Giggle + Give Away

We're excited to let everyone know 9SpotMonk, our great letterpress line, is in one of my favorite kids stores - Giggle! Since our first daughter was born, we've been going down to the Wooster St. NYC store to stock up on all things modern, cool and baby. Every time we're in town, we visit their store. The kids love the great toys and books they have and we love all the great clothes and baby gear they offer. And now they carry 9SpotMonk kids stuff too. Take a little coffee break and visit Giggle today! Not near one of their 9 locations? Giggle.com

I'm doing a give away to celebrate!

We're going to give away 9SpotMonk Colour in Cards (you pick 5 of your favorites) and a set each of boy and girl place mats. We're going to randomly select 2 winners.

Give away ends on Wednesday, July 23. Good luck!

Rules:
1. visit the 9SpotMonk site and comment on your 5 favorite kids colour in cards, what you pick, if you are the winner, we'll send your favorites to you along with a set of boy and girl place mats
2. check back on July 23rd to see if you are the lucky winner, then send us an email to smuppykids@9spotmonk.com and we'll get it out to you! Continental USA residents only.
3. Good luck!


Letterpress Boy Placemats on 100% recycled paper from 9SpotMonk


Letterpress Girl Placemats on 100% recycled paper from 9SpotMonk

[Spotlight: Travel] I spy...

Rubberneckers Travel Game from Chronicle Books, available from Happy Tuesday

We live in the suburbs and most often times, it takes over an hour into Manhattan, even when navigation tells us 20 miles and 32 minutes. Sometimes we tell stories in the car, make up silly words with sillier definitions, dream up of what the kids' stuffed animals are doing while we're out of the house. But sometimes with two hours of traffic, we (the grown ups here) need a little quiet time. That's when we whip out Rubberneckers. I am sure we're not playing it correctly but I'm sure a 4 year old and a two year old don't care too much. After all, they just want to be the first to spot all the things in their deck of 10 cards before we arrive at our destination. Winner gets a lollipop. The kids have been playing with the same ol' deck for a year, the edges are dog eared, some have creases from an over-excited "mama, I see an oil truck on Broadway, I win!". I think it's time for a new deck...

[Spotlight: Toys] Green Eggs and Ham

Lily Bean Play Food, Green Eggs and Ham from Mayhar Dry Goods

I found the the neatest play food breakfast made by Lily Bean Market. All of their play food is made by hand using wool felt made especially for kids. Some of our favorites...

Lily Bean Big Box o' Food by Lily Bean Market

The Original Brown Bag Lunch by Lily Bean Market

Make it Yourself Sushi Kit by Lily Bean Market

Feeling a little DIY? You can make your own food too with their kits! We're getting the sushi kit for sure. Kasie loves sushi so she will have so much fun pretending we're at the sushi bar eating her favorite cuisine.

[all photos: Lily Bean, green eggs and ham photo: Mayhar Dry Goods]

[Spotlight: Educational Toys] Hickory, Dickory, Dock

Slate Clock from Haba, available from Mini Jake

This summer we're going to teach our little 4yr old how to tell time. She can read numbers on a digital clock, but when we say 'half past seven', she didn't quite understand. The Slate Clock from Haba Toys, a German company, is just the neatest thing around. Comes with chalk you can write your own digits, serif or san-serif, let the future David Carson decide. Plus, when the kids finally learn to tell time, you can draw your own designs on the clock.

[photo: Haba]