What's New

Challenge Is Good But Don't Overdo It

Mon, 28 Jun 2010 16:52:17 +0000

Reviewing things they already know helps them remember them but in order to go forward they must learn to grasp new concepts. Challenge also keeps a child interested.

While challenge is a very good thing it is important not to go overboard with it. Doing so will just cause the child to become frustrated. He might give up on the task at hand and even develop distaste for the entire subject.

So how do you know how much challenge is too much? Sometimes it is difficult. It is important to keep activities attainable while still making sure that the child is in fact learning new things.

Here are some ways to do that.

* Electronic educational toys often allow parents and children to choose a skill level. Make sure that your child is working on a level that is appropriate for him. If you're not sure, watch while your child goes through the levels starting with the lowest. Determine the highest level he has mastered and have him work on the next one.

* Most computer learning games automatically go to the next level when a child has mastered the previous one. If there is an option to save the game at each level, try to make sure that he does so. Then, instead of going back through things he already knows each time he plays, he can start out on a level that is a challenge for him.

* An older child's schoolwork might be a good indicator of what he has mastered and what he needs to work on. If there is an area he has trouble in you could expand on it at home. If he appears to have mastered everything you may want to talk to his teacher about giving him more advanced work to do at school or at home.

* If your child has educational toys that he doesn't play with try to determine why. He will probably just tell you that he doesn't like them, but it could be that they are either above or below his individual level. If you can get him to try them while you supervise, it could provide some valuable insight and help you make better selections in the future.

Working on a level that is comfortable for your child yet provides a challenge is crucial to his educational success. Too little challenge will cause your child to become bored and too much could cause frustration and low self-esteem.

Always remember what is good for one child might be very different from what is good for another child of the same age. Taking cues from your child will help you decide what level is the best for him.

Blocks are More Than Just Blocks

Tue, 22 Jun 2010 23:15:16 +0000

Blocks are great toys for children of all ages. Infants love soft blocks to look at, squeeze, chew on and drop. Toddlers like to put blocks in boxes and pour them out or pile them on the floor. Preschoolers can build towers, houses, animals and more with blocks.

Blocks are a great way to keep your child occupied, but they also have lots of educational benefits. Here are some ways that children learn from blocks.

Social Development

Blocks are fun for one child, but two or more make them much more interesting. Young children enjoy playing with blocks in groups. It is a great way to encourage children to learn to share and cooperate with others. As your child grows, she and her playmates may learn to work together to build things.

Physical Development

Small children can gain hand strength from blocks. They are also one of the best toys for developing hand-eye coordination. Babies like to drop or throw them. Toddlers will attempt to arrange and stack them and eventually learning to balance them.

Intellectual Development

Alphabet blocks are one of the best educational toys money can buy. Most of them are brightly colored and feature letters of the alphabet and numbers. Young children can begin to sort them by color and eventually they will learn the names of the colors. Then they can begin to learn the letters and numbers. Once your child has mastered his letters, the blocks are great for quizzing him on which letter makes which sound.

Blocks are also excellent for introducing math. They can put the numbers in order to practice counting, and they can count the blocks themselves to learn how to count objects. Eventually they can use them to experiment with addition and subtraction.

Creativity

Building is quite the creative process for children. It's a great feeling when they learn to balance several blocks on top of each other. From there they will begin to build simple structures. Then they will move on to elaborate houses, schools and even castles.

Lego blocks provide more flexibility in building. They also allow kids to move their creations to other locations. While regular building blocks are better for smaller children, Lego blocks are a good replacement when they seem to have outgrown them.

Kids can learn a number of things from blocks. Because they are learning through participation, they will retain the knowledge more readily. What more could you ask for out of an educational toy?

Personalized Singing Stuffed Plush Animals

Sun, 06 Jun 2010 22:39:13 +0000

Check out our new toy department to see the personalized singing plush Satin Husky Dog, it is one of 20 new personalized singing plush animals we will be adding ove the next couple of weeks.

Scrapbooking for Beginners

Thu, 27 May 2010 13:30:37 +0000

But with all the elaborate scrapbooking techniques and myriad embellishments available, getting started can be intimidating.

The truth is, anyone that can use scissors and glue can scrapbook. And you don't have to spend ridiculous amounts of money to create attractive pages. With some basic supplies and a little imagination, you can create lovely scrapbooks that will be adored for years to come.

What You Need

You can get started scrapbooking on a small budget. Here are the things you'll need.

* An album - Scrapbooking albums come in all shapes and sizes. The most popular are 8 1/2" x 11" and 12" x 12". They can be found at most craft supply stores if you don't have a scrapbooking supply store nearby.

* Paper - Scrapbooking paper can be found in a variety of solid colors and patterns. This will be the basis for each page. You may also use scrapbooking paper for journaling and to create your own photo mats and embellishments.

* Cutting tools - You can easily get by with just a good pair of scissors. But an Exacto knife might make photo cropping easier. And if you're no good at cutting straight lines, you might want to invest in a paper cutter.

* Adhesives - There are all sorts of adhesives one could use for scrapbooking. Glue sticks and double-sided tape are quite popular. Some scrapbookers also use rubber cement or glue dots for certain applications. But when you're getting started, just use what you're most comfortable with.

* Photos - Beginning scrapbookers often start out with old photos that they've accumulated over the years. This makes for a nice, nostalgic album. Of course you can also take new pictures for your scrapbook. A digital camera and photo printer are two modern conveniences that make scrapbooking easier, but they are not necessities. Photos taken by a film camera work just as well.

When purchasing scrapbooking supplies, it's important to make sure they are acid-free. This will keep them from harming your priceless photos.

Basic Techniques

You don't have to know a lot about scrapbooking techniques to create an attractive album. Just a few simple techniques will suffice.

One of the first things many scrapbookers learn is how to mat photos. This can be accomplished by simply cutting a square or rectangle that is about a half inch longer and wider than the photo you want to mat. Then glue the photo to the center. To make a photo really stand out, double mat it by cutting out a shape a half inch longer and wider than the first mat, and center the matted photo on it.

Journaling gives scrapbook pages a nice personal touch. Simply write a note about the photos on a page, telling what was happening or sharing your thoughts on the subject. Use paper that coordinates with the background, and be sure to write with an acid-free pen.

Adding borders to your pages gives them a finished look. You can make them out of strips of coordinating scrapbook paper. You don't have to border all four sides. A strip along the top, side or bottom will do. For easy embellishing, use some stickers.

There's no need to throw in the towel if you don't have the time, money or know-how to create elaborate scrapbooks. Just start off simple, and learn new techniques as you go.

New Newsletter Subscribers

Tue, 25 May 2010 16:35:06 +0000

To start things off we give every new subscriber a 10% off coupon good toward you next purchase, just for subscribing. Coupon code is in the newsletter confirmation email.

As easy as 1 2 3 you can be saving 10%

1> Subscribe

2> Confirm your subscription

3> Use your coupon

But the savings doesn't stop there...

OH NO...

Every month the newsletter will contain the latest specials - (These specials are only for subscribers.. ) We never publish these offers for general consumption.

On occasion we include exclusive discount offers from our sister websites.. for our subscribers only!

So what are you waiting for???

Sandra Lee

PS... We never rent, sell or share your email address with anyone, you will only recieve email from RLNstores and/or This Website - Children-Gifts.com

You can unsubscibe at any time, by visiting "my account" and clicking on "Newsletter" or by clicking on the unsubscribe link in every email we sent.

Photo Personalized DVD

Mon, 17 May 2010 02:09:51 +0000

Just back from the new products trip... and boy do I have a great new products to tell you about. Let's start with Photo Personalized DVDs.

I know you're thinking what is this gal talking about... the PP-DVD is an animated cartoon movie in which we insert the photo of a child's face into the creation software and a few clicks latter we have a themed cartoon featuring your child, dog, cat, mom, dad... or whom ever you want to star in their very own cartoon. The possiblities are endless.

We will be offering 5 titles just as soon as we get our new software installed and inventory in stock. The cost is $29.95

The titles are:

Snow White

Turbo Kid

Little Mermaid

My Dream Book

Amazing Kid

In the fall of 2010: Amazing Dad - same product idea as Amazing kid only for Dad, makes a great gift for dad to tell him how special he is to you.... Look for the preview demo on Children-Gifts very soon...

UPDATE: The Amazing Dad DVD has been added.. Click here for more info or to view a demo.

I'm giving my Dad this DVD for Christmas!

We also have the video version of our best selling audio CD "Jesus Loves You!" Available in 2067 names, it is available now only $29.95, if your kids have the love the audio version, they will go ape for the video version... the is $29.95 it is available now..

Our purple friend... Barney is coming to Children-Gifts. The Barney and Friends audio CD is available in 1600 names with 27 tracks, the cost is $24.95. Look for the preview demo on Children-Gifts very soon... it's available now.

I think I have found some truely great additions to offer to our collection this year.. I haven't been this excited in a long time...

You can order all the items mentioned here are in our store.

Sandra Lee