Mary Manz Simon's Blog, page 33

MLB Diapers

You read the title correctly: Major League Baseball has team- branded diapers.

Infants and toddlers can now showcase their baseball fandom for the Red Sox, Cubs, Cards, Yankees, Dodgers and Giants.

Now exclusively available at Target, the fashion-forward diapers will have wider distribution after May 1.

Adverts be gone

Five years ago, fellow early childhood educators were still warning parents to mute or turn off offensive TV ads.

What a difference a few years makes.

Thanks to Netflix and other streaming services, many kids rarely see a screen ad.

I guess that’s why children watch toy commercials on YouTube.

One in 68

That title – one in 68 – is the number of American children diagnosed with autism.

Julia, a character who came to life as a Muppet last Monday, was introduced in a special episode on HBO and PBS Kids.

Designed to increase awareness and understanding of autism, Sesame Workshop consulted with more than 250 experts and organizations during the last five years before introducing Julia.

Gender neutral?

Gender equality was front and center when I attended the International Toy Fair in February:

The TOTY (Toy of the Year) Awards introduced new categories for more “straight-forward” judging.” Of course, that meant eliminating gender-specific categories.

But all that chatter and high-level decision-making didn’t reach the shelves of our local dollar store: I had to scrounge among the pastels to find boy-acceptable Easter basket fillers for our grandsons.

Perhaps we have moved beyond telling kids what toys are appropriate for their gender. However, few of the five boys in our family would want pink pastel toys in an Easter basket.

Book baskets

During a recent interview, the host and I discussed how books are a perfect “add” to Easter baskets.

Books that address worry and anxiety are traditional standards in a children’s emotional tool kit.

Perhaps living in the DC area makes me more sensitive to the climate and tone in the culture, but Easter is a great opportunity to choose titles that focus on empathy, compassion and caring.

For toddlers and very young children, try my new release, First Feelings for Toddlers. Click link:

https://www.amazon.com/First-Virtues-padded-cover-Toddlers/dp/1433688336/ref=pd_sbs_14_img_0?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=BR2MH27YM3HWKFDM2ZK8

Jelly beans and chocolate bunnies

This is a powerhouse week for candy sales.

Although Halloween and Valentine’s Day spike sales, the week that leads up to Easter is sweetest.

Also big this week: food coloring. Peeps are more fun.

Slimy situations

Home-made slime, in all the spring colors, is being left in jeans pockets and kitchen counters, as the DIY fad gains momentum.

Some stores are having trouble keeping Elmer’s Glue, a major ingredient, in stock.

If you see a child kneading, folding, crunching or squishing some strange substance, it’s quite possibly just glue gone wild. Creative kids add glitter for sparkle or shaving cream to make a fluffy version.

For a guaranteed smile, check out internet videos of “talking” slime.

Reading pictures

Is this the “Age of Visual Learning?”

Some educators believe the phenomenal popularity of comic books and graphic novels merely reflect the fact that we use so many images in everyday communication. Emojis are one example.

For students, especially those struggling with skills or motivation to read, images add a playful element.

So if graphics increase the fun factor for readers, this genre gets my support.

The ride-on boom

Now that spring has sprung in many areas, kids who couldn’t drive their Christmas presents on snowy sidewalks are out in force.

Ride-on cars are everywhere. Kids are not using a single muscle as they zoom around the neighborhood, even though their parents wear fitness trackers.

Why the ride on explosion?

Fisher Price would tell you it’s because their Wild Thing uses a joystick instead of a pedal.

Radio-Flyer would say it’s because of a partnership with Tesla and their lithium-ion battery that doesn’t need to be charged overnight.

But maybe it’s the butterfly doors that go straight up on high-end cars. After all, kids like to play just as much as mom and dad.

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Snowball effect at Easter

I wonder how many Easter baskets will feature Hatchimal-type playthings.

The toy eggs that hatched to reveal colorful (and fun!) creatures became a phenomenon at Christmas. The underlying appeal of interactive companion toys is sure to appear in new iterations this spring.

For added kid-appeal, look for interactive companions that streams content through an app. This extra level of technology usually compounds the play value.