raising4boys.com » Toys & Gifts http://www.raising4boys.com parenting tips, tricks and commentary Sat, 18 Dec 2010 20:20:44 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0 Where to Buy Silly Bandz? http://www.raising4boys.com/2010/07/12/where-to-buy-silly-bandz-bands/ http://www.raising4boys.com/2010/07/12/where-to-buy-silly-bandz-bands/#comments Mon, 12 Jul 2010 20:53:44 +0000 dad http://www.raising4boys.com/?p=750

On the off chance that you haven’t heard, Silly Bandz are all the rage with kids these days. We were actually first introduced to the Silly Bandz craze by our preschool and 2nd grade sons this past school year, and they’ve since swept the nation.

While our kids’ obsession has cooled off a bit this summer, I fully it expect things to ramp up again when they head back to school. In fact, many schools have banned Silly Bandz because kids were getting too distracted collecting, comparing, and trading them.

Anyway, I’ve been asked by several people in real life where to buy Silly Bandz, so I figured it might be worth writing something up to post here, as well. But first…

What are Silly Bandz?

In case you haven’t had the pleasure of collecting, trading, playing with, or buying Silly Bandz, here’s the deal:

Silly Bandz are little more than rubber band bracelets that come in numerous colors and shapes. They’re typically sold in themed packs, including the following “official” Silly Bandz packs:

  • Alphabet
  • Art Fest
  • Baseball
  • Basic
  • Beach
  • Fantasy
  • Pets
  • Princess
  • Rainforest
  • Rockbandz
  • Sea Creatures
  • Spring (retired)
  • Western
  • Zoo

As has been the case with most successful collecting crazes, it appears that these Silly Bandz packs will gradually be retired, thereby further stoking demand.

Not surprisingly, as the phenomenon has grown, a number of impostors have come to market. These are sold under a variety of names, including: Silly Bands, Fun Bands, Animal Rubber Bands, Rubber Band Bracelets, etc. These off-brands have brought with them a number of “innovations,” including tie-dye and sparkly bands.

How much do Silly Bandz cost?

The standard price for a 24-pack of official Silly Bandz is around $5.00. Yep, that’s right. That’s a little over $0.20 for a rubber band. Amazing, huh? Of course, with all the knockoffs that are now available, you can easily find unofficial Silly Bandz for somewhere in the $3-$4/pack range.

Just be sure to double-check the size of the pack you’re buying, as it’s not uncommon to see 12-packs that look like a good deal until you realize you’re getting half as many as you thought.

Where can you buy Silly Bandz?

So… Where can you buy Silly Bandz? That’s almost certainly one of the first questions that will pop into your head when your kids start clamoring for them. As it turns out, you can find Silly Bandz, or a reasonable facsimile, just about anywhere nowadays.

I’ve seen them at Target, Walmart, Toys’R'Us, Learning Express, and in numerous drugstores, grocery stores, and gas stations. Someone even set up a dedicated Silly Bandz kiosk in our local mall. And, of course, you can buy them online, with Amazon.com being a prime source.

If you’re out and about hunting for Silly Bandz, your best best is to look near the checkout — exactly where you’d expect to find an impulse buy!

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]]> http://www.raising4boys.com/2010/07/12/where-to-buy-silly-bandz-bands/feed/ 1 Free Autographed Pictures of Disney Characters http://www.raising4boys.com/2007/01/22/free-autographed-pictures-of-disney-characters/ http://www.raising4boys.com/2007/01/22/free-autographed-pictures-of-disney-characters/#comments Mon, 22 Jan 2007 14:01:12 +0000 dad http://www.raising4boys.com/2007/01/22/free-autographed-pictures-of-disney-characters/ This is kind of cool, and definitely worth checking out… You can get a free, autographed picture of your favorite Disney character by writing to:

The Walt Disney Company
Attn: Fan Mail Dept.
500 South Buena Vista Street
Burbank, CA 91521

The only catch is that you have to make your request via snail mail — no electronic inquiries allowed. But if you have a Disney fan in your family, this could make for a fun little surprise that’s well worth the price of a stamp.

I’m not sure how long the entire process takes, so plan ahead — especially if you’re planning on giving the autographed picture as part of a gift.

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]]> http://www.raising4boys.com/2007/01/22/free-autographed-pictures-of-disney-characters/feed/ 3 Gifts That Teach Kids About Money http://www.raising4boys.com/2006/12/20/gifts-that-teach-kids-about-money/ http://www.raising4boys.com/2006/12/20/gifts-that-teach-kids-about-money/#comments Wed, 20 Dec 2006 14:56:35 +0000 dad http://www.raising4boys.com/2006/12/20/gifts-that-teach-kids-about-money/ I just ran across an interesting article on gifts that teach kids about money by David Bach (the author of The Automatic Millionaire). Here’s the rundown…

1. Piggybanks (ages 3-11) – Here’s a bunch of possibilities. He also goes on to recommend a few specific piggybanks:

Moonjar’s Moneybox
Money Savvy Pig
LeapFrog Super Saver Teaching Bank

2. Story books about money (ages 3-8) – Some specific titles that he recommends are:

“If You Made a Million” by David M. Schwartz
“Alexander, Who Used to be Rich Last Sunday” by Judith Viorst
“A Dollar for Penny” by Julie Glass
“It’s a Habit, Sammy Rabbit!” by Sam Renick

3. Monopoly (ages 8 and up) – There are a huge number of Monopoly versions available. Check them out here.

4. Beginning Personal Finance Organizer (ages 13-19) – In particular, he recommends the Cash Cache, which includes a handbook covering the basics of personal finance, as well as templates for goal setting and tracking progress, pouches for storing money, and pockets for

5. Stocks (all ages) – Consider using services such as Sharebuilder or MyStockFund Kids to set up a custodial account where your kids can hold shares of their favorite companies (McDonald’s, Coke, Disney, Nintendo, etc.) and learn about how the stock market works.

[Source: Yahoo! Finance]

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]]> http://www.raising4boys.com/2006/12/20/gifts-that-teach-kids-about-money/feed/ 1 Hemorrhoids More Likely Than a Nintendo Wii? http://www.raising4boys.com/2006/12/18/hemorrhoids-more-likely-than-a-nintendo-wii/ http://www.raising4boys.com/2006/12/18/hemorrhoids-more-likely-than-a-nintendo-wii/#comments Mon, 18 Dec 2006 15:03:25 +0000 dad http://www.raising4boys.com/2006/12/18/hemorrhoids-more-likely-than-a-nintendo-wii/ For those of you that might not be paying attention, Amazon.com periodically runs special promotions wherein their customers can vote on deals. It usually involves choosing an item (out of three) to be sold at a ridiculously low price (in limited quantities, of course). This week, however, they changed things up a bit…

They turned their Customer Vote into a lottery of sorts for the right to buy one of the hot new video game consoles — Sony PlayStation 3 (20GB), Nintendo Wii or Sony PlayStation 3 (60GB).

In order to be eligible, your account had to have been created prior to December 11th, and you had to have a valid credit card on file (this was to try and weed out fraudulent signups). Anyway, now that the signup period is over, they have posted the final odds along with odds of some other interesting occurrences.

The odds for the Wii stand at 28 to 1. For the sake of comparison, the odds are slightly better that you’ll develop hemorrhoids at some point in your life (25 to 1). That being said, if you signed up it’s more like that you’ll be given the opportunity to buy a Wii than it is that you’ll:

- Hunt small game next year (54 to 1)
- Seek hypnotic therapy (79 to 1)
- Get audited by the IRS (175 to 1)
- Get botulism next year (2,300 to 1)
- Die as a result of a major asteroid hitting Earth (20,000 to 1; not sure about minor asteroids)
- Ever be a professional athlete (22,000 to 1)
- Get hit by lightning (576,000 to 1)

Unfortunately, the sign-up period is over (it closed last night at midnight) but for those who managed to signup you can swing by on Tuesday morning to see if you won.

Click here for a full list of the odds.

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]]> http://www.raising4boys.com/2006/12/18/hemorrhoids-more-likely-than-a-nintendo-wii/feed/ 0 Ten Most Dangerous Toys of 2006 http://www.raising4boys.com/2006/12/18/ten-most-dangerous-toys-of-2006/ http://www.raising4boys.com/2006/12/18/ten-most-dangerous-toys-of-2006/#comments Mon, 18 Dec 2006 11:21:15 +0000 dad http://www.raising4boys.com/2006/12/18/ten-most-dangerous-toys-of-2006/ Just in time for Christmas, World Against Toys Causing Harm, Inc. (W.A.T.C.H.) has released their list of the ten worst toys of 2006. What follows is a quick rundown of the ten most dangerous toys of the year…

1. Heelys — You know, the shoes with wheels in the heels? Yeah, not so safe. While the manufacturer warns that they can be dangerous, W.A.T.C.H. complains that they’re marketed to children who are unprepared for the risks.

2. Z Launcher: Tubo Water Balloon Launcher — Not surprisingly, pretty much anything that can propel a water balloon 100 feet with “Direct-hit Accuracy” isn’t the safest toy on the block. Not to mention the fact that the balloons themselves pose a choking risk to young kids.

3. Pram Decoration Blossoms — Hmmmm… Who would’ve thought that a two foot cord covered with small beads and other small cloth and wooden items might be dangerous to a young child? While it’s being sold in the U.S. for use on a “stroller or crib,” the warning on the box says that it should not be attached to a crib or playpen. Huh?

4. Pottery Barn Kids Pyramid Stacker — It’s basically a vertical wooden dowel attached to a base. When you stack the pieces on it, you get a pyramid. But if you happen to fall on it, you get a severe blunt impact or puncture injury (despite the lack of warnings).

5. Bow & Arrow Set — This one kind of makes me chuckle since I walked out in the backyard yesterday and found our 9 year old son playing with one of these, but… It’s not a particularly good idea to hand a child a bow and arrow that shoots wooden shafts — even if they have rubber tips (which could come off). W.A.T.C.H. complains that “Weaponry should not be sold as toy for children.” Too bad we didn’t get the memo before buying one for our son… ;)

6. Zip-ity Do Dolly — Seven learning activities plus multiple choking hazards…

7. Lil Snoopy — The toy industry has adopted a voluntary standard of keeping the strings on toys to 12 inches or less. But this one comes complete with a 27 inch pull string, and is marketed to children ages 12 months and older.

8. Superman Lamp — Despite being sold in toy departments and molded in the form of Superman, the manufacturer claims that this one isn’t a toy — rather, it should be kept out of reach of children to avoid the risk of fire, burns, and (presumably) electrocution. Moreover, families are further cautioned to “[un]plug the product when leaving the house, when retiring for the night, or if left unattended.”

9. Sky Blaster — It’s an “all-in-one rocket launcher” that should be aimed at others, and requires kids to alert everything within range that they’re about launch it. That being said, kids are encouraged to bend the fins “to achieve spinning flights.”

10. Fear Factor Candy Challenge — According to W.A.T.C.H., “Toy aisles should not be used to encourage food-eating competitions, which invite potential choking and ingestion injuries, particularly for young children.” Enough said.

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]]> http://www.raising4boys.com/2006/12/18/ten-most-dangerous-toys-of-2006/feed/ 0 Three Great Gift Ideas for Boys http://www.raising4boys.com/2006/12/14/three-great-gift-ideas-for-boys/ http://www.raising4boys.com/2006/12/14/three-great-gift-ideas-for-boys/#comments Thu, 14 Dec 2006 11:07:12 +0000 dad http://www.raising4boys.com/2006/12/14/three-great-gift-ideas-for-boys/ With Christmas just around the corner, I thought I’d share a few possible gift ideas… And remember, it’s still not too late to order online and get your stuff well before Christmas.

(1) An inexpensive set of binoculars. These can be had for under $20 (like this one), and they’re great fun on hikes. They’re also a great way to get the kids out of the house.

(2) Any sort of spy gear — we’re going for the Spy Safe Cracker this year.

(3) A headlamp. Our kids all have them and absolutely love them. I’d avoid the kid versions and spend a tiny bit more on a ‘real’ headlamp like this one (it’s a two pack). Totally worth it.

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]]> http://www.raising4boys.com/2006/12/14/three-great-gift-ideas-for-boys/feed/ 2 Nintendo Wii Availability at Amazon http://www.raising4boys.com/2006/11/16/nintendo-wii-availability/ http://www.raising4boys.com/2006/11/16/nintendo-wii-availability/#comments Thu, 16 Nov 2006 13:05:34 +0000 dad http://www.raising4boys.com/2006/11/16/nintendo-wii-availability/ As a followup to my previous post on Nintendo Wii availability, I just received this from Amazon.com…

Important News For Amazon.com Video Games Customers

The Nintendo Wii will be available for purchase on Amazon.com on 11/19, Sunday morning (PST). We will be limiting purchases to one per household and we anticipate that we will sell through our inventory very quickly as we’ve received email notification requests over 100 times greater than the number of units we will have available for sale (i.e., for every Nintendo Wii we’ll have for sale, over 100 people have signed up to be notified).

At this time, we do not have any information on future Nintendo Wii offers, but we will post updates on future availability in the customer discussions on the Nintendo Wii product page.

Sounds like there’s virtually no chance of getting one this way, but it can’t hurt to try. It’s probably best to keep reloading the page at midnight until you can buy it, since the most detail they give “Sunday morning (PST).” Good luck!

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]]> http://www.raising4boys.com/2006/11/16/nintendo-wii-availability/feed/ 0 Nintendo Wii – Another Hot Christmas Buy http://www.raising4boys.com/2006/09/27/where-to-buy-nintendo-wii/ http://www.raising4boys.com/2006/09/27/where-to-buy-nintendo-wii/#comments Wed, 27 Sep 2006 13:53:31 +0000 dad http://www.raising4boys.com/2006/09/27/nintendo-wii-another-hot-christmas-buy/ After talking a bit about hot Christmas toys the other day, and how hard it’s going to be to find and buy TMX Elmo in the runup to Christmas, I thought I’d talk a bit about another hot Christmas toy… The Nintendo Wii. As it turns out, Amazon took pre-orders for the Wii for a short time early on the morning of September 15th, but the orders came in so fast that they had to stop.

For those of you that aren’t familiar with the Wii, it’s Nintendo’s next-generation gaming console. The Wii, which previously went by the codename “Revolution,” is Nintendo’s answer to the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3, and it’s slated to start shipping on November 19th. Like TMX Elmo, however, it’s starting to look like it’ll be tough to get your hands on one.

Since I’m a gadgety kind of guy, and we already have (and love) a Nintendo GameCube, complete with a couple of Waverbird wireless controllers and a variety of kid-friendly games, this is one craze that I might just get in on… After all, the Wii is totally back-compatible with all of our current GameCube games, and it looks like a lot of fun, especially with it’s new-fangled motion sensitive controller.

That being said, I’m not willing to pay a premium to get my hands on one. But… If I happen upon one for a reasonable price, it might just appear under the Christmas tree this year. Looks like I’ll have to keep popping back in over at Amazon to see if/when they open up the pre-orders again, as there’s no way that I’m going to kick and scratch to get one on release day in a brick and mortar store.

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]]> http://www.raising4boys.com/2006/09/27/where-to-buy-nintendo-wii/feed/ 2 TMX Elmo Bursts Onto the Scene – Better Buy One Fast! http://www.raising4boys.com/2006/09/21/where-to-buy-tmx-elmo/ http://www.raising4boys.com/2006/09/21/where-to-buy-tmx-elmo/#comments Thu, 21 Sep 2006 10:08:56 +0000 dad http://www.raising4boys.com/2006/09/20/tmx-elmo-bursts-onto-the-scene/

Have you had a chance to buy your TMX Elmo yet? If not, you might be hurting when the holiday shopping season is in full swing… Described as “the most secretly guarded toy of the pre-holiday season,” Fisher Price recently unveiled the TMX Elmo on Good Morning America, and it’s (apparently) already hard to find them, although you can still buy them from third-party sellers on Amazon.

Thankfully, our kids have never really coveted these sorts of ‘hottest of the hot’ toys, so we’ve never been faced with the mad pre-Christmas scramble to buy this sort of stuff. Hopefully that won’t change…

So what’s the big deal with this one? Well, unlike a plain old Tickle Me Elmo, this tenth anniversary model does all kinds of weird stuff:

Sit T.M.X. Elmo down and hit one of his three “tickle” spots. There’s one under his chin, one on his belly, and one on top of his foot. Yes, this Elmo wiggles just like he did 10 years ago, but that’s just the start. Elmo slaps his belly, falls forward with his butt sticking out, stands back up again only to topple backwards, kicks his legs over his belly, and then stands right back up, all while laughing hysterically.

Who wouldn’t love that? Actually, it sounds kinda scary if you ask me, but young kids seem to groove on this sort of stuff. So if your kids are into this sort of stuff, do yourself a favor and buy TMX Elmo now while you still can… Otherwise you might find yourself in the midst of a Battle Royale in the Wal-Mart toy aisle at dawn on Black Friday.

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