Ivy League school when they graduate, then they will need to spend a lot more than someone who either doesn’t want to attend college or is able to earn their degree from a less prestigious university.

 When you have decided on your books and other teaching materials remember to help keep learning fun for your toddlers by incorporating a few quality children’s wooden toys to encourage creative and fun play.

 ImagiPLAY, located in Colorado, is a company that makes quality toddler learning toys including 3d wooden puzzles and wood blocks. One such item that kids will enjoy is their Safari Stacking Blocks.   

Safari blocks are multi-functional toy blocks and children will use these wooden blocks as individual animal toys for all sorts of creative fun play. These wooden children’s toys are stackable for even more fun. Visit All I Can Imagine to explore all our other kids toys!


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Popular Toy Blocks for Young Children

posted by gbowen
April 27, 2011

Sooner or later you will be purchasing some ABC blocks for your young children. With the variety of ABC blocks on the market this will probably be sooner. Alphabet blocks are thought to be the first type of building block toy produced and have been around since the 17th century in England.

Located at the Strong Museum  in Rochester, New York, the National Toy Hall of Fame has recognized the ABC toy block as America’s toys of national significance. Spawned from the simple concept of the basic toy block, many toys have been developed over the years.

ABC blocks are both fun as well as one of the best educational toys on the market. This type of block will help teach your children about shapes, colors and might very well be the first exposure your children will have to letters and numbers besides some children’s TV shows.

Another popular toddler learning toy for young toddlers is wood blocks with pictures on them. These children’s wooden toys are manufactured by Smart Monkey Toys, LLC located in Wisconsin and may be purchased from All I Can Imagine. Backyard animals, farm animals and jungle animals are the three sets of wooden blocks sets available.

Each set of wood blocks will form six different puzzles featuring colorful animals. Each four piece kid’s toy block set comes with its own storage tray that measure 3.5″ x 3.5″ x 2.5″.

When going to a baby shower blocks with either ABC’s or pictures will make a very nice gift. Always remember to buy blocks that are splinter proof and painted with non-toxic paints.


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Daycare Toys Increase Self-confidence.

posted by gbowen
December 2, 2010

Special daycare toys of different colors, shapes, sizes and purposes were first introduced to the child care sector. However, the daycare toys available to children today are a far cry from the sandbox, monkey bars, wooden building blocks and rocking horses of a few years ago.

Today, not only do some companies specialize in the production of daycare toys but also mass produce them. The daycare toys themselves include such diverse items as play sets, pianos, easels, clocks, miniature ATM banks, talking microphones that improve speech and a truly amazing array of electronic and computer games/ toys.

Amidst all this sophistication, it is of course comforting to realize that simple wooden railway sets, alphabet/ number blocks, finger paint packs and coloring books are also still much in demand.

It has been proven that daycare toys increase self-confidence, coordination, language skills and creativity while also contributing to the emotional well being of children. As they grow older, children can also be introduced to electronic, computer, magnetic and a myriad of other educational daycare toys.

Wood blocks are as popular as ever and children 18 months and up love the feel of these children’s wooden toys.  But, remember to make sure the blocks you purchase are splinter-proof and painted with non-toxic paints and varnishes.

ImagiPLAY is one such manufacturer and you may see their wooden toys on our website, All I Can Imagine.  There is a line of Buddy Blocks that just came into the market place last year that children wil love playing with by themselves or with the help of a parent.

Your kids will enjoy owning all three varieties; Backyard Buddy Blocks, Jungle Buddy Blocks, and Farm Buddy Blocks (pictured).  Each set includes four, 3.5” square blocks with portions of 6 different animals on each cube.


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What Farm Animal Can Smell Up to 5 Miles Away?

posted by gbowen
April 12, 2010

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.)


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