Today's Fresh Blogs...

• Head to mall and restaurant playspaces first thing in the morning

  Published: July 26, 2007, 10:26 am

  Tags: 01 03yrs Toddler, 03 05yrs Preschooler, Fun Toys, Travel Going Out

  We do what we must some days to keep the kids busy. Here's how Gretchen makes the most of free indoor playspaces at malls and fast food restaurants: I rely on indoor playspaces to run off my daughter's energy when the weather outside is nasty or too hot.  But a lot of other parents have the same idea, so on especially yucky days the

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• Freeze old teethers for cool boo boo relief

  Published: July 22, 2007, 10:43 am

  Tags: 0 01yrs Infant, 01 03yrs Toddler, 03 05yrs Preschooler, Fun Toys, Gear, Health Development

  filled plastic teething toys?  My daughter is well passed teething, but I popped them into the freezer and now when she has a "hurt" I offer her a frozen frog or fish to put on it.  Cold compresses are good for a lot of things, but playing with an ice cold toy is also a distraction from a bug bite or scrape. Just be

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• You're reading this? I figured everyone's reading Harry Potter!

  Published: July 21, 2007, 1:26 pm

  Tags: 05 12yrs Kid, 13 18yrs Teen, 18yrs Grownup, Fun Toys, Things We Like

  It's the day half the world's been waiting for: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows is out, and kids and adults everywhere are holed up in beds, on couches, and in sunny corners reveling in their last few hours at Hogwarts with Harry and company. My son is still a bit too young to read Harry Potter (he's busy devouring the Goosebumps series by

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• Fill baby's high chair tray with water for warm weather splashing

  Published: July 21, 2007, 9:00 am

  Tags: 0 01yrs Infant, Fun Toys

  enjoy some summertime water fun: We are trying to not use the air conditioning, so things are really starting to get warm.  My daughter is too young to really go swimming or use the water playset hack talked about on your site.  But her high chair has a very deep lip, enough to hold about half an inch of water.  I filled that

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• Easy cooking project: Homemade tortillas

  Published: July 27, 2007, 9:58 am

  Tags: 01 03yrs Toddler, 03 05yrs Preschooler, 05 12yrs Kid, Feeding Nursing, Fun Toys, Habitat, Learning

  we could eat, with the added fun of kneading and rolling! The recipe comes from Mollie Katzen's wonderful kid's cookbook Honest Pretzels, and the results were delicious spread with butter. HOMEMADE TORTILLAS 1 cup flour 1/4 teaspoon salt 1/2 cup water In a large bowl, toss the flour and salt together. Make a well in the flower, add water, and

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• Turn a large plastic storage container into a splashing pool

  Published: July 31, 2007, 1:51 pm

  Tags: 0 01yrs Infant, 01 03yrs Toddler, Fun Toys, Habitat, Saving Money

  Fun in the sun, with prolific blogger Sherry: Based on the hack for the water play set, I got inspired and went one step further.  I live in an apartment building and though we have a courtyard, we don't have a private yard.  We also live on the top floor.  I often bemoan our lack of a yard with a pool when it gets hot and

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• Develop a Shutterbug: Time with Kids with Cameras

  Published: August 1, 2007, 4:08 pm

  Tags: 01 03yrs Toddler, 03 05yrs Preschooler, 05 12yrs Kid, Fun Toys, Learning, Travel Going Out

  for some late summer family fun. Get out the camera, but this time you may get to be the subject or just an on-looker. Take your kids and a durable camera out for a photo safari of somewhere exotic like the backyard, downtown, or a farmer's market. Together you and your child can choose 3 favorite photos to submit. Then you can enjoy seeing

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• Pipe your car's navigation system into your kid's portable DVD player

  Published: August 2, 2007, 12:46 pm

  Tags: 01 03yrs Toddler, 03 05yrs Preschooler, 05 12yrs Kid, Fun Toys, Travel Going Out

  Eirik's brilliant road trip entertainment hack for GPS/navigation system users: Our four year old son has been very interested in the navigation system I am running while we're out driving. He leans over to follow it closely and it's actually great entertainment for a little boy that sometimes finds it boring to drive for hours Because

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• Mattel/Fisher-Price toy recall

  Published: August 2, 2007, 8:13 pm

  Tags: 0 01yrs Infant, 01 03yrs Toddler, 03 05yrs Preschooler, Fun Toys, Health Development

  feed of recall notices for toys and children's products. But I feel like this is just too huge not to mention. Check the Mattel website for a full list of recalled toys. Elmo and Dora have been hit pretty hard.

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• Martha Stewart (and staff): Parenthackers?

  Published: August 4, 2007, 11:24 am

  Tags: 03 05yrs Preschooler, 05 12yrs Kid, 13 18yrs Teen, 18yrs Grownup, Fashion General Cuteness, Feeding Nursing, Fun Toys, Getting Organized, Habitat, Learning

  The little mag's packed with fun party ideas, recipes and crafts. A lovely summer afternoon diversion or airplane read if you're the crafty sort. My favorite: Bubble Wrap Purse favors

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• Glow sticks as travel night lights

  Published: August 7, 2007, 12:02 pm

  Tags: 01 03yrs Toddler, 03 05yrs Preschooler, 05 12yrs Kid, Fun Toys, Sleep Yours Theirs, Travel Going Out

  does double duty: after-dark fun, and an easier bedtime: I just discovered a wonderful hack while on vacation. We brought along glow sticks to play with on the beach after dark, but discovered they worked great as night lights for our 5- and 2 year old sons.  They got to choose a new color each night, so it was exciting to go to bed. We

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• "This Little Piggy," the extended version

  Published: August 8, 2007, 11:52 am

  Tags: 0 01yrs Infant, 01 03yrs Toddler, 03 05yrs Preschooler, 05 12yrs Kid, Behavior, Fun Toys

  Duane's kids get extra tickle time with a song that never gets old (for them, at least): You know, "this little piggy went to market" gets to be a pretty boring game for everybody but the baby.  Wanna bet?  My two older girls are 3 and 5, and I can still get them going with an epic This Little Piggy storyline. I just

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• Danger Rangers DVDs teach kids about common safety pitfalls

  Published: August 8, 2007, 1:14 pm

  Tags: 03 05yrs Preschooler, 05 12yrs Kid, Fun Toys, Health Development

  Through action adventure storylines and songs catchy enough to be labeled "brain worms," the Danger Rangers work toward their real mission to battle the 90% of childhood injuries which are preventable through education. Season 1 also covers a vast array of safety topics ranging from animals to caves to medicine to wheeled vehicles.

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• wallOVERs: Web-based kaleidescope fun for preschoolers

  Published: August 9, 2007, 10:21 am

  Tags: 01 03yrs Toddler, 03 05yrs Preschooler, Fun Toys, Learning

  Thanks a lot, Vincent. I just spent 20 minutes distracted by your hack. We recently spent an afternoon at a local children's museum.  My three year old spent a good portion of that time enthralled by a Mac running an application that generated kaleidescope-like creations called wallOVERs.  I'm not embarrassed to say that I sat next

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• Pipe cleaner party hats

  Published: August 11, 2007, 10:17 am

  Tags: 01 03yrs Toddler, 03 05yrs Preschooler, 05 12yrs Kid, Fun Toys

  birthday party: I saw a fun idea I thought kids might enjoy for a birthday.  The party "hats" consisted of five sparkly pipe cleaners per person.  They could be made into any form of hat, crown, glasses, necklace, etc. that each person could think of making.  I loved the individual aspect of it and thought it seemed

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