Mom Central Product Picks for Holiday Gifts

How do the holidays creep up on us? It always seems that I am frantically searching for the best presents out there for the kids in my life at the last minute. The flurry of toy commercials and bright splashy advertising only make the whole process of finding a gift that is both fun and educational even more difficult, and wading through one website after another is bound to deflate even the most determined holiday spirit.

Here at Mom Central, we’ve been flooded all year long with the hottest new games and toys to review on our Mom Central Product Picks blog. For those of us heading out to the stores or online for that last shopping push, I’ve pulled together the best of the best for a guaranteed holiday hit!

Teens and Tweens

GelaSkins Inc. : innovative artwork for the exterior of laptops, RAZRs, iPhones, and iPods, cut to fit each device and using a no-residue adhesive. GelaSkins come in hundreds of styles, from classical artists to  contemporary graffiti.

LeapFrog FLY Fusion Pentop Computer: a pen that comes with a camera built into the tip which reads handwriting and can be plugged into your computer and converted to text in Word or e-mail format. This is a must-have for heavy note takers! Also comes with games and learning programs including math, English, and foreign languages.

Guardian Wired Headphones: warns kids and parents when music is too loud by flashing a red LED light when the volume is too loud for safe listening.

Flip Video Ultra Series Camcorder, 60 Minutes: looks like a camera but has the functions of a camcorder, and is so easy to use! This innovative, completely digital recorder makes it simple to download video onto a computer or plug into the TV to instantly watch what was just filmed.

Kajeet: the ultimate cell phone for kids! Kajeet phones come several cool models kids will love, but parents control the amount of minutes purchased, which numbers are stored, and even when the phone can be used.

Elementary

Jakks EyeClops Bionic Eye: a cool new microscope that zooms in 200x on any object, which then flashes a super amplified, full color image of it onto your television screen.

Dragonfly by Wowwee: the world’s first radio-controlled flying insect! !he dragonfly is an easy-to-fly aeronautical marvel, which can be used indoors or out,you’re your child has full control of its speed, direction and height via remote control.

Me Movies: upload your child’s photo onto Me Movies’ website and a 30-minute cartoon is personalized with your child’s photo neatly superimposed onto a cartoon body. Two stories to choose from, which include endless scenes of your child accompanying the main character, Bee, on his adventures.

Pre-school

WowWee Robotics RoboPanda: crowd-pleasing, interactive robotic panda who gives hugs, holds conversations, and shares stories by responding to sound and its eight touch sensors all over his body.

FlattenMe Books: personalized storybooks with a picture of your child uploaded and imposed into their pre-written and beautifully illustrated books.

Giggle Toons: filled with catchy, rhymey tunes of cute laugh-out-loud stories matched with witty cartoons and presents 10 familiar songs that come alive through animation.

School Zone: kids will have so much fun, they’ll forget they’re learning! Includes workbooks, magnetic puzzles, bingo games, and flash cards completely updated for the 21st century.

Kindergarten Countdown Toolkit: This toolkit is the perfect way to break those fears of the first day of kindergarten, and features a kindergarten tour on DVD, 5 Tessy & Tab Reading Club magazines, a kindergarten checklist, and a parents’ guide for building early reading skills.

Babies

Butt Naked Baby: a full line of organic, all natural products including shampoo, oatmeal bath, lightweight lotion, oil, butter cream, powder, and more!

UBI Deluxe Changing Table: an Ikea-esque changing table that combines comfort, innovation, and style.

That Baby CD and DVD: songs that parents and baby can enjoy together, including Bob Marley, Fleetwood Mac, and Bruce Springsteen, reworked and arranged in a mellow acoustic format.

Crystaleigh Baby Products: a posh line of baby blankets and onesies give a little bit of luxury with the combination of functionality.

Boogaloo Bath Toys: an innovative toy company dedicated to making products that are both fun and functional for baby development – in the tub!

Happy holidays (and happy gift buying!) from the Mom Central team!

Yeah for SquidSoap!

Every day I go through the same litany with my kids: “Did you make your bed?,” “Brush your teeth!” and “Wash your hands!!” I sound like a nagger, which indeed I have become. All this after promising myself as a child I would never, ever sound like my own Mom saying these exact same things. I have realized that I sound like one of those incoherent parents on Charlie Brown to my kids (Waah wah wah wah), who have strategically tuned me out. This is especially true when it comes to hand washing. While I have convinced them that wiping their hands on the back of their pants or shirt definitely does not count, left to their own devices they think a quick rinse and towel dry is just fine before meals, after going to the bathroom, or coming home after school. That is why we at Mom Central got so excited about being introduced to SquidSoap by Airborne.

To help inspire kids to wash their hands for the right amount of time, SquidSoap has designed a great soap dispenser with a vegetable dye stamp. When children press the ink stamp in order to dispense soap, their hand is "inked." It takes 20 seconds of scrubbing to wash the dot off, the time recommended by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention for kids to wash their hands. It becomes a fun activity, as kids race to make the dot disappear. Each SquidSoap by Airborne comes with an orange, green or purple plastic squid, and the soap has a great citrus smell.

Here's a quick visual of how SquidSoap works:

So SquidSoap now serves as the neutral referee on whether kids’ hands are well-washed: if the ink spot is gone, high-five. And if the ink spot remains, then back to the sink they dash…although this has not happened so far with my kids. Now only if SquidSoap could get them to make their beds…