aMuse Bloghttp://www.amusetoysblog.com/blog/en-US2012-02-16T04:36:52ZSquarespace Site Server v5.11.81 (http://www.squarespace.com/)Toy Fair Finds: Eco Bonkshttp://www.amusetoysblog.com/blog/2012/2/15/toy-fair-finds-eco-bonks.htmlaMuse Toys2012-02-15T12:00:53ZExtraordinary Gifts Made by US Toy Fair aMuse Toy Fair 2012 Top Pick
Our mission every year is to find beautiful, purposeful playthings and so far Toy Fair 2012 is proving to deliver on just that.

We simply can't explain how excited we are to add Eco Bonks by Pueri Elemental to our roster of quality playthings. Their beautiful design, eco-conscious beginnings and Made in the USA manufacturing make them an aMuse Toy Fair 2012 Top Pick.

The concept of an earth-friendly and exquisitely designed, inflatable bop-bag was born of a parent's desire to have a durable and attractive alternative to the flimsy and disposable offerings of the past.

The first release will include three adorable characters Abigal (elephant), Jackson (bear), and Logan (penguin) with Emma (owl), Noah (whale), Lily (gibbon) soon to follow. Each bop bag is made of biodegradable vinyl and includes one soft cotton character cover [additional covers sold separately]. A portion of every purchase will benefit the Wildlife Alliance in support of animal protection and forestry preservation. 

What we love: Made in the USA [some components are made in Maryland!], bio-degradable and family owned.

Look for these at both locations and amusetoys.com in June. Preorder via email at mail@amusetoys.com. 

Fan aMuse Toys on Facebook or follow aMuse on Twitter and be the first to know when shipments arrive! 

]]>Happy Valentine's Day!http://www.amusetoysblog.com/blog/2012/2/14/happy-valentines-day.htmlaMuse Toys2012-02-14T16:48:34Z

]]>Toy Fair!http://www.amusetoysblog.com/blog/2012/2/11/toy-fair.htmlaMuse Toys2012-02-11T18:20:07ZEvents Toy Fair Toy Fair 12

Claudia Towles, Owner of aMuse Toys

It’s that time of the year when toy industry professionals meet at the New York City Javits Center for the largest display of playthings in the country. Tom and I have attended many times before, but this year we are particularly excited. For the first time, we will be closing down both locations for one day (Monday, February 13th) so that our amazing team can attend Toy Fair 12 with us.

As employers, Tom and I enjoy providing meaningful experiences and growth opportunities for our staff, not only to encourage their professional development, but also to sustain the level of customer service we pride ourselves of at aMuse Toys.

Be sure to like us on Facebook and follow our musings on Twitter as we will be sharing our observations and experiences all week long. You can also see all our whacky behind the scenes picture stories on Instagram.

(cool) Progeny’s fantastic editor-in-chief will also be tagging along so don’t forget to check out their take on our busy week. It’s going to be a great trip!


]]>DIY with Alex Toys: Sticker Factoryhttp://www.amusetoysblog.com/blog/2012/2/10/diy-with-alex-toys-sticker-factory.htmlaMuse Toys2012-02-10T15:20:00Z

The kits highlighted in our new series, DIY with Alex Toys, inspire creativity and personal expression while building lifelong skills with practical applications. 

 

Stickers are a childhood staple and kids of all ages LOVE the ability to customize thier stuff. The Alex Toys Sticker Factory allows kids to make stickers using their own drawings, stencils & magazine clippings, making the design possibilities endless.

 

Also works as fantastic tool for polishing fine motors skills while creating fun, unique stickers. Who said motor skill refinement had to be boring?


The Sticker Factory Kit includes everything a little artist needs; an 8.5” x 11” sheet of stickers, 1 roll of sticker paper (10 feet), 1 roll of sticker film (10 feet), 1 stencil, burnishing tool, and a pencil.

 

]]>Valentine's Day: Heart Themed Giftshttp://www.amusetoysblog.com/blog/2012/2/9/valentines-day-heart-themed-gifts.htmlaMuse Toys2012-02-09T17:04:57ZValentine’s Day is right around the corner! We’ve put together a few gift suggestions for the little sweethearts in your life: 

 

Cool Progeny Valentine Cards
These valentine cards created by our friends at (cool) progeny are a beautiful alternative to the run-of-the-mill boxed valentines. Each package contains 18 cards and envelopes of 6 different designs, perfect for everyone in your life. As an added bonus, a portion of the proceeds go to the Baltimore Child Abuse Center.


Alex I Love Crafts
This multi-project kit includes everything needed to make 10 different Valentine’s-themed crafts. Complete with a variety of materials like beads, ribbon, foam, and glitter glue, children can create “love”ly picture frames, albums, jewelry, and more! The wide variety of materials allow for endless creativity. Contains easy to follow instructions and is suitable for ages 7 and up.

Mad Libs in Love
Who doesn't LOVE mad libs? With ridiculously simple directions, mad libs are a brilliant way for kids [and adults, of course!] to practice language skills while having some serious word fun!

Melissa and Doug Crafts
The Create-a-Craft Wooden Heart Bead Set includes everything needed to make beautiful necklaces and bracelets; simply attach the sparkly stickers and gems to the heart beads and string them onto the provided cords.

With the Decorate-Your-Own Wooden Heart Chest, children use paint, glitter glue, and gems to personalize their own keepsake box.

“Reflect” your child’s creativity with the Decorate-Your-Own Wooden Heart Mirror. This kit includes stickers, gems, and glitter glue that can be used to customize your own two-piece mirror.

Be sure to stop by either aMuse location to stock up on some Valetine’s Day fun! Don't forget to like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter for even more heart day gift ideas.

]]>Game University: Bananagramshttp://www.amusetoysblog.com/blog/2012/2/8/game-university-bananagrams.htmlaMuse Toys2012-02-08T15:00:00Z
Bananagrams is a simple to learn, fast moving, addictive, fun and educational word game that can be played virtually anywhere.  No waiting turns, no paper and pencil. Great fun for the whole family.

 
In Bananagrams, players race to be the first to use all their tiles in connecting and intersecting words. Since everyone plays at the same time and speed matters more than word length, one hand can be played in as little as five minutes. Bananagrams comes in a compact banana-shaped pouch, making it a perfect game for travel.

 
Banangrams is also available in Spanish and now Hebrew! For the word enthusiasts [or spelling bee champs] there is also Double Bananagrams which contains more tiles for longer word play.



How to Play

Place all 144 tiles face down in the center of the table. These tiles are called the BUNCH. Each player takes tiles from the bunch and places them face-down in front of them. The number of tiles you take depends on the number of people playing: 21 tiles for 2-4 players, 15 for 5-6 players and 11 tiles for 7 players.

Any player can start the game by saying “SPLIT!” Players imediatley turn their tiles face up and start forming their own crosswords. Words can be horizontal or vertical, going from left to right or top to bottom. Players can rearrange their own words as often as they want. It’s a race to the finish!

There are no turns in Bananagrams, so each player creates their own crossword independently of one another.  


When a player successfully uses all their letters in a crossword, he or she says “PEEL!” and takes a tile from the bunch. When this happens, everybody has to take a tile and add it to their collection of letters.

At any time (and without limit), a player can return a troublesome letter back to the bunch. The catch is that they must take three letters in return. The player declares this by saying “DUMP!”. This doesn’t affect any of the other players.

 

You can’t use proper nouns like names and misspelled words don’t count --having a dictionary on hand helps keep things fair.

The game continues until there are fewer tiles in the bunch than there are players. At that point, the first player with no remaining letters shouts “BANANAS!” and is the winner!

Players then check the crossword for misspelled or incorrect words. If the words are acceptable, then that player is the WINNER.

If any word is unacceptable, that player becomes the “ROTTEN BANANA” and is out of that round. The “ROTTEN BANANA”  returns all their letters face down to the bunch and the game resumes for the remaining players.

Banangrams has won countless awards and is great game for improving word skills, spelling, word retrieval and sequencing. With so many possible variations, Bananagrams can easily be adapted to suit a variety of ages and abilities.

 
Can you spot the words in our multi-lingual letter piles? Leave us a comment below!
]]>Printable Valentines for aMuse Kids!http://www.amusetoysblog.com/blog/2012/2/7/printable-valentines-for-amuse-kids.htmlaMuse Toys2012-02-07T15:44:42Z

We have a feeling your kid is going to love handing out these cool Valentines to their friends at school this year. Simply download the PDF, print on an 8.5"x11" sheet of cardstock, and cut along the dotted line! Beautiful!

Children can cut out the cards themselves and write names of friends and their own names for an educational activity. If they do just a couple each day over the next week, it won't be too overwhelming!

Happy Valentine's Day from the whole aMuse family!

Click here to download the PDF Valentines.

]]>Moments in Childhood: Smart Cookiehttp://www.amusetoysblog.com/blog/2012/2/6/moments-in-childhood-smart-cookie.htmlaMuse Toys2012-02-06T18:52:29ZWe only get one shot at childhood. As parents, we hope to be mindful of the many beautiful moments we find along the way. Every Monday, we will honor one of these moments in our series, Moments in Childhood. If you have a Moment in Childhood you would like to share, please email us at blog@amusetoys.com!

Moments in Childhood is sponsored by theWAIREHOUSE

]]>DIY with Alex Toys: Silk Screen Factoryhttp://www.amusetoysblog.com/blog/2012/2/3/diy-with-alex-toys-silk-screen-factory.htmlaMuse Toys2012-02-03T12:00:00Z
The kits highlighted in our new series, DIY with Alex Toys, inspire creativity and personal expression while building lifelong skills with practical applications. 

This week's feature is one of our favorites at aMuse. Simple. Fun. Silk screening. The kit is slated for ages 7+ and even though there's lots of pink, both girls and boys will get a kick out of customizing their stuff. Works on t-shirts, bandanas, flags, etc.

Kids can also make cool designs on paper to hang in their rooms or make cards for special occasions. The possibilities are endless! 

 

The Silk Screen Factory kit includes 14 stencil designs, silk sheets, 4 bright colors of ink and easy to follow instructions. Kids can also use tape to create unique designs for their creations.

 
This really is the easiest way to silk screen. Just snap in the silk, slide in the stencil and print. Who knows, this may just inspire the next famous fashion designer!

 

Check out the step by step instructions in this video made by our friends at Alex Toys.

]]>Treasure Map Playdate Roundup!http://www.amusetoysblog.com/blog/2012/1/31/treasure-map-playdate-roundup.htmlaMuse Toys2012-01-31T12:00:50ZEvents

We had an awesome time building Baltimore's biggest and definitely, COOLEST treasure map this Saturday!

Our friends at Cool Progeny, Classic Play and A Childhood List outdid themselves with great giveaways, awesome props for our photo booth and the amazing outline of Baltimore. 

How many Charm City treasures can you spot?

 

 

Lots of coloring, cutting and pasting!

 

We all had a little fun playing around with the props and posing in front of the Baltimore skyline designed by team members Casey and Sarah.

Thanks to Dave Cooper for joining us and capturing all the silly smiles and treasure mapping.

We'll be submitting pictures of our Charm City creation to Big Kids Magazine for possible inclsion in their publication. Stay tuned, our treasure map could go global!

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