First Time Mom and Losing It

Every year it never fails, my husband and I go overboard with the Christmas gifts. She is our only child so we tend to go a little crazy around the holidays. Even though she received a lot of gifts this year, there are only a select few that she still plays with on a consistent basis.


One of the Christmas toys I see my daughter take out at least once a day is the Lite Poppers. She always loved building and creating her own things so I knew she would love it. The lights on the Lite Poppers is a huge plus that keeps her entertained for a long time. My husband always loved building as a child too so it's nice to see them spending lots of quality time building. She is having fun creating and making stories with her new creations and I love that she is learning while she plays.

While playing with the Lite Poppers I know she is learning how to construct, problem solve and using fine motor skills. Looking at the colorful and easy to follow instructions also helps to start on math and reading skills. At first we built the models in the book together and then I let her go at it inventing her own models.


Lite Poppers is a construction toy with unique spherical pieces that click and pop together to create virtually anything you want. It comes with a rechargable LED base that lights up the pieces. It also comes with cute little characters that can interact with your creation to create a great story. The fun and colorful instructions, comic book and trading cards that also come with each kit gets the kids interested in reading too.


For more information on Lite Poppers and to find out how you can purchase your own, head on over to www.litepoppers.com.

When I went to the Toy Insider HoliDAY of play event in October I was most excited to see the toys that taught while being fun. Being a former teacher and a mom of a soon to be preschooler I know the types of toys that would keep her engaged. Since she will be going to Pre-K4 soon I want her to learn at home as much as possible while she plays.

At the HoliDAY of play event they had a whole category just for STEM. STEM covers Science, Technology, Engineering and Math. When I first went to the STEM station I didn't think that there would be many things for a three year old, boy was I wrong! The Thames & Kosmos company has some amazing engineering kits and three of them were aimed at kids 3+.


The one that mostly caught my eye was the Amusement Park Engineer kit. My daughter is at the age now that she can finally get into some rides at the arcade we go to. I love that this kit is a part of a fun story involving two very curious kids. They build simple models to solve problems that their family encounters while at the amusement park. While reading the story you can help your child build 20 different structures and machines. Some of these structures include a Ferris wheel, carousel, pirate ship pendulum, bumper car and so much more.

The Amusement Park Engineer kit is made up of large and colorful plastic building pieces that are perfect for little hands. While the kids are having fun building the structures it helps develop fine motor skills. It is also helping with science and math skills, and reasoning and development skills.

Click on the link to learn more about the Amusement Park Engineer. They also have an Automobile Engineer Kit and an Aircraft Engineer Kit.


Which one of the kits would you have most fun playing and learning with?