Dinosaurs 101

Meet Spikey! He's a stygimoloch!

Stygimoloch: stig-e-MOE-lock

Spikey has a super-thick skull. It may have used its tough head to butt other animals, like a modern-day ram. Spikey and his family  lived in North America during the Cretaceous period, thy were herbivores and Bipeds. 

Spikey grew to be about 4 feet tall and about 6 feet long. In some respects Spikey resembles a modern kangaroo with the exception of the spikes on his head. 

A prehistoric bonehead perhaps?

Tin tops....

 Classic fun Tin Tops!

This top appears to change colors before your eyes! So do the designs! When ya get this going fast enough, it even hums!

Mini Tin Tops!

Did ya know royalty way back when collected tin top toys? And did ya know, they were used to power toy trains around the tracks?

Classic play for all ages!

Word of the Day

Ever have the feeling someone is watching you?

Don't be alarmed, it's just a pair of googly eyes!

Googly (goo-glee) Eyes are small round plastic disks that encapsulate a smaller black disk that moves freely within. 

Googly eyes can be used for numerous craft projects, are available in many colors, and can be placed almost anywhere to add some humor to your day!

Did Ya Know?

 Longest marble run 
in Great Britian

House of Marbles in Devon England home of Great Britians biggest marble run. This is cool!

Cuneo Furnace was founded in 1971 as Maslach Art Glass. It is one of the oldest and most innovative glassmaking studios in the United States. These handmade beauties are pretty rare these days as the factory has closed but the House of Marbles has a collection.


How do they make "handmade marbles?"
Their highly decorative marbles are all handmade. Firstly they create a patterned glass rod - this is the incredibly hard part. They utilise 16th century Italian glass techniques, latticinio, filigrana and zanfirico. Each colour and strand is a separate piece of glass cane or ribbon. The design is constructed of molten glass with layers of cane and collared glass. The pattern is cased in crystal, shaped and is drawn out to reduce it in size. The pattern rods are cut into small pieces, heated, twisted and shaped to the complete design. The process takes several days and combines heavy, hot furnace work, tricky and difficult shaping, as well as the final smoothing and polishing.

Boredom Busters

 You've seen this one before! 
Fill up a vessel of any sort, a glass, a jar, an empty milk jug with marbles, popcorn, buttons, or even rocks! Then try to guess how many are in there! This will be a great counting and sorting adventure! Whoever guesses the closest can win a prize, whoever guesses the furthest can win a silly prize too!

 Snow Bonsai

The Imagination Tree...Shape the tree and let the magic begin!
Watch the crystals grow and place your tree in a place where it can be admired and viewed. Watch it grow, meditate, and see the crystals in your minds' eye!

Find the Difference Puzzles!
A jigsaw puzzle of a different sort!

Pick your level of difficulty.... either a 60 pice puzzle or the family size 400 piece puzzle. As you complete the puzzle, the picture on the box and the picture on the puzzle are almost identical! Can you spot the differences?

Earth Day

We Celebrate Green, Everyday!

Because kids count and what we grown ups do matters!

 

Organeco Blocks

"Beautiful big bamboo blocks in bright colors. The combination of traditional building blocks, vibrant illustrations and the use of eco-friendly bamboo allow this product to stand out from the crowd.As you might guess, "Organeco” comes from "Organic” and "Eco”, which are the two core values that underline Hape's quality standards and social awareness."

 

 

 Sprig Toys
"The brave,young toy designers at Sprig Toys made
 a pact to make the best toys that keep kids active 
and keep the planet healthy!

In 2007, they formed Sprig Toys, Inc., turning their vision into reality. The designers packed their families and moved from opposite coasts to reunite the threesome in the heart of the Rocky Mountain west. It was in Fort Collins, Colorado, where Team Sprig created their top-secret, high-tech toy laboratory – and where they designed an exciting line of battery-free, eco-friendly, paint-free, kid-powered toys sure to dazzle the most discriminating preschooler."

                                                                                                         

 Green Toys! 

  Made in California, USA
                

 

Made in California, USA:
Less Transportation, Less Energy
All Green Toys products are 100% made in the USA. To be more specific, they are produced in California, a state known for strict toy safety and environmental laws. It's cool to buy USA, but also think about this: transportation is one of the biggest contributors to greenhouse gasses. We all know driving less is good for mother nature, but did you ever think about how many miles a toy logs before it ends up in your local store?

Dinosaurs 101

Meet Mrs. Pteranodon

Meaning - Pteranodon means "Winged and Toothless"
Pronounced - ter-AN-o-DON

Mrs. Pteranodon: teacher, companion, and tour guide extraordinaire. But, first and foremost, she is "Mom" to Buddy, Don, Tiny, and Shiny. She is always there to listen to Buddy's questions about being an adopted member of the Pteranodon family. Mrs. Pteranodon is intent on a good education, but she is also always looking for ways to let her kids explore their world.

Mrs Pteranodon was a carnivore but probably ate mostly fish. Her wingspan exceeded that of the American Bald Eagle by about 20 feet as her wingspan would be about 25- 35 feet across! It's kinda hard to say how tall she was but some scientists say she may have been 6 feet tall at the hips. Seems like that would make her about 12- 15 feet tall....

Pteranondon lived during the late Cretaceous Period , about 85-75 million years ago. There have been fossils found in the USA in Kansas making this family an American family!