imagination Archives - Dad of Divas

Holiday Gift Guide – Playmobil To The Rescue!

December 20, 2017 by dadofdivas Leave a Comment

Are you looking for two new Playmobil sets that are both affordable and fun? Consider the two below, as they are both a ton of fun and encourage kids to use their creativity and imagination.

My youngest daughter has been a huge fan of Playmobil for years and these sets were the perfect price for our pocketbook and you get a lot of things with each of them that can be used either with only this set or with mixed into other sets too.

PLAYMOBIL Advent Calendar “Jewel Thief Police Operation” (9007): Looks like a thief is after the jewels, but the police are in pursuit! The Advent Calendar “Jewel Thief Police Operation” with lots of glittering trinkets contains twenty-four surprise items for each day leading up to Christmas. Once all the pieces are revealed, play out an exciting police chase and capture! For an extra surprise, the included safe can be used a piggy bank! Includes backdrop, two figures, jewelry case, police motorcycle, gold bars, money, handcuffs, wanted poster, functioning safe, and tons of other accessories.

Available: August 2017 Age: 4-10 MSRP: $24.99

My daughter specifically loved the safe and the small tools that come with this. This was a ton of fun to put together and I loved to see how she incorporated this with a few other sets that she has!

PLAYMOBIL Advent Calendar “Royal Ice Skating Trip” (9008): Glide across the frozen lake with the royal family! The Advent Calendar “Royal Ice Skating Trip” contains twenty-four surprise items for each day leading up to Christmas. Once all the pieces are revealed, you’ll see all the woodland creatures gathered to watch everyone skate. As an added bonus, behind one of the doors is a gorgeous bracelet, perfectly sized for kids to wear! Includes backdrop, two adult figures, one child figure, snowman, sleigh, deer, foxes, squirrels, owl, snow- covered tree, life-size bracelet, and many other accessories.

Available: August 2017 Age: 4-10 MSRP: $24.99

This set was another fun one, as every day in December you get to open up a new surprise. My daughter loved not know what would come next and every day she has had a smile on her face with the fun small things that you get. In all you are getting a ton out of this one set that can be used in so many different ways!

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New PLAYMOBIL Ice Cream Truck Helps Create a Cool, Creative Summer!

June 11, 2017 by dadofdivas Leave a Comment

When it comes to creative play and the summer, PLAYMOBIL allows kids to use their imagination to create amazing worlds and each piece that they create can be added in to help expand the universe. Now you can grab a sweet treat from the PLAYMOBIL Ice Cream Truck! Step up to the truck window to order one scoop or two and chat with friends while you enjoy your ice cream. This tasty frozen dessert is available in a dish or cone. When the day is over, the owner can close up shop but lower the window door and driving off to a new destination. Set includes one adult figure, three child figures, ice cream truck, table, ice cream, cones, dishes, ice cream scoop, beverages, and other accessories.

My Take on The PLAYMOBIL Ice Cream Truck

I have always been impressed with the quality of the PLAYMOBIL creations and the Ice Cream Truck continues to show how great they are at capturing remarkable detail but also an eye to distinct touches that will spark a great imagination and creativity in any child. This Ice Cream Truck was made the same way and really stands out. My youngest daughter loves PLAYMOBIL, but when she heard about the Ice Cream Truck she wanted to create it for herself. She took all of the parts of this out and was able to build it herself (she is 9.5). Once created she secluded herself with her other PLAYMOBIL items and really had some fun creating a story and world around what the truck was doing. If you love PLAYMOBIL, you will love the Ice Cream Truck too and I highly recommend that you pick it up today!

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Rogue One Inspired Big-Figs Bring The Movie To Life!

January 7, 2017 by dadofdivas Leave a Comment

My family and I are big Star Wars fans. We have watched all of the movies together and just recently watched the new Star Wars film Rogue One. My girls loved the movie and all of the new characters.

In their lives my daughters have always been huge facts of dolls and action figures and in using them for creative play. We recently found out about BIG-FIGS™ from Jakks Pacific which are large-scale action figures that provide not only hours of play and collectability, but also BIG value The figures range from 18-in to 48.5-inch in height, with 20-inch figures offering the widest assortment of characters across entertainment’s hottest properties at an incredible value. The 31-inch and 48.5-inch BIG-FIGS™ action figures are the ultimate gifts and most include special features such as lights, sounds, and motion sensors. All BIG-FIGS™ action figures are fully articulated and range in price from $19.99 to $99.99 and are recommended for ages 3 and older.

Even better, for those of us that are Star Wars fans, Jakks Pacific has created some BIG-FIGS™ with characters from the Star Wars Saga including their new favorites from Rogue One: A Star Wars Story.

My daughters were thoroughly excited about these great new BIG-FIGS™. They immediately wanted to play with them. I was impressed with the quality of the BIG-FIGS™ as they were very durable and large. The ones we tried were about 18 inches and I cannot even imagine what the 46 inch would be like as even the 18 inch BIG-FIGS™ are super big!

I am so glad that we found out about BIG-FIGS™ from Jakks Pacific. They are so lifelike and work so well. I love watching my daughters interacting with their BIG-FIGS™ and you will love to see your kids interacting with them too!

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Playmobil’s NHL Hockey Arena – Lifelike game play! #Playmobil

October 9, 2016 by dadofdivas Leave a Comment

About the Playmobil NHL Arena

Skate into action with your own hockey match at the Playmobil NHL Hockey Arena. Each of the four NHL players feature a movable arm and hockey stick for even more realistic game play. Simply pull back the lever to swing the stick and fire the puck down the rink towards the opposing goal. Use the goalie to defend against offensive plays by clipping the player to the goal and then using the joystick to maneuver the goalie from side to side for some game-saving blocks! Thanks to the included team decals, kids can customize each player to represent their favorite NHL team. Set includes four NHL players (two per team), four hockey pucks, game play rules booklet, player number decals, logo decals for all 30 NHL teams, score-keeping slide rule, and other game-tastic accessories.

My take on the Playmobil NHL Arena
My daughter is loves Playmobil and loves to use her creativity to bring the world of Playmobil alive. She has used many different sets to create vibrant tapestries to create her own world. This new NHL arena brought in a whole new way to have fun with her creativity and we found that not only could she incorporate this set into her world, but beyond that the fact that you can actually play a hockey game against someone else made it even more fun! As is the case with other sets this set is very well made and I love all of the additional add-ons that you can purchase with this such as the Stanley Cup or even a Zamboni! Playmobil continues to offer amazing quality that will last you years! Below you will see a video that my daughter and I made to let you see the arena and to give you some more of our thoughts!

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Build & Imagine Toys Lets Creativity Come Alive!

July 29, 2015 by dadofdivas 2 Comments

Each Build & Imagine StoryWalls play-set is made of colorfully illustrated magnetic panels that a child joins together. The result is a scene that they bring to life with the enclosed dress-up dolls and more than 40 magnetic costumes and props. The illustrated details act as story starters, sparking imaginative play. Toy industry experts have taken notice including Dr. Toy, Parents’ Choice, The National Parenting Center, Mr. Dad and many others.

Build & Imagine toys put the child in the role of architect and storyteller, and offers adventurous leading female characters. The color blue is sublimely sprinkled throughout the illustrated scenery. Mom blogger CoolMomPicks noted in her 2015 Toy Fair synopsis that Build & Imagine is a “smart toy for girls that defy the pink aisle. In other words, no princesses, ballerinas or fashionistas, whatever career that is.”

To tell you my own thoughts about this set, I, and my daughter put a video review together to encapsulate them! Hope you enjoy our thoughts!

Malia’s Beach House • $59.99 • Ages 4+

Dr. Toy’s 2015 Best Classic Toys

PAL Top 10 Language Learning Toys

Parents’ Choice Gold Award Winner

The National Parenting Center Seal of Approval

Marine Rescue Center • $49.99 • Ages 4+

Creative Child Building Toy of the Year

The National Parenting Center Seal of Approval

Parent’s Choice Gold Award

Day At The Beach • $49.99 • Ages 4+

Mr. Dad Seal of Approval

Parent’s Choice Gold Award

The National Parenting Center Seal of Approval

ABOUT BUILD & IMAGINE

Laurie Peterson, an award-winning toy designer and mother, founded Build & Imagine after noticing that the kinds of play experiences she enjoyed as a child (involving building, creativity, and experimentation) were poorly represented in the girls’ section of most toy stores. She now develops magnetic building toys with leading female characters and rich narrative details to engage both girls and boys. The company got its jumpstart with a successful Kickstarter project, and will have five themed building sets available this fall. Click on the company’s website, www.buildandimagine.com, for products, inspiration and an informative blog.

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Getting Outside With Your Kids Using a Parachute!

April 26, 2015 by dadofdivas Leave a Comment

Living in Michigan there are so many times when I want to get outside with my kids, and for most of the year I can without any big issues, yet sometimes in the winter it can be a bit more challenging. That being said, now that we have been starting to have nicer weather, I have found that I am getting outside more and I love finding new products that I can use to have some fun with the kids too. Not that I have to have products to get outside, but it helps.

Since my kids were young my kids have always loved parachutes. I am not talking about bringing my kids skydiving. I am talking about the parachutes that they have played with at school. You remember them, You stand around the outside, can whip it in the air and pull it under yourself and then sit underneath it. You can also throw some balls on it and try to keep them on it. There are a ton of games they played with it over the years and they have mentioned many times over the years how they wished they had one of these at our own home. Now we do!

Recently I received one of these thanks to a great company, Pacific Play Tents. This company has so many amazing creative play items that allow kids as well as parents and kids to really get down on the ground and/or active with playing and using their imagination. While I was able to check out their parachutes, they have amazing tents, tunnels, chairs and so much more too. So many of their items are so unique, and very cool. Not only could I see these things as a part of an individual home, but I could also see these being used in classrooms too!

The parachute we tried was about 10 feet across, so it was small in comparison to some that we had, but that was ok with us. It came in a great bag that you could easily carry with you anywhere you wanted to go and was very light to carry too. The parachute was stitched well and thus was well constructed. We took it for a test drive and found that it worked very well. The first time we used it we found that we needed a few more people on the different handles to make it work even better. The second time that we pulled it out, we had more kids around, so it was a bit better and easier to use as well.

We had a great time with this parachute and I can tell that we will be spending a ton of time outside with this parachute thanks to Pacific Play Tents!

Giveaway
Pacific Play Tents $50 GC Giveaway

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Moulin Roty Shadow Puppets Let Imagination Soar #giveaway

February 28, 2014 by dadofdivas 4 Comments

As a father i am always looking for things that will promote imagination and creativity. This especially occurs at bedtime when we make up stories, and simply have fun winding down the day. Bring in these Nightime Shadow Puppets from Moulin Roty.

I was able to try out the two sets that you see in the pictures here and I have to first say that I was so impressed with the overall quality of these. As a past puppeteer I can completely appreciate fine quality when it comes to puppets and this definitely provided that.

On top of this though the Shadow Puppets were so much fun and the company put so much detail into them,

The two sets I was able to test drive were the Castles and Dinosaurs sets. What was fun about the sets was that with the right lighting you could create big shadows and with your imagination you could create a story that would bring a smile to your childs’ face.

My daughters particularly liked the Castles set, and seemed to love having the Dragon being the protagonist in all of their stories.

On top of this all of the sets are reasonably priced in my opinion. The Paris Shadows ($21) set shows the Eiffel Tower, airplane, moon and sleepwalker. The 9-piece Castle Shadows ($18.50) include a dragon, a fairy, royalty and a witch! If dinos are more your style, the Dinosaur Shadows ($18.50) pack of 10 puppets feature a stegosaurus, brachiosaurus and more prehistoric shapes.

In the end these puppets are wonderfully made and truly sparked the creative juices in myself and in my girls. I highly recommend this to all!

Giveaway

How would you like to win a Shadow Puppet set for yourself this for yourself or for your family? All you need to do is fill out the below form to be entered. The contest will run for one week and will end on March 1, 2014.

Winner must be a resident of the U.S.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Winners are chosen at random, if you want all your chances counted, make sure you leave individual comments, not all of them in one!

Winner has 48 hours to contact me or another name will be chosen.

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K’Nex New Toys Bring Fun and Imagination into Play

September 10, 2011 by dadofdivas 33 Comments

K’Nex is a company that truly stands apart from so many others. It pushes kids to use their imagination. I had the opportunity to try out some of the new K’Nex toys that are on the market. I have to say that I was very impressed. I took a few minutes to talk about my thoughts on the toys here.

I highly recommend these toys to all children because that are definitely more than toys, but instead they are so educational in nature. I love the creativity that these toys encourage and how they allow kids to learn and grow along with the toys themselves.

If you are looking for a fun educational toy, this is one that you will want in your own home!

All opinions expressed in this review are my own and not influenced in any way by the company. Any product claim, statistic, quote or other representation about a product or service should be verified with the manufacturer or provider. Please refer to this site’s Disclaimer for more information. I have been compensated or given a product free of charge, but that does not impact my views or opinions.

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