25 Stocking Stuffers for Toddlers and Preschoolers

Photo credit: CarbonNYC

Here are 50 things that are perfect for little one’s stockings. I tried hard to pick things that won’t fall apart in 5 minutes or quickly be discarded.

What are your favorite stocking stuffers? I’m always looking for great ideas!

1. Fishy Night Light. My kids use this every night and it still works perfectly after 2+ years of use!

2. Jacob’s Ladder Mesmerizing for all ages.

3. UFO Ball Make a huge circle with your family and friends and connect the circuit. Great way to work a little science into the chaos!

4. Spinning Toothbrush Regular toothbrush, fairly lame stocking stuffer, spinning toothbrush that you can decorate, now that is fun!

5. Nailpolish in Fun Colors. Piggy Paint makes their polishes with non-toxic ingredients!

6. Binoculars My kids are obsessed, my neighbors probably think they are being stalked!

7. Kazoo Forgive the obnoxious sound, it is Christmas.

8. Band-aids. I love these super hero/comic strip ones.

9. Kaleidoscope

10. Rudolph Nose Pick up a few of these, let’s just say adults enjoy wearing them just as much as kids.

11. Temporary Tattoos I love these fun monster tattoos!

12. Light up Cars I had to ban this from my son’s bedroom, because he would stay up late watching it light up, instead of sleeping!
Marble Racers – Pirate

13. Whoopie Cushion Completely inappropriate and hilarious.

14. Sky Ball Bounces up to 65′ in the air!

15. Pull Back Train My son’s absolutely favorite toy at preschool.

16. Solar Print Paper Remember how much fun playing with this in school was? Get a pack and split it up between everyone’s stocking!

17. Silly Straws

18. Chapstick Buy it in bulk and give everyone a stick.

19. Kid Chopsticks My kids eat anything when they can use chopsticks!

20. Small Doll Target makes these great dolls that sell for around $8. They come in several different races and they have boy and girl dolls. They are small, which makes them perfect for little hands and great for the car.

21. Mini Flashlight My brother in law gave the entire family these in our stockings last year. Everyone still uses them.

22. Mini Board Books Both of my kids love this Lightning McQueen collection of board books. I fear my brain might actually fall out from boredom while reading them one day.

23. Hair Ties My daughter loves these so much more than regular hair ties. She calls them “her softies.”

24. Christmas Rubber Ducky

25. Glow Sticks

Chicago Getaway

Posted by funmamaadventures

We were supposed to go to New York this weekend. The hotel we were booked at was badly damaged by Hurricane Sandy, so we switched to Plan B: Chicago.*

A few of my favorite things:

The stunning architecture. I come from a family of architects and builders, so it might be in my blood, but nearly everyone could appreciate Chicago’s buildings. If you visit, be sure to take one of the architecture boat tours, it is worth it!

The cool/weird art, seemingly everwhere:

(Passed by this exhibit in an abandoned storefront)

At the Contemporary Art Museum’s First Friday Celebration:

I’m not artistic enough to understand it all. I call this one, “typically afternoon in my living room.”

So many delicious things to eat: Garrett’s Popcorn, the chirizo stuffed dates at Avec, deep dish pizza at Lou Malnati’s, and cinnamon buns at Ann Sather’s.

After all that food, I was very grateful that Chicago is a walking city. We walked almost everywhere, easily 3+ miles a day. Unlike New York City, you didn’t feel like you were risking your life to cross the street. I felt like the cabbies would at least slow down before hitting you!

The Lakefront Trail is a great running trail– flat! and beautiful views. Bring ear muffs, the wind blowing off the lake is harsh. It was the first time I’ve ever run and my ears hurts more than my legs.

In addition to shopping Magnificent Mile, we spent time checking out a few neighborhoods: Lakeview, Lincoln Park and Wicker Park. If I had to change one thing about our trip, I wish we would’ve spent more time there, than on the MM. They had so much more character!

Thanks for a great weekend Chicago. (And especially for my friend L for being awesome and introducing me to Ann Sather’s cinnamon buns!)

* I’m glad we were able to have a different plan, and deeply feel for all of those in the midst of recovering. You are in my prayers and tomorrow I’m hitting the stores to purchase donations that will be delivered later this week!

Wow! Summer flew by

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Um, yeah, I kind of got way too busy finishing off our Summer Bucket List and starting our Fall List, that I forgot I had a blog!? Bad blogger!

We didn’t complete our list, but I don’t fill the slightest bit let down, we packed far more into this summer than I ever imagined.

Our Cousin’s beach trip was a huge success. Especially, since this year didn’t include a mandatory hurricane evacuation and earthquake near our hometown, like last year.

But, even the small “events” were pretty awesome too. Like meeting my husband for a teddy bear picnic near his work.

And watching a local parade

I’m glad I challenged myself too. I’m a better mom when I push myself to do things far outside my comfort zone.

(Yep, that’s me flinging myself off of a podium 23 feet up in the air!) (If you are ever feeling old or stuck in a rut, I highly recommend trapeze lessons!)

I even did a few home improvement projects:

Installing a kitchen backsplash

Painting the half bath with chalkboard paint

Our Fall List is off to a great start too.

We went on an amazing bike ride on the High Bridge Trail in Farmville, VA. The trail was converted from an old railroad track to a gorgeous bike/walking path over an old train trestle. After the ride we took our kids camping for the first time. They came home completely filthy and happy, marks of a great trip, in my opinion.

Peanut and Monkey started another year of preschool, which they continue to love.

They also turned 3 this past week!

I always heard people talking about time flying by, but I never got it until recently. I can’t believe that it has already been three years. We now have real conversations and everyday I watch their minds grow. We celebrated their birthday with a party for their school friends. I’ve been hoarding Dr. Seuss things for the past three years (thanks dollar bin at Target!) and covered the playground with it. It turned out well, and I’m delighted that my dining room no longer looks like Seussville.

Of course, life is far from perfect. Some days, I feel like a professional mediator negotiating toy sharing. I often marvel at the completely ridiculous things I find myself saying “I don’t care if it is your birthday, you still have to wear pants.” “No, you may not sleep with pinecones.” I’m far too proud of myself when I manage to take more than a 5 minute shower and put on something other than yoga pants. But, in the big scheme of things those a merely trivial, instead I celebrate my happy family that brings me joy.

Back from our Tour

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Last night, I finally slept in my own bed after far too many nights away. We loved our marathon roadtrips, but being back home is a great feeling! I should be unpacking, instead we are relaxing (after restocking the fridge and running a few errands).

A few tips I learned on these trips:

1. Pack a bag filled with small toys and books that your children can carry. We called our’s “magic bags” and they kept our toddlers occupied for many, many miles. Many small toys work better than bigger toys, the variety helps keep boredom at bay.

2. When researching activities at your destination, don’t just look at family-focused sites. I drove us around a NASCAR track, which wasn’t on any of the kid-friendly sites. (Driving around a track can make even the world’s most “mom’s taxi” vehicle feel bad ass !)

3. If you can, do laundry before you come home. Not having to do laundry today rocks!

4. Get outside and move everyday. Doesn’t matter if it is on a beach, farm or a hike through the woods. It keeps everyone sane and happy.

Eat snow cones

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Who know that eating snow cones would be one of the hardest items to complete? Apparently this summer staple if my childhood is nearly impossible to get now.

Our list is supposed to be about fun, not stress so I’m got a little flexible. A new Rita’s just opened and offered free Italian Ices all day. They were delicious and far better than traditional snow cones!

Enjoying his favorite flavor: blue!

Help someone

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While I was leading camp, a tween mentioned to me that she hadn’t celebrated her birthday in 6 years. I thought, “I can’t fix many thing in this world, but I can fix that.”

The next afternoon, a friend and I headed out to the nearest store to buy some supplies. We whipped up a cake, hung up decorations and had everyone secretly make her cards. She was surprised and delighted and everyone was thrilled to share in her special day.

I obviously want to protect her privacy, so I won’t share many details. Here is the cake we made though:

It was campfire themed, since we were at camp! (Family Fun Magazine is a great source for impressive looking cakes that are shockingly easy to make.)

Baltimore Aquarium

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10 minutes after I arrived, I realized that if you ever visit the Monterey Bay Aquarium every other aquarium will be a let down. Thankfully, my children have never seen it or any other aquarium, and loved the Baltimore Aquarium. Their favorite thing was watching the dolphin training, but seeing the giant sharks was awesome too (after they were convinced that the sharks couldn’t get them!).

This fish was a diva, he managed to get in 20+ photos: