Art & Architecture Month

December, among many things, is Art and Architecture Month. Celebrate your little Monet or Gehry at Kobold Toys with gifts that celebrate creativity and that unique vision.

Kobold's favorite toys that celebrate Art & Architecture include:

Kobold loves the art supplies from Faber Castell. From eco-friendly pencils to glitter modeling dough to erasable crayons , we have gifts that will facilitate your artist's inspiration.

Kobold loves the many offerings from Calafant, especially the castle. The castle is a gorgeous craft-turned-toy whose pieces are made from pre-cut and pre-punched sturdy white cardboard, so they can be put together without glue and scissors. It is best decorated with watercolor or acrylic paint (not included). Calafant offers art projects for dino lovers and fire truck lovers too. Totally affordable as well- items range from $6.99 to $24.99.

Grab a pencil, crayon, or paintbrush and create colorful drawings and doodles with Zig Zag Zebra and Dotty Spotty Doodles activity books! This Barefoot Books gift set is perfect for fueling your child’s creativity and is presented in an eco-friendly, reusable green shopper tote with a gift tag to personalize. Only $14.oo!

The Cordoba blocks by HABA are a must-have for the toddler set. The set includes 16 absolutely beautiful wooden building blocks! Some of the Cordoba toddler building blocks even feature additional elements for sensory stimulation, including a little bell, rattle mirror and prism. These blocks are perfect for babies and toddlers that are starting to explore imaginative play and enjoy stacking and building. Aunt KK gave these to Miss E four years ago, and they remain a favorite for both her and Little C.

ArchiQuest is a unique architectural building system that promises hours of fun and discovery with a 50-page hardbound educational book, which includes an architectural timeline, building ideas, and much more! It is a great product for family interaction. KOBOLD LOVES THIS TOY! If you have a child enamoured with blocks and building, suprise her/him with this wonderful product from Shure.

Have fun learning!

Pumpkin Pie is Delicious!

Miss E loves the period between Thanksgiving and Christmas because she is able to don her apron (even though it has pink and red hearts on it) and flex her culinary muscles more often than usual. Cooking is a wonderful family activity. It develops life skills and creates wonderful memories. I still giggle when I think of Miss E and her first gingerbread house. She informed her Papa that he could not eat it as it was a decoration... but maybe they could each sneak a lick...every day! This week Miss E is tackling a pumpkin pie, and it is going to be delicious and a wonderful new accomplishment for her.

Play kitchens and kitchen tools/accessories are terrific additions to your child's creative play. Whether she is making stews, cupcakes, breakfast in bed or hosting her version of "Alice," these toys can provide hours of fun...and more memories.

Kobold's picks for the Top Chef in your home include:

Before you shop you need to hit your market. Designed in a beautiful, modern, and colorful style, the PlanToys Shopping Cart is also safe with a stopper at the back to prevent it from turning over. The handle bar can be adjusted to fit the child’s height.

The breakfast tray by PlanToys.

Assorted fruits and vegetables:

Chef Set. This deluxe set includes: 10"x16" dish towel that makes clean up a snap. 5.5" hot pad oven mitt, apron with adjustable neck strap and waist ties, one-size fits most chef's hat, 7" wooden spoon and 8" rolling pin. This little chef set is great for dramatic play

I know it can be messy having little helpers in the kitchen, but the benefits to their confidence and your heart are boundless! Happy cooking!

Catch the COBI Craze!

Kobold's Favorite: PlanToys

Kobold's favorite brand this week, also a favorite of our household, is PlanToys. A "Green" company, Plan Toys is known for their simple, well-made, brightly colored wooden toys for children from birth through preschool. Their toys have received numerous awards, and the company remains committed to creating toys that promote physical and intellectual development in children, while being socially and environmentally responsible. PlanToys offers toys for kitchen play, transportation, dollhouses, and early learning. Kobold has selected some of his top picks for holiday gift giving, and please browse thefull collection available at Kobold Toys.

The new Mini Fire Engine is designed to be user-friendly, simple to operate and fun. It is the perfect first truck! It has an up-down lifting function and the vehicle is capable of rotating a full 360 degrees with sound. Children will love playing with the Fire Hose and ringing the bell inside! Kobold Toys also offers the Mini Bulldozer and the Mini Garbage Truck.

The Stacking Tree takes the concept of a stacking toy to a whole new level of design. This stacking set is designed based on the concept of nature. Each wooden piece can be stacked to form different kinds of trees. Your child can also learn different color variations and sizes.

The Tower Pounding gives eye-hand coordination a new tool with this toy. This pretty tower offers a beautiful blend of natural wood and color to enable development while playing a fun carnival game. Your toddler will learn how to defy gravity by sending the wooden ball up the tower with one firm strike. Watch the ball fall out of the tower, go down the ramp and circle around back into the base of the tower.

Little C is a BIG fan of Kobold's next pick.. the baby walker. Little C received this last year from Santa, and it was a wonderful tool as he mastered walking. He continues to use it to transport animals, babies, and any other item he fancies. It is not noisy and is compatible with our hard wood floors. The handle can be adjusted to different heights and stiffness for stability and your child's safety. In addition, this set includes 24 colored and natural blocks to stimulate your child's learning. Dimensions 14.3 x 11.2 x 19.2 (inches).

Miss E and Little C support Kobold's pick of the Chalet Dollhouse. This modern home features skylight roofing and open sides for access from every angle, making it easy for children to play together. It has two movable staircases and two multi-level units that can be configured in several ways (especially when certain siblings do not want to play together!). The dollhouse comes fully furnished, including a set for the living room, bathroom, kitchen, children's bedroom, and master bedroom. (Doll family not included).

Happy Thursday!

Let It Snow!

I must confess I let Miss E. break out the holiday classics DVD set yesterday, and the first pick was Frosty the Snowman. We are experiencing weather in the 60s, so snowmen seem pretty far away. Lucky for us, Kobold has found the most adorable snowmen for play and decor!

Any child would be charmed by Frosty's friends by HABA. Pick the Snowman with skis, star, Christmas tree or chariot. They are made of beechwood and would be so cute on the mantel or small table.

You have her holiday outfits ordered or already hanging in the closet (thank you Mimsi!), now it is time to accessorize! North American Bear Co. has little handbags for the girls on your list (under $10!). These stylish totes are available as a snowgirl, Santa, gingerbead cookie and reindeer.

Kobold recommends the Snowman and Santa fleece for your beloved's holiday companion. A great friend to snuggle up with while you watch Rudolph and Frosty together!

Another favorite is the Snowman puzzleball. The curved, sturdy plastic pieces fit in snugly to form a perfectly round ball. The end result of this 77-piece puzzle is a unique, decorative Snowman that can be displayed in your child's room or on the tree.

Angels, nativity scenes, snowmen, advent calendars, puzzles... all your holiday gifts can be found at Kobold Toys!

Think of Frosty today and channel your "jolly happy soul." And don't forget to have fun learning!

Button Up Amelia Earhart!

I learned that November 16 is Button Day. Unfortunately I can not find any information as to what Button Day is supposed to celebrate. The button in general? Political buttons? Belly Buttons? Button up the sassy talk Miss E day? Practice buttoning your clothes day? We are still mastering the button on some of our clothes. Zippers have been mastered and snaps, well they are a snap. The button is still a challenge. Pretend dress-up helps master larger buttons and dressing your babydoll helps too. Of course, the few dolls in our house prefer to be "au naturel." The beautiful dolls by Corolle, however, love to dress up. Kobold especially likes The Les Cheries doll for older children. She comes in a fashionable outfit that your child is sure to love. Each doll's hair is individually rooted, so it can be brushed and styled, and their vinyl bodies have a soft vanilla fragrance.

November is also considered National Aviation History Month. In honor of Amelia Earhart and the Wright Brothers, Kobold celebrates our favorite flying toys available at Kobold Toys:

Turboprops were part of the Jet Age of our Avaiation History. They promised greater fuel efficiency and reliability than piston-engine aircraft. Beginning in 1955, when Capital Airlines bought the British Vickers Viscount and when the Dutch Fokker F-27 first flew, turboprops found brief success on medium-range routes before being replaced by pure jets. Kobold loves the Turboprop Airline with Pilot by PlanToys - perfect for medium-range routes from the living room to the kitchen!

Jet passenger service began in the United States in the late 1950s with the introduction of Boeing 707 and Douglas DC-8 airliners. According to a Pan Am Jet Clipper brochure, the jet was "the new way to a magic world of travel." The Playmobil Jet Plane let your child take command of the skies. It has a removable roof to have easy access to the main cabin. You can also remove and re accommodate seats or remove them if you need extra space for cargo. The Jet Plane features a lavatory, seats, a pilot, a flight attendant and passengers with luggage.


The helicopter's origin can be traced back to ancient China and of course, Leonardo Da Vinci, but it was not until after 1936 that the helicopter made vertical flight a reality and not a dream. Kobold Toys offers the Playmobil Police Copter which features a working rotor, an opening cockpit and a cable winch, and the COBI military helicopters like the Army Foxtrot.

College Park Airport in Maryland was established by Wilbur Wright in 1909 and is considered to be the world's oldest airport. Kobold Toys offers a few variations on the airport. We have the ZipBin Airport which Kobold thinks is the perfect way to store and carry your planes, helicopters and airport vehicles. We also offer the PlanToys Airport. This eco-friendly airport comes complete with a 2 story play area, flight control tower and movable elevator, connecting the ground and second floor. Car park is on the first floor while the second floor features the check-in counter, luggage conveyor-belt and sky-path is connected to the plan. This Plan City Airport playset includes an airplane, cargo trailer and 2 figures of the co-pilot and captain.

This month celebrate the history of aviation with a trip to the airport- a favorite adventure of both my children. And if you do it today, and the children get noisy... you can always tell them to "Button It, Please!"

Kobold's Favorite: Shure

This week, Kobold has picked the wonderful creations of Shure to share with you and inspire your gift list. Since 1992 Shure has been designing products that encourage creative, hands-on learning for kids of all ages. Whether building blocks celebrating the architecture of the world or chunky puzzles, Shure is a "sure" thing when it comes to finding gifts that allow your child to have fun learning.

Discover the fire department with this innovative, multi-dimensional play set! The 1/2" thick, brightly colored chunky pieces can be used in the puzzle tray or for pretend play. Matching images in the puzzle tray make it easy to put back together. The accompanying board book tells about the puzzle characters on 8 colorfully illustrated pages. Kobold Toys also offers puzzles in themes from dinosaurs, construction, tow trucks and the alphabet.


Dress Lilly in her favorite dress-up clothes! This engaging wooden book, Bag of Dressups, contains watercolor illustrations of pretend scenes and whimsical outfits. The removable wooden doll and 21 wooden outfit pieces attach with hook and loop tape to mix and match for hours of pretend play fun! Miss E has gifted this to her "girly" friends who love dolls and fashion- a big hit! (Currently on sale for $12.79!)

If you do not have the Archiquest blocks on your shopping list, add them immediately! Archiquest is an open-ended, creative, and intelligent building system, and Kobold's favorites include Rome, Medieval Europe, Pagodas of China and the Egyption pyramids. The Medieval Europe set includes 68 handcrafted wooden blocks in simple and elegant shapes and an educational hardbound book. The wooden blocks are fully illustrated with beautifully painted, original artwork inspired by some of the world's most famous masterpieces. By arranging the blocks in different ways, you can create hundreds of architectural designs. The set's hardbound, 46-page educational books introduce the ready to the history of architecture and different architectural elements as well as provide building plans and ideas for creating new structures. Each set is packaged in a dovetailed wooden storage box with a sliding acrylic lid for easy clean-up! Kobold also likes that he can visit the Archiquest website to play building games and "attend" Archiquest University.

Only 41 days to Christmas! 28 days until Hanukkah! 39 days until Kwanzaa!

Kobold Salutes Veterans!

On Veterans Day we thank and honor those who served in the military. There are many ways to talk to your children about this special day...attend a parade in your neighborhood, discuss bravery and freedom, and just say "thank you" to these men and women for their service and sacrifice. One idea Kobold likes is to make a card to thank veterans and send the card to a local VA Medical Center. What a morale booster!

Kobold introduced the new COBI building blocks line on Monday. In addition to the Formula 1 models, Kobold Toys also offers a variety of military blocks for your little colonel or for the military toy hobbyist. Some of Kobold's favorites:

Eagle Airplane

Gamma Helicopter

Line of Jeeps

Secret Mission

Torpedo Boat

Happy Veterans Day!

Start Your Creative Engines with COBI Blocks

The FIA Formula 1 World Championship is the pinnacle of global motorsport. It’s an annual competition that runs from March to November and pits the best drivers and the fastest cars in the world against one another. The first World Championship race took place at Silverstone in the UK on 13th May 1950. Since then, the sport has grown from a largely European-based series into a truly global championship, with 18 races taking place on five continents in 2008. Of course our world traveler, Kobold, is a dedicated fan of racing, and so he is THRILLED to bring speed lovers and block lovers the COBI F1 Car building blocks.

COBI Construction blocks are safe and secure and of the highest quality. COBI building blocks are created in Poland from EU origin materials in accordance with the strictest quality control regulations during the entire manufacturing process. The toys are phthalates free and they conform to EN71. The blocks are also 100% compatible with the leading construction brick toy brands. If your child has aspirations of being the next Mario Andretti or Michael Schumacher, let COBI start their "creative" engines!

Your beloved can build your very own F1 car with this exciting Vodafone McLaren Mercedes car. Includes a "Pull Back" motor to bringyour creation to life.

Re-create trackside excitement with the Vodafone Mclaren Mercedes F1 inspired pit stop scene. It's up to your pit crew to help Lewis Hamilton and Heikki Kovalainen return to the track in record time to win the race! Construct the pit area and the replica of the Vodafone Mclaren Mercedes F1 car.

Want to go beyond the racetrack? COBI also offers sets of creative power blocks (available at Kobold Toys in sets of 350 or 500). Use the construction guidelines included, or create your own space ranch station (Miss E style), city scape or whatever inspires the imagination.

Explore the complete line of COBI, from Formula 1 to Army jeeps and helicopters. The line is appropriate for ages 6+ and ranges in price from $9.99 to $162 (the Military Base with 1000 blocks and 8 figures).

Buckle up and have fun building and learning!

Kobold Favorite: Sprig Toys

Miss E has a hilarious new technique of communicating her holiday gift wish list to Santa. She closes her eyes and whispers "please may I have insert gift" three times. It is a cross between praying and Dorothy clicking her ruby slippers. It is becoming increasingly difficult to tell if she IS praying ("God, this brother is driving me crazy, please help me not tackle him"), saying something unkind under her breath ("carrots in pomegranate juice, what is she thinking?"), or sending a wish to Santa.

As you explore your naughty and nice list, Kobold is here to help! Each week our little Kobold will showcase a favorite brand or make suggestions sure to please any one on your list. This week Kobold is showcasing eco-friendly toy maker, Sprig Toys. Sprig Toys is the brain child of three toy designers who wanted to create a line of "battery-free, eco-friendly, paint-free, kid-powered toys sure to dazzle the most discriminating preschooler." Lucky for all of us and our preschooler, they have succeeded (and their toys are available at Kobold Toys)!

Their adventure series has been a hit with the 3-7 crowd, especially the Baja Discover Rig. The Discover Rig comes with world-famous adventure guide Cap Faraday, who has invited you to be the driver on his trek through the African Serengeti. Batteries are not required as the internal generator that powers the lights and sounds is triggered when the Discover Rig is rolled during play. You can pick from three exciting play modes: Search with lights only, no sound; Rally - engine rumble sound and lights; or adventure - lights and themed adventure sounds. New this year are the Dino Adventure Rig, complete with two dinosaurs, Rex Jungle, and truck. Don't miss the Scuba Search, Dolphin Explorer Boat, and Glider Patrol. (Miss E is ga-ga over these, and yes Santa already knows).

Kobold is very excited about the line of Sprig Story Building Playsets. Simple to use, these block and panel building sets are great for cultivating your preschooler's imagination. Join Princess Penny to build a storybook castle or spend a day working with Ol' Mac on the farm. The earth friendly playsets contain over 95 pieces of story-building fun.

Sprig is also offering "on the go" story building books with Little Red Riding Hood and The Three Little Pigs. What is cool is that each book/play set allows your child to pop out story book pieces and experience the adventures of Little Red or the pigs in 3D.

These fantastic toys are designed for preschoolers and emphasize the importance of imagination, active play, character play, and story telling. They range in price from $8.99 to $44.50.

The Sprig Toys series are wonderful... and Miss E and Kobold are not the only ones to think so. The toys have received numerous awards and recognition including: The Oppenheim Toy Portfolio Platinum Award 2009, Dr. Toy 100 BEST Children's Products, and The National Parenting Center Seal of Approval.

Have fun learning! ~ Ashley

Angels We Have Heard on High

Okay Halloween is officially over, so now the decorating plans turn towards Thanksgiving and Christmas! I love decorating for the Christmas holidays. We started a tradition of letting Miss E decorate her own little tree each year, and it is fun to let her select the ornaments. Some will become keepsakes and others are fun little whims from the Target. I think it is nice to have some holiday decor that the children can touch and even play with through the season. Our little Kobold has selected some adorable pieces that will add to you and your beloved's holiday joy.

Music lovers will love the adorable wooden angel with a violin. She also has friend in the choir who loves to sing, and a friend holding the candle of hope for the season. These wooden angels by HABA are sure to delight. And what a perfect gift idea for your music teacher!

Collect the family of HABA angels for your child's mini- tree, hang from greenery on the mantel, or tie to a holiday gift. With wonderfully unique colors, striped socks and curly hair, these will bring a smile to faces of all ages! Gloria, Felicia, Marina, Lemona, Rosa and Stella are keepsakes that will delight for years to come.

Kobold Toys is a fan of the Angel Dolls by North American Bear Company. Lovably sweet in soft velboa with embroidered facial features, in blonde and brunette, ribbon accent and attached tricot wings. This soft doll is a keepsake friend for baby and is machine washable!

The holidays are upon us, and Kobold will be sharing his and Santa's elves favorite toys for the children on your list. Keep checking our site daily for updates on holiday items and gifts.

Happy Holidays! ~ Ashley