Click on the picture for a video demo!

I have a two year old son.  My two year old son is obsessed with trains.  All trains.  All cars.  You name it.  My first son was and still is interested in balls and all sporting  activities so when I was offered the chance to review the Thomas Wooden Railway Early Engineers Line, I was like “YOU have perfect timing, I’d love to!”

Once the train set came, I made it a point to have my five year old go out to play with his friends because I wanted Joshua to get the full experience, given that this toy is primarily for toddlers.

He loved it.

He seemed to understand how to play with it without any need for interaction. He sat there for fifteen minutes saying “Woo woo!” and pushed it around in a circle.  Since getting this set, he refuses to let Thomas go.  Doesn’t matter where he is – in the kitchen eating dinner, going to sleep in his crib or outside riding a bike.  There’s a little ares on the back of his bike where he keeps him and if he falls he yells “Train! Train!” until he gets it back.

I always make sure the company gets their say about the product, since all I can do is give you my perspective (hence the blog title “Momspective”.  It’s a combo of “Mom” and “Perspective”). (more…)

Remember when we were kids and we played with the Rubik’s Cube?  I do.  I knew my dad could solve it no matter how I switched it up but I never could.  Instead, I carefully pulled the stickers off and replaced them so I looked cool but everybody could tell because of the sticker residue and the fact that half of them peeled off in the corner (or completely).

Had I known the possibilities and concept behind the Cube, those stickers would have stayed on and I’d have been kept entertained for hours!

I’d say that the Rubik’s Cube is back but it never left.  I simply grew up and had kids and it looks like the toys that hold their interest the longest are the classics I played when I was a child!  I love it (because I can play with it, too)! (more…)

“I want!  I buckle!”

That’s the standard saying in this house from my two year old son, Joshua.  Everything, everywhere.  Grocery store carts – “I buckle!”, Car seat – “I buckle!”.  He buckles.

I do a lot of reviews and I always accept the ones suitable for my family (and me, I’m a fan of me) and when I was contacted by BuckleyBoo about their line of buckle items for toddlers, it was like the angels sang from above.

I little dramatic, you think?  NO.  Not when you’re child is mine.  Buckle.  Buckle, buckle, buckle.

I vlogged the cutest thing you’ll ever see so instead of me writing about our experience, you can see it first hand.  Before you watch the short clip that is so cute you’ll melt into the floor, I’ll give you a few details about the company-

Toddlers are fascinated with buckles, often bypassing a “developmental” toy to play with the buckles on their diaper bag or highchair.  Emily Ross and her mother, a child psychologist, observed this fascination with buckles and created BuckleyBoo, a collection of stuffed toys and crib accessories that encourage cognitive and motor development while appealing to toddlers with a bevy of buckles!

BuckleyBoo toys encourage cognitive development through multi-stage learning.  Starting at 15 months, a child embarks on a developmental journey where each mastered task serves as a springboard for the next level of learning.

Matching is the first developmental step with BuckleyBoo.  The child learns to scan and match the five brightly patterned ribbons, i.e., match polka dot to polka dot and stripe to stripe. At 18 months, children are ready to buckle, but are still not able to unbuckle, making BuckleyBoo a toy that is shared between parent and child.  Now that they have five of their own buckles with which to play, toddlers will likely leave all the other buckles in their environment alone. At three years, children will have both the physical strength and the problem solving skills to buckle and unbuckle which will keep them busy for hours and add another year of meaningful play while they continue to use their lovable BuckleyBoo pal in their imaginative play.

The BuckleyBoo line includes a variety of animal characters including BuckleyCat, BuckleyBunny and BuckleyMonkey, among others.  The line includes three-buckle and five-buckle versions. The BuckleyMobile includes four removable Click Buddies, which are both finger puppets and rattles that buckle into a cloud canopy and can be clipped onto a stroller for the toddler on the go.

All BuckleyBoo products are available at www.buckleyboo.com and retail for $20-$30 (depending on size) and $50 for the crib toys.

Toddlers are fascinated with buckles, often bypassing a “developmental” toy to play with the buckles on their diaper bag or highchair.  Emily Ross and her mother, a child psychologist, observed this fascination with buckles and created BuckleyBoo, a collection of stuffed toys and crib accessories that encourage cognitive and motor development while appealing to toddlers with a bevy of buckles! BuckleyBoo toys encourage cognitive development through multi-stage learning.  Starting at 15 months, a child embarks on a developmental journey where each mastered task serves as a springboard for the next level of learning.

Sometimes it’s tough having kids three years apart.  With a 4 1/2 year old and an 18 month old, finding the right toys for them to share and play with can be difficult.  Some of the toys are too fragile for my toddler, while other toys are just too “babyish” for my older child.

My oldest, Jake, is convinced he wants to be a quarterback (YAY for my early retirement!) and everyone else is convinced Joshua, my youngest, is going to be a defensive back so our toy box is just full of balls.

We have baseballs, footballs and basketballs.  We throw, we catch, we break nails – oh, wait, that’s just me.

Joshua wants to be just like his older brother.  It’s sometimes frustrating for him when Jake wants to throw a ball and Josh can’t grasp it properly to throw back.  Enter Rhino Toys. (more…)