This kit is filled with a ton of supplies: an album, beads, ribbons, pre-cut fabric and felt shapes, buttons, zigzag scissors, glitter glue, sticky dots, instructions and tons more! You can make over 10 heart-themed projects including cards, jewelry and a picture frame.

Lori (age 4) was a little young for this kit (the box says 7+), but was able to make some pretty cute cards. My Niece, Alyssa, (age 10) had so much fun making all of the different projects. She especially liked the accordion style scrapbook album.  I enjoyed using the embroidery floss and felt to sew a bookmark!

The coordinating red, pink and white patterns on all the stickers, papers and embellishments made our projects look lovely!

Why I love this kit:

Tons of Activities – Kit includes materials for over 10 different projects.  Make jewelry, cards, frames, bookmarks and more.

Make Great Gifts –each one of the projects makes a perfect gift for someone you love!

Do you know someone who loves crafts as much as these girls do?

This time, I decided to try out the ALEX Finger Paint Pumps, Finger Paint Paper and No-Mess Finger Paint Tray. Here it goes…

Lori was able to pump the paint out on her own. There were no drips or messy caps to screw back on. The paints were a good consistency and didn’t leak all over.… so far so good.

Her favorite part was mixing colors – a great learning tool. The colors were nice and bright. She also liked to draw in the paint with her fingers and erase it with the palm of her hand, doing it over and over!

Julie went to town, swooshing the paint all around her paper. The No-Mess Tray did a good job of keeping everything contained. The tray acts as a designated space for coloring and prevents the table from turning into a canvas! She really enjoyed getting her fingers all messy and making hand-prints on her paper.

The paint washed right off their hands with water and was super easy to wipe off from the table.  The girls had tons of fun and the cleanup was not so bad after all. I see more finger paint in our future…

Why I love this product:

• Super washable, hands-on fun!
• Teach colors and mixing
• Enough supplies for multiple uses
• Creative freedom – no instructions, no lines, just imagination and fun!

What do you think, will you give it a try? Take pictures and let me know how it goes!

The girls were excited to see that the bright colored crayons glide onto the paper smoothly and effortlessly!  The twist-up tube is easy to grasp and keep the girls’ hands clean – a great feature for younger children.

Aeden discovered how easy it is to mix and blend colors together (blue + yellow = green, etc.) and Lori loved how the colors even showed up on black paper!  Each set of Creamy Crayons comes with a paintbrush to create a watercolor effect.   That’s my favorite part!

Coloring with Creamy Crayons and Metallic Creamy Crayons is a great creative activity – without the mess!

]]> http://blog.alextoys.com/2012/01/25/these-creamy-crayons-are-dreamy/feed/ 0 kaylatruppi creamycrayons1 creamycrayons3 creamycrayons2 creamycrayons4 http://blog.alextoys.com/2012/01/23/came-into-work-today-to-find-these-going-out/ http://blog.alextoys.com/2012/01/23/came-into-work-today-to-find-these-going-out/#comments Mon, 23 Jan 2012 20:16:19 +0000 kaylatruppi http://blog.alextoys.com/?p=2024 ]]> NEW 2012 Products for TOY FAIR!

These items are packed up and ready to go to the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in NYC where they will be introduced at Toy Fair. ALEX has been an exhibitor since our start in 1986 and we are excited to showcase our 2012 line!  We have been hard at work to make sure this year’s show is our best yet!

What is Toy Fair?

Toy Fair features more than 1,000 exhibitors from around the world who showcase their new and upcoming toy and entertainment products. It is held each February in NYC and is organized by the Toy Industry Association (TIA).

This years marks the 109th American International Toy Fair! The show takes place February 12th-15th.

The other day, my 3-and-a-half-year-old and I were getting into the car when he pointed up to the sky.

“What’s that?” he asked.

I looked up and saw a pipe on the roof of a building, emitting clouds of steam. “That’s called steam,” I told him. “That’s what happens when warm air mixes with cold air”.

He looked at me quizzically.

I thought fast. “Look,” I said, exhaling heavily. “Mommy makes steam, too!”.

His eyes widened.

“You try!”

He opened his mouth and blew. He was delighted when a small puff of steam eked out. After a few more successful tries, he happily bumbled into his car seat and we were on our way.

As someone who is a strictly summer weather person, I have learned to make the best of our East coast winters by taking the Mary Poppins approach: finding the fun in it. Winter weather is unpredictable, inconvenient and coooold, but it is also chocked full of learning experiences for kids.

If you can muster the energy to get yourself and your crew all bundled up, a snow-covered landscape is one of the best hands-on classrooms available. To help them learn about hot and cold, have your kids scoop up snowballs in plastic cups and bring them inside; they’ll learn quickly what happens when left in your warm kitchen overnight. Then take the water-filled cups and put them into the freezer to make ice (you can also mix in a little fruit juice for a colorful frozen treat!). Scope out icicles, crunchy leaves, and if you’re feeling brave, have your kids take off their gloves, put a little snow on their hands and watch the “magic”. Kids are little space heaters; those flakes will disappear in seconds.

If you don’t feel like braving the cold, you can let your kids make “art” on the windows of your house or car by breathing on them and “finger painting” on the steam – this is also great for literacy; kids just LOVE writing their names wherever they’re allowed to (and where they’re not allowed to, sometimes).

However you choose to spend this winter with your kids, remember to stay warm and have fun!

What fun Winter activities do you do with your kids?

Look through the ALEX Blog for fun & creative indoor activities to do like Making your own snow globes or Shrinky Dinks!

You will need:

• 1 baby food jar
• Glitter
• Glue Gun (an adult needs to do this part)
• Small plastic figure or decorations
• Cold water

Here is what you need to do:

1. Wash out the baby food jar and remove the label.

2. Have an adult use a glue gun to attach the plastic figure or decoration to the inside of the jar lid.

3. Fill the jar ½ inch from the top with water.

4. Add glitter

5. Screw lid on the jar, turn it upside down and shake!

This was such a fun project!

Lori loved her new snow globe so much that the next day she asked to make more. We decided to get even more creative with these and made each one a little different.

We even added a drop of food coloring in an underwater-themed one (don’t put in too much or you won’t be able to see the fish inside). We tried rainbow glitter and even sequins; they all turned out great! Since I already had the glue gun out, I glued a ribbon around the base (lid) of each snow globe. The girls keep shakin’ them up and watching the show (or should I say, snow?!)

Do you make any special crafts on cold snowy days? Please share!

I could hardly wait for Lori to be old enough to experience the magic of Shrinky Dinks!

The adorable artwork and pre-cut pieces make the Shrinky Dinks activity kits from ALEX a must have!  The ALEX kits feature over a dozen different themes including ballerinas, jewelry, ponies, pirates, insects, robots and more.  Great fun for boys and girls!  ALEX also has Shrinky Dinks minis that make great party favors.  You can find the entire line of kits here.

Take a look at Lori’s first Shrinky Dinks experience.  We made the Mermaids and Jewelry kits.

There are 10 pre-cut mermaids and underwater friends in the kit.  Lori colored them using the 8 brightly hued pencils that are included.  Next she placed them all on a lined cookie sheet.  I put them in the oven and we watched the shrinky show!!  SO exciting! Just like magic, in less than 3 minutes, the pieces shriveled and shrunk to one third of their original size!  Don’t worry if they look curled up right from the oven.  They will flatten as they cool.  After the pieces cooled down, Lori slid the characters into their stands and had fun playing with them.

I was planning on saving the second kit for another day, but after doing the mermaids she was BEGGING me for more! My little Shrinky Dinks enthusiast was thrilled to find over 40 shapes including butterflies, puppies, flowers and dozens more in the large sized Jewelry Kit. There were also beads, clips, string, earrings and instructions for how to make the projects. She colored, shrunk, beaded and made a charming necklace, bracelet, and a hair clip.  She loved how it all came out!

I think this would also be excellent activity to do with a little someone that is home sick; watching their colored artwork shrink down in the oven is sure to cheer them up!

Why we love this toy:

Works Like Magic! –Who doesn’t love watching Shrinky Dinks shrink?! Such an exciting and fun project!

No Cutting or Tracing Needed – All the shapes in these kits are pre-printed and pre-cut; the holes are pre-punched, too.

Added Value – After coloring and shrinking the shapes, they can be made into jewelry or played with for long lasting fun!

ALEX makes it easy – Watch the instructional video here!

I invited our adorable 7-year-old cousin Danny to come try this out…

Danny was excited to open the box and found lots of plastic nuts, bolts, wheels and even a screwdriver.  There were also many cardboard pieces to color, 6 markers and a sheet of stickers.

He started to color the robot parts and had fun drawing patterns in the grid lines. Next, he folded the pieces, clicked in all the nuts and washers, and used the screwdriver to secure them into place. After his robot was built, he decorated it with the colorful stickers that looked like different buttons and gauges.

The finished robot was a nice size.  The arms can move and the wheels really roll.  This guy had a great time coloring and building and also loved playing with his new toy robot!

Why I like this toy:

High Play Value –There is plenty to do with this toy; color, build and roll, and if you want to take it apart and build it again you can do that too!

Craft Kit for Boys –A cool craft that is not pink and purple and sparkly all over (although my girls thought this was neat, too! )

What kinds of creative activities do your boys enjoy?

A. Snuggle with stuffed animals?

B. Color with markers?

C. Do activities over and over again?

D. All of the above.

If you answered “D,” then a Color and Cuddle activity will be perfect for them!

This collection includes 6 different machine washable dolls that can be colored, cuddled, and washed again and again.

My girls tried out the Bunny and the Pony – take a look!

Each animal comes with 4 washable markers and removable clothing.  They also feature soft, colorful fleece accents.

Julie (age 2) was a little bit young for the coloring – she just scribbled all over it – but she loved doing it and directed me to draw on a few accessories -“da pony needs glasses and a tiara, mama”. Lori (age 4) really went to town coloring her bunny; she drew shoes, bracelets, eyelashes and carefully colored in her dress, too.

This was an awesome indoor project for a cold wintery day.

Lori adored her bunny and was so proud of the way it turned out. But she was excited to put it in the wash to see her come out clean, just like new.

We followed the instructions found on the back of the package.  We separated the outfit from the bunny and slipped them into a pillowcase.   Ta-dah! After a quick warm wash and air dry, it was time to start coloring again!

Lori’s reaction was priceless – it really looked brand spankin’ new!

Why I like this toy:

These dolls can be colored and washed over and over again!

You get a coloring activity and a cuddly stuffed animal all in one!