Author: Best Toys

YBIKE Balance Bike

YBike Balance BikeHave you tried a “balance bike” for your toddler or pre-school age child? If you haven’t seen these before, a balance bike is a bike that has no pedals and is designed for young kids. The idea is that you child can get an early start learning the balance skills that are needed to help kids learn to ride a bike.

The trend started a couple years ago and the YBike has emerged as one of the best and most popular among the balance bikes. It rates extremely highly on Amazon by customers.

Of course kids think it’s great fun to scoot around on the balance bike! It has large wheels that make it easy and safe to ride on pavement or grass.

Some parents have observed that after riding a balance bike for a few months, their kids seemed to do better when transitioning to their first “big kid” bike with training wheels. The YBike is designed for kids from 18 months up to around 3 and a half years old.

Step2 Naturally Playful Picnic Table and Umbrella

Kids Picnic Table by Step2We bought this kids picnic table and umbrella last summer and the kids have LOVED it! When the days are warm, the kids love the special treat to get to eat their lunch or dinner outside on “their table”. Sometimes we will all eat outside as a family with grown-ups at a normal table and the kids at their table – Other days we will let the kids eat outside while mom and dad enjoy a quiet dinner inside – that’s a win/win 😉

The table is very sturdy and was pretty easy to assemble in a matter of minutes. There’s not much to put together, just a few screws and it’s done.

The manufacturer suggested age is for kids 36 months up to 8 years old. Our kids even younger than that enjoy it too. As long as they are old enough to sit in a chair without being strapped into a high chair, then this picnic bench will work great.

Not just for eating, this table is also handy for “messy crafts” that you may hesitate to do indoors. When it’s warm, our kids will take their markers outside and color too.

Removing the umbrella, the table can also be brought inside for use as a kids dining table during those big family gatherings when the dining room is full with adults and extended family. We did this for Thanksgiving and the kids loved it!

Overall, this gets 2 thumbs up from me!

Duck Hunter

Duck Hunter Toy for KidsI would never have bought this toy, I received it as a gift last Christmas and surprisingly, it’s a really fun kids toy.

The box reads, “charge, toss and take aim at the Indoor/Outdoor Duck Hunting game”. I was only brave enough to try this outside, but if you have really high ceilings in a very large room with nothing break-able, then why not give it a try inside? (This is going to remain an outdoor only toy at our house). The duck does have 2 distance settings so that you can have it go on short flights in circles for indoor use and longer distance flights for outdoor use.

This toy is rated for kids 10 years old and up, but it can be fun for younger kids too. The duck does need to be charged and launched carefully, so you will need an older child or grown up do the setup and launch the duck, but that doesn’t mean that kids as young as 4 years old could enjoy the “shooting” aspect of the game.

When I play with my 4 year old boy, I always charge the duck and then launch it into the air for him and then let him shoot at the duck. He does really well with it and thinks it’s really fun. The duck has to be hit 3 times before he comes down. Each time he’s hit, the duck stops flapping his wings momentarily and dips in flight a bit to show that he’s been hit. After that third hit, the duck glides down to the ground. Then it’s time to charge him up (about 10 seconds) and he’s ready to fly again.

If you are looking for a unique outdoor toy, then you may want to “give this one a shot”.

Cat In The Hat I Can Do That Game

I played the Dr. Suess, Cat in the Hat I Can Do That! game with my 3 and 4 year old this weekend and they love this game…

Cat In The Hat I Can Do That GameI played the Dr. Suess, Cat in the Hat I Can Do That! game with my 3 and 4 year old this weekend and they love this game. The concept is pretty simple, there are three card types, each color coded and numbered 1, 2,or 3.

On your child’s turn, they draw three cards, one of each type. The cards are placed in a row to form a “mad lib” of sorts that provides the challenge that must be completed. It always includes a game piece, what to do with it, and an action to complete. So for example, grab the fish, put it on your head and hop up and down three times. Like I said, it’s pretty simple, but that type of silliness was a big hit for my kids.

The game is rated for age 4-8. It certainly works well for the younger kids. There is a way to keep score and win, but for the 3 and 4 year old, we didn’t keep score and the kids had fun just doing the silly things in the game.

After we ran through all the cards included in the game, we keep the fun going and made up a few of our own challenges!

Overall, this is a great game that is simple and easy fun game play. As you would expect from Dr. Suess, imagination and creativity is a big aspect of this game. If you have young kids, this is a good one to have in your family game collection since it is so different compared to many of the more traditional board games.

Fisher Price Precious Planet Kick and Play Piano

Fisher Price Precious Planet Kick and Play PianoThe Fisher Price Precious Planet Kick and Play Piano is a great toy for babies. This can be attached to the side of a crib for baby to kick or you can let baby play with this toy on the floor.

There’s two modes for parents to choose from: Long play which plays a series of songs and sounds or the other version plays a note with each kick or tap of the toy (more like the way the keys on a piano play a note each time it is touched). Either way, the combination of music and lights is enough to entertain baby.

This toy is great for babies that are a couple months old and up.