I recently discovered (and instantly fell in love with) Clean Well products. While visiting the Citibabes club in Soho, I noticed a hand sanitizer dispenser at the club entrance, with a sign kindly requesting that all visitors clean their hands before entering the kids club.  I was expecting the  institutional type hand sanitizer that we all have come to know so well. Rather, to my delight, I smelled something gorgeous, which I correctly recognized as thyme. There was no chemical odor, and my hands smelled and felt reallly delicious!

So I tracked down Clean Well in the health department at Fairway, and bought a few sanitizers for my family. After reading about Clean Well, which is made entirely from thyme and other essential plant oils, and is 99.9% effective at killing germs, I disposed of the other sanitizers we had at home. I realized that there was no need to expose my family to the chemicals  found in most sanitizers, including Triclosan, which is currently being investigated by the FDA for safety.

 Last year, I made the decision to switch from using regular cleaning supplies to using natural alternatives like Method and Seventh Generation. Clean Well has just teamed up with Seventh Generation to create home cleaning products. I will definitely be looking for those next time I shop!

I discovered the Zyclone at Toy Fair this year. I tried it out myself with help from the friendly, playful folks at Zing Toys, an Australian company that specializes in unique outdoor toys. Rather than explain in words how it works, check out this video of David Letterman playing with it (warning – his first try is a flop!). Just a couple of weeks ago, the Zyclone was also featured on Live with Regis & Kelly.  It is definitely one of the best outdoor toys for kids ages 6 and up.

Summer is a great time for kids to express themselves creatively through writing or drawing.  The pressures of school  are left behind, and  there are lots of new experiences – family trips and summer camp. Kids love to record their memories and share them with their family and friends through letters and drawings.

eeboo is known for its high quality children’s stationery, diaries, sketchbooks and colored pencils. We love their new Beautiful line, pictured here. These lovely eeboo products make a perfect summer gift for a girl ages 6 and up.

There is an article on the front page of the New York Times today about the growing popularity of teaching engineering in elementary schools to children as young as Kindergarten. Advocates argue that engineering strengthens and connects math and science skills, and links them to real life. If kids learn early that math and science can be used to solve problems and design structures that work – like pulleys, bridges, etc… they are more likely to be interested in math and science, the argument goes. Working on projects together also fosters social skills and collaboration, invaluable assets in the work force.  The federal government is currently working on legislation to promote engineering education in elementary schools nationwide.

The proof in the pudding, advocates say, is that the children love the engineering curriculum and talk about it at the dinner table.  Whether or not your child has engineering in their school curriculum, you can nuture and reinforce it at home with this comprehensive and interactive Intro to Engineering kit from Thames & Kosmos. It is specially designed for children ages 5 to 7.

Our cousin Rebecca is turning four this month and my kids are very excited to celebrate with her at her birthday party in her backyard. (My city kids are a little in awe of backyards.)

I have been thinking about what to give Rebecca for her 4th birthday. She has an older sister who is six, and between them they certainly have a lot of toys, which can make it challenging to find something they don’t already have. That’s why at GIFT HERO, we try to select toys that are a little more unique and less predictable.

For Christmas, we gave Rebecca the Superstructs Pinklets building set for girls. It is a unique building set created specifically for girls and has pieces that lets girls build a flower garden and butterfiles.  Many building sets are created with boys in mind and then  the pieces are painted pink or pastel for girls. 

 I got an email last week from Rebecca’s mom asking me if we had something just like Superstructs Pinklets to give Rebecca for her birthday since she and her sister play with it all of the time.  Luckily, Superstructs has come out with another kit for girls – Superstructs Lilies, which contains simliar pieces that can interchange with the Pinklets set. I can’t wait to see Rebecca’s face light up when we give her a new addition to her favorite toy!

My  six year old daughter Maya received this amazing art case by Alex as a present last year.  It is definitely one of her favorite things to take on the go. It’s completely portable and comes with 96 pieces to keep her busy for a long time. I comes with both broad and fine tip markers, crayons, watercolors, colored pencils, scissors, glue and even a note pad. Each piece has it’s own place where it stays securely fastened. This art case is completely built for travel.

I love it too because it is so easy to share – there is easily enough stuff to keep several kids entertained at one time. We bring it to the park with a bunch of paper and kids come over and start drawing with Maya. It’s great for your own kid, but it also makes a wonderful birthday gift for a 4-6 year old. It’s also a great gift to bring when visiting a family with children this summer.

A couple of weeks ago, my husband and and I went to event that had an incredible magician. This guy had us (and virtually everyone there) captivated with his card tricks.  He was the best I have ever seen…and apparently, he travels the world to entertain luminaries like Bill Gates.

My 6 year old son Benjamin would have loved it and since I’m always on the lookout for great party ideas, this planted a seed for me that maybe we should have a magic theme (with a much less “fancy” magician) for Benjamin’s 7th birthday party next winter.  He didn’t have a 6th birthday party so we kind of owe him something special this year.

Many kids Benjamin’s age love magic so at GIFT HERO we sell the terrific Discovery Magic Set from Melissa and Doug. This kids’ gift includes four easy-to master (but very impressive) tricks for boys and girls ages 6 and up. As they learn the tricks and entertain family and friends, they will build confidence and fine motor skills.  I think I’ll get this set for Benjamin – I can put him to use as the entertainment at my next dinner party!

I discovered these adorable reusable lunch bags called “LunchSkins” this weekend in a little store downtown.  They are made from a special fabric that is lead-free, bpa-free and phthalate free. It is also dishwasher safe.

I have to admit that until now I had used plastic containers for my kids’ sandwiches. It seemed better than disposable plastic bags, but I still didn’t like the idea of using plastic every day. My kids were excited to see the bags in their lunchboxes this morning!

Lunchskins is the brainchild of 3 Green Moms, three moms who wanted to find an alternative to plastic bags for their kids. On their website, lunchskins.com, they also sell smaller snack size bags and larger sub size bags.