Cutting fruit is a classic toy that should be in every kid’s collection. It has multiple uses – building fine motor skills, teaching basic math lessons, exposing young children to healthy eating, pretend play…I could go on and on.

So, when Lisa and I discovered Kid O Cutting Fruit, we knew we had to add it to www.gifthero.com. This award winning toy, from the incredible toy designers at Kid O, takes cutting fruit to a whole new level. Kids will love to slice through these textured magnetic fruits to discover what’s inside. Then, they snap the pieces back together, aligning the convex seeds to fit like a puzzle. Slices hold together magnetically (not velcro like other versions). This educational toy includes a pear, orange and apple, gentle plastic knife and tote bag.  It’s a delicious kid’s gift for 2 and up.

This week Lisa and I are going shopping! It is the New York International Gift Fair at the Javitz Center. Besides Toy Fair (mecca for toy retailers), NYIGF is the best way to learn about amazing new toys to add to GIFT HERO. We spent today walking through the general gift and accent on design sections. Tomorrow we will scour the Baby and Child floor where there’s sure to be too many great gifts to choose from.

We stocked up on educational toys and award winning toys including the coolest jewelry kits, arts and crafts sets, building toys, gifts for girls and gifts for boys. Visit us soon for great new kid’s gifts and old favorites from Alex Toys, Fashion Angels, Perplexus, Ogosport and many more.

This past Saturday was one of those days when my family didn’t leave our apartment. The snow turned to sleet and we cozied up in the family room reading, watching movies and playing games. Lisa had recommended Sketch It! from Blue Orange Games to us. Her kids (and the adults too) love this educational game. We just added this kid’s gift to GIFT HERO because her family was addicted.

Sketch It! is an unique drawing game that inspires creativity, quick thinking, and fine motor skills. With this award winning toy, both the sketcher and the decipherer can earn points. We all had a blast trying to draw at the right speed – too fast and you confuse the others…too slow and you miss your chance to score. Find Sketch It! and lots of other great educational toys for 8, 9 and 10 year olds on our site. It’s a perfect birthday gift.

At Citibabes, the primary goal of our classes is to promote the cognitive, social, physical, and emotional growth and well-being of young children. We also like to have fun in the process. We understand that each child is unique and learns in different ways and as such we design our classes around experiential learning. We encourage children to engage in meaningful learning through play, real-world experience, and child-centered activities that are both educational and fun. Here are a few top “edutainment” picks from GIFT HERO – toys that are the perfect combination of education and entertainment (aka “edutainment”) for your little ones, specially chosen by a few teachers at Citibabes.

- Tracey Frost Rensky, CEO and Co-founder, Citibabes

Flower Stacker by Wonderworld: This construction toy is perfect for those little hands that are developing fine motor skills and the stacking motion it encourages will enhance spatial relation and balance concepts. It’s aesthetically pleasing design and all natural construction makes it both an adult and child-friendly option. (Karla Morey, Creative and Training Director) 

Dado Planks: Already being a fan of dado blocks, these planks are the perfect addition to the classroom.  Endless hours of exploration, construction and learning. (Aaron Goldschmidt, Head Teacher, CitiSchool, 2’s and 3’s)

For a complete list of Citibabes’ Teacher Picks, visit GIFT HERO and CitiScoop: Citibabes’ Online Magazine.

To learn more about Citibabes, visit our website or stop by the Club at 52 Mercer Street, 3rd Floor, New York, NY 10013

Hanukkah is so early this year – the first night is December 1st . That’s right after Thanksgiving weekend!

If you haven’t done your shopping yet, don’t panic! You can check out our Hanukkah gift category for our favorite eight picks by age. We ship the next business day so you will recieve your purchases very quickly – usually 2-5 days after you place your order, depending on where you are shipping to.

One of my personal favorite gifts for 4 and 5 year olds is Pengoloo, a qwirky strategy game that involves remembering/guessing which color eggs are hiding underneath which penguins. Even older siblings will enjoy playing with their younger brother or sister.

When Benjamin turned 3, one of the best gifts he received was Kids on Stage Game from University Games. A mom in his nursery school class, who knew him well, told me she was so excited that she had the perfect gift for my son. She had two older kids and was a go-to for me for ideas for toys and games for kids…so I knew it would be a hit.

Kids on Stage is an awesome, classic game. It is basically, charades for kids. It doesn’t require reading so it is very empowering for preschoolers. It is the perfect kids’ gift for boys or girls ages 3 and up. It is fun for the whole family and gets everyone up and active and laughing.  This game got a lot of love and use in our house and I gave this gift to many children over the years.

New this year, is a special 20th anniversary edition that includes double the content of the original game plus it comes in a sturdy storage tin (I especially favor toys and games that come in their own storage).

Two events recently happened in Benjamin’s first grade class that made me think he’s ready to learn more about the United States. First, he learned the Pledge of Allegiance. His class did a few art and writing projects to help understand and practice it.  They now say it every Friday.  Second, part of his homework was to count the number of states he has visited (12, not including connections for flights or just driving through…which I think is a good number for a 7 year old).

With both his birthday and Hanukkah coming up in December, I’m putting the Great States Game from International Playthings on our list. This wonderful kids’ gift is designed for 7 and up. It’s an educational toy that makes learning about our states fun. There are 400 questions that teach and test your knowledge of state landmarks, state locations, and state capitals. We’ll be playing together because, frankly, I could use a refresher myself!

We also sell Great States Jr for 4 to 6 year olds.

I enjoy playing strategy games with my kids, ages 6 and 8. But it is often difficult to find a game where I don’t have to “pretend” to lose.  With Spot It! I don’t have that problem at all. The kids are much quicker than I am at “spotting” the matching items than I am, which is the whole point of this portable game for kids ages 6 and up.

I first played Spot It! at Toy Fair earlier this year with one of the Blue Orange Games company representatives while the product was still in production. I suspected that it would be a hit, and was given a sample game to bring home to play with my kids. It has definitely become a life saver for waiting rooms and restaurants.

Spot It! comes in a coaster-size sturdy storage package with the round playing cards inside. Any two cards has one – and only one - matching object between them. The first person to find the match wins that round.

This game is great because you can stop at any time – perfect when you are not sure how long you are going to have to wait. And there are enough cards and combinations that you can play this game over and over and each combination of cards will still feel fresh.

Spot It! makes a great family gift if you are visiting friends with children. It also makes a great small Christmas gift (stocking stuffer) or Hanukkah gift.

My almost 7 year old son Benjamin loves to draw.  He is a lefty, so he had a hard time learning to hold a pencil but once he got comfortable (nothing like a few months of OT with a “graphologist” to jumpstart things) it really became something he enjoyed. At the recommendation of the Art Specialist at his school, we always carry around a sketchpad and some crayons or colored pencils and it keeps him busy in restaurants, in the car and during quiet time at home.

At Gift Fair this past summer, Lisa and I discovered  the fabulous      Playful Art Set from P’kolino. This kids’ gift  includes markers, crayons and colored pencils.  The ergonomic shapes and jumbo sizes make them perfect for young hands. What I love most is that the crayons don’t come wrapped in paper (Benjamin always peels off the paper from new crayons) and the pencils are 100% color – there’s no wood!

We are setting up Benjamin’s work area at home – for doing homework, art projects, etc. I am clearing out all the old broken crayons, worn out markers and stubby colored pencils and replacing them with this awesome art set. I can’t wait to see the masterpieces he creates…

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.