In case you don’t subscribe to the wonderful blog from our partners at Citibabes…I wanted to share a guest post I wrote earlier this week with ideas for active play for young children. Entitled “Get Up and Play,” it includes my favorite ways to get physical with your children.

The growing obesity problem in our country (and in New York City) is astounding and very scary. So many children are sedentary…choosing screen time over active play. As city parents, without backyards and lots of nearby playgrounds,  it is even harder to get our kids up and active.

There are so many fun ways to stay active. Some of my recommendations include taking some toy instruments, forming a rock band and dancing around the house, pulling out toy cars and having an “on your hands and knees” race, and bringing the outside in by choosing a soft version of a classic outdoor game like ringtoss or golf and playing it indoors.

To read the full article and learn about other ideas from Citibabes for getting Citifit this fall visit the Citibabes Blog.

Well not literally! We actually just launched our baby gifts category at GIFT HERO!

For a while now, our customers have been asking us to add gifts for newborns and one year olds. It seems that people have the same issues finding great baby gifts as they do with birthday presents for older children. Many people said they were tired of just sending clothes – and often worried about what size to buy. So here we come to the rescue again!

Our baby gifts category includes wonderful baby toys from some amazing brands like Apple Park Organic, Zolo, Imagiplay and Edushape.

One of my favorites that I have recently given as a newborn gift are these soft organic blocks from Apple Park.  I also love the Zolo Peeko Discovery Box (shown below).

My 10 month old niece Vida is taking her first steps, and this Clack & Chomp Alligator Push Toy will make a perfect gift for her first birthday!

What are your favorite baby toys?

When Lisa and I conceived of GIFT HERO, our goal was to make it easy for moms to buy gifts for all of the parties to which their kids were invited. We have each struggled to find “perfect” kids’ gifts and we felt that no local store met our need for simplicity, convenience, a good and edited selection, and fair prices. So…we started GIFT HERO as the ideal online solution.

Fast forward 18 months and GIFT HERO is a success!  We quickly established a following and we’ve gotten great feedback on our selection, how easy it is to shop on our site, how quickly we ship, and our adorable gift bag. But, some local NY moms have said that they can’t  plan ahead even a couple of days (if you order by noon on Weds, you will get your gifts on Friday…pretty fast, huh?) and they wished they could shop GIFT HERO on their way to a party.

I have known Tracey Frost, the Founder and CEO of Citibabes for a few years, through work we both do for a charity called Baby Buggy. Tracey and I got to talking and realized that we should work together to further meet the needs of city moms. Citibabes is a fabulous club for young families located on Mercer Street in Soho. The club has a retail store that sells a carefully edited selection (sound similar?) of gorgeous clothing and gear for babies through 6 year olds. Her members and customers were asking them to sell toys…

We are thrilled to announce the opening of GIFT HERO at Citibabes. Located at the club at 52 Mercer Street on the 3rd floor, the store is open to the public and sells amazing gifts and toys for babies through 6 year olds. The teachers at Citibabes are even helping us customize the selection of educational toys to meet the interests and stages of development of city kids and their discriminating moms…a very tough audience!

GIFT HERO at Citibabes is open Monday to Friday, 8AM-7PM, Saturday 9AM-6PM and Sunday 9AM to 6PM. 212.334.5440

Thanks to Pint Size Social, I found out about this amazing FEED bag to benefit UNICEF. It is available exclusively at HSN through Halloween and for each bag purchased at HSN will donate $3.50 to the U.S. Fund for UNICEF. That amount is enough to provide one child with a year’s supply of unique micronutrient powders to provide valuable vitamins and minerals to support a child’s overall development and growth – and potentially – save the child’s life.

Trick-o-Treat for UNICEF is very special to me – and not just because I have fond memories of going house to house as a kid with my little orange box collecting money for UNICEF.  A number of years ago, I served as the National Director for Trick-orTreat for UNICEF and lived and breathed this program for a few years of my life. Through my work with UNICEF, I was able to see firsthand how the money raised through Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF saves children’s lives.

Now my own children, ages 6 and 8, Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF on Halloween. I am very proud that their school has supported this program for many, many years. The orange collection boxes are distributed to all children through the school – and each year over $1,000 is collected by the students going door to door – and adding in their own savings as well.

To get your family, church or synagogue or your kids’ school involved, visit the official Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF page. Let’s keep this tradition alive for our children – it’s been going for 60 years now!

Today is the first day of Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year. Jewish tradition is full of many customs involving food. A favorite custom for childen is dipping sliced apples in honey to symbolize our hopes for a sweet new year.

Tomorrow I am hosting lunch at my home for the second day of Rosh Hashanah. I’ve been thinking about how to keep the kids occupied while the adults linger around the table drinking wine and coffee. I realized that a fun activity, linked to the holiday, is for them to play Appletters. 

Appletters is a new game from the folks who created the award winning Bananagrams. This educational toy makes a wonderful kids’ gift for ages 6 and up.  It’s like a word version of dominoes. Players take turns adding tiles to the first or last letter of a word, creating a continuous “snake” of new words.  It is a great way to help increase a child’s vocabulary and spelling skills. My fingers are crossed that it is also a great way to entertain Benjamin and the other children…for at least 30 minutes!

To all of our Jewish customers and fans…best wishes for a happy, healthy and sweet new year!

One of Benjamin’s favorite outdoor activities is light sabre fighting. He’s a pretty typical 6 year old boy and is obsessed with all things Star Wars.

Benjamin is great at improvising.  When he doesn’t have a toy or piece of equipment he needs for a game he wants to play, he will repurpose something else we have on hand. Yesterday, he and James discovered that OgoSport Mini Super Sports Disks are great shields for a light sabre fight!

OgoSport Disks is one of my favorite kids’ gifts.  It comes with 2 lightweight, soft disks and an OgoSoft ball (like a koosh ball). The center of the disk is made from nylon and spandex so it bounces the ball high in the air.  With the OgoSport disks, kids can create their own versions of every “ball sport” imaginable – tennis, kadima, badminton, soccer, water polo.  The disks can be used with almost any balls – including water balloons. It’s water safe, it even floats, so it’s great in the pool or at the beach. It’s also safe for indoor play.

OgoSport Disks is one of the most versatile toys around. It promotes active play and lets kids use their imaginations to create their own games – even Star Wars games. It builds eye-hand coordination. It is soft and lightweight so it is portable and easy for younger hands. We recommend it as a kids’ gift for ages 4 and up.