Whenever I visit a friend or relative with a little one, I can’t resist bringing a small gift. Recently, I’ve been giving the Go Car by Kid-O.  It is just adorable and, in shiny red, it is a perfect kid’s gift for either a boy or girl. The curved roof on this baby toy does double duty as a handle and the rubber-coated wheels glide smoothly along any path.

This award winning toy is recommended for ages 1 and up.

At Gift Fair, we found these really unique jewelry making kits from Style Me Up. The Guitar Pick Jewelry Kit lets girls make and personalize their own rock-themed jewelry using guitar picks. We also like the Sweet Key Charms kit – which lets girls decorate silver colored “keys” with rhinestones and make necklaces and bracelets.

My tween daughter thinks these are very, very cool. I’m sure we will be giving it as a birthday gift very soon. Both kits make great gifts for 8-10 year old girls.

We are long time fans of Citiblocs. These eco-friendly blocks are terrific free-form building sets for young children. Up until recently, however, Citiblocs only sold sets recommended as kids gifts for ages 3 and up.

So Lisa and I were very excited when our sales rep let us know that they were introducing Citiblocs Little Builders Rattle Blocks. This 22 piece set is created for toddlers. It contains chunky rattle and other colorful blocks, all designed for little hands. Citiblocs Little Builders is an educational toy that will introduce younger children to the joys of building. This award winning toy was recommended by Daily Candy Kids. It was so popular this past holiday season that it is hard to find these days…but available at GIFT HERO. It’s a fabulous kids gift for ages 2 and up!

What a great day! This afternoon, Lisa and I dropped off several boxes of new toys for the children staying at Ronald McDonald House of NY. Over the holidays, many of our customers added a donation of $1-$5 to their shopping cart. We pooled those funds, along with some of our own, and used them to buy educational toys to fill the playroom at this amazing facility.

Due to the generosity of our customers, these children will be playing with Green Toys Fire Trucks, Green Toys School Buses, Best Friends Scrapbooks, Perplexus Rookie, Kid-O Cutting Fruit, Citiblocs Little Builders Rattle Blocks and many more gifts for girls and gifts for boys.

The educators at RMDH are so appreciative for all we and our customers have done. To quote their Director of Programs: “We LOVE LOVE LOVE our toys.”

To learn more about our GIFT HERO Gives Back program, visit our Donate page.

(Note: 100% of the monies collected are used to purchase toys for Ronald McDonald House of New York. The toys are purchased at our wholesale cost. GIFT HERO does not earn a profit on sales of products that are donated to charity.)

When Benjamin (now 8yo) was a baby, some of our favorite books to read to him were by Shel Silverstein. Since the 1960′s, Silverstein’s poems and books have delighted adults and children alike. Benjamin could listen to Giraffe and a Half over and over (and over and over) again.

As he got older, the poem collections really stuck with him. He devoured Where the Sidewalk Ends, A Light in the Attic and Runny Babbit. The pages of his books are worn and torn.  Reading the poems aloud helped him practice fluency and the clever language built his vocabulary and inference skills.

So we were thrilled when we learned that a “new” collection of poems and drawings was available. Everything On It doesn’t disappoint. Shel Silverstein died in 1999 and this is the second posthumous collection that has been published. I especially love the last poem in the book and hope it inspires my son to be a better writer:

WHEN I AM GONE
When I am gone, what will you do?
Who will write and draw for you?
Someone smarter – someone new?
Someone better – maybe YOU!”

Visit http://shelsilverstein.com/ to learn more about the author and his books. While I wish you would shop at GIFT HERO for all your kid’s gifts, these books are really wonderful gifts for girls and gifts for boys.

Last Week, at the New York International Gift Fair, Stefanie and I discovered a number of exciting new products to carry on GIFT HERO. My daughter Maya is most excited by the Loopdedoo, a spinning tool that lets girls design and make their own friendship bracelets in minutes! Maya has always loved making jewelry for her friends. The Loopdedoo is great for birthday parties, sleepovers or even just a rainy day.

Arts and crafts kits like the Loopdedoo make great gifts for girls.

 At GIFT HERO we love science kits. We think they are the perfect kids gift. We carry science kits for preschoolers and up. Thames & Kosmos is one of our favorite brands. Their kits are of incredible quality, include many many experiments and teach all sort of important skills and lessons.

I was very excited when Lisa discovered the new Archaeology Kit: Egyptian Pyramid. 8 year old Benjamin is very interested in Egypt. He went through a phase where he wanted to know all there was about gods and goddesses and he is fascinated by the pyramids.

With this awesome kid’s gift for ages 8, 9, 10, kids play the role of archaeologist as they explore the pyramid model and the treasures buried within. After using hieroglyphics to decipher the secret to unlocking the pyramid, they use tools and techniques similar to those of a real archaeologist including excavation, conservation, dating, and remote sensing to carefully excavate a sarcophagus, death mask, and four canopic urns from inside. They will also learn about ancient Egyptian customs, hieroglyphics, mummification, and pyramid construction.

Since Benjamin’ birthday was in December, I don’t have an obvious “excuse” for giving this kit to him. But, maybe, I don’t need a reason to give him an educational toy!

I am having a hard time saying goodbye. One of our favorite products, Zolo-a-go-go, has been discontinued by the manufacturer. We have had Zolo-a-go-go on GIFT HERO since we first launched several years ago , and it has consistently been one of our best sellers. Now, we only have a couple left and when they are gone – that’s it.

What makes it so special? Well, it’s really like no other building set. The “Picasso-like” pieces let kids create their very own unique works of art. The set is a great unisex gift for kids ages 5 and up, and even for adults! It in an educational toy that encourages creative thinking and kids never seem to outgrow it.

If you are one of the lucky ones to get the last remaining sets, enjoy!

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.