In somewhat of a bazaar crossover; Mattel has just released a line of Wizard of Oz Barbie and Ken dolls. I get that the Wizard of Oz is a timeless classic, but in this day and age are little girls still interested in that movie? I guess Mattel ran out of colors for Barbie’s dress and decided to mix it up a bit.
If you look closely at all of the dolls, including Dorothy, the Good Witch, the bad witch, the Lion, the Scarecrow, and the Tin Man; you’ll see that they all resemble the characters from the movie with one exception. The Wicked Witch of the West is beautiful. They clearly just took a spare Barbie doll and put black clothing on her. It’s odd that they wouldn’t take the time and effort to mold some new heads for the doll with a huge ugly nose, which was easily the witch’s most defining feature.
Anyway while stumbling around the web I saw a press release for casting calls for Kitt. Kitt is a character from the “American Girl” toy line which is 100% owned by Mattel. Mattel is working with HBO to make a movie about this doll/story character named Kitt. The film will be called “Kitt Kittredge: An American Girl Mystery.” The film will take place in Depression era America and star Abigail Breslin from Little Miss Sunshine.
Playmobil recently launched a new line of play sets with a sports theme. There are two sports in the new line, Skateboarding/BMX Biking and Soccer. This move by Playmobil really goes into the “why didn’t some one think of this sooner” category. With children’s weight problems spiraling out of control, anything that fosters an interest in sports and outdoor activities is a welcome change for parents. Even if these are toys to be played inside, it is better than a screen that has them slaying dragons all day.
If your child doesn’t have a Webkinz yet, get ready to be begged for one. Webkinz is probably the biggest fad with the 5 to 12 crowd right now. Webkinz are stuffed animals with a digital twin on Webkinz.com. Webkinz come in a ton of different animals like, dogs cats, bears, koalas, and birds. Each Webkinz has its own unique code that identifies it with its online twin on Webkinz .com. Be warned, Webkinz aren’t in every toy store in the US. You may have to hunt around to buy one. Amazon.com has a huge selection in their future releases section of their toy department.
I’ve seen a ton of the new types of inflatable pools at Target. If you haven’t they look very sturdy and range in size from small, for the kiddies, to huge. Big enough for several adults. They are built from Dura-Tech, which is a very strong kind of rubber. This new generation of pools seem to be built around that same principal that allows your neighbors to have those huge, inflatable lawn ornaments for the holidays. Basically they stay inflated via powerful fan that runs continuously.
Does your child know about the demographics of the city, state or country he/she lives in? Do you find your child coming to you with the curiosity to learn more about various famous cities or countries around the world? If the answer is YES, how often do you remember the answers to those questions and if you don’t know then where do you go search for answers? The questions train would keep growing and you will be left bank at one point as every child has the tendency and intelligence to put another question based on your answer.
If your toddlers are anything like mine, they will do just about anything to get their messy hands on your precious cell phone or Blackberry. The little ones seem to always want to play with Mom and Dad’s button laden, noise making, flashy things. Our cell phones were probably the most sought after (expensive) gadget our kids want.