We are getting in awesome new outdoor toys that we discovered at Toy Fair this year. One of my favorites is Zartz “throw and catch darts set”. Made by the Australian company Zing Toys, Zartz is a unique combination of darts and catch that can be played either indoors or outdoors. It makes a great gift for a boy or girl age 6 and up.

Recently a customer asked us for advice on buying a gift for two year old twin boys.  She was looking (ideally) for one gift that they could “share”.

Well the first problem there was the word “share”. Two year olds are generally not very good at sharing.  However, our advice to her was to buy something like a block set that has a ton of pieces (and multiple pieces of the same shape and size). For two year olds, we don’t recommend wood blocks yet because too often they are thrown or used to hit someone. We recommend these wood-like soft blocks from Edushape, which are perfect for this age and even older. The soft foam blocks look like wood and will stand the test of time. We also carry other soft blocks from Edushape:  the Brick-like Edublocks, Educolor blocks and Mini Edublocks (shaped like large lego pieces).

From time to time, Lisa and I love to write about products we think are great. I was recently introduced to something I just had to share.

If you are like me, sometimes jeans (and other pants too) are a little big in the waist. So, they sag and you are constantly tugging at them to keep them up. You don’t want to wear a regular belt because it creates an ugly bulge in front and you don’t want to pay a tailor to take them in.

The invisibelt is my savior for these wardrobe malfunctions. It is a smooth, undetectable plastic belt with a flat clasp. It easily adjusts for different pairs of jeans (it adjusts like a bra strap). I discovered invisibelt through it’s designer and company founder, Kathy Kramer. Kathy is my neighbor in my new building and our kitchens basically look into one another in the center of the building (aka the airshaft!). We didn’t know each other and she was watching me in my kitchen pulling up my sagging jeans. When we met, she gave me an invisibelt and my problem was solved!  Now, if I am wearing an untucked shirt, I pretty much wear my invisibelt every day.

At the request of her young daughter, Kathy recently added invisibelt girl to the collection. Designed for ages 5 to 15, the styles are adorable - I especially love the bones ‘n bows (pictured) pattern. I kind of want this one for myself.

In honor of Earth Day, Blue Orange Games is planting a tree for every game sold between today and April 25th. As a regular business practice, Blue Orange plants two trees for every tree they use to make their wooden games.

At GIFT HERO, we sell  Blue Orange’s Chickyboom  for ages 4 and up and Yamslam for 8 and up. Through the end of the month, we will also automatically include a free eco-friendly gift bag when you purchase either of these products.

This year, Benjamin is really interested in Earth Day. He is learning about it in school (including in Spanish class where it is called Dia de Tierra!) and wants to do his part to save the environment. He’s helped separate our recycling, taken baths with less and cooler water, and turned off lights when we don’t need them. We even set our DVR for a Sponge Bob special this Thursday evening (called Sponge Bob’s Last Stand – apparently, he and Patrick fight for the rights of jellyfish ).

To help him better appreciate going green, I’m giving him the Magic School Bus Going Green Science Kit. This new kit is full of experiments and activities that teach kids 5 and up to save our earth. They can recreate the water cycle, build a compost tube, shrink plastic, magically make packing peanuts disappear, decompose food with fungus, form pulp, create new paper, design recycled paper shapes, learn about the 3 R’s (reduce, reuse, recycle) and much more.

This is really a wonderful kids’ gift that gives back!

My nephew Adian is turning 7 in a couple of weeks, and I have been thinking about what we are going to send to him.  Adian lives in Toronto and we won’t see him until June so luckily GIFT HERO ships to Canada!

Like many 7 year old boys, Adian is really into science right now. Stepping into Science is a perfect choice because it provides an introduction to all of the major areas of science through hands on experiments. Unlike other science kits, Stepping into Science contains enough experiments to keep him busy for a long time – over 25 experiments!

Adian is also very creative and loves to draw and write. So I have also chosen Create Your Own Pop-Up Books for him. This kit comes with two hardcover “books” and tons of pop-up pieces, stickers and markers. I can’t wait to see what stories Adian creates, and hope that he will share them with us when he visits the U.S. in June.

If you would like other gift ideas for a 7 year old boy, check out our shopping category for 7 year old boys. We have lots of other choices like outdoor toys, building sets and games.

 My 6 year old daughter Lila’s FAVORITE game is the “ancient” game Mancala (we bought the set from GIFT HERO over the summer) When she wakes up on the weekends at our house in MA she immediately goes downstairs and plays it. I wake up (sometime later) to the sound of the glass beads clinking in the spaces as she plays…

When we were in Morocco a few weeks ago, image our shock & surprise to see the “ancient Mancala” board in a castle/fort that is located in an area outside of Ourzarzite (I do not know the correct spelling–but it is where some of the Star Wars movies were filmed) I took this picture & immediately posted it to Facebook for Lila to see (she was in FL with her grandparents during our trip) while we were away.  Clearly the game has been around for centuries! We could hardly believe it but here is proof!!!

Posted by: Dawn G. from New York City

Visit GIFT HERO to purchase our “modern” Mancala from University Games – it is a great kids’ gift.

I am totally in love with the Buddha Board laptop.  Kids paint on the surface with water and their creation comes to life. As the water evaporates, the art changes until it magically disappears leaving them with a clean slate and a clear mind.  Buddha Board is based on the Zen concept of letting things go – and starting fresh.

The laptop is lightweight and folds up – yes like a laptop! It includes a small, built-in tray for water and a brush made from bamboo. We have one that our whole family shares – I love watching the designs fade away with my kids and talking about what it looks like as it changes – after a few minutes of evaporation, a face can look like a flower then look like bees flying around.

Because the concept is so simple and relatively mess-free, I think Buddha Board is great for kids ages 4 and up. It’s sleek design will make it appeal to older kids as well – even adults. Many of us would benefit from having one of these on our desks at work!

At Toy Fair this year, we discovered some amazing wooden toys for young toddlers in the Hape booth. Hape is known for their toys made from bamboo. But they also have a line called Educo that uses natural wood and non-toxic paints. We couldn’t resist adding a few of their new products to the site.

Pictured here is the Creative Peg Puzzle, great for ages 18 months and up.  We love the quality of the craftsmanship and the vibrant colors. It develops problem solving and fine motor skills for toddlers. For ages 2 and up, we also offer the beautiful Rainbow Curve Set from Educo (shown below). In addition to being a great play piece for toddlers, it also looks incredible as a stand alone piece of art on a desk or shelf.

April 22nd marks the 40th Anniversary of Earth Day.  At GIFT HERO, we are doing our part to be environmentally responsible. We seek out products that are made by companies that use recycled materials, natural wood or organic materials.

We use minimal amounts of recycled paper as packaging to ship our products. No plastic filler or bubble wrap. We also encourage customers to order multiple products by offering free shipping on orders over $75, thereby further reducing packaging waste and providing more energy efficient shipping.

We are particularly proud of our eco-friendly reusable gift bags. Our bags are made from 100% recycled plastic milk jugs (although you would never guess it). Our bags are durable and serve well as gift wrap, shopping bag or storage bag for toys. 

In honor of Earth Day, during the month of April we are automatically giving away free gift bags
 with the purchase of products from our Eco-friendly toy category.