holiday gift guide: stocking stuffers

at the chicago toy and game fair, we had the opportunity to meet a real inventor.  have you ever wished that you had more versatility with your legos?  if you haven't, you had better believe your kids have!  greyson had this problem, and he decided to do something about it.  he invented reusable, removable and restickable cling decals for legos.  each package comes with a sheet of decals related to a different theme.  you can buy home, pets, signs, metro, space, transport, rescue, splats, shops or all of the above! you can stick a dog to a house, create an oil spill or provide various signs for your shop.  i love that these are completely reusable and give my kids flexibility and versatility for all their lego creations (they work for other plastic bricks as well).

if you are a fan of settlers of catan, you probably familiar with mayfair games.  they have a crazy little game called, "le boomb."  this game is appropriate for 2 to 16 or more players.  it last anywhere from 5 to 15 minutes.  it is small and portable, with only four rules.  players roll a die to see if the bomb stays, gets passed or explodes.

we have a lot of puppets, but we have yet to try the "puppet on a stick" by educational insights.  these are very sturdy and well made.  the puppets' mouths move with a small lever near the bottom.  i think these are a lot of fun for puppet shows.  i'm looking forward to seeing what kind of stories my kids can come up with using these.  they come in a package of three.  (educational insights also has great ideas for teaching units, whether you are a teacher in a classroom or if you homeschool.  i received a few trial items, and i have been intrigued to see how i can incorporate them into our own home learning).  

for awhile now, pillow pets have been must-have items for my kids.  everyone now has their own pillow pet.  unfortunately, they can get a little bit...yucky...if the kids sleep on them every night.  this is where petjamas saves the day.  they are "pajamas" designed for pillow pets that come in a variety of colors and textures.  tessa's pegasus has seen better days, so i'm excited to get her a pair of pajamas for her friend so she can enjoy sleeping with her again.  they are easy to put on and remove so you can throw them in the washing machine any time they need to get less...yucky.

if your kids have collected as many silly bandz as you ever want them to have, you should definitely turn to floppets.  like jibbitz for crocs, these are (adorable) rubbery icons that are attached to velcro bands, instead of a rubber button.  this means they can be attached to a wide variety of things.  they can go in your hair, on your backpack, on flip-flops or sneakers, on a bracelet, be worn as a ring,  on a pencil and/or notebook, or even in a buttonhole.  these will make great stocking stuffers for anyone on your list.

i received a sample of each of these products through my involvement at the chicago toy and game fair (to which i received free passes).  regardless, the thoughts and opinions expressed here are purely my own.