Parenting

If you’ve got piles of LEGOs in the house, individual models on every Christmas list and multiple bins designated to store extra bricks, you’re living with a hardcore LEGO fanatic. The LEGO Master Builder Academy series takes that passion, and teaches fans to be the best builders they can be!

You know hwo people are always saying video games are bad for children; that they rot the mind and damage one's inhibitions? Turns out that's not true. New research surfaced this week revealing that violent games are actually good for children. Wait, what?

I’ve got to give credit to Hasbro’s Nerf division, as they always end up innovating surprisingly novel ways for kids to blast, slap and throw to each other toys made with soft Nerf foam. This year’s cool new Nerf sport involves their Firevision tech, which literally places the football in an all new light.

Seriously though, Eco-Dough is an all-natural and creative substitute to that other ultra-popular modeling clay toy, but mostly composed of fruit, vegetable and plant extracts. If your kid has a nasty reaction to the wheat filled alternative, you’ll want to check this stuff out!

They’re just as destructive and creative as they are fun, and I really think that Crayola finally developed the art toy that every little boy on the planet wants: Something to build, smash and rebuild all over again. Then again, dinosaurs make everything better…

The Squeezy Freezy is a simple, yet effective gadget that transforms your favorite drinks into frosty fun! It's a colorful, squishable drink container that works as a mini slushy machine of sorts.

Blue Orange, makers of the award-winning matching card game “Spot It!,” has made the most interesting innovation of the genre since Milton Bradley’s “Guess Who?” made its debut 1979. That’s a pretty remarkable achievement for a set of 55 cards and a tin!

Kids love crafts, and they love showing off their creations. Thanksgiving, with gatherings of family and friends, is the perfect time to indulge kids with easy to make cute crafts. Here are 8 of my favorites:

Uncle Milton’s globular “Moon in my Room” is one of the prettiest and most entertaining nightlights that I’ve ever seen. What little astronaut wouldn’t want to fall asleep to the gentle glowing lunar cycle on their wall?

TOMY’s Battroborgs are an interesting combination of the Nintendo Wii’s motion controls and the classic Rock 'Em Sock 'Em Robots game that makes the theme of colorful pit fighting robots an exciting, innovative and exciting new toy.

Crowd-supporting website Quirky regularly receives ideas from inventors for a chance to have their proto-inventions made into mass manufactured products. Let’s take a peek at the latest batch of innovators and their interesting ideas:

An industrial design student received her PhD cum laude last month for her design of a Smart Jacket for premature babies. Her creation will, no doubt, launch a successful career for a new graduate, but change the lives of millions of premature infants and their families...

The further along a mom gets in her pregancy, the more she longs to just sit down and take a load off her feet.  But not too much, indicates the latest research from the University of Montreal; she should be mindful of the power of exercise to give her newborn a head start.

Here’s the ultimate list of the best “Toy of the Year” industry-leading activity toys that will get kids to create, build and doodle from the past five years. These creation-centered toys promote inventive and artistic playtime, and they’re all together in one handy guide: