When I was pregnant with my first daughter, now six, rattles that were actually cute, functional, and not made completely of plastic were just starting to make it onto the scene. Well it seems that now cuteness and a bit of hilarity abou…
Those board books start out so cute and shiny, don't they? And then Baby Bookivore gets very interested in gnawing the corners, splitting the pages, and seeing what a slice of banana will look like sandwiched between B is for Broccoli an…
We've been fans of the Handmade Toy Alliance since this organization formed in 2008 in response to Congress's [expletive deleted] Consumer Products Safety Improvement Act. This ill-conceived (and ironically named) law is the impetus for …
This is one of those times when I find myself wishing I owned a sewing machine. And that I had a single crafty bone in my body. Check it out: Gulf Coast Cottage , a wonderful shop filled with soft toys, has an entire category filled with…
These so-called " friendly monster finger puppets " bear such a striking resemblance to the Yo Gabba Gabba characters that I had to break down and buy them for my YGG-obsessed daughter's third birthday. I mean, that striped green one doe…
Memorial Day is here which means goodbye wool, hello breezy, beautiful linen. Even when it comes to your kids' playthings . Have you ever loved a doll so much that you wanted to hug it? Wait, that's ridiculous, even for a rhetorical ques…
We've been following the Consumer Products Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA) and its negative effect on the handmade products and small businesses we love , ever since the very beginning. And so, we wanted to pass along some updates, so tha…
I scream, you scream, we all scream for... well, okay, I lied. I didn't scream over these adorable soft ice cream-festooned beanbags, but I did squeal just a little bit. The Baby Gardner brings us Lisa Bacigalupi's exclusive hand-stitche…
Long ago when my parents would drag us on a 10 hour family road trip to Hilton Head, South Carolina, my brother and I would occupy ourselves with all sorts of fun travel-friendly activities, none of which included a DVD player. Imagine t…
You may already know how much we love Shokay , the little e-shop that put yak hair on our collective radar. Soft, cashmere-like, and socially responsible (the shop supports struggling Tibetan yak farmers), this luxury fiber makes some of…
If you've got a five-year-old daughter (or thereabouts) then you know the story well. Someone (*coughGrandmomcough*) buys her Polly Pockets and you end up spending most of your time searching for the ridiculously small shoes in your vacu…
After stumbling upon the Design Your Own eggheads felt book from Beeper BeBe , I'm on the verge of nixing the whole Easter basket thing and going with Easter presents instead. because really, when you add up the price (and let's face it,…
I spent so long reading the instructions on a card game yesterday that I finally gave up and took my kids to the playground, where they invented a game that involved dumping sand on each others' heads. This morning's bath was grittier th…
When I was a kid, a tent was a musty quilt over a card table, and it was heaven. Kids have it a little better today, and the magic of a secret fort lives on with the fantastic card table playhouses by Miss Pretty Pretty of Imaginative Pl…
I've had a thing for sock monkeys ever since my mother-in-law gave me the one she'd made for my husband when he was a baby . They're some kind of magical combination of goofy, cheerful cuddliness and retro-chic all in one. I always figur…
With three kids who keep having birthdays, I feel like I'm forever on the lookout for cool, affordable party favors that won't end up immediately in the trash which is why when I saw the assortment of Lil Scribblers' chunky crayons by Ph…
We're all singing Yellow Submarine in our sleep around here, thanks to Santa slipping Beatles Rock Band under the tree a few weeks ago. And really, there's nothing much cuter than a three year-old belting "Paperback wriiiiiiiter" at the …
You don't need us to tell you about the latest Elmo toy or Hannah Montana guitar, so we work hard to point you towards toys and other playthings from small companies or independent artists that you might not know about yet. After a year …
Cool Mom Picks readers know I have a serious soft spot for handmade dolls, which goes way back to the days that my mom taught me how to stuff an old stocking with batting and stitch the face to make a nose. But the incredible handmade do…
Unless a plush animal is on a kid's holiday or birthday wish list, I tend to steer clear from giving them because as a mom, I know how maddening it can be adding another stuffed bear to the already full toy bin. But when I saw the Kindre…
It's no secret that mail is cool. I'll bet I'm not the only person who still gets a little flutter of excitement when I come home to see envelopes poking out the top of my mailbox. In fact, I know I'm not the only person because my daugh…
Ever since we got a Nintendo Wii, my kids have been hooked on bowling. Okay, try completely obsessed. But I figured instead of having them beg to play the virtual version every day, they could do the real thing right at home with the ret…
When I had my second baby, one thing that helped my daughter (then just barely two) was to be able to mimic the things I was doing so she could feel like she was "helping." I still have awesome pictures of her little dolls in diapers tha…
If you're looking for a fun Halloween gift for a child that sidesteps the cavity quotient, I think this black cat push toy is just adorable. Or, as the toymaker calls it, the "Scaredy Cat - Not Scary Cat Push Toy." Important distinction.…