TutuZone

Fun Family DVD for a Rainy Day

Looking for a great DVD the whole family can enjoy? Why not go back in time and rediscover "The King and I". This wonderful musical has it all including great acting, fabulous music, wonderful story and great staging. My little princess loved the gorgeous dresses and ballroom dancing while my 9 year old son was wrapped up in the exciting plot. I recommend buying it as it is one of those you'll be watching over and over.

-Mary Kate- dance lover

www.PrimaPrincessa.com - check out our great ballet DVD for kids

www.TutuZone.com- where creative moms like to hang out

National Geographic World Magazine

National Geographic World Magazine for kids just recently started appearing at our door and it has been a very good thing. I think my husband ordered it from some kids trying to raise money for a school trip or something along those lines. This magazine is full of wonderful photos and tons of interesting information. Both my 5 year old daughter and 9 year old son enjoy reading this magazine.

Hey, who would not enjoy learning that "the average person blinks 20,000 times per minute." My princess-ballet crazy daughter especially loves all the photos of the animals. We recently had some cousins come to visit from TX. The eleven year old had a stack with him which he read on the plane, my point being this magazine had broad appeal.

Mary Kate

www.PrimaPrincessa.com -find the perfect ballet DVD for kids

www.Tutuzone.com- from creators of "Prima Princessa Presents Swan Lake'" -a ballet DVD for kids

Airline Travel With Kids

Spring Break is coming soon and that means air travel for a lot of us. With the news of all these cancellations, I'm keeping my fingers crossed for a smooth trip. In the meantime I've been stashing my children's travel backpacks with several fun, quiet toys and books just in case an already long journey gets longer.

Both my kids get a huge kick out of Mad Libs. I always take those along. In fact today, was my son's 9th birthday party and I gave them out as party favors. They were a huge hit! For my  5 year old little princess, I got Mad Libs Junior My Little Pony. She was thrilled.

For my 5 year I also find sticker books provide endless fun. Sticker Dolly Dressing is a wonderful one as it is really jammed packed and never seems to run out of stickers.

Of course we are always armed with Leapsters and my husband always travels with a lap top which the kids use to watch a movie in flight. When all else fails I pull out the gum or Tic Tacs.

Mary Kate - ballet lover

www.PrimaPrincessa.com

Crazy for "Go Tape Crazy"

My seven year old daughter recently received an odd gift for her birthday, and it was not something obviously for a princess or ballerina! It's a big box of tape. I just sort of put it up in her closet thinking maybe we would explore it at some point someday. My mistake! So my daughter this week just pulled it out of the closet and set it on our kitchen table (where all of our daily art activities take place). Pretty soon her five year old sister joined in, and then my three year old and my 8 year old boy and then the neighbor girls who are in the 4th and 5th grade couldn't get enough of it!

What is this stuff you might ask? It's a box with 15 rolls of colorful patterned tape and the kids have been going crazy over making intricate patterns, designs, and whatever they can think of using these fun cool tapes on paper drawings, decorating their water bottles for soccer practice and putting it on their Converse shoes of all things! My 8 year old son even wrapped himself in the bright green tape so he could be really really visible during a game of 'Man Hunt" (like hide-and-go-seek but more runnning around outside, usually in the evening hours).

These tapes have everything from colorful flowers, to fruit, to penguins, to romantic horses galloping into the sunset...princess tape, monkey & banana tape. It goes on and on and on and my kids really love doing art projects with it. What a fun idea, it reminds me of the band-aid craze with cartoon characters, only this to me is much more productive and creative, inspiring little minds to do big things with tape.

For $14.99 Go Tape Crazy can be found on www.CreativityforKids.com and as they say in their promotional materials "our mission is to provide children with experiences that stimulate and encourge their natural creativity."

-Stephanie-

Scratch Magic

   If you have not discover Scratch Magic, it's a great thing to keep stashed away for rainy days. Both my kids who are 5 and 8 enjoy scratching away. You can purchase small Scratch Magic kits or larger books at craft stores, chainstores and toystores. Essentially Scratch Magic is heavy paper coated with black stuff which can be scratched away to reveal to reveal cool rainbow colors underneath. My son also like to just scratch away the whole top coating.

It does get messy but just make sure to keep it either in the kitchen or have them work on tray. If you have a princess crazy daughter she's sure to love the Scratch and Doodle: Princess Magic. Boys will get a kick out of Scratch and Doodle Dino Magic or if they are like my son just scratching away the entire coating is fun!

-Mary Kate-

www.PrimaPrincessa.com

Grandpa hits the nail on the head with these kids books!

Grandpa just sent my little 5 year old princess 3 of the most adorable books: Pinkalicious by Victoria and Elizabeth Kann, The Tooth Fairy from Igloo Books and Fancy Nancy by Jane O'Connor.

When my daughter saw the fancy covers decorated with sufficient amounts of pink, right away she was smitten. She's been carrying these three books all around the house with her and we've been reading them over and over. All three sport lively, cretive stories and illustrations. If you have a little "fancy" gal at home she's sure to adore these slections.

-Mary Kate-

www.PrimaPrincessa.com  -the hotspot for your little princess

Great Easter book for the whole family

Granny sent my little girl a darling old time book called the The Country Bunny. It was one of my Mom's favorites from her childhood. I'm sure she read it to me when I was little, but I didn't remember it. However, my husband face lit up when he saw it! He remembered it!

I read it to my 5 year old little princess with her big brother (8) also listening. Both kids were mesmerized. It's a sweet and exciting story with lovely illustrations. Interestingly, I found this story really spoke to me as well. It's about a country bunny who gives up her dream of being one of the chosen 'Easter Bunnies' to raise a happy, loving family, yet finds that when the kids get older she has a second chance at her dream. As I am now working from home on a new businesss, both kids in elementary school, I related to this little bunny. This story was written in 1939 which just goes to show woman have been balancing the demands of work and home life for quite awhile.

You can find this book on Amazon.com.

-Mary Kate-

www.PrimaPrincessa.com

Cool Music for Kids

My neighbor works in the children's entertainment business and comes across quite a number of bands. My 5 year old loves, loves, loves music so I asked my neighbor to recommend some of her favorite acts for kids.  For Valentine's Day I just ordered my daughter two from the list: Milkshake and The Funkey Monkey's.  I know she'll get a kick out of the names. - Mary Kate

Neighbor's List of Cool Music for Kids:

Justin Roberts

Music for Ardvarks

Milk Shake

Laurie Berkner

Hot Peas 'N' Butter

Lovie

The Funky Monkey

Ralph's World

Dirty Sock Band

Indoor Sandbox Fun

My Little Sandbox Play Set, DinoLand is the newest toy in our house. So it's a little more masculin than a ballerina yet fun enough for anyone. Here at Primaprincessa.com we have discovered an adorable little mini wooden sandbox, complete with shovel and rake for digging up hidden dinosaur bones. When I took it out of the box, my 8 year old son and 9 year old neighbor princess girl were very excited to put it together and hide all of the dinosaur bones for my 3 and 5 year old children to find. My little ones waited patiently in the living-room while the older kids maticulously hid the bones in the sand. "Ready!" Yelled my son, as the little ones came squeeling as they ran to the excavation site in the middle of my kitchen floor.

Once the excavations were done, my 8 year old put the dinosaur together, only to have it taken apart in minutes for the next round of hide and seek digging.

This went on for quite some time, held their attention, and provided a fun group activity for a variety of ages. One word of advise would be to do it on your outside porch or a hard wood table or floor so that clean up of the stray sand will be a snap. All in all at my house, My Little Sandbox DinoLand was a big hit with kids from 3 to 9 years old!

Everyone at Primaprincessa.com loves my little sandbox!

-Stephanie- fairy or maybe princess in training

Amazing Toys from Cambodia:

www.LotusJayne.com

Here at PrimaPrincessa.comwe are in love with a truly unique and inspiring line of products for children which has just arrived from the far off land of Cambodia.

We have discovered a rare and wonderful treasure in www.LotusJayne.com. If you love unique and affordable handmade items that are in tune with contemporary fashion yet support the artistry of indigenous cultures everywhere then Lotus Jayne is for you.

Each toy is lovingly made by disadvantaged women, who are working hard to improve their lives and those of their families. They create traditional handicrafts that are also eco-friendly and fairly traded. These adorable hand-sewn critters are meticulously made with charming details and bright colors, brimming with personality.

All of the Lotus Jayne products are lovingly made in collective where formerly homeless women of Phnom Penh Cambodia are given an education, job training and other rehabilitative social services.

These are wonderful toys that you can feel great about buying and are available exclusively at www.LotusJayne.com

Adolphie$12.00 Lil' Double Hug$15.00 Monsieur Mouse$15.00 Ollie Octopus$15.00 Turtle-O$14.00

“Cambodia today remains one of the poorest countries on earth. Survivors of the Pol Pot regime during the 1970’s endured the worst kind of physical and emotional abuse at the hands of the Khmer Rouge. Yet the resilience and creativity of Cambodians is remarkable. With a wonderfully rich tradition of silk weaving and other handicrafts to offer the global marketplace, Cambodian artisans are embracing the future while reviving their rich cultural traditions.” –from Lotus Jayne

Along with jovial stuffed animals Lotus Jayne, which launched it's web site Feb.10 2008, offers a variety of hand made treasures, often from hand woven silk made from looms right in the homes of disadvantaged Cambodian women. Lotus Jayne offers dolls, recycled paper bead jewelry, scarves, pillows and handbags, and beautiful jewelry made from recycled bombshells. “From swords into plowshares was never so true, or so poignant.” –Lotus Jayne

-Stephanie- your resident princess