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Lifestyle

Child Development, Lifestyle

The Future of Fun: Sustainable and Educational Toys

From plastic dolls to battery-powered gadgets, up to 80 percent of plastic toys end up in landfills and contribute to pollution and climate change. As parents become more environmentally conscious, they are seeking alternative options for their children’s playtime. They also want toys that go beyond occupying their children and contribute to child development as well.

This is where sustainable and educational toys come into play. Most sustainable toys toys are designed with the environment as well as children’s development in mind, making them a more responsible and beneficial choice for playtime. But what exactly are sustainable toys? And why do they matter? This article will explore the importance of sustainable and educational toys in today’s world, and how they can make a positive impact on our children and the planet.

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Child Development, Gift Guides, Lifestyle

Cherishing Tradition: Heirloom Baby’s First Christmas Gifts

The holiday season is a magical time for families, and it becomes even more enchanting when celebrating your baby’s first Christmas. While your little one might not fully grasp the festivities, the joy and heart warming feeling of giving and receiving gifts will be cherished for years to come. When choosing the perfect presents for your baby’s first Christmas, we are here to help you select items that are not only adorable but also enriching. And of course, built to last. Here are our best loved gift ideas to make this special occasion even more memorable. If your little one is a bit older we also have a guide for toddler Christmas gifts.

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Open-Ended Play with Blocks
Education, Lifestyle

What is open-ended play?

Open-ended play refers to a type of play where there are no predetermined rules, fixed outcomes, or specific instructions. It is characterized by allowing children to explore and interact with objects, materials, or environments in a creative and unrestricted manner. During open-ended play, children use their imagination and problem-solving skills to come up with their own scenarios, stories, and activities.

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Family Friendly Hikes near boulder
Lifestyle

The 7 best family friendly hikes near Boulder, Colorado

Boulder, Colorado is a gateway to the beautiful Rocky Mountains. Hiking is a way of life for most locals, but with so many options it’s hard to narrow down the most amazing family friendly hikes near Boulder.

Below are the best of the best. We prioritize hikes based on activities spanning age ranges, meaning easy enough terrain for the toddler, rocks or streams to climb or play for the older kids, and stunning beauty for all.

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Gift Guides, Lifestyle

Essential Guide for Creating a Multi-Store Baby Registry

Congratulations! On the journey of preparing for parenthood setting up your baby registry is one of the incredibly fun milestone events. And lucky you, the days of multiple registries or committing to one big box children’s store are over. Here are the days where expecting parents can use a one-stop multi-store baby registry that pulls from large box stores AND support small and local businesses and makers (like us!).

Keep reading for our quick guide on how to choose a platform for your baby registry. If you are looking for a more detailed guide on what to add you your registry, check back for our soon to be published “Complete Baby Registry Guide”.

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Lifestyle

Family Camping Checklist

If you are like most people, a family camping trip usually comes with grand ambitions of leaving early in the morning, pitching the tent together, and then relaxing by the fire roasting marshmallows. All this while the Instagram worthy meal heats up and the picnic table is set. What usually happens, however, is a mad scramble to pack the car that extends close to noon because you can’t find someone’s socks, you end up at McDonald’s for a late lunch, and you pitch the tent in the dark while the kids groan about being hungry. You then realize you brought hot dogs, but forgot condiments. Trust me, I’m not throwing shade, we’ve been there more often than we’d like to admit! Now that we are four kids deep, we’ve developed a car camping with kids checklist that acts as our guidepost and helps us avoid the fast food and ketchup-less hot dogs.

Fortunately, after four kids and countless outdoor adventures, we feel pretty good about the essentials of camping with toddlers and young kids. This break-down has been curated after years of fine-tuning for a minimalist list of car camping essentials and fun activities, leaving behind the camping gear you just don’t need!

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Child Development, Education, Lifestyle

Kid-friendly and Low-Mess DIY Christmas Ornaments

If you are looking to ditch the glitter and ideas that require a PhD in crafting, we’ve got you covered with these quick and easy, DIY holiday Christmas ornaments. And a big bonus, they just so happen to have mostly eco-friendly materials and are super affordable.

As a former toddler and preschool teacher and current mom to four, I have a tree filled with dozens of handmade ornaments, and the trip down memory lane unpacking the handmade ornaments is just such a calming parenting treat amid the holiday chaos. So let’s get busy!

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Child Development, Education, Lifestyle

6 creative games to play with simple wooden blocks

A staple for generations, one of the first toys we all end up with for our kiddos are wooden blocks. At Marley & Moose, we consistently preach the value of imaginative and open-ended play. These simple toys are the perfect developmental learning tool to let your kiddo’s imagination and problem-solving skills run wild as well as support fine motor development and coordination. Fine motor skills are the well…building blocks for being able to write and draw down the line. No more dad jokes, okay no promises, but here are 6 kid-approved and super fun games to get the most out of your blocks.

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Lifestyle

Developmentally Appropriate Gift Guide for Toddlers

Holiday gifting for toddlers can be as fun for caregivers as it is for the kiddos. While the cheap flashy plastic available at the big box stores may provide a temporary wow factor, this holiday season you have the opportunity to share super fun gifts that are also impactful with your loved ones. At Marley & Moose, all of our toys are thoughtfully curated for the merits of child development and longevity of use for toddlerhood and beyond.

Toddlers are developing physically, mentally, and emotionally and having the right toys can help make playtime fun and educational! Below are a few areas of development along with some of our favorite gifts for your favorite toddler.

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Lifestyle

Guide to parental controls on your child’s tech

It is both increasingly important and challenging to monitor children’s technology usage. As the number of connected devices and opportunities to explore increases, so does potential exposure to the dark side of the internet. Pornography, cyber bullying, violence, and fake news are all a few clicks away either as an intentional search, accidentally, or via some other bad actor.

Kids now have access to the abyss of the internet via things like smart watches, personal assistants like Amazon Alexa, laptops, tablets, gaming consoles, and smart TV’s. Parental controls and monitoring should be considered for apps like Google, XBox, PlayStation, YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, SnapChat, Facebook, text messaging, WhatsApp, and email.

With everything to consider, it’s hard to know where to start, and that’s where this guide and our general resource guide for kids and tech come in handy.

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