As a special holiday gift to our customers, we are offering free gift bags with each gift purchased from today through December 17th.  We normally charge $3 per bag – which we think is a steal for gift wrap (with our nifty drawstring bag, you don’t need to wrap or find a bag to carry the gift, plus the bag is reusable as a tote or a storage bag for toys).

To receive your bags, you must add one to your shopping cart for each gift you order.  Just click on the blue “Add a Gift Bag” button in the shopping cart to add bags to your order. 
Happy holidays and enjoy!

I love puzzles. I’ve posted a few times before about why I think puzzles make terrific gifts and are great educational toys for kids of all ages (as long as you pick the right puzzle for a child’s readiness).

Puzzles that “teach” a subject in addition to building cognitive, fine motor, social and emotional skills are the best. The U.S.A States and Capitals puzzle from Mudpuppy is one of these. It’s got 63 pieces and the finished puzzle is 18×14, which is perfect for boys and girls ages 5 and up. It’s beautifully illustrated by Johnny Yanok. Plus, kids will learn the states and the capitals (and you will get a necessary refresher)…really, who could ask for more!

Well, there’s more – through July 6th, the U.S.A. States and Capitals puzzle is 20% off at GIFT HERO which makes it a bargain to boot! Check it out and see our other USA-themed gifts that are all 20% off in honor of our nation’s 233rd birthday.

Another product included in this week’s celebration of America’s Birthday is Great States Jr. My son Josh first received this award winning game as a five year old birthday gift. It quickly became a favorite for us to play together, and within a matter of weeks he was easily finding all of the states on the map. Now Josh and Maya play the game together and it is a really fun way for them to learn about our states!

Great States Jr. is ideal for ages 4-7 because there is no reading involved. Players spin the wheel and move around the board, picking a red, white or blue card depending on what color space they land on. The cards ask the player to find a state that matches the image on the card – sometimes by showing the outline of the state, an image of what the state produces or the first letter of the name (players can select any state starting with the letter provided). Players need to find it on the board before the timer runs out.

Pretty soon, they will graduate to the version for older kids and adults, Great States, which involves reading and more complicated questions and answers.

Visit our site to see all of the products included in our celebration of America’s Birthday, and enjoy 20% off until July 6th.

This weekend is America’s 233rd birthday! Kind of old for a gift from GIFT HERO…but, we want to celebrate so we are offering 20% off our great selection of USA-themed gifts through Monday July 6th.

United States Bingo from Eeboo is a patriotic adapation of the classic game for boys and girls ages 5 and up. Children will have fun, while they learn United States regions, states, landmarks and industries. It’s great for family game night and it comes with 12 game cards so it is ideal for a group to play at a 4th of July Picnic. It includes a draw-string bag so it is also good for travel. Like all Eeboo gifts, United States Bingo is beautifully illustrated and made of durable high quality cardboard.

We’ve got lots of other USA-themed gifts, everything from board games to puzzles to playsets so visit our America’s Birthday page at GIFT HERO today to save 20% through July 6.

This week GIFT HERO is partnering with My Mom Shops to give away two of our great outdoor products! Visit My Mom Shops and enter the giveaway to win either our Kid’s Watering Can Kit or the Safari Mini Golf Set. These are two of our favorite products for outdoor play, and they make great birthday gifts.

My Mom Shops is a blog site run by a NYC mom of two (and fanatic online shopper) finds cute and clever stuff for moms and tots.

Good luck!