This season Areaware is launching this series of adorable new beech wood animals by Karl Zahn (who was also behind Areaware’s animal boxes. The new selections include a set of dovetail animals as well as stackable crocodiles! Each of the dovetail animals is composed of three segments, so you can mix and match parts from the five styles: dog, llama, elephant, horse and crocodile. More photos and a video of the new wooden animals on the next page.

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Tags: animals - gifts - kids - nature - shopping - toys - wood

So, you’ve seen the AMAZING video of the dutchman in the woods introducing Cubelets (if not, you must). Well, i finally had a date with Modular Robotics Cubelets ~ and got to explore and create with them over beers and bruschetta while at CES. Fun part? Building autonomous robots that can drive themselves, run away from me, run to me, spin lights around, and beep away… all while navigating around the place settings and deliciousness. There’s something undeniably satisfying about the way the magnetic blocks snap together and just start DOING things! And their natural ability to pique the curiosity of people of any age to just get lost exploring the possibilities… truth is, you definitely need a table full to properly explore the overwhelming amount of options… and i love that it feels like true object oriented programming ~ in that you literally connect blocks that have various functions… like the light sensor block to the inverse block to the flashlight block and add a battery block and things just start happening!

Anyhow, these fun robotic cubes have been getting written up everywhere ~ but are you ready to take a peek INSIDE? When popping by the booth the next day, the Modular Robotics team broke out the leatherman and let us take a peek inside an inverse block ~ granted it’s one of the less filled cubes ~ but I love the design of how it opens (and is held together with two little screws!)… also if you ever want to hide things in your robotic cubes……… see more pics on the next page!

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Tags: ces - gifts - kids - robot - shopping - technology - toys

Remember the Crumpled City Maps we first found at Selfridges? Now Palomar have created a new series of Crumpled City Junior Maps featuring illustration from Alvvino and designed by Emanuele Pizzolorusso! The soft, light, waterproof maps for young urban explorers currently come in 5 cities: Amsterdam, Berlin, London, New York and Paris… what does that mean? These maps have lots of fun young must see destinations from monuments and parks to circuses and more! See more photos of these great crumpled maps on the next page!

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Tags: gifts - kids - maps - shopping - travel

Animals. Cars. Amazing illustrations. Ok i’m pretty much swooning already. Just in the inbox, Zoom Zoo from Mike Yamada, a designer/illustrator, artist at Dreamworks Animation, and an Art Center Graduate. These flashcards are his take on the classic Richard Scarry’s animals piloting retro 60’s type vehicles. (Anyone else picturing that worm driving an apple?) While sure these could be for kids to learn the alphabet, what adult wouldn’t have fun dreaming up the stories and worlds behind these creatures in their fantastic automobiles while teaching kids the alphabet? As adorable little works of art ~ they are playfully inspiring! I can’t wait to see the full alphabet… You can buy the Zoom Zoo Flashcards here. Take a peek at more details on the next page!

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Tags: animals - art - cars - gifts - illustration - kids - shopping

I couldn’t resist buying German toys at the Munich airport on the way home. Even if they are for toddlers and up… i was fascinated by the way the connectors work on the Mic-O-Mic building systems and when i couldn’t decide which to get to try it out, i bought four - a little boat, car, helicopter, and seaplane. And they are awesome! Solid plastic. Ok to toss in the water. They are connected by little plastic pegs that perfectly fit and rubbery eye mask like pieces that allow a nice flexibility to connections. They even come with a tweezer like tool made of the pieces themselves to pinch-remove or push-hammer in the pegs with. Nice simple graphical pictures to diagram how to assemble each as well, and for the more creative ones, they have extra pieces and are all modular enough to mix and match. Take a peek at the sets on the next page!

p.s. yes, i built these on the bed in my jetlaggedness…

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Tags: airplane - boats - cars - gifts - helicopter - kids - shopping - toys

IAA is one of the biggest auto shows in the world ~ quite fascinating besides the car are the luxury automakers “style” stores ~ filled with goods they are selling outside to complement their cars. Increasing trend? Toddler Cars! A great way for junior to be just like mommy and daddy? Nice way to start the brand loyalty young? And some really are SO cute. So take a peek at ones i found wandering the show floor over at Porsche, BMW, Audi, and Hyundai on the next page.

p.s. While many others have variations of these push/walk cars as well, these are the ones i actually saw today on the show floor!

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Tags: cars - gifts - kids - shopping

After quite the day running around lusting after a time when cars were so so so much more than just cars… and before getting to the most incredible dinner at Cassanova in Carmel ~ when parking on Ocean Ave, we ended up right next to these windows! And as hungry as i was, simply had to stop and take pics! Adorable window display celebrating “Concours on the Avenue” in Carmel with kids’ outfits made of maps! Very well done, and quite the contrast to what you’d find actually IN the store… and of the all the windows we wandered past, it was certainly the most interesting. Others simply added ferrari posters to their jewelry displays and such, whereas these guys went all out! Take a look at the details on the next page ~ the pockets, the shoes, so cute ~ and so much attention to the details!

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Tags: fashion - installation - kids - maps - windows

On delayed San Diego Comic Con adventures ~ one of the last things i imaged writing about was Disney’s Phineas and Ferb booth. But it was massive. Had impressive branding… and a converted trailer that was turned into a HUGE Platy-BUS. Seriously, how impressive and eye catching is that thing? Making of video of it on the next page is surreal. While i must admit i’ve caught a few of the cartoon episodes, enough to at least make sense of what was going on… visually, the booth was like entering a crazy cartoon world, and they definitely took it above and beyond. Inflatable tree… with karaoke, guitar, and little platypus stools beneath it… large purple “evil incorporated” blimp flying above… and food truck like trailer serving up limited edition blind box toys of Perry the platypus pet that turns super spy… Then there’s the bizarre branding overload, with nice display cases showing off everything from the Kraft Mac & Cheese version of the characters and fruit snacks to band aids and toothbrushes… as well as other toys. It looked less like they were pitching those to kids and parents, but like a brand display to show off how far they can reach. Anyhow, it was quite a world they created… So things design worthy to note? The Platy-BUS and making of, the platypus stools, and the packaging details… check it all out on the next page!

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Tags: cars - cartoon - gifts - kids - shopping - spy - toys

My first reaction was “omg. super hipster plush toys?” ~ then when i couldn’t seem to close the tab and kept flipping through the pics, the adorably illustrated and reversible Patrice and Beatrice grew on me. And i secretly want them both… with their hipster glasses wearing serious fronts, and their beach ready, summer loving backs (or vice versa, on which is front and which is the back) This pair of plush toys over at Smallable are an exclusive collaboration with My Name Is Simone, aka French designer, Caroline Castagna-Suarez. “Caroline Castagna-Suarez, aka Simone, finds that Sometimes, growing up stinks. Therefore, she spends her free time battling against Seriousness, in every way she can.” See close ups of these two… as well as Super zéro, Suzanne, Simon, Daisy, and Jean-Louis on the next page!

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Tags: gifts - kids - shopping - toys

Taking what may be my first actual full on “break” in a few years this week… it should come as no surprise that my life became filled with silliness and toys… so let’s kick off this catch up post with: Xploderz and their H2GROW Ammo - after having them on NOTCOT.org, when i ran across these new age water guns in person, i HAD to get one. So, here’s an unboxing of the Xploderz Xranger 2000 and a peek at how the pellets become the ammo you see. On first impressions, LOVE the concept, but the execution does leave quite a bit to be desired. The balls are actually more Tapioca/Boba/Bubble tea like… think jello jiggler marbles that smoosh on contact. You won’t really be hurting each other with these, but they do shoot impressively far and straight. Be warned though, if you’re preparing for a full on war, prep early, it takes over 4 hours to have a fresh set of ammo soak up its full potential… experiments to try later: can these become jello shots? can you use other similarly sized pellets? Frozen pellets? And to mitigate the disappointment, these are all about the novelty of the ammo… the gun doesn’t let you actually pull the trigger and the plastic/design of the gun leaves something to be desired. To launch, you pull and release, essentially launching the pellet… you also have to reload between each shot. But ~ on to the details to give you a better feel of this Xploderz Xranger 2000 and it’s jello shot like pellets, check out the next page!

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Tags: gifts - guns - kids - shopping - toys

This post is part of a NOTCOT series on inspiring, independent design thinking, brought to you by Saab. At Saab, we believe in independent thinking. It’s in everything we do. Learn more here.

Doesn’t that picture just scream: HAPPY? I bet you’re smiling right now. (If not, what’s wrong with you?) As you may have noticed, we’ve got a soft spot for swings. So imagine our delight at discovering the crazy swing installations from Jeff Waldman and the Awesome Foundation’s LA chapter. For Waldman swings are a way of “finding pure joy were from our childhood” and he picked some pretty incredible locations for his swings. Waldman’s been tracking the awesome swingification across the globe in his facebook gallery. And for a peek into some of our favorites ~ as well as videos ~ take a peek on the next page!

p.s. Can’t wait to get back to LA to go hunt a few of his down, add more of our skateboard swings around, and swing to our heart’s delight!

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Tags: installation - kids - outdoors

Just in from the awesome Anna of Sub-Studio who was able to check out our favorite design baby brand, Skip Hop’s, design studio and preview! Check out what she saw and has to share with us below!

As a new mom, it is easy to be overwhelmed by the amount of baby stuff out there. Skip Hop is a favorite of mine for their refreshingly playful and modern designs, and for their affordable prices. I got to go to their offices to check out their Fall 2011 preview, where there were lots of new additions to the Skip Hop collection. I also got a behind the scenes look at Skip Hop’s design space, and met their lead designer (who is seven months pregnant!). Check out some photos from my visit on the next page!

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Tags: baby - gifts - kids - shopping - studio - sub-studio - toys

Just in from the UK ~ Justine just checked out Clerkenwell Design Week!

Nostalgia just hit ~ remember those pin art toys from the… 80s? Just lost a little time ending up on searching for the old ones! Found info on it on Wikipedia - random fun fact? “The pinscreen was popularized in the 1985 music video for the Midge Ure song “If I Was”, which included a giant body-sized version.” They are even still available on Amazon!

But i digress… this installation from Clerkenwell Design Week is “Be a Pin Up!” from Lulu Guinness, there she is with it above (pics from her blog). The giant frame of pins is situated in front of the iconic London landmark, St John’s Gate and lets the public create full body sized portraits using the 6,000 chromed capped aluminum pins. Here are a few pics of the images created by passerbys. Check out the pics on the next page!

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Tags: art - installation - kids - toys

We’re not really sure what’s going on with these yet… but Justine found these Mr. Potato Head’s in the windows of Liberty in London. With a twist ~ paired with designer fashions…. there are literally bags of real potatoes… adorned with gold spray painted Mr. Potato Head parts! See more close ups of the bizarreness on the next page!

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Tags: food - gold - kids - london - toys - windows

Thanks, Veuve Clicquot, our Milano Design Week sponsor! We adore their new origami inspired ice bucket, Clicq’up.

Definitely my favorite find of the day. I clearly have a thing for swings and for unique woody products that show off their original tree edges… well the Swedish No Picnic’s ALMA series of ‘social swings’ combine just that! They also remind me of the Loyal Loot Log Bowls! They feel like rough logs that were sliced to make a bench, then milled out and lacquered for a seat/seats in bold colors. Strung up with thick black rope, they are tied in clusters to the beams high above. Though a bit slippery, they certainly are gorgeous and fun to swing in! Apparently these are “meant to represent the soul of Sweden. As Leonardo Salzedo says, ‘As teamwork is needed to enjoy the swing, so in our everyday life a conjoint effort is important to reach a common goal’.” Gorgeous, fun, and in so many colors and sizes, they were a delight to swing in… take a peek at many pics of them on the next page ~ as well as some making of photos!

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Tags: home - kids - milan - salone - wood

This CES content is sponsored by BestBuyOn.com. Thanks, Best Buy!!!

AR.Drones have come a long way since they mesmerized us at CES with their amazing iPhone controlled flying machine last year… that was in a huge net on the show floor… well this year, they have a great space outside! And it’s definitely had me watching, mesmerized, wondering how i’ve managed not to give in to one of them yet. Or TWO… you can even played augmented reality shooter games with them now… (see the video on the next page to make sense of it)… see more pics on the next page of them in action. It’s hard not to want an iPhone/iPad controlled wifi AR qudricopter!

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Tags: CES - gifts - ipad - iphone - ipod - kids - shopping - technology - toys

This is the last of three gift guides for those on the GO! This content series is brought to you by Intel AppUp℠. Find free and paid apps for your lifestyle. Get started.

Gift Guide time! This time ideas for the Kids On The Go ~ unlike the Business Traveler on the Go list and the Jetsetter On The Go list… here’s one for traveling with KIDS! (Particularly the younger ones! So, some fun ideas for newer parents transitioning from jetsetter to jetsetter and a half?) Check out the product picks on the next page!

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Tags: gift guide - kids - NotVentures - sponsored - travel

Montessorium has a new app! Sure i don’t have kids, but having grown up a Montessori kid, their iphone and ipad apps are an instant throw back… tracing the letters on a touch screen, aren’t quite the same as tracing the sand paper letters mounted on colored boards… but the portability and animations are awesome! First they launched Intro To Math, next came Intro To Letters… and freshly launched is Alpha Writer! Illustrations are even by Zeptonn! All of them are perfect for toddlers to get to know letters, numbers, and start making words… see some screenshots on the next page.

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Tags: gifts - ipad - kids - shopping - technology

Merry Christmas! Not sure why i’m up at 4am on christmas… and yes, still playing with toys into the night. Kidrobot sent over a fun christmas surprise ~ The Burglars Dunny by Saner… and the flocked santa beard was so hilarious, i couldn’t help but mix and match the accessories instantly. Doesn’t this Rocketworld guy just look far more distinguished in mustache/beard while wielding his spork? Really, all he needs is a monocle now! And you should see the James Jarvis King Ken snow gorilla with the reindeer skull on a stick! Oh, and the actual Santa Barbaja character too… see it all on the next page!

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Tags: gifts - kids - shopping - toys

On going full circle ~ the toy movement has come back around to stunning luxurious porcelain figurines… French company, Art & Toy, has just started selling the new figures by K. Olin Tribu, who has worked with the finest porcelain sculpture modeler, great artists and designers to manufacture limited edition toys in Limoges porcelain. The beautiful Potamus Anarchy figures in black and red editions is a collaboration between Frank Kozik & K.Olin Tribu. There’s something so awesome about seeing the signature angsty cigarette wielding creatures of Kozik cast in porcelain… anarchy gone fine art? And in such beautiful packaging as well! See lots of detail pics on the next page…

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Tags: gifts - home - kids - packaging - porcelain - shopping - toys

Gift Guide time! In addition to the NOTCOT Holiday Coupons and the many Holiday Giveaways that will be unfolding daily… and today we’re looking at TOYS! And fun things for big kids and little kids… This gift guide is sponsored by Starbucks who is celebrating their 12 Days of Sharing with us; hiding fun goodies, which are popping out from behind NOTCOT.org posts! Now ~ on to the gift guide picks on the next page!

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Tags: gift guide - gifts - kids - shopping - toys

Black and white? Wood blocks? Golden Ratio? How could i not give in to it? Besides, a gorgeous desk toy to help distract and inspire while i work my way through the fun and craziness that is the upcoming Holiday Gift Guides and Giveaways… perfect! Swiss company, Naef, makes some of the nicest quality wood toys, and they appeal to the beautiful simplicity of geometric shapes to create unthinkably inspiring complexities. Their description of the Naef Tectus? “Impressive architecture This cube is divided several times in adherence to the golden ratio and surrounded by black shapes. During play, these become foundations, walls or roofs and a player the architect. Everything fits into each other harmoniously.”

Ok i keep getting far too distracted constructing buildings across my desk as i attempt to write this post. So go take a look at the unboxing of this gorgeous Naef Tectus on the next page…

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Tags: architecture - gifts - kids - shopping - toys - wood

The Tegu guy made me a castle! With a draw bridge! Out of magnetic wood blocks! LIVE! That was my silly excitement this morning as they let me put in the first request as Tegu LIVE! went… well, live. These playful magnetic wood building blocks made from sustainable tropical hardwoods in Honduras are inspired by the gorgeous european wood toys… with a magnetic twist. While kids of all ages can make anything they can dream up, to help inspire everyone, Tegu and Poke NY have teamed up to build a non stop live stream of a mysterious man in a tegu lab coat of sorts who will take your requests via Twitter, Facebook, and livestream for things to build. And poof just like that, he builds them for you! And then sadly deconstructs them as quickly as they came to be. Though, i’m told not to worry, since all designs will be archived for future viewing! If you’re curious what they are capable of, go make your request at Tegu LIVE!. They sent me a few cases to play with, and their packaging is awesomely fun as well… so take a peek on the next page for the products, packaging, AND my castle in action!

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Tags: gifts - kids - shopping - toys - wood

Remember the Stacks Skateboard decks? And the random idea i fixated on to make a fun swing out of a skateboard? Well when popping by ikea, ran into the $14 Ecorre Swing and couldn’t resist using some of the parts with the skateboard… so on silly little experiments ~ here’s a look at trying it out in the tree!

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Tags: gifts - kids - outdoors - shopping - skate

Mmmmmm… on sunday fun, while working my way through the backlog of stuff that awaited me here in LA when i got home, Linhchi and i decided to try out Vosges ULTIMATE Chocolate Chip Cookie Mix ~ when a delicious chocolatier decides to go cookie mix, how could we not try? And if you follow their instructions exactly, they are HUGE! We’ve also enlisted some of the Kidrobot 2Tone Dunny characters to help us out for a sense of scale! On the next page, take a peek at their awesome packaging, cheeky copy, our experience baking them, and of course, the final product!

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Tags: baking - cooking - food - gifts - kids - reviews - shopping - toys