New Toy Alert: EDTOY Dinosaurs & Magnamobiles

EDTOY products are designed to maximize the balance between creativity, social skills and problem solving abilities within a child. Playing with building toys enhances children's hand-eye coordination while developing finger dexterity.

Whether carnivorous or herbivorous, these dinosaurs are fun to create and move!  Their simple shapes and unique, rotating magnetic technology, allow kids to build a dino figure for a Jurassic adventure-or mix and match multiple dino pieces to create their own prehistoric species.

Magnamobiles are designed for kids to exercise their creativity.  By putting the pieces together and taking them apart kids can create new and inventive vehicles.  MagnaMobiles roll, carry, lift, dig, drop and spin much like the real life machines they are modeled after.

 

Vehicles have multi-faceted connection points that join together with a unique rotating magnet technology for building and attaching pieces together.  Blocks and pieces also make a clicking sound when joined together or turned. 

With multiple connectors on every piece, kids will have fun creating their own custom vehicles.  What kid doesn't like taking things apart and making their own creations?

While both the Dinosaurs and Magnamobiles are slated for ages 3+, kids beyond that age will naturally create more complex designs.

All MagnaMobiles and Dinosaurs are made from high quality beech wood with a non-toxic finish.

Stop by either aMuse Toys location to see these cool new dinos and vehicles in person. If you are not local email us for information on how to purchase them.

Gift Guide for Babies

Manhattan Toy Skwish Mobile

This colorful wooden mobile engages baby's eyes and brightens up any nursery. Its design is crafted after Manhattan Toy's modern-day classic toy called Skwish. Babies love its atomic-looking structure with brightly colored spheres and rods.

Read more about Skwish...

GBaby Magnets

These chunky oversized magnetic pieces by GBaby are great for developing early motor skills. Babies learn to grasp the shapes as they put them together and pull them apart. The character covers allow for narrative play as the child grows older, and they double as a bath toy. 

Read more about Gbaby Magnets...

ALEX Toys My Busy Town

This wooden activity center, My Busy Town by ALEX Toys, is perfect for early learning. Babies sit or stand next to the box to open doors, navigate mazes and spin an abacus. Each side is adorned with something engaging and educational. Oh, and it looks great in a playroom!

Kleynimals

These "clean keys" for babies known as Kleynimals were developed by a Maryland mother. They look and feel just like real keys to distract babies from grabbing yours. They feature rounded edges, playful characters and are made from dishwasher-safe, food-grade stainless steel. 

Read more about Kleynimals...

Twilight Turtle

Twilight Turtles by Cloud B project the constellations of the night sky onto a child's ceiling. It's a soothing night light and a learning activity in one. When children are younger, you can adjust the color of the light to whatever the child finds most soothing, and when they're older it is a lesson in Astronomy. It is a modern-day classic, and a must-have for any nursery.

Read more about Twilight Turtles...

Sophie the Giraffe

This classic French teething toy, Sophie the Giraffe, has been delighting babies worldwide for over fifty years. She is made in France from a natural rubber and is painted with food-quality dyes. They love her unique shape to teethe hard-to-reach back molars.  

Read more about Sophie the Giraffe...

Kathe Kruse

Kathe Kruse products have been handmade in Europe for over one hundred years. Each piece is artfully crafted by skilled seamstresses and are specially designed to be soft, safe and sanitary. Kathe Kruse baby products are machine washable.   

Read more about Kathe Kruse...

HABA Discoverer's Meadow Play Mat

This soft tummy mat is perfect for early play. Babies explore the meadow by feeling different textures, gazing at different colors and patterns and playing with the different animals. Its sophistocated design keeps it relevant as a play environment for older children as well. 

Read more about HABA...

IQ Baby Knock Knock Blocks

The beautiful soft blocks Knock Knock Blocks by IQ Baby are purposefully designed with high contrast patterns and brightly colored images to engage baby's visual senses. Each piece features differently textured fabrics, interactive doors and windows to explore. Great for early stacking to encourage gross motor development. 

HABA Wooden Clutching & Teething Toys 

HABA's clutching and teething toys are made of solid beech wood and colored with vegetable-based water dyes. They are buffed to a nice sheen, so no chemicals are used in giving the wood its beautiful finish. All of HABA's wooden products are responsibly manufactured in Germany.

Nathaniel's Favorites: Winkel & Skwish

Nathaniel, my son, has no clue how lucky he is that I work at aMuse. I joined the aMuse family as the assistant manager of the Fells Point store over a year ago, and I now find myself surrounded (and tempted!) by toys on a daily basis.

Nathaniel’s 1st birthday falls in early December with Christmas following closely behind. That said, our house now looks like a third location of aMuse. I not only started excitedly buying toys way before he was born (and kept buying up until the last minute!), his grandparents, aunts, uncles and friends of our family are now aMuse fans and customers too!

When I look at the toys scattered across the house, I sometimes think about the very first toys that he really started ‘playing’ with. Two of our early favorites were the Winkle (renamed "the Atom" in our house) and the Skwish - both by Manhattan Toy Company.

The Winkle was attached beautifully to the outside of one of our baby shower gifts. It has many brightly colored pliable loops attached to a rattle in the center.

The colors are fantastic, and it has a slight rattle with many loops that my little guy loves to grasp and chew on. He’s been engaging with it in various forms from as early as 2-3 months old. It was also one of the very first toys he picked up and began ‘playing’ with himself. It’s approachable for a new baby because of its lightweight, large size and many places to put little fingers.

Now that Nathaniel is getting older, he’s playing with it in more complex ways. He loves shaking it as a rattle and loves banging it on any surface available. It’s also still one of his favorite things to chew on.

The Skwish was a ‘mommy purchase’ when Nathaniel was about 6 months old. We both love the colors and sounds. The fact that he’s able manipulate the unique molecular-like shape in any direction is endlessly fascinating to him.

The Skwish, like the Winkle, continues to grow with him. Since he has started crawling, he loves to bounce it on the floor and loves chasing it down - panting like our puppy dog the whole time! (Our lab/border collie LOVES to chase balls and Nathaniel is obviously enthralled...)

Much to our chagrin, Nathaniel’s first word was "woof." He loves to spend time in the dog’s bed in front of the large window and play with his toys. The Skwish and Winkel are some of his favorite things to bang against the window, and he sometimes launches them at our poor dog. Still in his constant state of teething, he continues to chew them up.

We love our Winkel and Skwish and look forward to getting them both for Nathaniel's newest baby cousin.  

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Toys: Off the Floor and Out the Door, Part II

Considering I design for aMuse, it's no wonder that Fiona has really awesome toys. The problem with that is that when she loses one, Mama gets a little too upset. The Toy Sitter not only works with a stroller, as shown in Elizabeth's previous post, but also works with a carrier. It's especially useful when Fiona's on my back and I can't keep a good eye on her (my) favorite toy.