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

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

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

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

I never thought sanrio would end up on NOTCOT ~ but when i saw the latest designs in the Sanrio x Mimobot collaborations for Sanrio’s 50th Anniversary, i LOL’d and couldn’t resist. Badtz-Maru make me think of… yea… a long time ago, and he was always my favorite, who can resist a disgruntled black bird?!?! And Hangyodon is just crazy… So check out these final characters in the 6 Sanrio x Mimobot collection on the next page!

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Tags: gifts - kids - shopping - technology - toys - USB

What’s more adorable than gorgeous wood animals? Gorgeous wood animals that are also BOXES! New from Areaware ~ ‘Animal Boxes’ by NY based designer Karl Zahn as part of their Fall 2010 Collection! Love that the eyes double as hinges! See pics of the whole collection on the next page…

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Tags: animals - kids - nature - toys

Some people have ABC Blocks for kids… not Fred. Fred of course has XYZ Blocks… wooden and covered with illustrations by Christian Northeast… with everything from waffles and graffiti to trailers and vinyl to corn dogs and heroes to quicksand and jackalopes… what kid (or creative desk space) doesn’t need these?!?!?! Peek at more pics on the next page…

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Tags: gifts - kids - shopping

While trying to kill time in TriBeCa between meetings, i followed a recommendation to check out Playing Mantis for some fun wooden kids toys… and found the most amazing chess set of hungarian hand carved little knights… as well as these knights on horses. As you can imagine, it took a while to pick the perfect one, and i settled on this guy, because i simply had to get some close up pics to share with you!

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Tags: gifts - kids - new york - shopping - toys

Shin Tanaka is indisputably one of the paper toy design masters of our generation… and his Baggies are adorable! And just in times for mother’s day for those kids out there looking for a fun way to customize a cute little something to spruce up your gift, how about making one of these your 3D gift card dancing upon the gift box? See some examples on the next page… and print one of his 3 patterns or the blank to customize yourself here!

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Tags: art - kids - print - toys

While in Stuttgart, i had a field day going to toy stores! Germans seem to have far more fun toys ~ particularly wooden ones and i adore their amazing puzzles and stunning miniatures! After falling for the bowl of Japanese Wooden Tops (which i can’t seem to give any away so far, they live on my table and are far too fun!) ~ i think a fascination with unique tops is growing! Quickly! So when i encountered 1000 Schoen in Stuttgart, it was hard to resist buying up the pile you see above! The incredible wooden ones are made by Mader Kreiselmanufaktur, and their site even shows them being made by hand! Absolutely fascinating! The other type i fell in love with are these metal and metal/wooden tops that initially look like gears! For the wooden ones with metal tips and a bent metal rod included, you basically insert the rod into two holes in the top, twist to wind it up, and when you let go, the tension gives you incredible spin! The flowery gear you hold between two fingers and blow to get it spinning super fast, and drop it and watch it go! The man at the store mentioned it’s great to use a straw to keep blowing on it to keep it spinning. Take a peek to see them all close up on the next page, as well as a video of some in action!

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Tags: gifts - kids - shopping - stuttgart - toys

Sandy Vohr has been making the most adorable luscious little leather bean bag creatures for the last 30 years. In fact i think i even received one of her beautiful little leather frogs as a paperweight as a kid! The site even says, “The animals are made from cowhide and deerskin, and filled with various combinations of fiberfil and beadlike materials.” When i spotted the Bunny Bookends at Barneys, i got nostalgic and ended up looking up Sandy’s site… where i discovered so many new adorable leather creatures ~ from moose to dragons, robots to octopi! See some of my favorites on the next page! Looks like she’ll even do customs!

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

Tops! They are universally mesmerizing! Regardless of age, they will definitely amuse… so imagine how my eyes widened when i came upon a huge bowl of these small wooden japanese spinning tops at Tortoise in Venice Beach… i kept going through the whole bowl ~ one by one ~ and slowly ended up buying a dozen. They were all so different! So hard to resist! And many have these floating rings carved into them that float as they spin… and they make the most amazing sounds… when still, the curvatures in your hand are just so beautiful… and then get them spinning, and it’s hard not to just watch them for ages… see the videos and more pics on the next page!

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Tags: gifts - kids - shopping - toys

On random design inspiration ~ Playmobil seems to have evolved quite a bit since i was a kid. We had the zoo, rock climbers, fancy dressed victorians with car, the teepee, and farm animals… but definitely no disheveled stubbly striped shirt, sport jacket, sunglass, and beanie wearing safe crackers… these guys even come with graspable money, a canister with hose to freeze the lock(?), silver suitcase, keys, flashlight, and even a weighty metal gold bar… best part of all, the safe is actually lockable! You can set the combination by picking two numbers… and it actually clicks as you rotate the dials.

So for random weekend experiments, had a bit too much fun taking pics of this set on the pool table…

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Tags: gifts - kids - shopping - toys

They are finally nearly here! Andrew Bell teased me with sneak peeks of toys in the making on his phone over lunch a few months back ~ so long as i promised to stay quiet. Well, it’s been hard! Because, we all know as fun as the Google Android phones and UI are… i’m pretty smitten with the adorable mascot. And here they finally are! A series of blind box toys bringing that adorable little Android to life!

The details? Illustrator and toy designer Andrew Bell has teamed up with a few friends at Google’s Android project to bring their green mascot to life. Presenting Android mini collectibles series 01! Each 3” vinyl figure sports one of 12 different possible designs and features a rotating head and arms. Packed in “blind boxes” so you don’t know which design you get until you open it up. Pick one up and take a chance or grab a case for a near-complete set. Available in an initial limited release later this month from dyzplastic and specialty retailers.

If you’re ready, see more details on the next page! (And notice he says “Series 01”… will there be more???)

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

Andy Bell is probably one of the awesomest people i’ve met in 2009 (yay, sdcc?) ~ and his red and blue sushi’s sit sadly in their boxes by my desk inspiring me daily. So you can only imagine how ridiculously giddy i’ve been photoshopping the behind the scenes pics for this feature where he gives us a look into not only how they came to be, but also a chance to giveaway one of the much coveted GREEN O-NO SUSHIs!!! Before they are even available (you can buy one in january, but you’d better be quick!)…

So if you’re ready ~ go see the making of feature as well as details on how to win one of these awesome little guys + some stickers too on the feature page!

p.s. we got a sneak peek at the green ones at SDCC

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Tags: food - giveaway - holiday - kids - toys

Noferin has launched their latest set of woody toys, this time a blind box set: Jibibuts! And for this Holiday feature, they give us a peek into how they are made, the full set, and even a teaser as to what those 2 super special mystery characters are… ready to take a peek? See the full story on the next page!

Also… they have sent over one full case to give to one of you! For a chance to win, leave a comment on the feature with your favorite childhood toy!

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Tags: gifts - giveaway - kids - shopping - toys

On intriguing art that just showed up in my inbox, Moss in association with Edelman Arts presents Remains by Cathy McClure. "Hands wielding scissors, McClure massacres the motor-driven robotic plush toys, eviscerating them through a Geppetto-like taxidermy until she gets down, as she says, 'into the guts of the piece'." The truly amazing part isn't that she guts these toys (didn't we all as kids?) ~ but she then re-casts the parts in bronze and reassembles them! The result is fascinating... is it now high art? is it still a toy? do they still work? Apparently the original circuit boards, batteries, gears, and voice boxes are all re-installed, but you can't help but wonder how those gears will handle the new weight... looking forward to seeing these in person, they will be at Moss in NY November 20th through December 31st, with a quick trip to Miami for Art Basel Dec 2nd through 5th... see more pics and information on the next page.

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Tags: art - kids - toys

Brio Network Collection ~ first time seeing it in person, i just noticed it in a tiny kids play cubby hole in Magasin 3 in Stockholm! Between the lovely space and works i totally got sucked into photographing these very well played with and possibly chewed on little woody guys reenacting how computers work... from emails to viruses and search and more! If you recall, i've written about Series 1 here and here in the past... but this is the first look at them up close, now i'm so tempted to try to track down the full set!

p.s.
for americans, i found a few at Amazon: Brio Network Toys!

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Tags: gifts - kids - museum - shopping - stockholm - technology - toys

On a quick look at Stockholm shopping before Absolut madness kicks in... turned a corner, saw this brightly lit store of enticing colorfulness... realized it was Brio! And proceeded to let my inner 5 year old out ~ i don't think i've ever had the chance to see all of their toys in one place (we certainly only get bits and pieces of the collections in the US lately) ~ and i had no idea they had so many amazing strollers and high chairs too! Unfortunately i didn't have my proper camera (was in shopping mode!) but did snap a bunch of cell phone pics to share with you on the next page... the walrus is just adorable... the flying bunnies are hilarious... the fake cellphones cute too (but we all know kids know better and never stand for the imitation phones when they can grab at your fully functioning one!)... and yes that pez dispenser looking walrus is totally in a hoodie (and the hood can be pulled back!)... so take a peek at some cell phone pics from the Stockholm Brio store of the Brio "My Very First" collection...

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Tags: gifts - kids - shopping - stockholm - toys

I dont think that bear with crazed eyes and spork in hand could sum up how i'm feeling today better... unless maybe he was sipping some Balvenie 21yr Portwood as well... yes, let me level with you, it is most certainly that kind of a tuesday after a long weekend. BUT, on the flipside, it makes for an awesome excuse to share pics of this adorably crazed Rocket World T.A.D. Griz Lee Bear with you. T.A.D. Gear stands for Triple Aught Design ~ and is truly some of the best designed tactical you'll find... not to mention it's the brain child of Patrick Ma alongside with my favorite Rocket World creatures. While i have much more to show you from my latest stop up at their store/studios in SF, lets start with the spork wielding Griz. Check out the fun packaging and details on the next page...

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Tags: gifts - kids - nature - shopping - toys