Destiny Baby

I’m planning on getting Destiny Baby his own set of art supplies this Christmas. An easel, set of paints, brushes–the whole works. He has a creative streak in him that hasn’t been fully explored, even in his preschool. They do lots of preschool and toddler teaching with drawings and tracings with pencils and crayons, but not a lot of painting or art work (although the toddlers in his class did build and paint a fabulous Green Recycle Man out of recycled materials the school collected from families during the course of a week).

My real motivation is envy (I mean this in a good way). Several months ago, we went to a birthday party for our friends’ 3 year old son. Around the house were framed hanging of these beautiful abstract watercolor paintings. “Who did those?” I asked. “Our son,” replied our friends the proud parents. Now, their son is probably gifted, because the paintings really were good, but his mom explained that she had enrolled herself and son in a Mommy and Me art class and these framed masterpieces created at the hand of a highly intuitive toddler were the result! So, I’m on a mission to inspire Destiny’s Baby’s inner artiste with his own set of art supplies. Since I am not an artist (or artistically inclined) myself, I’m going to need some help. I’ve been looking at art books and have narrowed it down to three well-reviewed books:

First Art : Art Experiences for Toddlers and Twos

(This is the #1 bestselling nonfiction education book for preschoolers on Amazon–I didn’t realize until I checked!)

The Big Messy Art Book: But Easy to Clean Up

According to reviews, this 144-page book really lets your toddler’s imagination and sets it free. Activities include painting masterpieces from the things they see in everyday life like a swing or a ball.

Scribble Art: Independent Creative Art Experiences for Children (Bright Ideas for Learning)

The author has also written and published 13 other books on teaching young children to either create or learn about art. I’m also looking at Science Arts: Discovering Science Through Art Experiences (Bright Ideas for Learning)

Have you had success with inspiring your child’s artistic side? Share your experiences in the comments below!

The beauty of this entry in the Baby Einstein catalog is its integration of puppets, toys, and live farm footage to help babies and toddlers make the connection between their plastic play sets and stuffed animals with images of a real farm. As always, the spoken language is minimal, omitting the pesky verbs and adjectives that would confuse the very young. The 30-minute main program is divided into sections: barns and equipment, animals, planting crops, and harvesting. (Read more…)

You know those cool toddler activity play centers with spiral zig zag mazes for counting beads that you find in your pediatrician’s office? Well, this is an affordable portable version of those activity centers that your child can take with them on the road. The EverEarth Triangle Activity Center for Toddlers features three different activities. These include bead fun, a sliding wood peg maze and sliding wooden beads! (Read more…)

No parent needs a child care book as much as the parent of a toddler! The toddler years are an exciting and rewarding time, as your child learns to stand, walk, say words, and use the potty for the first time. Yet, along with all of these incredible milestones come all sorts of daunting parental challenges – from continuous cries in the middle of the night to the first boo-boos to erratic eating habits to public temper tantrums. What is a parent to do? (Read more…)

Let’s get ready to rumble! Dads discover that the rules of the parenting game change completely after their baby moves into the wonderful and totally physical toddler world of discovery and learning. How can you be a hands-on dad and play a vital role in your one-to-three-year-old’s development? With the fun exercises and activities for dads and kids in Rookie Dad Tackles the Toddler!Working out in the Brain Gym, kids grasp colors, sizes, and shapes. (Read more…)

Floor play mats are a great gift idea for for infants, toddlers and preschoolers. Indoor play becomes lots of fun with these soft foam and vinyl activity and crawling mats that promote coordination, physical movement and recognition of colors, shapes, letters and numbers.

With some, like the Edushape tile sets, your child can fit the pieces together to build giant soft blocks out of the tiles that make up the floor mat.

These are also a great hygienic way to support active floor play while you and your family are on the road traveling for the holidays or for use in hotels on family road trips. Destiny Baby has always loved to play around on the floor, so we always bring a can of Lysol to hotels to spray the carpet!

Below is a list of some of the highest rated floor activity play mats for infants and toddlers on Amazon. And don’t forget to check out more Top Holiday Deals on Toys & Games from Amazon.

Play mats for toddlers or infants that crawl:

Uppercase 36 Sq. Ft. ‘We Sell Mats’ Alphabet and Number Floor Puzzle-Each Tile 12″x12″x3/8″ Thick with Borders

Edushape Edu Tiles Uppercase Letters Playmat, 26 Piece Set

Edushape Edu Tiles – 10 Piece Set

Infant activity mats:

Tiny Love Gymini Super Deluxe – Lights&Music (This infant playmat has won many awards, including Oppenheim Toy Portfolio, Parents’ Choice, and Parenting Magazine Toy of the Year Award.)

Infantino Twist and Fold Activity Gym

Fisher-Price Rainforest Melodies & Lights Deluxe Gym

Top Holiday Deals on Toys & Games from Amazon