Happy Birthday Kobold!

In March we celebrate spring and the second birthday of Kobold Toys!  Two years ago Ana and Carmina created an on-line store that is committed to carrying toys that are safe, fun and conducive to your child’s emotional, physical, and mental development.  As parents, all of us take the recommendations we offer to you very seriously.  We see these toys in action in our own homes and give them to our nieces, nephews and best little pals.

In this economy, we know that spending money on toys and books can be taxing.  We try our best to offer high quality and safe toys that accommodate all budgets.  Kobold Toys continues to identify toys from around the globe that we think are unique and will ensure that you and your child have fun learning.

In appreciation of your support over the past two years, we are kicking off our Kobold Kid Club discount promotion.  Each month we will provide our blog subscribers and Facebook fans with a unique discount code towards one of Kobold’s favorite brands.

The first promotion for our Kobold Kids is 20% off any PlanToys product.  Kobold Toys has long admired the award-winning PlanToys.  PlanToys has been creating innovative educational toys for every developmental stage of childhood since 1981.  From blocks to cars to pretend food, all products are made of non-chemically treated rubberwood.  When you purchase a toy from PlanToys you can be rest-assured that the product is educational, eco-friendly and will offer hours of fun.  We also admire the company’s commitment to giving back to the community.  There is just so much to love about PlanToys!

Starting today thru April 14, friends of Kobold can receive 20% off any PlanToys  product.  Enter F5G8LL  at check-out and remember that all orders over $40 receive free shipping.

A new code for another Kobold Kid favorite brand will be available on April 15^th.   Become a fan on our Facebook page to receive frequent updates on new items and other surprise discounts and offers in the coming months.  We also invite you to post reviews on the products you do purchase so that Ana and other shoppers can have your insight. And please continue to let us know if there is a brand or toy that you think Kobold should offer.

Thank you for your continued support of Kobold Toys.  We appreciate being a trusted resource for you, and we remain committed to bringing you more of the high-quality, fun toys you expect form Kobold Toys.

As always, have fun learning! ~ Ana, Carmina and Ashley

Fashions for Every Month!

A miracle has happened.  Miss E has started using a purse.  She received her first purse at age 3 months in Sarasota, Florida when a lovely store owner gifted her one due to her adorable quotient.   That may be the last time she held a handbag.  Fast forward 4.5 years.....last week she dusted off a red bag monogrammed with her initials and loaded it with change for the collection basket at church.  I am holding my breath that we may have turned a corner in girlish tendencies (maybe we can dust the hairbows off next!).  Thankfully North American Bear Co. offers handbags for every season and for every age...here is a peek at what is available at Kobold Toys!

January: Snowgirls!

February:  Sweetheart Candy!

March: Princesses! (also available in Brunette)

April: Easter Bags! Kobold Toys also offers chicks and lambs.  Don't miss the full collection of Easter suprises!

May: Celebrate Spring!

June:  Fresh Veggies Tote!

July:  Surf & Turf!

August:  Chasing Butterflies!

September:  Dog Days!

October:  Halloween!

November: Cat's Meow!

December:  Santa, of course!

These bags range in price from $9.99 to over $20 depending on the size and detail.  I think a 1, 3 or 6 month supply of handbags is a wonderful gift for the  fashionista on your list.  Also fun favors for themed parties and birthdays.

Visit Kobold Toys for the full collection of bags and accessories for your beloved.  Remember..."The only thing that separates us from the animals is our ability to accessorize"-Olympia Dukakis as Clairee Belcher in Steel Magnolias.

Celebrate Black History Month with Music

There are several ways to honor this special month with your children. We chose to celebrate the influential African-American artists whose music we enjoy, and we focused on the jazz and big band era. Think: Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong, Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald and Count Basie. One reason I like to expose the children to jazz is because it allows musicians to improvise and to incorporate their own ideas into the music. I love it when Miss E takes the music she knows from another song and mixes it up with new words or even with other songs.

Fun facts about some of our favorite black musicians:

*Duke Ellington was born in Washington, DC and started taking piano lessons at age seven. He wrote nearly 2000 compositions before his death in 1974.

*New Orleans native Louis Armstrong is known for his trumpet skills. He also loved food and wrote the songs "Cheesecake" and "Cornet Chop Suey."

*Ella Fitzgerald loved playing baseball as a child. She would later win 13 Grammys and sell over 40 million albums. Her first #1 song was "A-Tisket, A-Tasket."

*B.B. King is considered the King of the Blues. In fact, it is said that B.B. stands for "Blues Brother." His guitar is always named Lucille.

Music can be such a wonderful influence on your child's development. Listening to music and playing with instruments help develop concentration, coordination and patience. Kobold Toys offers a variety of instruments by Tatiri: guitar, recorder, xylophone, clarinet and tambourine. Sing-along books are also fun and easy ways to expose your child to music. Kobold's favorites from Barefoot Books include: "Magic Train Ride," the Sing-Along Bag of Books Collection (3 books and CDs), and the "Whole World."

And for the newest ears, consider the Musical balls from Lilliputiens!

Who cares whether you have the next Coltrane on your hands or not... the fun is in grooving and jamming with the kids! Have a great week singing along together!

Cooking with Wild Abandon

Snowed in with the rest of the Mid-Atlantic states, we discovered a bubbling passion in Little C. He loves to cook. Cookies, bread, cake, pasta, casseroles, cupcakes, Mimsi puffs, PBJ...he doesn't care what you are making, he is compelled to help. I am thrilled to uncover this little passion, but I have found that Little C at 23 months of age is resistant to the safety issues that abound in the kitchen. Unfortunately his older sister does not share is love of the kitchen, and while we have a little pretend play kitchen, the "used" food and accessories are incomplete or non-existent. We need to improve our set-up.

Thank goodness his 2nd birthday is approaching, and we can point everyone towards the "yummy" play food and enticing wares available at Kobold Toys. If you have a chef in the making, you'll want to add these staples to your play kitchen as well.

Friday nights are pizza/movie night at our home. I love the Biofino Buon Appetite Pizza from Haba. It is so colorful and appealing. Made of velour and felt, the pizza can be divided into six slices, and your budding chef can choose from their favorite toppings. Hold the anchovies, please! Kobold also loves the Burger and Fries from Haba.

For healthier pretend fare, Haba offers the Grill Set complete with fish, veggie kabob and chicken sausages. PlanToys also offers the very popular fruits and veggies set that includes an apple, a pear, a lemon, an orange, a banana, a cucumber, a mushroom and a carrot. The pretend knife lets you chop up your items...safely!

If your child has a sweet tooth, you'll want to put the Haba Black Forest Cake and the Haba Sweet Pastries on the shopping list too! Deliciously adorable!

Now that you have your menu items, it is time to consider accessories. As I mentioned we are working on safety in the kitchen with Little C. I like the Cook Bear Karlos Oven Mittens from Haba, especially for boys. They are blue! Kobold Toys also offers aprons for the chef who is adverse to mess, unlike Little C! If your kitchen needs stylish cookware, Kobold recommends the very stylish Cooking Utensils Set from PlanToys. The set includes a frying pan, spatula, a pot with lid, serving spoon and saucepan. If stainless steel is more your fancy, consider the Cookware Set from Little Gourmet. This professional quality cookware is made of dishwasher-safe stainless steel. Sauté pan and stock pot are 4 3/4" diameter, and sauce pan is 3 3/3" diameter. The set includes a lid for the sauce pan and a lid that fits both the sauté pan and the stock pot.

Kobold Toys also offers pretend play items for the shopping experience. Consider the Garden Hop Vegetable Tote. Your chef can join you at the Farmer's Market to pick the freshest ingredients. Kobold is also a long time fan of the shopping cart by PlanToys.

Finally, there is always clean-up. Whether boy or girl, the Dishwasher from PlanToys is a wonderful addition to your pretend kitchen. The sink tray is made of metal and is removable making it easy for real water to be used during play if desired. The door to the machine opens and closes easily, and it can hold a fair number of play dishes inside. If you can develop their cooking abilities, it is essential to develop their clean-up capabilities too!

Enable your child to cook with wild abandon with the entire collection of kitchen products at Kobold Toys! Eat your heart out Julia Child!

Toys, Glorious Toys!

This week Kobold Toys' owners, Ana and Carmina, are hitting the Big Apple for the American International Toy Fair 2010. Imagine 32,000 attendees representing 1oo countries, 1,100 exhibitors, and over 100,000 unique products on display... Fun!!!

Kobold's first stop was a visit with Safari Ltd.'s owner Ramona Pariente. Safari is a new brand for Kobold Toys. The company manufactures and distributes museum quality creative toys from horses to dinosaurs to dragons. In 1980, Safari began as an educational toy company out of the founders’ apartment. Today, nearly three generations later, Safari continues their commitment of educating children about the earth and it’s inhabitants. One aspect that Kobold likes is that Safari provides educational information on every product in 5 languages including Spanish and French.

Horses, dragons, marine and safari animals are available now at Kobold Toys. Soon we will be adding additional products, including their Animal and Themed (think pirates) Toobs. The Toobs contain 10+ figures and most are priced under $10. The Toobs are great gifts and travel toys. Ana also reports that the company offers Safari People, including a President of the USA set!

Ana is raving about the dolls from Italian toy company Trudi. Trudi is the number one plush toy company in Italy. The dolls are "gorgeous" and will be perfect for the "Little Mommy" age 2-4. Look for these dolls on the website in the coming weeks! They join our wonderful collection of dolls for girls and boys of all ages.

Ana and Carmina enjoy the search for quality toys that both their children and yours will enjoy. Kobold Toys is committed to providing safe and fun products that will ensure that your child has fun learning! Stay tuned for more news and product finds from Toy Fair 2010!

Let the Games Begin!

Living in the Mid-Atlantic states, my family has experienced first hand the wonders of "Snowmaggedon" these last days. We have baked bread and cookies, made Valentine's Day cards, built forts, colored, glued, danced, painted, played board games and puzzles, and watched movies. Since that little groundhog predicted six more weeks of winter (only one down so far), I will be restocking my supply of Faber-Castell crayons and paper/doodling books, as well as baking supplies.

My favorite activity of the week was building our Olympic Hill in the backyard. The XXI Olympic Winter Games start tomorrow in Vancouver, and Miss E is excited (so am I!). We can not wait to cheer for the 216 Americans (123 men and 92 women) competing this year. Miss E is especially a fan of the Flying Tomato Shaun White, and we are all rooting for Lindsey Vonn. Miss E requested an Olympic Hill so she could practice her sledding skills. If we had been more experienced snow bunnies, we may have attempted a luge. The Winter Olympics have also recharged my craft skills, as I plan today to let the children color flags from other countries. Maybe we'll create a large Olympic flag for our hill!

Since Miss E will be celebrating American athletes, Kobold wants to honor our Canadian toy makers today.

Since 1983, Educo toys have earned international distinction for durability, quality craftsmanship, educational value and innovative design. Kobold Toys offers many of the role play toys, like the Master Carpenter Workbench and the "My Royal Castle." The castle is an imaginative 26-piece wood set that includes 3 knights, a horse, catapult, rope ladders, working draw bridge and a king and queen.

Bloco is an award winning toy development and manufacturing company committed to providing quality and entertaining toys. Kobold Toys has long been a fan of the Bloco construction toys, and offers Birds of Prey, Scorpions & Insects, and Dragon & Reptiles. Your child can build the illustrated designs or design their own creature or animal.

Visit the Kobold Toys site for toys from your favorite country.

Go Team USA!!!
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Inventing Entertainment

February is a busy month. We celebrate love. We celebrate the many contributions of African-Americans. We celebrate U.S. Presidents. We celebrate Mardi Gras. On February 11th we also celebrate the birth of Thomas Alva Edison. Named "the most influential figure of the millennium" and called the "Wizard of Menlo Park," Edison was an American inventor, scientist and businessman known primarily for the electric light bulb.

Some interesting facts (from biographer Gerald Beals) on this famous "wizard" include:

*He did not learn to talk until he was almost four years old.
*He patented 1,093 inventions. 1,093!
*He was a fan of Shakespeare and considered being an actor.
*He was hearing impaired.

You may also be aware of these famous quotes that I think are wonderful to share with children:

"Genius is one per cent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration."

"Genius is often merely a talented person who has done all of his or her homework."

"Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work."


Maybe you have a budding Edison? Kobold Toys has several suggestions to keep your little inventor inspired.

Build the amazing Wind Generator from 4M and teach your child about renewable energy.




Celebrate electricity! The Enviro Battery from 4M is a science kit designed to demonstrate how natural materials like lemons or even mud can produce enough electricity to light a bulb, power a digital watch, or activate a music chip.


Inspiration comes at any time so be prepared with the smART bag from HABA. Compartments for pencils and a note pad to jot down your child's life-changing ideas for new biofuels.

The ZOOBMover Power Building Set adds a new dimension to open-ended building. Kids snap, click, and pop ZOOB pieces onto the ZOOBMover to create anything they can imagine--from creatures to robots to sculptures. When they're done building, they make their creations move with a remote control unit. Cool!

Miss E loves the opportunity to do a project. Last weekend Miss E and her Dad did an impromptu experiment about weights with balloons from the grocery store. It was great to hear the giggles and ahas from the kitchen!

There is truly much to celebrate this month, so take time to invent entertainment with your child. Be inspiring!