Chicken Count is a game for kids 4 and up.  It doesn’t require any reading, so for us, it made it a lot easier for Madison to play.  Your goal is to collect the most chickens by the chicken coop is built.  It is pretty easy.  You draw cards.  If you get a chicken card, you keep it.  If you get a chicken coop card, you pick a chicken coop piece and place it on the coop.  If you draw a fox, you lose all your chicken cards.  When the chicken coop has been built, the person with the most chicken cards wins.  it is a pretty fast pace game, so it is great for this age group who have a short attention span.  We had lots of giggles when we played this.

Where Do I Live? is a memory game.  Your goal is to have the most pairs at the end.  You try and turn over cards and match animals to their homes.  For example, bee matches to beehives, house to a boy, and a pond to a frog.  Not only is this game fun to play, it really opens a dialogue with your kids.  You get to talk about all of these animals and their homes.  This game is for kids 4 and up and doesn’t require any reading.

These two games are winners in our house.  They are very age appropriate and have been played here quite a bit.  We had lots of fun, and you will too.

I recently came across a site called Oh! Toys that has some of the most unique toys on the US market.  The toys on this site stimulate creativity and development.  Also, these toys are a lot of fun, and you won’t find them at your local toy store.

Most of the toys on the Oh! Toys site are for kids between the ages of 3 and 10.  However, the Sina einSTEIN blocks can be used by all ages.  As you can see from the above pictures, we made it a family event!  The shapes of these blocks are truly nothing you have ever seen before.  You can made some of the most unique things with them:

Have you seen any blocks that allow you to make such interesting shapes? I know I haven’t.  Sina’s einStein Blocks have 36 pieces – 9 blocks in red, blue, yellow, and green.  I noticed that they also really made my 4 year old think.  This aren’t your normal traditional blocks.  You can’t build a tower like you normally would with them.  However, you can build so many new cool things.  These blocks are something she will definitely be able to use for a while.  Now, Will (my one year old) was able to help with the tower (a little), but his main goal was to knock down whatever Madison and Daddy were building.  They made it through the rath of a 1 year old and no harm was done to my walls or the blocks.

If you need a toy for that kid who has everything, this is definitely it.  It will make them think and allow them to create to their mind’s delight.

Ever lose your temper and just not know the right way to apologize or even if you should? Then The Art Of The Apology is the book for you.  This guide will show you how to make an effective apology in any situation – at work, at home, or in life, and offers practical advice on how to recover from mistakes and restore good relationships.  This book has great advice to figuring out why you are apologizing at all (what is your goal for your apology) and what you need to do before you apologize (like how far will you go to make amends).  Those are just the first two chapters!  You will also learn the six essential elements to an effective apology, when to apologize, the most common ways to screw up an apology and how to avoid them, how to accept an apology and learning from your apologies.  This makes a great gift for young people who are about to go off to college, adults at any stage of their careers, or anyone who could use a little help learning to apologize.