Rolemommy

The Parentville Fave Five

Keeping Busy on a Rainy Day - Let's Hope it's Not for Awhile!

Staying indoors for most part of the past three weeks has been incredibly challenging with a 1 1/2 year old. While I'm hopeful that it doesn't rain like that again for the rest of the summer, I thought I'd put together my Fave Five picks for keeping your baby busy in case it does!

1) Tiny Love Musical Stack and Play

This toy not only has flexible fabric rings that stack up to form an elephant, but it also has four colored balls to drop in which activate different melodies and lights!

2) Nest and Stack Buckets

I was in a focus group about baby products not too long ago, and another mom mentioned this from International Playthings. This is so simple - 1 bucket with a handle holds 10 others, teaching colors and perspective. Each bucket fits into the next largest so they are snug when stacking. Plus, it comes with a shape sorter. Great for the beach or bath, too.

3) MEGA Bloks

I stumbled upon this when looking for big Legos my daughter could put together at 12 months (Lego no longer makes them). These are made in Canada and keep her busy for at least an hour. Plus, they help her learn her colors and matching. With 80 blocks, there are enough to build an all-green tower.

4) Garden Fresh Fruits and Veggies

This is an awesome bag of goodies to teach foods, colors and cause and effect, plus clean up by storing them in the shopping bag. Each piece can be peeled or sliced like the real thing. It's for 2+ years, but with supervision for those younger, it can be very educational.

5) Fisher Price Cash Register

This is a classic. It teaches numbers, colors, dexterity and cause and effect when you push 'Sale' or 'Change' to retrieve the coins and swing the arm to open the cash drawer.

To check out Nicole's latest recommendations on what's hot or not, click on her blog, Townhall @ Parentville. Plus, if you enter your email at Parentville.com, the recommendation network for parents, you'll get an invitation to the site launch in the next few weeks!

Posted in: Blog, Role Mommy Fave Five on 06/22/2009