2012 June | Portland Toys from Child's Play

Friday Favorites – June 29

Jun 292012

Tenzi $14.99

Have you played Tenzi yet? It’s a fast paced dice game that we all agree is way more fun than Yahtzee! Perfect for camping trips!

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Chickens at the Polish Pottery Place on NW 23rd & Hoyt

These guys are just so cheery! They make us want to sing “There ain’t nobody here but us chickens, there ain’t nobody here at all..” Such a good song!

Jet Pack Tutorial on Pinterest

Need a Jet Pack? Thought so. Click here for a pinterest link to the tutorial.

Looking for something to do in town? Here’s a few ideas:

Ping Pong’s Pint Size Puppet Museum Presents: The Clueless Detective A live puppet show in the garden! Ping Pong’s is a new museum in Sellwood. We haven’t gotten a chance to check it out yet, and this all ages play seems like a great opportunity! Friday at 7pm, Tickets: $6.00 for ages three & up, Shows are approximately 45 minutes long. Click here for details.

Movies in the Park: ET Pop some popcorn and head out to King School Park for Portland Park & Rec’s “Movies in the Park” program! Movies are shown on a giant, 268-square foot screen with a state-of-the-art sound system. Movies will begin at dark (between 8 p.m. and 8:45 p.m.), and are weather permitting. A rainout will be called by 5 p.m. and will be posted at the park. Get there at 6:30pm for entertainment before the show! Click here for details.

$2 Days at OMSI Check out Oregon’s Museum of Science and Industry for only $2. And, with summer hours they’re open until 7! Click here for more details.

Have a spectacular weekend!

-Child’s Play

Direct from the Toy Show 3

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Jun 282012

Today is the last installment of our “Direct From the Toy Show” feature. If you missed day 1 or 2, the links are here and here. And now, here are some NEW toys!

Build Your Own Foosball, Billards or Air Hockey – we’ll be carrying the kits, as well as real tools sized just for kiddos – Available October

Baby Doll Stroller and High Chair by Hape – Wooden, high quality and cute! – Coming Soon!

Wool Pets Needle Felting Kits – Made in Washington! – Coming very soon!

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Build Your Own Kinetic Sculpture – Available in T-Rex, Dragon and more! – Available Christmas 2012

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Sock Monkey Stress Reliever – Look at those awesome eyes! – Coming very very soon!

Hope you have an eye-poppingly awesome day!

-Child’s Play

Direct From the Toy Show 2

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Jun 272012

As promised, more NEW toys from this year’s ASTRA Toy Show and Convention! If you missed day 1, here’s the link.

Triops – like sea monkeys on steroids – Just arrived! Our store family of triops will be hatching soon!

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Tegu Blocks – Magnetic Wooden Blocks that are absolutely gorgeous – Coming Soon!

Piperoid Paper Robots – No glue, No tape, Just cuts and folds! – Coming Very Soon!

Squishable Yeti – Fluffy and huggable and a yeti – Available Fall/ Winter 2012

We’ve got more to share tomorrow!

Thanks for reading! Have an awesome day!

-Child’s Play

Tuesday Tomes: The Penderwicks

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Jun 262012

What does summertime mean to you? To us it means walks in the park, playing outside, barbecues, bubbles and summer reading. Not the type of summer reading from childhood where you put off your assigned list until two days before Labor Day. No, we mean the type of reading done in a hammock or in a patio chair or on a blanket in the grass. The type of reading that leads to deep breaths of fresh air and maybe a nap (fingers crossed).

Here today is a book perfect for summertime reading. Thanks to Chrissy for the review!

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The Penderwicks: A Summer Tale of Four Sisters, Two Rabbits and a Very Interesting Boy by: Jeanne Birdsall

A great summer read about the magical summer four sisters have when they vacation at an estate dubbed Arundel. This book had me at “mermaid pajamas.” There is Rosalind, 12, she’s the practical one. Skye, 11, is hot-tempered and a bit of a tomboy. Then there’s Jane, 10, she wants to be a writer. Batty, 4, is the youngest and never goes anywhere without her butterfly wings. Finally, there is their father the botanist, who always speaks in latin when he’s in a good mood. The fun starts when the girl’s meet an interesting boy on the property who leads them into all sorts of adventures! The girl’s just need to look out for snobby Mrs. Tifton, the owner of the estate. Recommended for ages 7+

And, if you’re looking for a summer reading program for the kiddos the Multnomah County Library’s Summer Reading Game just got started on the 15th. And, it’s not too late to sign up! Click here for registration and more info! Programs built for ages 0-18.

Hope today allows you some time to read a good book and let your imagination run for a bit!

-Child’s Play

P.S. Yesterday we shared some NEW toys and promised to share more through out the week. Check back tomorrow for more NEW toys!

Direct from the Toy Show!

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Jun 262012

Howdy! Have we got a treat for you! We just got back from the annual ASTRA Toy Show! ASTRA is the American Specialty Toy Retailers Association, and Child’s Play is a proud member. Not only does ASTRA organize an annual toy convention – highlighting the best, NEW toys – they also created Neighborhood Toy Store Day and publish the annual Best Toys for Kids list, along with lots of other support for neighborhood stores like us.

The conference was great and we picked up lots of event, promotion and customer service ideas. But, the most exciting thing, which we will share right now…NEW TOYS!

Here’s a day one of the awesome new things you’ll be seeing in the store!

Kid-Sized Skateboard by Mindtwister – Professional grade but sized for kids – On it’s way to the store!

Polka Dot Guitar by Janod – Wouldn’t the world be a better place if everyone had a polka dot guitar? – Coming soon!

Gigo Cube Figures – Mix and match building sets with a very mod persona – Coming very soon!

Moosetache Card Games – Hike and Rowboat just arrived today!!

Check back through out the week for more picks from ASTRA!

Have a day in which you try something new and exciting!

-Child’s Play

Friday Favorites and Weekend Plans

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Jun 222012

Magformers, Ages 3+ $14.99 and up

Magformers are back! The best selling, toy of the year, hottest Christmas item ever – magnetic building blocks are in stock! If you made a request you should be getting a call very soon! And, if you didn’t have any on hold – stop in soon to check out one of our favorite toys!

And a few other favorite things from our week:

Wash Legos and use them as jello molds! Find a tutorial on Pinterest here.

It’s not too early to start planning your Fourth of July festivities! We like this list of vegan menu ideas!

And, here’s a few things you might want to add to your calendar!

Free Admission at the Portland Art Museum! On the fourth Friday of every month, enjoy free admission to the Portland art museum. Friday, 5pm-8pm. Details here.

Sunday Parkways – North City streets in North Portland will be closed to cars and open to walk, bike, roll, run, jump and skip. The 9.5-mile North Portland Sunday Parkways route will have food, music and activities located in the parks and along the route. Visit the event website here for more details. Sunday 11am-4pm. FREE!

Festival of Balloons Wake up at dawn to see the balloons launch! Or sleep in, and partake in the carnival from Funtastic Traveling Shows, corn eating contest, exhibitors, food, Festival of Cars, live music, helicopter tours, and beer garden. And, stay all day to see the NW Natural Night Glow, in which the balloons will be lit at dusk! Cook Park in Tigard. Tickets: $5 online, $7 at gate. Kids 6 and under are free. Event details here.

Have an AWESOME weekend!

-Child’s Play

New in the store!

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Jun 212012

For today’s viewing pleasure we present:

Firestix, Ages 3+ $19.99

Light up drumsticks! Tap to activate and drum away! It’s like a laser light show and music concert in one! Awesome!

White Lightning Stick $4.99

And, while we’re talking about light up things… White Lightning! These light up sticks have 6 modes to choose from, including rainbow strobing and rainbow morphing. What more could you possibly ask for from a light up lightning stick?

Bucket o’ Golf balls, Ages 3+ $19.99

If you’re playing during the daylight hours, and you’re outside taking advantage of our summer sun, you most likely will need to pick up a Bucket o’ Golf Balls. This bucket comes with a collapsible club, two tees and 30 golf balls! FORE! (Also, don’t things sound really really cool when you add “Bucket o’…” ?

Toys_in_Portland_Snug_as_a_bug_in_a_rug_game

Snug as a Bug in a Rug, Ages 3-6 $19.99

Want to sit and relax instead? Check out this adorable co-operative game by Peaceable Game! Use your matching skills to get all the bugs snug under the rug, but hurry before the stink bugs show up! P-U!

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Scrabble Tile Necklaces by Festivity Designs $12.99

And a little eye candy for you! Handmade in Seattle, these are the perfect gift for a tween girl! Available in peace sign and owl motifs in bright, hip colors!

Have a splendid day!

-Child’s Play

Passports – of a different kind…

Books, Toys No Responses »

Jun 202012

Hey! It’s Megan here.

Have a picky eater? I grew up with one. He didn’t eat anything that was green. It didn’t matter if it was candy, fruit, vegetable or crunchberry. If it was green it did not enter his mouth. He even told my grandma, upon inspecting her fridge for a snack, that she shopped on the yuck aisle. This would have been perfect for him:

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My Food Passport $9.99

Entice kids to try new things by giving them this cool “passport”. Each time they try something new they earn a stamp in their book. There’s also “pick one” questions and fill-in the blank prompts to document the experience. For example, they’ll need to choose an answer for the question “It smelled – gross or funny or good”. There are also interesting food facts peppered through out the book!

Also available in:

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My Fitness Passport $9.99

I was kind of a lazy kid. This would have been the book for me.

Have a day full of new and interesting experiences!

-Child’s Play

Tuesday Tomes: The Crown on Your Head

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Jun 192012

“On the day that we met and I put you to bed, I noticed a crown on the top of your head. It was made up of sparkling, glimmering things like moonlight and fireflies and dragonflies wings..”

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The Crown on Your Head by Nancy Tillman Recommended for ages 3+

The quote above begins the latest book by local author/illustrator, Nancy Tillman. Tillman is a master of crafting beautiful picture books that all say to a child just how much they are loved. This book is no exception. With rhyming prose, she describes an invisible crown that we are born with, one that gives us all unique value, and that we will always carry. I think this might be her best yet.

-Chrissy, resident book expert extraordinaire

Have a magnificent day!

-Child’s Play

School’s Out!

Events, Local No Responses »

Jun 182012

School is out (or almost out)! Summer is here (on the days it doesn’t rain)! And, maybe the kids need something to do. Have you signed up for a WeVillage summer camp?

Summer Camp at WeVillage!

Camp Wha-Ta-Hoot at WeVillage is back for another fabulous summer! Camps run all summer, and you can sign up for the whole thing, just a week or just a day. Talk about flexibility! Plus, campers who pre-pay for a week or more also get a fabulous tee-shirt!

Each week there’s a new a set of activities! Campers get to do everything from morning yoga and art projects, to walks in the park and Field Trip Fridays! Check out the schedule here and sign up online!

And, don’t miss camp the week of August 6th! Wednesday, the 8th will include a special field trip to Child’s Play!

Have a day filled with that summertime sunshine kind of feeling!

-Child’s Play

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