NYPIRG representatives gave some tips to help parents choose appropriate toys this holiday season.

According to Shelton, parents must be careful with toys made in China. “If a toy painted, if a toy is a soft plastic, if the toy has a sharp odor and is made in China, then parents should be more cautious when choosing toys for their children,” he said.

Many toxic products have been found coming from China recently, including toxic gypsum board and food products contaminated with melamine, which is often used in plastics and adhesives.

Shelton said that if a toy could be problematic painted, because paint may contain lead. Although U.S. law passed in 1977 banned paint containing lead, sometimes found in toys.

Soft plastic can also be indicators that phthalates are used. “Phthalates are often used to soften plastic products,” said Shelton.

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Toys lined up on the table – from the characters Buzz Light year doll puppy to a luxurious and daughter necklace, all can kill or harm the children, according to a report Trouble in Toyland 2009 from the New York Public Interest Research Group (NYPIRG).

The findings of the annual reports issued during a press conference on Wednesday (2 / 12). Some problematic toys on display at the press conference, which all found on store shelves in New York last two weeks.

Earlier reports have resulted in the withdrawal of 130 toys and other measures to get dangerous toys from store shelves, according to NYPIRG consumer attorney Tracy Shelton.

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If you are seriously to tech toddlers about to pick up their toys after playing, and the importance of it, it should be easier for everyone setting it up as a routine. This is true that it cannot be an instant teaching, but with constant advices and taught, they will follow you at the end. This activity is also getting them learning about the discipline and responsibility, in which it’s really important for heavier tasks they will have in the future.

It might happen to be so hard to do at first, but by combining some tricks and rewards for their accomplished tasks, everything should goes easier. You can tell them about how they will not be allowed to join other activities before they get all the toys into the box, and also offer them exciting rewards as they do the entire job well. However such reward offer isn’t recommended at all, but you can use it as the final solution though.

Another alternate way, you can arrange this activity as an exciting game for them. Ask them about how fast they can put away all the toys at the desired place, and make it be more fun by specifying the color of the toys, in which it also can be a good way to teach them on how to differentiate colors.

During playtime, children develop learning strategies, critical thinking skills and a foundation for life-long competencies and interests. Watching your kids at play clearly reveals that learning is a developmental process. At six months or six years, childrens days are well spent, hard at work – at play.

As a parent, it is your responsibility to search for the most educational and developmentally appropriate toys for your children, in a wide range of categories. The job may be easier by looking at toys from several perspectives. From the vantage point of your children, they need to match their interests and ages. From your end, factors to consider are your values, principles – and the family budget.

When making a purchase, consider if the toy has star potentials. Continue Reading >>

As we are becoming more and more green, all kinds of eco-friendly practices are becoming trendy. It’s now cool to recycle, shopping for organic food is chic, and ‘old skool’ fashion is now ‘new skool’.

Even parents have plenty of opportunities to make “green” buying decisions these days, from groceries to packaging to diapers. But does this new green mode of thought apply to kids and their toys? As with other walks of life, doesn’t plastic rule supreme? Plastic is the way to go isn’t it?

Toys made from plastics use non-renewable sources and can be difficult to recycle. Every bit of plastic that has ever been made still exists. It may have crumbled into small particles but it will never biodegrade.

Although some p Continue Reading >>