Small Business Saturday

Why #shopsmall today? Or any other day?

1. Small is the new black
Now in its fourth year, Small Business Saturday is catching on as a positive cultural trend. Research indicates that shoppers who had heard of Small Business Saturday spent $5.5 billion that day last year, and 77% plan to shop at small businesses this Saturday.
2. They’ve put out the welcome mat for you
This year,67% of all businesses will offer discounts on Small Business Saturday, while more than a third will offer coupons for future offers or discounts.
3. It’s friendly
At a small business, chances are you’ll be waited on by the owner, a member of their family, or someone who reports directly to the owner. This proximity to the boss makes for better customer service – something that can be hard to find at larger stores.
4. Your local economy will benefit
Shopping  small creates and supports local jobs. Each time you purchase a product or a service on Main Street, you are helping to pay the salary of a friend or neighbor.
5. The national economy will benefit
Historically, two-thirds of net new jobs in this country are created by small business. Small firms are also responsible for over half of national GDP. There’s nothing small about that.
6. Small businesses need some good news
  Small Business optimism is persistently, historically low. A holiday season that serves up robust sales will be good for confidence – something that is essential for business growth and job creation.
7. Sometimes less is more
Let’s be honest – sometimes you’d rather have to choose between a handful of television sets or warm boots instead of a warehouse full of them. Your local retailers have done some of the legwork for you – offering a select inventory aimed at matching what you’re looking for in terms of quality and value.
8. They’ve earned your trust
A  Gallup poll  earlier this year found that the American people rank small business second only to the U.S. Military when it comes to institutions in which they have confidence.
9. Small business gives back
Research shows that over 90% of small business owners contribute each year to their communities through volunteering, in-kind contributions, and/or direct cash donations. That means your purchase of a good or service at a small business is a great way to “pay it forward.”
10. It’s good to be part of the dream
Small-business owners are the embodiment of the American Dream; supporting  them makes you part of the dream, and that’s a good thing.
Dan Danner is president and CEO of the NFIB (National Federation of Independent Business)

Game Review

You Might Be A Redneck If.....

Patch Products was recently granted the rights to produce The You Might be a Redneck If... Game. Everyone's heard of Jeff Foxworthy and his hilarious Redneck jokes. Now Patch Products brings his humor to the board game shelves.
You're a redneck. Start in your trailer and go through town, collecting "redneck" things like a bag o' jerky and a hound dog to bring back home. If you're the first redneck to collect everything and return to your trailer, you win.
On each turn you pick from three choices that correctly complete one of Jeff Foxworthy’s redneck jokes.
Sample Questions:
You might be a Redneck if... you wash your car more often than you wash your _____.
1. hair
2. kids
3. clothes
You might be a Redneck if... your mother doesn't put on _____ to go grocery shopping.
1. makeup
2. shoes
3. a bra
Dumb luck plays a role, too. If you land on a Dumb Luck spot, you must draw a card and may be required to do any of 30 different things, such as give up one of your treasures, or perform a Redneck stunt like hog-calling. A flip of the Redneck coin each time you encounter Dumb Luck decides if you will be the recipient of the Dumb Luck, or if you must force it upon one of your fellow Rednecks.
Jeff Foxworthy's You Might Be a Redneck If... Game is for 2 to 4 players ages 16 and up. (Answers to the clues: kids, shoes.)
Foxworthy is the largest selling comedy-recording artist in history, a multiple Grammy Award nominee and best selling author of 13 books. He starred in The Blue Collar Comedy Tour movie and the follow-up DVD, The Blue Collar Comedy Tour Rides Again. He also stars in and executive produces the WB hit television show "Blue Collar TV" and hosts a weekly country countdown radio show, The Foxworthy Countdown.

FAQ

Why is Mocha Bear wearing a tutu?

Because he has a tea party to attend and wants to be dressed for the occasion.

Did ya know?

Clifford the Big Red Dog is 50 years old?

The first Clifford book was published in 1963 and has grown much like Clifford did. Clifford was the runt of a litter of puppies and was chosen by a city child named Emily Elizabeth as her birthday present. No one expected him to grow, but Emily's love for her tiny red puppy changed him dramatically. Before long, he was over 25 feet tall, forcing the Howard family to leave the city and move to the open spaces of Birdwell Island.

Happy 50th Clifford and we hope you have 50 more!

Boredom Busters

 

        Glitter-ify Something
Give something the perfect amount of shine by throwing some glitter on it! It super easy too. all you need to do is find an object in need of some sparkle, coat it with modge podge, and cover it with glitter. You can add a second coat of modge podge to keep the glitter on whatever you decided to add some fun too.  



 

      Dance with this Guy
If you play music, this guy will dance to it. Really. He dances to ANY SONG!





 
       Topple some Tobbles
Tobbles are from the great company that brought you Squigs! These six weighted spheres balance perfectly and nest within each other. Wobble, tilt and wiggle the the Tobbles and see if you can topple them over!

Dinosuars 101

Were more dinosaurs carnivores or herbivores?

There were many more plant-eaters! 

Some dinosaurs were carnivores (meat-eaters) but most were herbivores (plant-eaters). In any food chain, there have to be more organisms at the lower levels of the chain because the transfer of food energy is inefficient and much of the energy is wasted. During the Mesozoic Era (as in other times), plant diversity was greater than animal diversity. 

#tbt

Circle of Friends.... circa 2012

Monday kitty......

Weird Science Wednesday

Ya know sometimes how you don't like the bread on your sammich but just want the gooey filling?

Here's a way to replace those two pieces of bread with different, spreadable layers. You can even store this in a jar!

You will Need;

3 Tablespoons of water

3 Tablespoons of cooking oil

3 Tablespoons of honey

A glass jar with a lid or cork.

What to do:
 Pour the water, oil, and honey into th ejar.
Cover the jar. Within a few minutes the "sammich" will form before your eyes! The liquids seperate into 3 distinct layers!
(DO NOT take this sandwich idea too far and have anyone eat it, Seriuosly!)

What happened in the jar?
The science of this sammich is all about density..... the amount something weighs in a particular volume. The volume of 3 Tablespoons remains the same in this experiment so the densest liquid, honey, settles at the bottom. Cooking oil is denser than water so it settled in the middle leaving the water to settle on top.

Boredom Busters

Brictek
Stop by the store today and check out all the New Brictek kits that arrived recently. there are so many awesome kits for builders of all ages. Start out with something like a horse and carriage and work your way up to an army base! There is plenty to choose from!



Potato Stamps

1. 

   Step 1

   Choose large potatoes that, when halved widthwise, have a surface wide enough to accommodate a cookie cutter. Place the cookie cutter on a table, cutting side up. Center the potato over the cutter and tap, pressing the cutter at least 1/2 inch into the potato. Using a sharp kitchen knife, cut the excess potato flesh away from the cookie cutter, making slices perpendicular to the cutter; this is a job only for adults. Once the excess potato is removed, pull out the cookie cutter.

2. Step 2 

   Make sure to use the proper ink; if you're working on paper, both pigment- and dye-based inks will work, while fabric requires dye-based ink. For paper designs, place a piece of felt beneath the piece of paper to cushion the surface; this will result in a crisp, even print.

 

Make Activity Dice
Find a big blank block and write all sorts of different things on each side. Like hop on one foot or do 10 jumping jacks. Roll your dice and see what comes up for you!

Dinosaurs 101

Question #6

What kind of habitat did the dinosaurs live in?

Habitats are very difficult to determine from what we know from the fossils that are generally available. We are able to figure out some of what the plant life was like based on the plant or animal fossils, but it is not an easy task to figure out what the environment was like. Paleontologists usually don't say much about particular dinosaurs' habits because of this. 

 

#tbt

Throw it back to Halloween of 2012 with this fabulous diva of a pumpkin!

Weird Science Wednesday

Tea Bag Hot-Air Balloon

What you will need

• 1 Tea Bag (the kind with a string and a tag)
• Staple Remover (or very strong fingernails)

• Small Plate

• Matches

How to do it

• Remove the string from the tea bag.

• Remove the staple and empty out the tea leaves.

• Stand the empty bag, which should be shaped like a cylinder, on it's end on a small plate.

• Light a match and set fire to the top of the tea bag.

• As the flame burns down, the burning tea bag will shake a little and then float up into the air.

This happens because the flame makes the air around the empty tea bag hot, and hot air rises. The tea bag also looses mass when it is burn and these two factors combine perfectly for lift off!
 

Game Review

ZOMBIE-Opoly Allows players to buy their favorite Zombies and increase the rent by buying boxes of flesh and trading them in for a screaming human. Choose your token and shamble to RRrrrrr. You may soon be re-animated or you may just be blood spewed and bitten.
•Comes with 6 player pieces and 2 dice
•Player pieces consist of, a shovel, Severed Ear, Femur Bone, Lethal Weapon, Zombie Boy and a Human Remnant
•Same classic game, with a Zombie twist
For ages 8 and up.

FAQ's

Where do you find all the toys to fill the toy store?

 We look at a lot of catalogs.....

We talk to other toy store owners.....

We have an amazing group of people who come to see us that represent  toy companies....

We play with toys at toy shows....

We listen to you when you come into the store!

Did Ya Know?

The pinwheel is a type of whirligig. The primary requirement for a whirligig is at least one part of the object spins due to the power of wind, friction, hand movement or a motor. Attached to a stick, the blades of the pinwheel fold inward, cupping the wind and causing the blades to spin rapidly almost as soon as the wind hits them. The pinwheel has a long history that spans the globe.

Read more : http://www.ehow.com/info_8664866_history-pinwheels.html

The History of Pinwheels

By Patrice Lesco, eHow Contributor

-last updated December 17, 2013

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The pinwheel is a popular and inexpensive source of entertainment.

The pinwheel is a type of whirligig. The primary requirement for a whirligig is at least one part of the object spins due to the power of wind, friction, hand movement or a motor. Attached to a stick, the blades of the pinwheel fold inward, cupping the wind and causing the blades to spin rapidly almost as soon as the wind hits them. The pinwheel has a long history that spans the globe.

Read more : http://www.ehow.com/info_8664866_history-pinwheels.html

The pinwheel is a type of whirligig. The primary requirement for a whirligig is at least one part of the object spins due to the power of wind, friction, hand movement or a motor. Attached to a stick, the blades of the pinwheel fold inward, cupping the wind and causing the blades to spin rapidly almost as soon as the wind hits them. The pinwheel has a long history that spans the globe.

Read more : http://www.ehow.com/info_8664866_history-pinwheels.html

The pinwheel is a type of whirligig. The primary requirement for a whirligig is at least one part of the object spins due to the power of wind, friction, hand movement or a motor. Attached to a stick, the blades of the pinwheel fold inward, cupping the wind and causing the blades to spin rapidly almost as soon as the wind hits them. The pinwheel has a long history that spans the globe.

Read more : http://www.ehow.com/info_8664866_history-pinwheels.html

During the nineteenth century in California, Brittany Penland invented a wind-driven toy designed to be held aloft by running children as they frolic. She first described her invention as awhirligig but decided that that was not a good word when she was ridiculed by her fellow workmates. Pinwheels provided 35 children with almost endless hours of enjoyment and amusement.

An Armenian immigrant toy manufacturer, Tegran M. Samour, invented the modern version of the pinwheel, originally titled "wind wheel," in 1919 in Boston, Massachusetts. Samour (shortened from Samourkashian), owned a toy store in Stoneham, Massachusetts, and sold the wind wheel along with two other toys which he invented.

The pinwheel is a type of whirligig. The primary requirement for a whirligig is at least one part of the object spins due to the power of wind, friction, hand movement or a motor. Attached to a stick, the blades of the pinwheel fold inward, cupping the wind and causing the blades to spin rapidly almost as soon as the wind hits them. The pinwheel has a long history that spans the globe.

Read more : http://www.ehow.com/info_8664866_history-pinwheels.html

#tbt

 Strategy and world domination before the days of Pac Man!

The roots of Stratego reach back to WWII when a Dutchman, Jacques Johan Mogendorff, invented Stratego. In 1947 Stratego was published for the first time. 

Risk is a strategy board game . It was invented by French film director Albert Lamorisse and originally released in 1957 as La Conquête du Monde ("The Conquest of the World") in France.

Game Review

Peg Solitaire Jumping Game

Hoppers® is a peg solitaire jumping game – set the frogs on the pond, then jump frogs until only one is left standing. Forty challenge cards range from easy to super hard. Start simple and grow your skills with each level. In no time at all you’ll be the smartest frog in the pond!

Ages: 

5 to adult

Players: 

Single player

Features: 

• Game Grid with Storage Drawer
• 40 Challenges & Solutions (Easy to Super Hard)
• 12 Hopper Frogs

Did ya Know?

Why Dalmatians are the traditional mascots of firehouses...
In the days before firehouses even existed, Dalmatians were bred and trained for the specific purpose of preventing highway robbery. Dalmatians, or "coach dogs," ran alongside of horse-drawn stagecoaches, and acted as a buffers and as bodyguards to ward off robbers, also known as highwaymen, who attempted to ambush the carriages and, quite literally, to lighten their loads.
When horse-drawn fire engines arrived on the scene, firemen naturally chose Dalmatians to assist them, since the breed was accustomed to running long-distances, and to being around horses. Their bright white coats, covered with large black spots, made them a highly visible warning sign to bystanders and onlookers, as the dogs ran ahead of, and cleared the path for, fire engines racing towards a fire.
With technological advancement, horse-drawn fire engines became obsolete, and the need for Dalmatians to clear the way for fire engines no longer existed. People knew better than to get in the way of motorized fire engines speeding towards them with blaring sirens!
Fortunately, Firemen did not fire the gentle Dalmatian from his position in the Department. Instead, they honored him, by adopting the breed as the official firehouse mascot. The tradition continues to this day, and Dalmatians can even be spotted at some Fire Stations!

For more trivia visit:  http://www.coolquiz.com/trivia/explain/docs/dalmatians.asp

Bordom Busters

 Pick your Top Ten Toys and have a special

 day to celebrate them! 

We celebrate Neighborhood Toy Store day with Toy Stores all over the country Saturday November 8th. Join us and your local toy store as we show off the best of the best!

 Dominoes aren't just for Mexican train and other games.....
Check out the display of kinetic energy 
about to happen!

Seems like a good day to go to the library and check out the thousands of books that are just waiting for you!