Does it bother you that a lot of the toys we get for our kids aren't very environmentally friendly based upon issues with the plastics they are made of and the amount of them that end up in landfills? With that in mind and today being EARTH DAY, I wanted to give a shout out to a fantastic new line of eco-friendly, sustainable toys for preschoolers and kindergartners from Playper that won this year's NAPPA [National Parenting Product Awards] Sustainability Award. Playper toys encourage children to explore a Curious Kingdom and engage in imaginative play both hands-on and through augmented reality.
Playper Curious Kingdom Castle is a buildable DIY castle playset with moving parts that sparks imagination and creativity. It includes a multi-level castle with locking drawbridge and secret trap door, 6 colorful characters (featuring a royal family, knight in shining armor, galloping horse, and a goofy dragon) props & accessories and reusable “magic stickers." Aimed for children three to six years, Playper Curious Kingdom Castle is plastic free made from a durable, high quality recycled material decorated in vibrant colors with soy-based ink.
I appreciate this toy has both a traditional physical play aspect as well as a tech angle to it too. Watch as characters like King Ketchup and Snuffles the Dragon come to life when scanned using AR-enhanced features via Playper's free app. This fun, whimsical playset is currently available on Amazon for $34.99.
Eco-Friendly Materials: Playper toys are made from recycled gray board and chipboard, ensuring that no new trees are cut down for production. Each toy holds an FSC certification, guaranteeing responsible forest management.
Biodegradable and Recyclable: After providing hours of creative play, these toys can be responsibly disposed of, reducing landfill waste and teaching children about environmental responsibility.
Non-Toxic Ink: The vibrant colors of PlayperBoard® playsets come from soy and vegetable-based inks, which are safe for children and the environment. These sustainable inks are a great alternative to petroleum-based inks.
Durable and Spill-proof: All pieces are coated with a water-based, spill-resistant finish, making the toys durable enough for rough play and multiple assemblies. Plus, it makes recycling easier!
Tool-Free Building: Each Playset comes with picture-based instructions that require no reading, making them easy for young kids. The assembly is fun, colorful, and doesn't require scissors, glue, or tape.
For more information about Curious Kingdom toys, please visit playper.com
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You could pay more than $150 for a cardboard spaceship playhouse for your kids from Etsy or gather up some unused boxes and pickup the book CARDBOARD CREATIONS: VEHICLES that provides DIY instructions for constructing a rocket and 9 other fun vehicles for playtime fun instead. This 48 page softcover book by Fiona Hayes provides simple instructions and full color photos demonstrating how to magically transform ordinary cardboard boxes into awesome vehicles for kids to play in. Craft an airplane for children to pretend to fly in, a rocket for space adventures, a car for racing or a food truck to inspire future chefs among other cardboard creations.
What a great way for parents to spend some creative family time and for children to engage in imaginative play. These cardboard creations are sure to provide kids with countless hours of playtime adventures. Combining creativity and imagination to get kids spending time having unplugged fun is a plus for this dad blogger, so CARDBOARD CREATIONS: VEHICLES gets A Geek Daddy nod of approval from me.
BOOK GIVEAWAY
CARDBOARD CREATIONS: VEHICLES will be available from Quartos Knows in October, but ageekdaddy.com is hosting a giveaway of the book now to provide one lucky winner with it for free. Retweet the giveaway post on Twitter as well as complete the Rafflecopter entries below for a chance to win this great book. Must be a United States resident over 18 years old to be eligible to win. Quartos Knows will be responsible for delivering the prize. Good luck!
** This blog post was sponsored by the Toy Industry Association. A Geek Daddy Blog received financial compensation for its participation in The Genius of Play campaign**
Parents should be aware that child care experts are expressing concerns that today's children are not getting enough play time and that the amount of "unstructured free play" is in decline. Unstructured play is a set of activities that children dream up on
their own without adult intervention. This type of play rarely has
predetermined goals or objectives but instead allows children to create
their own rules and establish their own limits. Common reasons for the decline include safety concerns (stranger danger, crime, traffic), increasing time spent in school and on academic performance, and an emphasis on structured activities (sports, clubs, music lessons, etc.). Recent research suggests
that children should experience twice as much unstructured time as
structured play experiences and touts the benefits of unstructured play
on whole child development.
I remember as a child, there were multiple empty lots in our subdivision that were filled with grass grown out to about five feet tall where all the neighborhood kids would congregate to pretend we were jungle explorers, have massive battles with our collections of plastic green army men, or build tracks to race our BMX bicycles. There also was a creek surrounded by some woods and fields where all the kids would go out to explore, build forts, or role play as Star Wars of G.I. JOE characters which were both really popular at the time. We enjoyed what Dr. Michael Patte, a professor of education and child life specialist at Bloomsburg University, calls the "three frees" - free of charge, free to choose, and free to come and go as we pleased. He warns that kids are being overwhelmed by scheduled events and structured activities to the detriment of the development benefits derived from simply engaging in unstructured free play. Dr. Patte recommends parents understand times have changed since they were a kid themselves and encourages adults to make extra efforts to ensure children are getting enough unstructured playtime allowing for the imaginative and physically active play experiences that are vital to healthy child development.
Unfortunately, unlike where I grew up, our current neighborhood doesn't have the numerous open spaces or lots of similarly aged children living on the block to entice my kids to get outside and play the way I did when I was their age. So we've made it a family endeavor to explore the local parks for the most unique and interesting playscapes and frequently visit them to help instill with our kids a desire for wanting to get out and play. They're always excited to go to one of these playscapes and I just sit back on a park bench out of their way and let them play. Some of my kids favorite places to play are Metro Detroit area playscapes with barn, train, and wilderness themes.
Inglenook Park features a farm themed playscape complete with animal cutouts, two barn shaped towers, a windmill, and numerous features for children to bounce around, climb up, swing on, or slide down. It also has a giant life-sized spider web with a trampoline in the middle for children to climb and bounce on. My kids can spend hours playing here and still not want to leave when I tell them its time to go home.
David H. Sheppard Park features life size recreations of a truck, train, and boat for kids to play on. My kids like to imagine themselves having Wild West adventures on the train and pretending to be ocean explorers cruising the seven seas on the tug boat. They can be so creative as they play out some really interesting adventures at this fun park.
Waterford Oaks County Park's Paradise Peninsula is a Michigan-themed playscape that features an "up north woods" cabin, tree fort, sand dunes area, marsh with cattails, raised sand play area, and multiple climbing areas. Colorful rubberized surfacing depicts Michigan's lakes, dunes, and forests. My kids enjoy "rock climbing" the simulated cliff features, pretending to be on a camping expeditions using the log cabin, tree fort and row boat, and searching for the faux fossils placed around the play area.
Visiting a playscape is always a learning experience when it comes to social interactions because most of these cool locations are somewhat of a drive away from our house so my kids are always meeting new children to play with. It's a great opportunity for them to get over being shy and developing socializing skills when it comes to meeting new people. Sometimes there will be a child on the playground who is a bully, temperamental or just not very nice to be around and these situations also present "teachable moments" for the kids. Learning how to make new friends and dealing with people who don't want to be your friend are two valuable skills to have in life.
More importantly, spending time at a playscape gives my kids the opportunity to be creative through unstructured imaginative play and has them being physically active. Once the kids hit the playscape, you never know what pretend adventures they may embark on or characters they might role play. On our last few visits, I've observed my children make new friends and really be imaginative with their play while pretending to be dinosaurs, role playing Star Wars adventures, and engaging in a game of tag with each participant pretending they were a different wild animal. Plus a playscape provides obstacles and features that enhance imaginative play and get children running, climbing, jumping sliding. With the American Heart Association
recommending that children 2 and older should be involved in at least 60
minutes of moderate intensity physical activities each day to stay in
good health that absolutely makes a visit to a playscape a good thing.
Join A Geek Daddy in taking the "Play Pledge" that you will make it a priority to encourage your kids to engage in unstructured imaginative play on the Genius of Play website. If the website obtains a commitment from parents to support a million hours of play time for their children, the Toy Industry Association will donate $10,000 worth of toys to the Toy Bank, an international giving program that makes play possible for children in need around the world. CLICK HERE to make the Pledge by submitting your email address and selecting the number of hours between 1 and 40 per week your family will devote to making time for your children to play. Taking the "Play Pledge" is your acknowledgment as a parent that you recognize the importance of play to a child's development and commit to ensuring that your child gets enough quality play time in their life. When submitting your "Play Pledge" you can opt-in or out of receiving a monthly The Genius of Play newsletter filled with play ideas and tips from the Toy Industry Association.
The Toy Industry Association (TIA) is the not-for-profit trade association whose members include toy inventors, toy makers, toy sellers, and all other businesses involved in creating and delivering toys for kids of all ages. TIA's 750+ member companies are responsible for about 90% of the estimated 3 billion toys sold in the U.S. every year. The TIA's Genius of Play campaign provides families with the information and inspiration they need to make
play an important part of their child’s day. Through its website and
social media channels, parents can find facts, useful tips and expert
advice on how toys and play can help kids build confidence, creativity,
critical thinking and other skills that will serve them throughout their
lives. Plus, you can get ideas on how to keep playtime fun and fresh! You can follow The Toy Industry Association on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest.
It was nice weather outside the other day and my kids were being rambunctious inside the house. When I urged them to go out and play they whined back at me "there's nothing to do in the backyard." I urged them to use their imagination as they were ushered outside. It didn't take long for me to hear them having fun as they started to pretend they were the Avengers and imagining they were on an adventure to save the planet.
My son threw on his Iron Man Marvel's Avengers: Age of Ultron Hero Mask and Iron Man Arc FX Armor and was racing around the backyard pretending to blast apart the robotic hoards of the villainous Ultron's cybernetic army. Hasbro's Arc FX armor provides kids with a pair of articulated gloves that assists them in role playing by featuring a light-up repulsor with sound effects so they can blast into their imaginary battles like Iron Man. Raising your hand activates lights and blasting sound effects. Meanwhile my daughter was pretending to be the Fantastic Four's invisible woman so she could ignore my son and stay out of the fray.
Iron Man next stumbled upon Thor's mighty battle hammer Mjolnir and tested himself to see if he was worthy to hold the famed weapon. He used all the power of Iron Man's armor but was unable to budge the hammer from where it rested. This peaked my little girl's interest who wandered over and without a bit of hesitation hoisted Mjolnir into the air. That action transformed a six year old kindergartener into the mighty Thor!
Thor and Iron Man then teamed up to tackle a variety of challenges as they leaped, rolled, and wrestled their way through an imaginary adventure. They spent about 2 hours outside on a nice spring day playing Avengers. These role playing Marvel's Avengers: Age of Ultron toys from Hasbro were really a nice enticement to encourage my kids to get outside and play in a fun way that also got them some exercise and spurred their imaginations.
According to a post in Scholastic's parenting blog, pretend play, like my kids Avenger's adventure in our backyard, has important learning benefits that assist children with problem solving, critical thinking, self expression and imagination. The children's publisher Scholastic notes that when kids pretend to be different characters they have the experience of "walking in someone else's shoes" which helps teach the moral development skill of empathy. The article also mentions that pretend play can assist children with language skills as they use words to reenact a story or act out their own adventures. CLICK HERE to read the full blog post by Scholastic on the many benefits of children engaging in pretend play.
There are also a bunch of benefits in regard to getting kids outside to play. One of the most important is that the American Heart Association recommends that children 2 and older should be involved in at least 60 minutes of moderate intensity physical activities each day to stay in good health. Getting your kids to pretend they are super heroes is a great way to get your kids outside playing and being active! These Marvel's Avengers: Age of Ultron role-playing toys really can spark a child's interest in pretending to be a super hero and spur them to run, leap, and wrestle in imaginative play.
In addition to the Iron Man and Thor gear I've show above, here are a few other Hasbro role play items in their Marvel's Avengers: Age of Ultron collection that can be used to #AssembleYourTeam and help your child unleash his or her imagination to join the ranks of Earth's Mightiest Super Heroes.
AVENGERS HERO MASKS
Wear the Hulk's scowl, Captain America's iconic 'A', Iron Man's flip up visor, or Thor's helmet to suit up as your favorite Avenger. Recommended for children ages 5 & up.
HULK GAMMA GRIP FISTS
These foam hands let kids imagine battling evil like the most powerful member of the Avengers: the Hulk! Recommended for children ages 4 & up.
CAPTAIN AMERICA STAR LAUNCH SHIELD
Pull the rip cord to deploy the shield's center disc and send it flying for a surprise attack. Recommended for children ages 6 & up.
These toys are available at most major retailers and on HasbroToyShop.com
Avengers Assemble! Get out there and have some fun adventures of your own!
DISCLAIMER: I was not provided any financial compensation
for publishing this post and there was no promise made to Hasbro that
if they provided complimentary products that they would receive a
positive review or in fact any post on this blog at all. Opinions and
views expressed in this post are my own. Some of the product
information and photographs used in this post were provided to A Geek
Daddy blog by Hasbro. A Geek Daddy blog was provided some complimentary products that were utilized in this post.
