Holiday trips don't have to derail your attempts to potty train. With a littler perseverance and planning, you can help you child make this all too important transition with minimal hassle. Just make sure you bring along the right supplies, and follow these handy tips for holiday training success. Bring along the same potty chair your child has been using at home. If he's been using the big boy toilet rather than a potty, you may consider buying a fun potty chair to make the experience more pleasant while you are away from home. There are great options with various characters, sounds, and other features your child will enjoy. Make frequent stops if you will be driving a long distance. While pulling over once every hour may not be feasible, you can still stop a little more often than you would normally require. Remember, kids have smaller bladders than adults and can't hold themselves quite as long especially one that is new to the potty concept. You can use disposable training pants in lieu of underwear just to make life a bit easier on the road (and to save your family from having to clean up messes upon your arrival), but don't use that as a crutch to avoid stopping. Remember, if you get lazy now you may setback whatever progress you had made. Purchase fun games, puzzles, drawing supplies, and books for your little one to use while he is on the potty. Even if you don’t this at home, you may be more likely to get him on board if you add them now. Being in a new place is scary, especially if you are trying to learn something new and complicated at the same time. These items are relatively inexpensive, and they will continue to be useful even after potty training is over. Avoid using Christmas (Hanukkah, Kwanza, solstice) gifts as reward of punishment. Even if he doesn't go in the potty right now, and even if he has an accident Santa will still come and Christmas will still be merry. Put yourself in your child's shoes. It may seem like common sense now, but when you have been on the road for nine hours and then your child won't cooperate, you may be tempted to go to great lengths to get things back on track. Resist. Being away from home is stressful, so prepare to have accidents before you leave the house. Find tons of great furniture for kids and toddlers at SensoryEdge

Infants, meaning children under one year of age, are often the hardest ones to shop for. You want that first Christmas to be special, but you also want to get the most for you money in terms of toy longevity and usefulness. Here are some things to look for when shopping for educational toddler toys. Children this age change rapidly. In fact, more growth occurs in the human brain during the first few years of life than at any other time. Choosing toys that help to stimulate this process is a great way to give your child every advantage. But how can you find the best toys for your baby to enjoy? Make your toy buying decisions by choosing options that stimulate one of the five senses: hearing, tasting, smelling, feeling, and seeing. The best educational toys will make use of one or more of these things. Hearing: Choosing toys with audible sounds is an iffy topic. On the one hand, children enjoy hearing voices and music that they've come to enjoy. On the other hand, it is not recommended for children this age to have too many noise making toys unless the child has some control over the sounds. Rattles, for example, are generally acceptable because your baby will have full control over the rattling sounds. Other ways to help stimulate your child's sense of hearing is to talk and sing to him as much as possible. Read books together, sing lullabies, and narrate what you are doing as you go through your day. Tasting: Babies put everything in their mouths. Although this may seem like a strange way to play, your baby is actually learning more about the world around her. By gumming and mouthing objects, she can get a better idea of what they feel like, taste like, what their textures are, and if what their temperatures are. Although there aren't many toys specifically made for your baby to "taste", it's important that you pick some items that are safe for mouth exploration. This can include soft books made from rubber or cloth, blocks with no added paints, and teething rings. Just be sure to disinfect toys frequently. Smelling: Again, toys are generally odor free but that doesn't mean you can't use them to tie in certain sensory details. Find a book of pictures, for example and then get real items to go along. Show baby a picture of the flower and then let her have a sniff of a real one. This will teach her that the flower smells good. Feeling: Aside from mouthing toys, babies also use their hands to manipulate and feel the textures of certain objects. To help reinforce this concept, find toys that come in various textures and shapes, Examples include baby friend blocks, texture toys with cloth and crinkle fabric, and books with various textures included inside. Seeing: Nearly any toy can be used to stimulate your baby’s sense of sight. Books, blocks, stuffed animals, pictures, puzzles, and wall toys and mirrors are all great choices. Just remember that very small infants do not have the same eyesight as we adults. They need colors that sharply contrast in the beginning, like black and white, followed by bright primary colors in intriguing patterns.

Get the most for your money this Christmas by shopping for items your whole family can enjoy. It doesn't matter how old your children are or what their hobbies are, there are several toys, activities, and games you can purchase to enjoy with your kids for years to come. Children of all ages enjoy playing games. These may include board games, activity rugs, and memory games. Although they are generally listed by age group, parents and older children will still have a blast playing games targeted toward little kids as they learn new concepts. Many games also have a "hard" and "easy" play options in order to grow up right along with your kids. Learning Carpets Learning games like flash cards and memory games are also a great choice because it allows parents to get actively involved in their child's learning. You can play alongside your kids, or enjoy watching them master new skills. Games that involve getting physically active are another great choice. Exercise balls and trampolines are both good options because they can be purchased in both adult and child sizes. Some exercise balls even have stable bottom to prevent rolling as children jump on and off. You can burn off those extra holiday pounds while your kids romp and burn off extra energy. Best of all, you will be fostering a love of physical fitness that will last a lifetime. Activity Cubes You can also take part in having arts and crafts with your kids. Make it rule that birthday and holiday cards are to be made instead of purchased, and take turns drawing your favorite things. When you're done, compare your favorites with your child's. This not only fosters creativity and imagination, but will also give you and your kids a great way to spend time together and learn more about each other. No surprise here: books are another great way to spend time with your kids! You can purchase your favorite books as a child to share with them, and collect a library of new classics for them to enjoy. Studies have proven that children who are read to every day do better in school and feel more accepted and appreciated within their families. They will also develop earlier reading skills themselves, so you can take turns reading stories to one another. Educational Games for Kids However you choose to do it, spending quality time with your kids both during the holidays and throughout the year. You will both reap the benefits of love, encouraged expression and learning.

Well, it's that time of the year again. Families are getting together and spending time with one another, showing how much they care for each other. And of course, there is Christmas shopping. Yes, it's that time of year when stores are packed, traffic goes on for miles, and you ...

Products like the Screature Interactive Dinosaur bring me back to early '90s, when the movie Jurassic Park was released. After that, dinosaur toys were everywhere. Every kid at school loved the movie and loved dinosaurs. And if there were toys like the Screature when I was was that age, anybody ...

The year is wrapping up, but there is still just enough time for you to get out and grab gifts for everyone on your list. It’s tough to create a list of the top toys of 2009 without repeating myself quite a bit, plus everyone else has the list somewhere. ...