After spending 5 months of writing daily articles, the Mommy Footprint pace will slow down over the next few weeks.  I need my ‘real’ life organized to gear up for the amazing month of Fall and Halloween activities.  I will be back full force to write about my favorite month (October) and the magic it brings to children.  But before I sign off, there are some topics I need to mention - read on and save money!

A quick mention that our latest contest has wrapped up for the 3-tier stainless steel container and the winner, Jackie, has been contacted.  Thank you for the entries and Healthy Kitchenware for donating the prize.

Over the next few weeks, I will be getting my Christmas shopping completed for my kids.  There are sales happening over the next month that I’ve been waiting all year for!  My boys and I also set a goal of marking all the storm drains with fish decals on our busy street–and it’s a long street!   Besides being on count down mode for the Laity Pumpkin Patch to open, I am excited to start begging a very talented photographer to come out of semi-retirement to photograph my family at the pumpkin patch.  I can’t imagine a better backdrop to capture the wonderful ages of my children.  Her name is Heidi and she is the talent behind my banner photo and any of the black and white photos posted on the Mommy Footprint site.  I can’t believe it’s been 1 year since the last photo session at the beach…it was a wonderful experience and she managed to capture expressions on the faces of my children I could only dream of…not to mention the candid shots.  I promise to post a few after I ‘convince’ her it’s a good idea.  She is talented beyond anything you’ve seen - you can check out her pictures from a beautiful blog she’s created called The Space Between.

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Do you have an imaginative child that has created ‘friends’ on paper through drawing or paint?  Did they ever love one character so much, you wished you could bring them to life?  Well now you can!  Wendy, a Vancouver Mom started the company Child’s Own that takes a child’s artwork and transforms it into something 3-dimensional.  Imagine your child’s delight to have one of their unique creations from a drawing come to life in the form of a stuffy for them to love and cherish.  What a wonderful way to celebrate childhood with a unique memento to hug and love.  The special product that Wendy produces is exactly like the pictures she receives.  And in our world of mass media - what a wonderful message to teach children that their 6 legged dog or 3-eyed princess drawings are special because they were born from their imaginations and are magical as-is and should be celebrated.

What do you need to get started?  Simply submit your child’s drawing and a meaningful photo if you would like that included in the softy’s design.  Then Wendy sets to work selecting the appropriate fabric: cotton, felt, silks, polar fleece, etc.  The softies are filled with hypoallergenic polyester fiberfill and the photo is added if you choose to personalize in this way.  One artist to another, the creation is born.  Here are some pictures of creations that have come to life and they look amazing!

Wow - what an amazing idea that is so special and unique.  You couldn’t ask for a better gift than this custom child’s stuffie!  I’ll now be on the look-out for that next drawing that stands out as something special from one of my kids.  Further to the stuffy, you could make a story with the adventures of the character and then act it out or create a puppet-show.  The creativity from this idea just keeps flowing, well after Wendy complets the final product.  If you are reading this article from far and away…Child’s Own will ship within North America.

Yesterday, I had a moment where I wanted to open up the nearest window and sing ‘Oh Canada’ at the top of my lungs.  You’ll feel the same way after you learn about Sprig Toys.  The co-founders of this company had an epiphany moment after spending years as ‘toy veterans’ in the industry after realizing the environmental damage caused by how traditional toys are manufactured and packaged - not to mention they all normally require batteries to become very interactive.  They joined together with years of product knowledge and expertise and formed Sprig Toys.  Get ready to see this product line as the next ‘hot’ toy.  Although this company is based out of Colorado, they manufacture their line Sprig Adventure Series in CANADA!  How big is this?  For parents out there looking to source safe products for children and support a local footprint, this is huge.  Want some more facts before I tell you how much a child would love these toys?  I’ve picked up, felt, and smelled these products and a wonderful ordor greets your nose.  The plastic used to make this series is made from Sprigwood™ and is paint free.  The ingredients for Sprigwood™ are reclaimed plastic (margarine containers to be exact) and recycled wood.  You can actually smell the wonderful scent of the wood in the figures and vehicles.  The company’s next shipment of these toys will also include biodegradable packaging that is made from seeds. So throw the packaging into your garden and plants will grow.  This is so cool and a wonderful step for Canada to be apart of!

The Rally Racer, Baja Scout, and Discover Rig all have figures with a built in led-light in their hard helmets that are not powered by batteries, but by the push-action of the vehicles.  They connect to these vehicles via a USB port and the act of children pushing the vehicle, powers the electronic features of search lights (all three vehicles), lights and motor sound (Discover Rig), and dialogue, sound effects and songs (Discover Rig).

The Discover Rig is going to be the ‘it’ toy this Fall. You can attach a push bar (which toddlers would love) or detach and older kids can push this rig because when it moves forwards the generator fuels the lights and sounds.  The adventure guide will take your child on an expedition of the imagination with different stories using different accents when swapping characters!  Too awesome!  If you are having a hard time picturing all these different modes of this series, check out the video on the Sprig Toys site.  You can watch how children power up this eco-friendly wonder with natural kinetic energy by using the push and pump.

Picture Source: Treehugger Site

These are sure exciting times in the toy industry.  Green Toys and Sprig Toys have understood the consumer’s desire to choose from carefully designed and manufactured toys, rather than mass produced junk.

My 6 year old loves playing card games and prefers cards over toys or any other stationary activity at the moment.  Thanks to Debbie from The Village Toy Shop, we’ve recently discovered THE BEST card game ever and my entire family is more than slightly addicted.  If you have a child with an interest in numbers, memory, and logic…this game is a perfect choice.  The brand is Gamewright and they have great card, board, dice and party games. Rat A Tat Cat won the Oppenheim Toy Portfolio Best Toy Award and I can see why.  The age on the front of the box says it’s from ages 6 and up.  My 4 year old can play, so has a good range for different ages, although 5 - 7 years old is probably the perfect age to introduce the game.  Okay..here’s how you play.

There are 54 rat and cat cards, mixed with a few ‘peek’, ’swap’ and ‘take two’ cards which add a fun twist.  The goal of the game is to have your cards add up to the lowest number. You are dealt 4 cards and only initially can you peek at the two end cards, then you draw from the discard or draw pile and have to use your memory to replace cards with lower numbers.  The high cards are the rats and the low cards are the cats.  Obviously 0 and 1 cards are the best to get and when you’re confident you have the lowest number of cards, you tap the table and crow “Rat A Tat Cat”!  The other player goes one last time then you flip your cards over and determine who has the lowest number after you add up the 4 cards.  Francesco is so good at this game now - he’s tough to beat!  I’m a big fan of the card game Uno, but Rat A Tat Cat is hands down the best card game I’ve played with my boys.  Locally they can be found at The Village Toy Shop or online via Amazon.

Timing is everything right?  With parents concerned about plasticizers, chemicals, and just a little paranoid about their children mouthing plastic toys, along comes a company called Green Toys. Being a toy company, the words that describe their adorable product line are music to concerned parent’s ears:

“Made in the USA”
“Made from 100% recycled products”
“Contains no BPA”
“Contains no phthalates”
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