TOYS & GAMES
Monopoly Deal -- a new favourite family game (which is perfect for traveling too!)
This summer we met with family friends during our holiday in France, and our children were introduced to a new game: Monopoly Deal. Which is basically 'Mini Monopoly' -- not only in size but also in time! The size of a deck of cards, this game can be played in just about 15 minutes and ...
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OUTDOORS
Our cubby house -- by Castle & Cubby
Last year, around this time, I met Kellie and Jonathan Stones at an event here in Byron. Kellie and Jonathan are the husband and wife team behind the family-run business, Castle & Cubby -- they design and create the coolest, eco-friendly cubby houses, tree houses, mud kitchens, sand pits, garden boxes and outside furniture! How ...
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OUT OF TOWN
Strawberry Picking at Tanaka Farms in Irvine
One of the many great things about living in California is that delicious fruits, vegetables, nuts, avocados and olives grow in abundance in this sunny state. There are large farms throughout the state that produce these delicacies for the rest of the nation and world. We are lucky to have access to a smaller more ...
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PLAY
The Kidspace Children's Museum in Pasadena
Most children's museums (that we have been to) are indoors. Which is quite a bummer when the weather is nice out! The Kidspace Museum in Pasadena has exhibits indoors and outdoors, which is one of the many reasons we really like visiting. The museum sits on a 3.5 acre lot and next to the Rose ...
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PLAY
Noah's Arc at the Skirball Cultural Center
Noah's Arc at the Skirball Cultural Center is located in the Santa Monica Mountains, close to the Getty Center. It's an interactive "playground" themed after the story of Noah's Arc, where children become part of the experience by bringing the story to life themselves! Children can climb, operate and pretend play on the large vessel ...
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PLAY
Lechuza Beach in Malibu - A Hidden Gem
Lechuza Beach is a tranquil and little-known beach in Malibu located below private residences at the north end of Broad Beach Road. Its a public beach with a very private vibe, because to access the beach you have to park in a private neighborhood and walk right past peoples private homes to get there. A ...
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PLAY
Weekend Play – The 'Green Playground' at Øster Farimagsgades Skole
It's a fact little-known to Copenhagen's visitors that at weekends, the playgrounds of the city's public schools and børnehaver (pre-schools) are open for anyone to romp in. If the suns out (or if it's not, which in this Nordic city is a high possibility!) and the gates are open, they're yours for the taking. This ...
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TOYS & GAMES
Add a slackline to your outdoor adventures!
We had an awesome holiday this summer -- simple, refreshing and surrounded by good friends. It has been a hectic year, so it was especially wonderful for the whole family to be able to sleep for hours and never get out of our pyjamas. Our batteries have been recharged! We tried out new recipes, sat ...
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TEAM FAVOURITES
Team Favourites : Family Games
Games are one of the best ways to put aside all the distractions of modern day life, and just have some fun together as a family... and perhaps even get a bit competitive! :) We have chosen these games because most of them can be played from three years old, which means everyone can join in and bond ...
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PLAY
The carousel at Jardin du Ranelagh
If you come to the Western part of Paris, the Jardin du Ranelagh is sure worth a little excursion with your children. It is one of those parks designed to make kids happy! Big lawns, playground, sandbox, poney riding, sweets shop, puppet theater, ping pong tables and of course the carousel! The Jardin du Ranelagh ...
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TOYS & GAMES
Dream Car, by Huzi
It's always so great when children's toys are not only great toys (encouraging kids to create, learn and be imaginative), but also when they look so good you'd rather display it on a shelf in the living room than hide it at the bottom of the toy box. The Dream Car, designed by Mike Mak for Huzi, ...
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PARIS
Exciting new spaces in Paris
For once I am giving the urban planners of Paris a cautious thumbs up: this summer not one, but two new public, urban spaces opened! And, to boot, they are great for the whole family. On the right bank, after being a massive building site for a long while, the new Place de La Republique ...
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TOYS & GAMES
Eco-Bonk Bop Bags
It’s starting to get cold here in Montreal and so going out to play for hours is a thing of the past! I don’t know about you, but my son needs to move, run and jump and with the winter months ahead that isn’t always possible; I always thought he could use a punching bag ...
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TOYS & GAMES
Games for kids of the world
Games for Kids of the World is a free downloadable ebook that gathers a collection of games that kids around the world enjoy playing. The games are simple and don't need complicated equipment, so they can be played anytime and everywhere. There are games from Italy, South Africa, India, Argentina, and more (15 countries in total). ...
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KIDS ROOMS
Colette Bream
I am in the market for some new toddler bedding and found these at colette bream. I had bookmarked her etsy site ages ago and fell in love all over again with her whimsical assortment of children’s pretend play items and lovely bedding. My daughter has been dragging around a favorite silk scarf of mine, ...
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TOYS & GAMES
Doll's House and Farm from Hase Weiss
We discovered these brilliant Hase Weiss creations at Playtime last weekend and fell instantly in love! Aren't they so beautiful? The modular doll's house (above) comes in one big box, but you can fit the rooms together in many different ways to create the perfect doll's house. And the farm (below) opens and closes with ...
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UNCATEGORIZED
Make Do
I was snooping around my little neighbourhood toy shop, La Cachette à Malice, yesterday and fell upon an Australian toy company I had never heard of: Make Do. Have you heard of them? I am obsessed. It is just such a simple idea. Make Do are reusable connectors, with which you can build anything you want out ...
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PLACES TO VISIT
Weekend get-away: Hong Kong
If you travel internationally it is very hard not to have a stop-over at some point in Hong Kong. Chances are that you are on a long-haul flight so it is the perfect place to take a break in your journey. But it has never seemed to me like a kid-friendly place, so I was ...
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FOR MUMS
Arms and guns
My son does not have any toy guns, not even a water gun. I’m also very careful with the television programs he gets to watch -- no violent cartoons at all. Even the news is carefully monitored so that he doesn't hear about the worst events. I also know that his teachers at school are ...
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