family blog

  You can buy a cheap scooter at the grocery store for $20. It will be loud. It will be hard to steer. And your kid will fall off it constantly. The Gold Standard: Micro Kickboard Mini . If you go to any playground in a nice neighborhood, you will see these everywhere. Lean-to-Steer: The handle doesn't turn like a bike. The child leans their weight to turn. It is intuitive and prevents "jack-knifing" crashes. The Wheels: They are polyurethane (like high-end skateboard wheels), not hard plastic. The ride is silent and smooth, even on bumpy sidewalks. The Math: It costs $90. But your child will ride it every single day from age 2 to age 5. That is pennies per ride.

  We all grew up with training wheels. We also all remember the terror of taking them off and crashing. Training wheels teach children to pedal , but they don't teach them to balance . When you take the wheels off, they have to learn to balance from scratch. The Better Way: The Strider Balance Bike . This is a tiny bike with no pedals. The Method: The child sits on the seat and walks with their feet. Eventually, they lift their feet and glide. The Magic: Because they learn to balance first , the transition to a pedal bike is instant. There are no crashes. No tears. My Advice: Get the Strider 12 Sport . It is indestructible, lightweight, and holds its resale value perfectly.

  If you are on social media, you have seen the Nugget . It is a "configurable play couch"—basically four pieces of foam covered in microsuede. It costs roughly $250. Is it worth it? Yes. Here is why. It isn't a couch. It is the ultimate Indoor Energy Burner . The Fort: Kids build castles and caves. The Crash Pad: They jump off the sofa onto it. The Slide: You can prop it up against the bed to make a slide. The "Save Your Furniture" Factor. Before we got a play couch, my kids stripped the cushions off our expensive living room sofa every day. Now, they leave our sofa alone and destroy the foam couch instead. If you live in a place with long winters or rainy days, this is essential survival gear.

  Most toys are exciting for 2 days and then end up at the bottom of the toy box. There is one toy that has stood the test of time in our house (and every preschool classroom): Magnetic Tiles . These are translucent plastic squares with magnets inside the edges. They click together effortlessly to build castles, towers, and rockets. Why are they the " Holy Grail "? Instant Success : Unlike Legos (which can be hard for small hands to snap), magnets just click . A 3-year-old can build a 2-foot tower in minutes. Open-Ended : It’s not a "one-trick pony." Today it's a castle; tomorrow it's a garage for cars. The Light: If you build near a window, the sun shines through it like stained glass. It’s mesmerizing. They are expensive, but they are the only toy that consistently gives me enough time to drink a hot coffee.