I love this site. Chalk Academy.
Not every gift or toy is expensive or high tech, often a roll of tape or a cardboard box is much more inspiring a toy. Over at Chalk Academy is a treasure trove of toys and object lessons for self directed learning and fun. Chalk Academy: Toys and Games Check out the handmade Montessori toys.
“The sky is the daily bread of the eyes.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson
In the world of amateur astronomy, you’re never going to be able to get anything near the majesty of images taken by the Hubble space telescope, if that’s what you’re looking for, lower you’re expectations Danny or stay inside on the internet. Nay, the benefit of a home telescope (though teenage boys may disagree) is…
Writing and Drawing
If you think buying a kid something to write with as a gift is stupid, YOU’RE STUPID and you don’t understand kids! I love to be so blunt and it’s true. If you think only colorful, flashy, “toys” with no function what-so-ever is the funnest kind of toy, you should do some soul searching. Now…
Recommended Post
Just because I read this relevant post while trolling for ideas on how to get a single soul to read these words, I saw this post I liked, I will share: A Gift Guide For All The Kids You Don’t Know How To Shop For
A word of smaw fings
This is a pretty crummy microscope, but its a pretty decent kids toy microscope. If you want to buy your kid a $300 microscope, more power to ya, I just don’t think that’s my target audience. This will do enough, feel real enough, and when your kid breaks it you won’t commit seppuku in shame. AmScope…
Epic electronics and engineering
If you’re not into electronics, they may seem a little advanced or silly or you might just “not get it”. Doing things with electronics, for some people, are one of those obsessively fun things kids can end up doing that could lead to a career, sometimes without collage of any kind if they’re public enough…
How to grow a little green thumb.
Kids love to do things with people they love and admire. There is an evolutionary drive for them to mimic, an emotional NEED. If you garden, this is the perfect thing to keep them entertained. Give them there own little patch of ground (a few feet by a few feet will be plenty) and allow…
Spy kids!
When I was a kid there was a company called spy tech. Honestly for most of my childhood they were the coolest thing ever! They had periscopes, big ears… ok thats all I remember, but it was awesome! Now tech is sooo much better, and MUCH cheaper. With spy tools, chores become missions. Math becomes…
You’re a tool
I’ve always been a fan of age appropriate real tools, but when my daughter sat on my lap and patiently took apart a DVD player at age two (I loosened the screws) while we watched a movie, that belief turned more into a dogma. Not only does it boost a childs confidence to be productively…
Playing Doctor
Playing doctor with your kid is a good way to address concerns and alleviate fears about going to the doctor, and its fun! You can talk about how shots hurt, but only for a little bit, and play giving shots with a syringe. A cheap plastic doctors kit only barely represents the items they’re supposed…
Disclaimer
This is a shameless ploy for money, some people call that a business. Blogs for money kinda feel swarmy to me, I don’t know why. Originally I was going to do an independent website with listings and search and everything, but along Noah Kagens philosophy of test everything it made more sense to start cheap…
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Radical Kids Toys 