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Holiday Gift Guide-Fancy Nancy Tea Party Time DS

November 8, 2010 By

Fancy Nancy: Tea Party Time! for Nintendo DS takes players right into the world that the book series has made so popular. Nancy is a little girl who believes everything in life deserves to be made “fancy”, from her clothes to her hair to her poodle Frenchy. In fact if she can use a French word for something, that makes her even happier! Little girls will love helping Nancy in this adorable game from THQ.

In this game, players explore Nancy’s neighborhood on a mission to help Mrs. DeVine plan the perfect party. Nancy needs to find all of the supplies needed for the party while solving easy challenges. Because Nancy loves to try on different outfits, the game cleverly has challenges that call for changing Nancy’s clothes, sometimes minute to minute! For example, Nancy’s raincoat, boots and umbrella are required for wading through puddles, and her fairy wings outfit helps her jump across long distances. The game is intuitive and was easy for my almost-5 year old daughter to play with minimal help.

Kaitlyn’s favorite parts of the game are searching for the colorful “Fancies” that are traded for virtual stickers, and a game where Nancy has to pull vegetables out of the garden before the rabbits eat them. This game has been holding her interest for weeks and she never seems to tire of doing the same challenges over and over. She’s even started saying a few French words she learned in the game!

Amazon.com has Fancy Nancy: Tea Party Time! for Nintendo DS for $29.96 plus free Super Saver Shipping. If you know a little girl who has a Nintendo DS, this would make a terrific holiday gift!

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Holiday Gift Guide- Our Generation Dolls exclusively at Target

November 13, 2009 By

Our Generation Katelyn Figure Skating DollBefore you spend $80 on a doll for Christmas, take a look at the new Our Generation Deluxe Dolls sold exclusively at Target. Battat Inc. has debuted six dolls that “celebrate today’s girls and tomorrow’s leaders”.  Each of the dolls’ books tell a story about an experience girls can relate to, whether it’s learning to ice skate or dance ballet, starting a new school year or making friends.

With their own hardcover storybook and tons of accessories, girls ages 3 and up will be thrilled to get an Our Generation doll has a gift this holiday season!  The suggested retail price is $32.99, I believe Target is selling them for $29.99, which is a GREAT DEAL!

Thanks to Battat Inc., we received the Katelyn doll for review-perfect, of course, for my Kaitlyn! She was BLOWN AWAY when I pulled the box out of the shipping carton. I couldn’t get that doll out fast enough (and be warned, you’ll need scissors to snip tabs and threads holding everything securely in place).

We had to (coincidentally) head to Target to pick up a prescription, and Kaitlyn insisted that Katelyn had to come with us. She had me put on the mittens and earmuffs so the doll would “stay warm”, and when we got to Target, I told her the doll had to stay in the car-I didn’t want Target to think we had shoplifted it! So Katelyn stayed in the carseat to “take a nap”.  We then talked all about how Kaitlyn was going to introduce Katelyn to all her other dolls!  I can’t find my camera card reader but when I do, I’ll upload a photo I took of Kaitlyn and Katelyn all ready to go :)

Description of all six dolls:

  • Lily Anna is the Horseback Riding Doll who solves a mystery at the ranch in “The Adventures of Shelby Stables”. She comes with equestrian accessories, lemonade stand goodies, a red dress and a riding outfit, and more.
  • Eva the Detective Doll solves “The Mystery of the Vanishing Coin” using her included camera and case, backpack, tote, mug, pen, and pad.
  • Hally the Back-to-School Doll finds a fortune in a cookie that has her questioning how she’ll survive fourth grade in “One Smart Cookie”. She comes with an extra outfit, a water bottle, backpack, and report card.
  • Sydney Lee the Ballet Doll helps girls learn what true “Star Power” means in “Stars in Your Eyes”. She comes with both practice and performance ballet clothes, a bag, granola bar, 4 invitations, and water bottle.
  • Mary Lyn the Music Recital Doll discovers a note her grandfather left after he passes away, and embarks on an adventure to figure out “The Note in the Piano”. She comes with a song book, violin, harmonica, music sheets, and playing cards.
  • Katelyn the Figure Skating Doll is headed to a skating competition with her family when a blizzard strikes in “Blizzard on Moose Mountain”. She comes with both practice and performance skating clothes, shoes and ice skates (the blades are not real!), water bottle, MP3 player, earmuffs, medals, flowers, and mittens.

Take it from me, if you have a girl age 3 and up to shop for and she likes dolls, head to Target and snap up an Our Generation Doll!

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Caring Corners Mrs. Goodbee’s Dollhouse

September 28, 2009 By

caring corners

Duracell believes that children have the power to be anything they want to be, and that play time is an important part of helping them achieve their goals. In partnership with toy experts Chris Byrne and Jim Silver from www.TimeToPlayMag.com, Duracell selected some of the most innovative toys that can help kids develop the skills they need to reach their goals. They contacted me to see what my kids want to be when they grow up and offered to send us toys to review that can help them develop their “power to be”.

For Kaitlyn, my little Mommy, Time to Play sent the COOLEST DOLLHOUSE EVER, the Caring Corners Mrs. Goodbee’s Dollhouse by Learning Curve. I cannot say enough wonderful things about how much I love Mrs. Goodbee and how much Kaitlyn loves it too! This huge dollhouse folds out for access to six rooms on each side, and it’s packed with interactive features. Located throughout the house are positive reinforcement “stations” where you place a doll and it praises things like flushing the toilet and washing hands. Putting the doll in front of the fridge triggers a speech about eating fruits and veggies. What a great way to have fun and hear positive statements!

The house comes with a girl, a baby, and a pet, and additional playsets are available. I’ve bought them at Target and at Toys “R” Us. There’s a Mom, a Dad, a brother, and a Grandma, plus more pets.  Kaitlyn also has the Fisher Price Loving Family My First Dollhouse (which she also loves!) and the furniture for that fits in Mrs. Goodbee as well. We have the dollhouses side by side in the playroom and there’s lots of visiting back and forth between the two dollhouse families :)   I watch and listen while Kaitlyn plays, and I hear her telling herself stories about which doll is playing with which other doll, and saying things like “why don’t you come over? Okay, thank you”. She’s reinforcing what she’s learned about good manners and being a friend, and I really like that.

In addition, the dollhouse comes with a code to unlock an account on Learning Curve’s Caring Corners website. Each playset you buy comes with an additional code to unlock new games on the site. The games include seek and find, feed the fish, catch the apples in the basket, and more, and they have easy, medium, and hard levels. Kaitlyn puts me in charge of controlling the mouse while she tells me where to go and what to click :)

Please do not be put off by the price of this toy, which is $69.99 at Toys “R” Us.  Right now, www.toysrus.com is offering $10.00 off a purchase of $30.00 or more, which means this huge interactive dollhouse is only $59.99. Trust me, it’s a GOOD DEAL. Buy it now and stash it away for Christmas for a perfect gift for a dollhouse-loving little girl!

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