In honor of her five and a half birthday I let Maya pick out a present on GIFT HERO. She chose the Milk & Cookies game, which surprised me. It arrived today, and Maya was disappointed that the cookies weren’t REAL! She thought she would be getting real cookies! I am still laughing about that.

Luckily, she really, really enjoyed playing the game with me and forgot that the cookies weren’t real. This is a high quality game – I love the box because it is made out of extra sturdy cardboard and the lid is attached and magnetized, so it open easily and closes tightly. This is definitely not one of those games that is going to start falling apart shortly after you get it. This makes it great for travel too! You can definitely take this to a picnic or on a trip.

This game is a great birthday gift for 4 and 5 year olds because it is a little more sophisticated than Chutes & Ladders and Candy Land. There is certainly some strategy and thinking involved in this game. Players have to figure out how to move their cookie jar to a cookie tile that matches the color and number that they spin. It is just right for 4 and 5 – not too complicated but interesting enough. Josh joined us toward the end of the game and he seemed to enjoy it too, even though he is 7.

Of course, once we finished playing we took a break for real milk & cookies!

As the school year winds down, my kids are getting their summer reading lists from their teachers. Luckily, Josh and Maya love books and we have tons of them. We also go to the library a lot and borrow books. As a child, I loved going to the library and I loved to read. Going with my kids brings back memories of my own childhood and Little House on the Prairie and Nancy Drew.

Books make great birthday gifts, too. Especially if it is a book that the child is not likely to have already. That’s why GIFT HERO offers some incredible books that we love and that most kids are not likely to have already on their shelves. We also love puzzles, and there are some wonderful book and puzzle sets that we offer for all age groups.

One of our favorites is Go, Go America by Dan Yaccarino, shown to the left. This hilarious book takes kids on a journey across the United States with a family that seeks out rather bizarre yet interesting trivia about our 50 states. We think this book is best for ages 5 and up. Older kids will get more out of it and can read it by themselves. On GIFT HERO, we pair this up with the U.S.A. States & Capitals 63 piece puzzle.

For younger children, my personal favorite is The Animal Boogie. This fun story reads like a song and comes with a sing-a-long music CD. After a few readings with mom and dad, kids can put on the CD and “read” the book themselves. We also offer the matching Animal Boogie puzzle. This book and puzzle set makes a wonderful birthday gift for a 3 or 4 year old.

So get those summer reading lists ready and buy a book for that birthday child on your list!

We just added this awesome product from Klutz. The great thing about Klutz kits is that they are designed so that the kids can actually play with what they make afterwards. My 5 year old daughter Maya LOVES this kit. I bought it for her a few months ago when we were visiting family and they had no toys at their house. So I needed something to keep her busy so she wouldn’t ask to watch TV all of the time! She played with this for days! It comes with four “purses” that tear out and then use all of the stickers, beads, etc. to decorate them in a unique style. The kit also comes with paper accessories to put in the purse like a phone, makeup, keys and sunglasses. She has had the purses for months now and she plays with them all of the time. The “paper” is actually very durable cardboard so it doesn’t rip even after hours of play. Paper Purses is an amazing birthday gift for a 4 or 5 year old girl.

We also sell two other great kits from Klutz for girls this age, including Mermaid’s Palace and the Fabulous Book of Paper Dolls. Both also have Maya’s stamp of approval!

We had a request to blog about Quick & Easy Tie Dye Deluxe- someone’s friend received it as a birthday gift from GIFT HERO! It’s funny how trends come and go. I remember when I was a child, the thought of tie dye was not the coolest thing. Now it is all the rage among the pre-teen set.

This product makes a perfect birthday gift for an 8-10 year old girl. At these ages, girls love to make their own personal fashion statement. This kit comes with a pillowcase and mini t-shirt for a plush pal. But most girls also tie dye their own t-shirt as well. The aforementioned friend did this! This kit really does make tie dying easy for girls to do on their own. With sleepaway camp or summer trips looming, the pillowcase is a great way for girls to make their own portable personal statement!

This is my 7 year old editor, my son Josh. He goes on GIFT HERO a few times a week and gives me feedback. Quite often, he finds a typo. He also lets me know what he thinks about our product selection, and whether he thinks something is appropriate for the age we suggest.

Here are some of Josh’s personal favorites, which he is dying to have. We are negotiating if and when he will get these.

Baseball Guys: This set comes with two complete baseball teams and a baseball field so boys can create and play their own baseball game. Josh is nuts about baseball and is going to see the Yankees next week with his Poppy.

Bananagrams: This word game comes in a very cool banana shaped case and is great for travel. It is entirely educational, so it’s kind of a no-brainer for me to get this for him.

Balloon Powered Vehicle Set: This is just the coolest thing. Kids use the pump to blow up balloons and attach them to cars that use the air to go – fast!

We are going on vacation this week. Leaving on Thursday for London. This will be Benjamin’s first trip to Europe (not surprising since he is only 5). The flight is scheduled for 7 hours – the longest plane ride he has ever been on. I have been thinking about what will keep him entertained for all of those hours…and free me up to read my stack of magazines. He will watch movies, listen to music, play some videogames, and have multiple snacks but it is a long time for a boy to sit still.

I like to give him gifts on the plane – things that are new and he hasn’t played with before. One game that is definitely on my list is Clever Castle from ThinkFun. It’s a single-player pattern matching game designed specifically with younger kids in mind. Players use the clues provided to help nine party guests find their rooms in the castle. When every princess, knight and dragon finds their assigned room, you flip the challenge card over to see if you are right! Clever Castle is designed to encourage children to explore, succeed and have fun. The game includes a Parent’s Guide and 40 Challenges ranging from Easy to Super Hard. ThinkFun offers a whole series of these wonderful games and GIFT HERO sells many of them for ages 5 and up.

With Benjamin busy, what will my gift be? Hopefully, some quiet time with my ipod and maybe a nap!