Dad Blogs - Useful Parenting Tips for Dads » Toys and Games

ZipBin mini bin/play surface

Paul Banas — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 01:47:58 +0000

My son (not pictured here) loves his ZipBin Mini Speedway from Neat Oh . ... These very affordable toys are a good find for little kids who collect lots of little items like dolls, cars, or farm animals. ... And, the Zip Bin comes with 2 cars (or other item) so the child feels like he's getting a toy, and not just a storage bin.

Card games for budget-conscious dads

Paul Banas — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 03:20:06 +0000

However, with just a simple pack of cards, you can play a lot of games. Here are a few ideas: 1. ... How can anyone ever understand the many references to "go fish," without playing this game where each player collects sets of four cards by asking another player for a specific numbered card. ... There are lots of ideas for kids (and adult) card games, played with a simple pack you can find at the drugstore.

Holiday gifts for star gazing dads

Paul Banas — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 00:58:10 +0000

Nothing beats lying on the grass on a warm August evening staring up in the sky and conveying the majesty and mystery of the heavens to a small child. ... Celestron Skyscout - $199 (50% cheaper than in 2007) - The Skyscout uses GPS to ID and 8000 starts and planets and then will even tell you about via audio or text. ... Orion Star Target Planisphere " target="_blank">Orion Star Target Planishere - $11.00 - This stargazing the old fashioned way, with a map of the heavens you hold up in the night sky.

Guess Who Travel Game

Paul Banas — Sun, 02 Nov 2008 22:09:35 +0000

Guess Who Travel Gam e - Our kids loved this simple game that teaches kids deductive reasoning as they eliminate suspects to find the last person standing. By asking questions of their competitor like "does the person where glasses" or "have blond hair," kids can easily play the game even before they can read. ... $10.45 (a bit more expensive than you would think for a game built like this, but we did get our money's worth.)

Thomas’ Great Race Game for kids 3+

Paul Banas — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 20:10:08 +0000

Because the questions have to be read, this is a game that requires close involvement with an adult or with an older child. ... Since just two or three correct answers send the trains down the hill, the game ends quickly As with a lot of games like this, adults have to quickly make peace with the fact this is not a game developed for them. Our kids, too, were only willing to play the game a few times "by the rules," and then went on to moving the pieces around under the direction of my four year old boy.

The Easy Bake Oven is back! (but minus Betty Crocker)

Paul Banas — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 19:50:18 +0000

As hard as it is to believe, I actually played with a Betty Crocker Easy Bake Oven when I was about six or seven years old. I was excited to try this out the Easy Bake Oven from Hasbro with my own kids, a four year old boy and eight year old girl. There was great excitement at the house when we opened it up, which was tempered a bit when we had to first search for a 100 W lightbulb to make it work.

Cloud B Constellation Nightlight

Paul Banas — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 00:43:01 +0000

I like it because it turns their entire room into a planetarium, with choices of blue or green stars (and a moon). Stargazing has always been a special time for me with the kids and, while they can't always figure out what I'm pointing at, they like the time lying on the grass staring up at the sky with daddy and talking about 'stuff.' While the Cloud B Sea Turtle, and it's other endangered animal constellation brothers, can't replace that experience, it reminds of good times we've had and to come.

Buy this today – Lego Advent calendar

Paul Banas — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 22:38:53 +0000

LEGO City Advent Calendar 2008 - If you wait very much longer this cool advent calendar will be sold out for Christmas. This calendar has absolutely nothing to do with the holiday, but kids love to open up the little parts every day at breakfast, counting down the days 'till they have more stuff to open. Make sure to get a little plastic box as well to hold all the little tiny parts.

Play-doh Magic Swirl

Paul Banas — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 02:37:34 +0000

Kids like the many forms you can use to make ice cream-like objects and have a lot of fun playing waiter for hours on end. ... Dads, even, will enjoy playing with this for a few minutes since it's pretty captivating how play-doh can be manipulated into miniature, yet "life-like" forms. ... This is unfortunate since it's hard to really clean all the little bits of play-doh off it, and it does eventually shed a lot of play-doh crumbs all around its environs.

Plasma car

Paul Banas — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 22:18:21 +0000

Self propelled car - rides like magic.