Activating a Child's Imagination

Helping Children Grieve at Christmas

2011-12-24T07:10:00.004-06:00

I received an email a couple of days ago asking if Bee Active Toys would be willing to make a donation to a local firefighters family for Christmas. The firefighter lost his battle with cancer at age 33, 2 weeks ago and left behind 3 children ages 7, 5, and 2. Last week an old high school friend had posted on Facebook about how one of her students had just lost her mom to cancer as well. The last Christmas my brother and I had with our dad was in 1977, Stephen was 10 and I was 7. Our dad died from cancer when we were kids too. Cancer sucks! I HATE CANCER, but that is not really what this post is about. This post is about helping the children who have to grieve at Christmas.

The woman collecting the items came in and I brought her into the back of the store. I told her, "I'm not donating any toys to the children right now. First off, I have had 4 different groups ask me about donating for this family already, so I know that the children will have many things." Adults feel great sympathy for what the children have lost and as adults, we seem to want to make up for it sometimes by giving the kids other things to help them "forget" their sadness. It's a normal thing adults do as they try and help kids ease the pain they feel. Especially when it happens so close to Christmas. Next I explained to her that I was going to give the family something they needed more than toys, but I needed to explain why because people who have never gone through it wouldn't understand.

For the children: The book "Lifetimes" I bet I have read it over 1000 times to my own 3 year old little boy. The book "I'll Always Love You" because one never forgets.
For the remaining parent: the book "Guiding Your Child Through Grief" because it's hard for a parent to grieve the loss of a spouse and still help their child too.
For the other adults in the children's lives: "What Children Need When They Grieve: The Four Essentials: Routine, Love, Honesty, and Security"

Clayton and I lost our Diane to cancer on Dec. 14, 2002 when she was 32. Trish, Mike and Abby lost their Ed earlier that same year too, so this always touches close to home for us. I had the benefit of being able to talk with Diane quite a bit about what she wanted for Clayton that year. One of the things she wanted, was for us not to lose faith in the joy and wonder of Christmas and to keep celebrating. She always loved Christmas. Her favorite Christmas picture was a picture of Clayton at 1-1/2 with a screwdriver in his hand, laying underneath the Christmas tree with me as I was trying to screw train tracks down to the platform holding our tree. Of course, keeping the joy in Christmas was not always easy for me to do those first couple of Christmas' and I imagine that deep down, I still sometimes cringe a little around the 14th of December, but I always remember and it brings a different meaning to our Christmas each year as we take out the ornaments, bake the cookies, and put the Angel on our tree.

This year has definitely been a tough one for Bee Active Toys and I don't know what the future will be but I am constantly reminded that there is a reason for every season, even if that reason was to provide some books to help 3 little innocent children grieve this Christmas. Christmas is a truly wonderful time of year and it is my hope that we adults will help our children with all of their needs, even when sad and bad things happen. I hope that these children are given the right guidance so that their loss at this time of year, will never overshadow the Joy that the Season can bring if we let it.

Never underestimate the power you have to make a difference. People may not realize it at the time and you probably won't be recognized for it but you can make a difference.

Merry Christmas Friends! And Peace to all!

Bee Active Toys Makes a Donation to the Center for Women in Transition in Champaign

2011-12-17T07:51:00.004-06:00

Yesterday I had the privilege of taking a whole lot of toys up to the Center for Women in Transition in Champaign. The center provides housing and other services to Women and Children that have been dislocated or are in need of shelter for a variety of reasons. It is a very worthwhile charity doing good things and helping out women and children in need. If you would like to know more about the center, visit their website at http://www.cuhomeless.com/.
Between June2010 – July 2011, the center has housed 51 women and 52 children who were homeless as well as 88 women and 93 children who needed shelter from domestic violence.

We decided to donate toys to the Center this year for a several reasons.

1. Trish and I have both been single parents raising young children on our own in the past and know what it is like to be alone with children. I consider myself very fortunate however to have had a good job, steady income and a home of my own as a single parent and I never had to worry about where my child was going to sleep, what he was going to eat or if he was going to be safe from harm. The women that the Center provides for are not as fortunate as I was. I can’t even imagine what these children’s lives have been like. I do however remember what it was like to have to help my child deal with trauma and grieve.

2. Our church challenged us to participate in the Radical Experiment. One part of the Radical Experiment is to sacrifice your money for a specific purpose. Now Trish and I are by no means well off. In fact, with the way the economy has been over the last few years, being a local, independent Toy Store has been quite challenging in today’s retail environment when competing against all the big box chain stores and the even bigger Goliath called Amazon. I really don’t know what the future for our little toy store will be. We still however, have more than we need and enough to share as well. Especially when sharing with young children who need the power of positive playthings and we have the toys that can encourage, inspire and activate their little imaginations.

3. Having a Master’s Degree in Technology, I’ve been fascinated with the whole social networking thing. In the last month I watched another local retailer grow 1000 new Facebook fans on their page through a contest where someone was going to win something from their store. I wondered if Bee ActiveToys Facebook page would gain new fans, not by giving anything away to the fans but by giving away to a charity and so we put it on Facebook that we would make a $1 donation in toys for every new “like” we received. I didn’t want my customers to pay anything for the donation. I just wanted them to like our page and we would donate $1. Trish and I had already decided to make a donation no matter how many likes we received. We received 224 new likes to our Facebook page and I lost count of all the likes we had on all of our different postings about our donation.

So those were the reasons I wanted to help out one of our local charities, now let’s talk about what all we donated for these kids to play with, because I really am a kid at heart and for me it is all about playing with our toys. I handpicked toys that would be fun for these children to play with but would also benefit the children’s growth and development as well.

For infants there is the following: Alex Toys Mix N Max Yum Yum Teether, Peek & Stack cups, Green Toys Stacker, Educo Double Bubble bead maze, Baby Face Orchestra, Ambi Toys Lock a Block, Tiny Love Tummy Time Fun, Ambi Toys Focus Pocus, Beado, Educo Spring-A-Ling and Melissa & Doug Toolbox Fill and Spill.

For Pre-school or early elementary aged kids: Tumble Tree Timbers, Playmobil Animal Nursery, Illini Football Guys, Melissa & Doug Cowgirl, Queen, Pirate, King and Knight Puppets, 2 Different Sticky Mosaics, Melissa & Doug Chef and Train Engineer Role Play Set, ZipBin Wheelies playmat and carry case, Safari toys Rainforest, River, Horse, and Monkeys & Apes Toobs, Melissa & Doug Wooden Doughnuts and Bake & Serve Brownies, North American Bear Company Hansel and Gretel Pop Up Cloth Playsets.

Kids need and love puzzles so there was: Educo Emergency Vehicles and Wild Animals peg puzzle, Melissa & Doug Rain Forest, Children of the World, Under the Sea floor puzzles, Shark, seaside stallions and other 100pc and 500 pc puzzles, Curious George Mood Puzzle, plus several wire puzzles and Thinkfuns Zig-Zag Knot to challenge the older kids.

Everyone likes to play games, they now have: Blue Orange Games Trigger, Spot It, and Fastrack, Domino Express, Mastermind Animal Towers, Spongebob Mastermind Towers, Chimp & Zees Dinosaur Whirl, Dinosaur Train Pop n’ Race, Thinkfuns Zingo and Smart Mouth, Goliath Games Rolit Classic, Hooey, Rats, Slap Dragon, Swap!, and 99 or Bust card games, Toss up! Dice game, and BANANAGRAMS!

And last but not least we had to throw in 6 cute stuffed animals as well.

So there you have it. I hope the kids that the Center for Women in Transition helps out get a lot of fun and enjoyment out of playing with all of these items. It was and is wonderful to be able to share our toys with these children. Thank you everybody for reading and following along as we made this donation.

In Memory of Edward Thomas King (July 28, 1959-Aug. 13, 2002) and Diane Arnold Curry (March 13, 1970 – Dec. 14, 2002)

Fastrack at Bee Active Toys in Tuscola, Il

2011-12-10T10:21:00.000-06:00

Fastrack is a new game out this year by Blue Orange Games. I highly recommend it, especially if your looking for a gift for boys ages 8-28 that will get them away from the video games and actually playing games with other people.

This is a quick racing game where the object is to be the first player to get all of the game tokens on to the other players side by flicking tokens through the small hole in the middle of the game board. All wood construction and durable playing pieces make this a game to play that will last for many generations to come. It's simple to play and fun for all ages. Ready, Set, Race on the FASTRACK!

Fastrack Game Review at Bee Active Toys

2011-12-10T09:04:00.004-06:00

Hot Toys For Kids this Christmas.

2011-12-05T14:40:00.007-06:00

Here it is folks; our Hot Toys for Kids list this year and the reasons why I picked them. For those of you that know me, you know that my definition of “Hot” toys is considerably different from all those “hot” toys that you see heavily advertised by the major toy manufacturer and big box retailers. No doubt that a lot of toys can be entertaining, but to make Bee Active Toys list it has to follow a different criteria than “how many of these can we sell?”

My definition of a “Hot Toy” is three fold; a “hot” toy is actively played with and not just passively watched perform, a “hot” toy will be played with over and over again and not just for a few minutes after it is taken out of the box, and a “hot” toy will encourage a child to want to keep playing more and learn something while playing.

We as parents have all done it. We bought that “hot” heavily advertised licensed toy because our kids saw it advertised on TV 1051 times and have been screaming for it since October only to have our children open the box, play with it for a few minutes and then toss it aside and not play with it anymore. It happens. Next week, I’ll give a few tips and pointers on how to help minimize this happening with your kids, but for now I’ll just introduce you to the list.

1. Hot Building and Construction Toy. Meet my friend Z.A.C the Zoob Alien Creature. Z.A.C. is a Zoobling from a different planet and when fully assembled stands 2 feet tall and has glow in the dark pieces and Flashing, Blinking Eyes. How COOL is that!

http://www.infinitoy.com/assets/movies/infinitoy-lo.mov

2. Hot Preschool Game. Chimp And Zee Dinosaur Whirl. Chimp and Zee are awesome games that even us adults will enjoy playing with the little ones because they are gee wally williker fun! Move your caveman around the game board collecting eggs but watch out for that crazy dinosaur!

3. Hot new family memory game. Thinkfun’s Cartoon It! Do you like cartoons? Ever draw one? Hey mom and dad is your memory not what it used to be? With Cartoon it, you look at funny cartoon character cards and then try to draw your character from memory. Hysterical drawings done by all members of the family are sure to follow.

4. Hot new party game. Trigger is a fast card game that everyone will love and is so easy to play all you have to do is answer True or False and then hit the Trigger! Everyone we have played this with has walked away laughing.

http://youtu.be/9beXLZXlqso

5. Hot arts and craft Toy. Orb Factory has rocked the girls world again with Girls Rock! Blinglets. Girls can get their “Bling” on with these sparkling bangles that are easy to create. Girls can create 8 Bangles with over 400 “jewels” that come in this kit.

6. Hot Science Toys. Windpower 2.0. You know it’s a “hot” toy when even your 14 year old son, says, “that’s cool”. Build a 3 ft. tall working windmill that actually generates electricity with this awesome new science kit from Thames & Kosmos.

7. Hot Retro Toys. I love the classics and this year I found a throwback to the 1960’s and 70’s with the Weirdo’s Action Skateboarding Figures. Yes, the Weirdo’s from 1960’s model fame are back with their own totally awesome action figures and collector cards, plus a trick skateboard.

8. Hot Toys for Daddy. Remote Control machines by Thames and Kosmos and the ATR, All Terrain Transforming Robot by Elenco Electronics. As a dad, I like toys a lot too and there is no doubt that Robots are Really Really Cool! I’ll triple Dog Dare all you other Dads to put one of these bad boys together with your kids and then have a blast playing with them. Come on, you know you want to!

http://youtu.be/XCjFLFY9U-A

I can’t wait until Christmas Morning!

Life lessons Learned at a Toy Store

2011-11-27T23:23:00.001-06:00

Bee Active Toys Black Friday Sale!

2011-11-24T18:37:00.003-06:00

It's that time of year! We are ready! Sales are going on all Weekend Long!
And most importantly, Thank you for shopping at Bee Active Toys!

Thanksgiving or Black Friday: What's your Holiday?

2011-11-22T23:58:00.008-06:00

Ok, so there seems to be a lot of social commentary out there right now about the whole Black Friday shopping day and the move by a lot of large chain retailers to open on Thanksgiving instead of waiting for Friday. There seems to be a lot of different viewpoints and of course as a business owner of a toy store I thought I would make a few comments.

First off, I personally think that everyone should stay at home and spend Thanksgiving Day with their family. Forget about the shopping to try to save some money. Saving money may be important but is it really more important to you than the time you have spent with your family? Which will your children remember more? That you saved $$$ on that “Hot” toy that they saw advertised on TV or that you spent Thanksgiving Day playing games with them and tucked them into bed that night? What are your priorities?

Now let me state here that Yes, Bee Active Toys will be open at 10pm on Thanksgiving night just like the other stores at Tanger Outlets. I know, I feel like a hypocrite for telling you to spend it with your family when I’m going to leave my family at 9pm to go to my store. Now before you start labeling me as one of those greedy retailers that is only in it for the money let me defend my position(if you are greedy, owning a toy store probably isn't the type of store to own).

I am opening for two reasons: First, I agreed to follow the mall hours for the benefit of all mall shoppers when I signed my lease and second, because even though I am the business owner, I too still have a boss and that boss is you, my customer. I know some of my customers actually want to be out there shopping at this time. Now, I am the store owner so I could just tell my employees that they have to work it while I stay at my home, but I’m not that type of boss. I believe the best way to lead is by example, (I also think that all the early openings would stop pretty quickly if the CEOS of the largest retailers had to work that Thanksgiving Night graveyard shift, but that probably isn’t going to happen,) so I am going to be there with my other staff members that volunteered to join me.

We are going to do our best, like we always do, to make sure that each customer has a great shopping experience at Bee Active Toys. In fact all of the staff is going to do that all day long on Black Friday like we do every day. We know our livelihood depends on your liking our product and the service that we give you in finding the right toy for your little girl or little boy. We take that very seriously. I like to think that is one of the differences between us as a locally owned toy store and one of the big box chain stores. We are serious about kids having the right toy and experiencing great playtime.

I'm also going to mention that there are a lot of other retail employees that are going to be working in stores everywhere that night. Give them a smile and say thank you to them when they do a good job and give you good service. They too are working because it is their job. Remember, they have lives and families as well.

This Thanksgiving, I’m thankful for my very caring and understanding family. I really am nothing without them. I’m thankful for a great staff that does great things at Bee Active Toys. Stop in for a fun break and let us show you some those great things. I’m also thankful for you, our customer. Without you Bee Active Toys is not possible.
This Thanksgiving don’t be in that big of a rush to get to the sales that you forget about the reason why you are celebrating Thanksgiving and Christmas in the first place. We at Bee Active Toys will be here to help you with your Christmas shopping on Black Friday and each of the other 29 days before Christmas too.

False Discounts and Price Gouging on Toys!

2011-11-19T07:14:00.024-06:00

It’s that time of year again. It’s the time of year where all sorts of stores start to fill up their shelves with toys in order to take advantage of the seasonal pickup that toy sales can bring in the month of December. “So, what is wrong with that?” you ask and I will tell you there is absolutely nothing wrong with a retailer doing that. Retailers have been doing that every year for over 100 years. Macy’s, J.C. Penney, Sears, Montgomery Ward(remember them?), and Wannamaker were all great men of retail that started these now famous department stores and brought in toys at Christmas time. It makes good business sense. 50% of the toys sold in the toy industry are sold at Christmas time. Only carrying toys at Christmas, means a retailer doesn’t have to pay for the carrying costs of maintaining a toy inventory from January to September and you can maximize your profits for 2 months out of the year. That’s the philosophy behind it for a lot of retailer’s that bring in toys at Christmas and why it’s done. So why am I talking about it and why should you read this blog? Continue reading and find out if you are really saving $$$ on your toy purchases this year.

FALSE DISCOUNT SIGNAGE! That’s the reason for this blog! It offends me! It’s an insult to the consumer! Don’t fall for it! I’m about to make some people in the industry very mad with what I’m about to tell you. Some Big Box and Chain Store Retailers are bringing in toys and then putting 20%, 30%, 40%, even 50% off sale signs up immediately trying to lure consumers into thinking that they are getting a great deal on the toys they are buying. These are not really sales at all. You’re being duped if you fall for it.

So far this year I’ve seen the popular Pillow Pets priced at $29.99 and put on sale for 20% off. The MSRP on these is $24.99. Doing the math, you are paying $23.99. Ok, so you actually did save $1. I see Melissa & Doug product priced at $27.99 with a 25% off sign for product that I sell everyday for $19.99. (No, I don’t discount because I think $19.99 is a fair price to pay for that product and I’m pretty sure that both Melissa and Doug would agree with me.) Whose price is better? Theirs priced at 25% off of $27.99 or mine at $19.99 every day? Last year I saw the Scientific Explorer science kits priced at $29.99 but they were on sale for 30% off. Doing the math, this stores customer paid $20.99 for them. Bee Active Toys and other independent toy stores sell them every day of the year for $19.99. That was a great sale; it helped that chain retailer sell a lot of that product.

Another chain store prices Ty Beanie Boos at $8.99 but gives you 40% off their entire store on a regular basis. Doing the math again folks and you would pay $5.39 for a Beanie Boo that has a MSRP of $4.99. WOW, their customer is getting a really good deal! The worst offense, more like an insult to consumer intelligence, that I’ve seen this year is 50% off of Barbie. Not fancy Barbie either, just the plain ole single, clothed Barbie on a blister card that sales for $9.99. This store had her priced at $19.99 but hey, she was on sale for 50% off.

Hey folks, don’t fall for it this year. Honest, independent toy stores are working hard all year trying to stock toys on the shelf so you can have a place to buy toys every day of the year and they are pricing their toys at the right price so they can pay their hardworking employees, their bills and make a reasonable profit for all of that hard work. They are not trying to gouge their customers or inflating prices to put them on sale and make their customers think they are getting a great deal.

Toy store owners like me, want to offer you, our customers a great store to come and play in and see just how awesome toy stores and the toy industry can be. We price our toys at the right price every day of the year. These independent toy store owners like me care a lot about the toys we sell and the kids that are going to benefit from playing with them.

We are experts on toys and on the price of toys. After all, we look and play with toys every day of the year because it’s our job and we want the children of our customer to experience great play time with the absolute best in toys. Toy stores know how important and valuable play is for your children. Don’t fall for the false discounts and price gouging of some of the large chain stores. Check out your locally owned independent toy retailer this year. We will welcome you with a smile and show you the value behind the toys we sell.

To find a Locally Owned Independent Toy Store in your neighborhood follow this link.
http://www.astratoy.org/find-a-store.asp?f=FindAStore&sf=ByCityState&dirCity=tuscola&dirState=IL

Know It or Blow It at Bee Active Toys

2011-11-17T10:41:00.001-06:00

Top 10 Toys for Fall 2011

2011-10-04T18:55:00.016-05:00

It is now officially fall and the leaves here in central Illinois are starting to turn colors. Harvest has begun, and in a matter of a few weeks all of the cornfields will have no stalks of corn and we will be driving across flat prairie where we can see for miles all around. Fall is one of my favorite times of year. I like the chill air in the nights and mornings followed by warm sunny afternoons with a fall breeze blowing. Pumpkin patches, corn mazes, apple cider and chili-mac for dinner and football are what I usually think about this time of year.

The kids are all in school and already anxiously awaiting Halloween and other holidays coming up. For our school age children, it seems like there is hardly any time for play with all the fall activities. Even though this is a busy time of year, kids still have a lot of free time and rather than having them sucked into technological gadgets, TV or Video games during those free times I would like to offer up a few suggestions to still keep them actively playing.

Fall is a time where some days are nice enough to be outside playing while other days are just too cold and you want to stay inside. Having the right combination of toys that can be used both indoors and outdoors could help save your sanity and keep the kids occupied and boredom at bay. Here are some of my recommendations for some of this year’s best fall toys. Remember that kids are getting a lot of paperwork, math, science and reading in at school so they probably won’t want to come home and do more of the same type of activities that they have been doing all day so it is up to us parent’s to find toys that are different and interesting and if they can help reinforce what they are learning in school all the better.
1. Role Play outfits or costumes as they are primarily know as at this time of year just go with the month of October. Kids love to play dress up and express their imagination by pretending to be someone or something else. Whether it is a costume for Halloween or role play outfits, hats, swords, tiaras, wands, or grim reaper scythes, this type of play is great for kids working out all day pent up schoolroom energy both indoors or outside. We would like parents to remember that this is great all year long so don’t throw out or pack those outfits away after Halloween.
2. Figurines, Animals, dinosaurs, army men, football guys and soccer girls are all great toys that can be played with inside on the floor or outside in the yard. Those sandboxes are still great to set up camp in and the sand doesn’t stick to your skin as much because you’re not sweating like in the summer. We recommend ZipBins inside that provide a playmat for the floor as well as a storage container and tote to take all your figurines with you.

3. Bumper Jumpers and other bouncing toys- these are great for toddlers and preschoolers to bounce up and down on and burn up that excess energy that they have on those days when it is too cold to go run outside.

4. Radio-Control cars – you can set up a circular racetrack both outdoors or in the basement. Following a track helps build coordination. Remember to get cars with controllers that have different frequencies so that more than one car can race at the same time.

5. Marble Racer Max Traxx – cars can go anywhere; through the outdoor grass jungle, sandbox dunes, upstairs banister rail or cement basement floor. Marble racers are made here in the USA. They light up and flash when you race them and can be purchased with MaxTraxx which help add a race track to your play.

6. Shrinky dinks – Always a classic to bring out on a lazy Saturday or Sunday afternoon. Color and decorate them, put them in the oven and watch them shrink. Shrinky dinks are great for making ear rings, necklaces, charms, backpack tags or magnets. Kids always have fun with them. Just remember to leave the stove light on so you can watch them shrink.

7. Alex Little Hands kits – while intended for the toddler and preschool crowd, these art and craft kits are great activities for all ages. You can choose from kits like My Tissue Art, Paper Bag Puppets, Puffy Bunch, Paper Weaving, My Collage Farm, My Sticker Art, and Clay Pictures. Older children will also have fun with Ready, Set, Paste!, and Ready, Set, Cut!, which is a great kit for helping kids learn how to use scissors. What is really nice about these kits is that you get everything you need to do 4-8 projects in each kit. The box is also a great way to store all the pieces between uses. 8. Beleduc Puppets- These small little hand puppets are being recommended here because they are cute, inexpensive puppets of animals, birds, insects, and dinosaurs and they are great for kids to take anywhere, inside or out, for great imaginative play. I can see kids running around the house with the butterfly and duck puppets, pretending to fly. You’ve heard the expression, “when pigs fly” and there is a pig puppet in the line that could fly with the right imagination.

9. Klutz books – Klutz has a book on just about every subject that is interesting to kids. Here too they can be done at home or taken along with them. My favorites right now are “The Klutz Book of Animation,” Klutz Make Your Own Video” and “Klutz Book of Paper Fashions.” These are great books that let kids create on their own about subjects that kids really like to learn about. How fun is it to create clay animation, movie videos and for the girls, becoming a FASHIONISTA! Also very popular this time of year is the “Klutz Book of Face Painting” which will give you all sorts of creative tips for using theatrical make up for Halloween this year.

10. Kites – WHAT!!! Who flies kites in the fall? Well, I do for one. Yes, here in central Illinois, we get some really great winds in October that make kite flying even better than in the spring so don’t be afraid to get those kites out and up in the air this year. Plus the second Sunday in October is designated as World Kite Day so I’ll keep my eyes on the skies looking for them and if you’re over near Allerton Park in October and you see one flying, it just might be me and my kids on the other end of the line.

Most importantly, as always, just get out there and have fun playing and experiencing all that life has around you!

Calling all Educators

2011-07-25T09:02:00.006-05:00

Hey teachers out there, it is the last week of July and pretty soon you will be heading back to school. I know that a lot of you use toys and games in your classroom which is AWESOME! Don't hesitate to ask for curriculum guides and lesson plans. I'm always glad to help you with them. Plus a lot of game manufacturers offer curriculum guides and lesson plans for their games and with just a little tweaking for your classroom can help make learning a lot more fun and engaging for students. Here is a great resource and website called Games for Educators to get you started.

http://www.g4ed.com/

Bee Active Toys wants to thank you and wish you all the best as your starting to think about and plan your classrooms for the next school year. If we can help you in any way, let me know.

Beer Bottles, Books and Bouncing Balls

2011-07-14T19:49:00.004-05:00

So what is a blog about toys and a toy store doing talking about Beer Bottles you ask? Well give me a few minutes of your time and let me explain the connection. Now let me first also write this disclaimer for anyone out there that might have objections to what I am about to write. First off, this is all my opinion. I have no basis of research or other means to prove what I am about to say. Secondly, I, as a toy store owner do have a vested interest in getting shoppers to come buy at my store so I am biased in what I am about to say. Now let me finish telling you what the correlation is between beer bottles, books, and bouncing balls.

Back in 1991, I left college to become an apprentice at a machine shop which was the beginning of my training as a manufacturing engineer. (How I ended up as a toy store owner is another story to be told later.) The shop owner used to tell all of his machinists to only buy beer in a can, not bottles. Why? This 100 man machine shop made parts for the canning industry. He had a vested interest in the consumption of cans instead of bottles, because he knew that the more cans that were needed meant that his business was sustainable and his customers would return to him for more machine parts to make more cans. For some reason that always stuck with me and even today I tend to buy cans instead of bottles.

So how does that really apply to me as a toy store? How are you going to make the connection you ask? Things have changed a lot over the last 20 years. One of those changes is in the way we shop as consumers. Have you been watching the landscape in your local area? How many buildings are empty? How many brick and mortar retail businesses have closed up? This thing called the internet continues to change our society as we know it and one of the ways it’s changing us is in the way we shop. Never before has product been so widely available and as cheap as it is today just by clicking on your mouse.

Yes folks, as much as I hate to admit it, shopping online does seem to be taking over traditional retail. Brick and mortar stores are closing up left and right. I first saw this with hobby stores back around the turn of the century. Customers would go into a hobby store and get all the information they needed about their trains, slot cars, RC Planes or whatever they were into and then go back home and order it online because they could get it 20-30% cheaper. How many hobby stores do you know about today? Borders, the largest retail book store filed bankruptcy last year and have closed up hundreds of book stores. Things are not looking too bright for book stores these days. Do I need to ask if you have a record store in your community? Those under 30 are probably asking, “What’s a record store?” What about toy stores? Do you have a toy store in your community? I’m not talking about Wal-Mart or Target’s toy department; I’m talking about an actual toy store where someone working there actually knows something about toys. Probably not, some say toy stores are now a thing of the past as well. And after all kids don’t play today like they used to anyway, video games, IPods, and getting online with their friends is all they want to do. It’s true, (and I think it is a shame) that girls once played with dolls between the ages of 2 to 13 and today girls tend to stop playing with dolls around age 8.

Again you ask me, “What do beer bottles have to do with toys?” Well for me, it was the valuable lesson I learned over 20 years ago from that shop owner in the manufacturing world. Support what supports you. Hear me out. There was a time when an entrepreneur went to the local bank to get a bank loan to start a business. The banking officers told bank employees, check out this business if you’re looking to buy what their selling. The local bankers knew that their bank had a vested interest in the business succeeding and repaying the loan. The business owner than went to the local insurance man and bought insurance who in turn told all of his clients about the business because he knew his insurance commission was dependent on the entrepreneur’s business success. The entrepreneur would contact a local electrician or plumper to make repairs in his shop. The entrepreneur would get his lunch at the local deli, the local deli, would get their bread from the local baker, the local baker would need a light bulb and would get it from the local hardware store and all these local businesses would support each other. Don’t get me wrong, things were not that easy for the entrepreneur, after all he still had to know and be able to provide products and services that his community wanted and needed. As the entrepreneurs business grew, employees were needed and hired from the local community. These employees in turn had more to spend in the local businesses. Likewise as the entrepreneurs business grew the local tax base would grow from business and sales tax and the income tax of the employees that the entrepreneur had hired giving the community more money to spend in the local economy and fund community projects. Police officers would get new uniforms, firefighters would get new fire engines, and school teachers would get supplies locally that would then give the local businesses more funds to advertise in school programs and pay for sports equipment, scoreboards and other things those communities need but never realize where the money comes from to buy them.

THOSE DAYS ARE OVER.

The internet has changed all of that. Oh it isn’t the only thing to change all that. The proliferation and growth of big business and large big box retail chains started the ball rolling in the 1980’s and 1990’s. The internet just picked up the ball and kept it rolling over the last 10 years. Some would say that I’m just waxing nostalgic. Others would say that’s progress, you can’t stop change. Still more say that’s just business, people are going to shop where they get the best price. I say at what cost is that best price impacting your local community? You can get everything online but none (or at least very little) of the money you’re spending is staying in your local communities. Ask a local entrepreneur (if you have any left), why they went into business? Sure they probably wanted to make money (don’t we all), but most likely a part of it was because that entrepreneur saw a need and wanted to make their community better. There is a high amount of risk that those entrepreneurs took on to try and improve their community. A lot of business advisors are telling those entrepreneurs that the best thing for them to do right now is to close down stores, warehouse everything and sell on the internet. Cut Costs, Cut Costs, Cut Costs! That advice doesn’t help out local communities that much but what else can they do if everyone is shopping online instead of shopping in stores. It leaves more people out of work and more empty storefronts and more community eyesores on the landscape. (Does anyone ever notice the warehouses are in your community?)

So what will your town look like in the next ten years? What do you want it to look like? Do you want beer bottles, books and bouncing balls and the places locally where you can go to buy them? Every time you spend your dollars, you make an impact on your local economy. Now I ask you, what kind of impact are you going to make for the future?

For a list of local businesses check out the following list:

http://www.rentertainment.com/local.asp

Thank you to That's Rentertainment in Champaign for publishing this list.

For more about supporting locally owned independents check out:

http://www.the350project.net/home.html

When a Puppet is more than just a Puppet Show

2011-07-12T21:13:00.004-05:00

Stop a minute and think about the last time you watched a puppet show? How old were you? Do you remember some of America's most famous Puppets? Which of these do you recognize: Charlie McCarthy, Howdy Dowdy, King Friday and Lady Elaine, Lamb Chop, Bert and Ernie, Kermit and Miss Piggy, Fraggles, Elmo? Depending on which puppet that you recognize it says a lot about when you grew up and how old you are. Puppets have long been an important part of our childhood memories and entertainment. Did you know that puppets are also a great way for young children to create imaginative stories and play on their own? Puppet theaters help young children to role play and characters become alive in a child's hand as they act out a scene. Puppets are also a great way for school aged children to master the art of storytelling.

Here are a couple of suggestions to help make puppets a fun part of your child's play time.

• For baby: Black and White or bright colored puppets can be used for adult/child interaction. Baby will follow puppet with their eyes and laugh and giggle.
• For toddlers and preschoolers: combine a puppet with their favorite story book for added play value at story time.
• For school age children: have children use puppets to act out a favorite story.
• Older Children: Have children write and create their own stories around their favorite puppets. Reading skills are improved as they perform the show.
• For adults: Watch the show! Giving your child the spotlight for 5-10 minutes will boost self-confidence and creativity.

Here I am at Bee Active Toys talking about puppets.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pnv5Wbn0KAU

The Sophistication and Ingenuity Behind a Wind-up Toy.

2011-07-10T21:50:00.004-05:00

So I’m sitting here on a Saturday morning waiting for customers to come into the store and as usual I am looking for ways to amuse myself while I wait. I know that a lot of other adults might find a toy store tedious or have difficulty keeping busy when it is slow, but I somehow always manage to find something that keeps my mind stimulated. Perhaps no other adult in central Illinois takes toys and children’s play quite as seriously as I do (a bold statement on my part as I hope other adults recognize the importance of play) and today is no different. As I’m walking through the store I decide to pick up one of our many windup toys. This one is called “Moony” by California Creations and is a wind-up space shuttle. The choice of using Moony for this article is in recognition of the final launch of our space shuttle yesterday (loud chants of USA, USA, USA).

Now the wind-up toys get wound up and played with in the store every day by both adults and kids and I have often wondered if they realize just how much engineering goes into making a windup toy. So today I decided to take Moony apart just so that I can show you what all is involved and since I am a very big advocate of using toys to help people learn, I am hoping that you will gain some knowledge and a greater appreciation for how much work actually goes into providing us with amusing toys.

Now for those of you that know me, you already know that I was once a manufacturing engineer before owning a toy store so I will try to keep it fairly simple and interesting and not go real in depth with all of the mechanics involved. When I was growing up I spent a lot of time taking things apart and trying to figure out how they worked. With the advent of video games and other technological gadgetry that kids have available to them today, mechanics doesn’t quite seem to hold their attention as much and I of course am hoping to change that a little bit at a time.

Moony is put together using over 20 parts. I couldn’t get an exact count because the wind up housing is sealed and I couldn’t gain access unless I wanted to break the housing. The parts list consists of the top space shuttle body, lower space shuttle body, 2 space shuttle doors, interior space bay floor, rear thrust engine body, springs, space bay door lever that is attached to a cam follower, rack and pinion gear, directional lever, astronaut attached to a gear and camshaft, another cam that is attached to the windup box housing, wheels, and winding shaft. Have I lost all of you non-mechanical people yet? I can’t tell what all is inside the windup box housing but most likely it includes a couple of gears, springs and mounting shafts as well as the housing pieces. Oh yeah, I almost forgot 2 small screws to hold it all together. Are you starting to have a greater appreciation for these $5 toys yet?

Now how do all those parts go together to make this toy work? That’s what I imagine you are asking me right now as your sitting there hanging on every one of my words waiting to find out what wealth of knowledge that I am about to bestow upon you. Well everything working on this toy revolves around two key parts, the winding shaft and cam. Attached to the winding shaft are a drive gear, spring and cam. When the shaft is wound it increases tension in the spring (conversion of potential energy into kinetic energy for those of you that like physics). That tension is what then causes the shaft to rotate, driving both the drive gear and the cam. The drive gear pushes the gear attached to the wheels causing the wheels to move. The cam actually is doing the most work in this windup. The rotational movement of the cam is responsible for the movement of 4 other working features on this toy. First its rotation alternately pushes down on the directional lever to allow the windup toy to spin around. Next the rotational motion is transferred into linear motion (straight line that is) that moves back and forth and causes the astronaut to spin and move up and down as it follows the cam shaft along the rack and pinion gear. Lastly the cam also triggers the space bay door lever which is responsible for the opening and closing of the shuttle bay doors. WOW, that is an awful lot of “work” being done by a simple 1” long x 1/16” diameter winding shaft and cam.

Watch this video to see how all the parts go together.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wR73rDLROLg

So now tell me, did you ever realize that wind-up toys were that involved? I bet you never thought about how much went into making all those wind-up toys. I’ll bet that you never realized that you could learn a little bit about physics or mechanics by playing with a wind-up toy either? Well I hope that the next time you are in a toy store, you might just have a little more respect and admiration for those simple toys known as windups.

To see more working wind-up toys watch the following video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nXOzPJxmvhQ&feature=related

6 Ways to Prevent Learning Loss Over the Summer.

2011-07-07T08:13:00.002-05:00

Researchers have found that kids lose as much as 25% of what they learn during the school year over the summer months. Most teachers spend the first 2 weeks of school reviewing materials that the children have already learned. With that in mind I have come up with a list of 6 good ways you can keep your children from experiencing learning loss over the summer months.

6. Create with Crafts
5. Play with your food
4. Experiment with Science
3. Work Puzzles
2. Play Games
1. Tell Stories

6.Craft kits and the skills of sizing, cutting, pasting, folding and other activities done while crafting are great ways for kids to express their own creativity and can reinforce math when they measure, fold in half and cut paper, string or fabric to the sizes needed. The complexity of the craft projects should increase with the child’s age. The skills learned with arts and crafts could develop the next fashion designer, architect or automotive designer.

5.Playing with food is another great way to keep math skills active and develop life skills at the same time. Measuring, mixing, dividing and fractions are all being used.

4.Science kits can keep children interested in their natural world. This can be as simple as a magnifying glass and bug box or as complex as making your own volcano. Follow your child’s interests.

3.Puzzles are still the number one way to develop cognitive ability, spatial relationships and other higher functioning thought processes. Remember to start kids with 24, 48, or 60 piece puzzles and then work their way up to 500 piece puzzles. For kids over 12 puzzle challenges like Rubik’s cubes and Guordian’s knots can still be very captivating and provide a sense of accomplishment when solved.

2.Games can be used for math, spelling, writing, and drawing. Trivia games can help keep facts about current events, geography and other subjects readily available for kids to recall. Keep games fun and exciting and kids will not realize they are actually learning while they play.

1.Kids love a good story. Summer time is a great time for ghost stories by the camp fire. Storytelling improves language skills. Have them write their own story or play and then perform the show. Add puppets or other props for more play value.

Most importantly have fun and activate your child's imagination.

Have a question? We have answers.

2011-07-06T08:31:00.003-05:00

I am glad to help out the Illini Radio Group and their radio stations by being one of their experts online. You can here about some of the questions that I have received over the years about toys, the toy industry and why I feel strongly about the importance of play in a child's daily life.

http://mix945.com/pages/8464695.php?ranId=0.7805736292312633

Listen for me on WIXY, The Chief, and The Mix.

And thank you.

Travel Toys

2011-07-05T08:20:00.002-05:00

Summertime is the time for road trips and vacations and while it’s tempting to just put a movie in the car DVD player or let the kids play on their DS for the whole drive there are other ways to help keep your child busy as you travel. Now I know as a parent that I can only play I Spy with my Little Eye, or sing “The wheels on the bus” so many times before it drives me nuts so here are a couple of other ideas that can help take the “Are we there yet” out of your children.

1. Wind-up toys can keep fingers active and provide amusement. Their small size makes them easily portable.

2. Dot –to –dot books from 1 -20 or 1-500 can be bought and keep kids interest as they anxiously connect the dots to find out what the picture is on the paper.

3. Travel games are available in a lot of different varieties. Plus games are a great way to help teach social skills like communication and good sportsmanship as well as reinforcing vocabulary, spelling and math skills. I still love the old Traffic Sign Bingo.

4. Magnetic play sets. These come in a wide variety of themes and allow children the ability to imagine, pretend and play while in the car and don’t take up a lot of room.

5. Drawing paper and stickers are a part of every household with children and have gone on many a road trip. Have your child keep a journal of the trip making notes about everything that they see. Have them exercise their creative writing skills by writing fictional stories based on what they see. Creating comic books can also really help those miles disappear.

6. And speaking of books, good old fashion books and reading are still great ways to pass the time on those long road trips. Better yet, take turns reading the book to each other and practice your flair for Drama. Kids will love hearing all the different voices you can make and you will love finding out how well your child can read.

These are just a few tips and ideals to help you pass the time on all of your trips. Whatever you do and however you choose to help your kids pass the time, remember that the importance of a summer road trip is to spend quality time with your family. So next time you’re heading on a long trip, I hope you remember to have fun and activate your child’s imagination.

Coming up next time: Summertime Learning Loss and what you can do to help eliminate it.

My 6 year old daughter doesn’t play with toys.

2011-07-03T10:21:00.000-05:00

To the woman in the store the other day looking for an item for her 6 year old daughter that really didn’t play much, I want to apologize, as I don’t feel like I gave you very much help. All I did was tell you what our best selling items were for girls her age and well, to be honest with you, that was pretty presumptuous of me to think that your child would be like others and want to play with the same things when you clearly told me that you were having problems getting her to show interest in playing at all.

Our children are saturated with all the technological gadgets that we adults crave and from watching us, it is natural that they want those gadgets as well, even though they may not be ready for them. Sometimes that very same technology can make traditional play seem static and boring to some children if they are using the technology so it is important to try and remind ourselves and our children of how much fun it can be to play with a simple toy. Likewise for some children, if they haven’t seen a commercial for it or watched it on TV, they might not know how to play with some toys.

So now that I have had some time to think about your original question, here are some suggestions that I would like to make:
1. Remember back to your own childhood and what you liked to play with at that age. Tell her all about it. Was it dolls, arts and crafts, horses? Whatever it was, telling your daughter about the things you played with as a child will get her interest and at the very least provides you and her with a mother/daughter moment.
2. Think about what you would like her to play with and try to lead her in that direction. While it is very easy for us adults to just provide our children with the things that they think they want, it is also important to sometimes gently nudge them into doing and playing with things that we think would be good for them. You know your child best.
3. Get her involved in collecting something. Figurines, dolls, erasers, stamps, or even rocks can all been fun objects to find and collect. Collecting can sometimes be just like a mini treasure hunt as your looking to find items to collect. Yes, collecting is a form of play that can turn into a lifetime hobby that is fun, educational and personally fulfilling.
4. Ask a grandparent to get involved. There really is a lot of wisdom in those older generations. Of course you might end up hearing a long story about how the only thing they had to play with was a stick and a rock, but the important thing is that they knew how to play, entertain and amuse themselves. Marbles, Jacks, and paper dolls are all still great toys as well.
5. If you really want to get her to notice toys and how to play, then buy her a toy normally meant for a boy. This may seem strange to most but why not? Maybe she isn’t playing because she really doesn’t like girl toys and wants something different. We as adults sometimes need to break out of the gender stereotypical ideals about play that we impose on our children. Girls can build with construction sets and drive cars, trucks, planes and trains just as much as boys can so see if she wants to play with those toys.

I realize of course that a lot of these suggestions do require some adult guidance but don’t fret it. It doesn’t need to take up a lot of your time nor does it need to cost a lot of money. Just like children sometimes need help with school work, sometimes children need to be shown how to play as well. Unlike school work 5 or 10 minutes is usually all that is needed to get the old play juices in a child’s brain flowing as they are naturally drawn to play. With our children being saturated with video games, computers, iPods and cell phones, they are only modeling what they see us adults constantly doing every day and think that is what they should be doing as well. It is important to remind ourselves and our children that it is important to play and that all those technological things, while being a lot of fun, are not really needed to keep ourselves entertained. We also need to develop lots of different play patterns so that we can become a well-rounded individual familiar with a lot of different things. I sincerely hope this is a better answer to your question about getting your 6 year old interested in playing. I also hope that you don’t forget to play as well. Even as an adult, we can benefit from good quality playtime.

New Blogs, New Stores, New beginnings

2010-11-15T09:52:00.002-06:00

Ok So it has been an awfully long time since I have posted anything here to my blog. I have to admit that trying to keep up with technology and run a business and still have time for my family is a very challenging mix. I'm sure you all understand. So anyway, I'm going to go in a new direction with the blog. I want to continue to give everyone useful information about the Toys and Games we sell as well as keep everyone up on the latest happenings at Bee Active Toys.

So here it is;

Bee Active Toys now has two locations. We are at Tanger Outlets in Tuscola and at Marketplace Mall in Champaign. Stop in and say hi next time your there.

We have also changed our website and continue to make improvements on it. Check it out at www.beeactivetoys.com

And oh yeah, I almost forgot. I am now one of the experts online at http://mix945.com/pages/8464695.php?ranId=0.7805736292312633

Thanks Illini Radio Group. I look forward to answering any questions that parents have about toys and games.

If you have any questions about the products we carry or the toy industry, please feel free to ask.

Brad

March Store Hours

2009-03-16T22:22:00.003-05:00

The store hours this month are as follows:

Tuesday - Friday 10:00 - 6:00
Saturday 10:00 - 4:00

Come in and see us this month. We are getting more spring and Easter items in stock now.

Back to Blogging!

2009-03-16T22:03:00.002-05:00

Well, as I'm sure a lot of you have noticed it has been a long time since I have been posting anything here. The new year brought a lot of changes on the personal level that have kept me hoping for the last few months.

The beginning of the year for the toy store meant us at Bee Active Toys going through all of our inventory and making sure that all of our products met the new requirements for the CPSIA act of 2008.

I also started back to teaching and have continued work on my educational research. It is getting more involved than I originally thought but I am finding it very interesting. I won't bore you here with the details on applying cognitive loads with hands on skills or the knowledge gaps that exist between the two but if you have any interest in it please feel free to email me and I'll be glad to answer some of your questions about my research.

February brought the birth of our 4th child, Egan Daniel Curry. The rest of this time I have been enjoying the new little one, so between teaching, studying, the store and the new baby I haven't had the time to post like I want to. Anyway, I'm hoping to get back to posting and letting everyone know about all of the new stuff coming into Bee Active Toys.

Bee Active Toys Announces Holiday Hours

2008-11-27T12:36:00.002-06:00

Bee Active Toys will be open Monday-Fridays, 10am-8pm, and Sundays, 12-5pm, starting on Friday, November 28. The store will be open these hours up until Christmas Eve when we will close at 5pm so that our employees and family can enjoy the holiday.

Of course you can always shop online 24-7 at www.beeactivetoys.com.

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

2008-11-27T12:25:00.006-06:00

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!! We here at Bee Active Toys are very thankful for family, friends, freedom and all that we have. We do consider ourselves very fortunate to be in a country where we can have all of our needs and a lot of our wants met. We would like to take time today to say Thanks for all that we have had over the last year. We wish everybody a very Happy Thanksgiving!

Bee Active Toys and the CW Central Illinois Gift Guru

2008-11-26T07:03:00.003-06:00

Bee Active Toys is part of the CW's Central Illinois Gift Guru. In this spot we talk about what makes a good toy. Here are my main points about what makes a good toy.

Is it Safe? A good toy should pass the drop test and a lot more. Avoid toys with sharp edges and long cords. Follow age-specific safety warnings, such as small parts which may present choking hazards for children under three years old.

Is it Age Appropriate? The play activity should developmentally suit the child's age. Check the toy maker's recommendations and believe in the "+" sign. Ages 3+ does not mean your 4-year-old has outgrown it. If in doubt, ask us the toy experts.

Does it Engage the Child? A good toy should encourage open-ended play, invite exploration, and engage a child's interest beyond a short sitting. Toys should be hands-on tools – not watch-me players. A child should be able to power a plaything – even a battery-operated toy – with his or her own ideas and imagination.

Does it Expand the Child? A good toy with play value benefits the child at a particular stage by introducing and reinforcing age specific skills. A great toy grows with the child, helping her or him advance from one developmental stage to the next.

Does it Add to the Toy Box? A child needs a variety of toys and different types of play activities. When selecting a new toy, consider one that adds balance to your child's busy play.

Is it Fun? Most of all, a good toy is fun to play with. Dull and boring, regardless of benefit, have no place in a good toy box.

We at Bee Active Toys have filled our store with lots of toys that adhere to this list.

2008 Best Toys for Kids List

2008-11-21T00:36:00.002-06:00

The hot-off-the-presses 2008 Best Toys for Kids list released today by the American Specialty Toy Retailing Association (ASTRA) gets back to the basics—toys for good, old-fashioned, make-it-up-yourself, belly-laughing play that’s great for kids. It’s a great reason to pass by the hordes of anxious, exhausted shoppers at the usual big box stores and try a new way of more relaxed, productive shopping for toys that are actually healthy for your kids.

All toys listed by product name, with manufacturer/vendor in parentheses

INFANT (0 – 12 months)
1. Busy Bee Discovery Flower (ALEX*) ∙ Ages 6 months+ http://www.alextoys.com With bright patterned velour and jersey knit, this interactive flower features, loops, knots, finger holes and a rattling bee! Each petal has a different surprise -- pull, poke, squeak, rattle, reflect and sing along to the melody! Provides sensory and tactile stimulation and encourages development of fine motor skills and hand-eye coordination.
2. Together Tunes Too (Neurosmith, manufacturer & Small World Toys*, vendor) ∙ Ages 6 months+ http://www.smallworldtoys.com Children will dance with delight as this musical ball teaches them all about shapes and colors! Soft and sturdy, it features bright colors and multiple textures for visual and tactile stimulation. As the ball asks children to find a color and shape, the music will play to encourage their exploration and keep them entertained.

TODDLER (1 – 3 years)
1. Wheely Bug (Prince Lionheart*) ∙ Ages 1.5+ (small size), and 3+ (large size) http://www.princelionheart.com Wheely Bugs are multi-directional: they go backwards, forwards, sideways, round and round! These ride-on bugs are great for both boys and girls, and have a magical mind of their own. Their bodies have a padded layer of sponge which is covered with a tough polyurethane skin that can easily be wiped clean.
2. Dexter the Digger (WOW Toys, manufacturer & Ravensburger*, vendor) ∙ Ages 1.5+ http://www.ravensburger.com Dex’s easy to use mechanical arm digs and scoops up the rattling boulders! A strong friction-motor and front bulldozer make light work of any obstructions. Rough, tough & strong, this heavy-duty digger is ready for any construction site.

PRESCHOOL LEARNING (3-6 yrs)
1. Magna-Tiles: 3-D Magnetic Building Tiles (Valtech Co.*) ∙ Ages 3+ http://www.magnatiles.com Magna-Tiles, 3-D magnetic building tiles. This creative, open-ended product develops concepts of math, science and creativity. Hours of fun, widely endorsed by both educators and parents!
2. Magnetic Mosaics Kids (The Orb Factory*) ∙ Ages 4+ http://www.orbfactory.com Kids love the surprise of watching a colorful seahorse or parrot mysteriously emerge from the black and white numbered templates. Use any of the 20 fun designs included in this kit or create your own masterpieces. The 1/2" magnetic foam cubes are easy to handle, and fun to use - with over 600 cubes in 12 bright colors.

PRESCHOOL PRETEND & PLAY (3-6 yrs)
1. Road & Rail Play Set- Railway Station (Plan Toys, Inc.*) ∙ Ages 3+ http://www.plantoys.com An architecturally-grand train station that conveniently converts to a tidy storage chest for the play set. Rail track and road track, made from eco-friendly rubbertree wood, encourage early engineers to integrate two transportation concepts. Colorful wooden accessories (painted with safe, non-toxic, water based dyes) include trains, cars, a bus, internationally varied little people and assorted green trees.
2. Stablemates™ Red Stable Set with Two Horses (Breyer Animal Creations, Div. of Reeves International, Inc.*) ∙ Ages 4+ http://www.breyerhorses.com Create your dream farm with Stablemates Red Stable Set. Made of durable plastic, this three stall barn features a storage area and comes with four corral fences, a jump, water trough and three racing barrels. Two Stablemates horses also included. Size: 11.375”L x 9.25”H x 7.625”D.

CONSTRUCTION
1. Circus Ring (Playmobil*) ∙ Ages 5+ http://www.playmobilusa.com Watch the trapeze artists soar through the air at the circus show. The opening of the big top is adjustable, and the diameter of the Circus Ring is 22.5 inches. Includes seven figures, ticket booths, and seating area.
2. Excalibur Castle (Le Toy Van, manufacturer & Hotaling Imports Inc.*, vendor) ∙ Ages 3+ Imaginations will soar with this three-towered Excalibur Castle from Le Toy Van. It’s a fabulous castle made of painted wooden panels that slot together easily on an 18"x20" base. Authentic details include working drawbridge and crane, a keep with dungeon and lift-up gate, wide ramparts that ring a spacious courtyard and a special feature knock-out wall. (Papo figures not included)
3. 24-foot BluTrack Challenge Pack (MJ Sports dba BluTrack®*) ∙ Ages 3+ http://www.blutrack.com Powered by gravity, fueled by imagination. This flexible dual lane track encourages children to be creative in designing track layouts for racing, jumping and looping. Kit includes 8 plastic ramps for advanced stunts.

ARTS & CRAFTS
1. Sticky Mosaics Jewelry Box (The Orb Factory*) ∙ Ages 6+ http://www.orbfactory.com Make a magnificent mosaic treasure box for all your crown jewels and tiny prized possessions. Sticky Mosaics make it as simple as peel and stick. Follow the numbered template pre-printed on the jewelry box and decorate it with self-adhesive gems, glitter tiles and holographic foil.
2. Wikki Stix Tons of Fun (Omnicor Inc. / The Wikki Stix Co.*) ∙ Ages 3 – 11 http://www.wikkistix.com Hours and hours of activities for tons and tons of fun! Wikki Stix provide, clean, creative fun with no glue, no paste, no mess! ake critters and creatures...play Do-Wikki....plus travel activities for take-along fun. Includes 96 Wikki Stix One-of-a-Kind Creatables. Made in USA.

MUSIC
1. Schoenhut 44-Key Baby Grand Piano (Schoenhut Piano Company, Inc.*) ∙ Ages 5+ http://www.toypiano.com This dynamic new line of 44-key Baby Grand and Upright Pianos, launched to coincide with Schoenhut’s 135th anniversary, features True Piano Sound … without the use of electronics. The mid-sized piano is less intimidating for small children who want to learn to play the piano.
2. Learn to Play Piano (Melissa & Doug*) ∙ Ages 3+ http://www.melissaanddoug.com Do-Re-Mi...this piano could be one of your favorite things! Brightly painted upright piano features 25 keys and two full octaves to give kids a wide range of notes to play. Includes an illustrated songbook and color-coded key chart.

GAMES YOUNG (3-7 yrs)
1. Zingo! (ThinkFun, Inc.*) ∙ Ages 4 - 8 http://www.thinkfun.com In this fast-paced, energetic variant of Bingo, kids get a kick out of pulling the Zinger forward to reveal two mystery tiles, then try to be the first to call out the tiles that match the images on their cards.
2. Qwirkle (MindWare*) ∙ Ages 6+ http://www.mindwarewholesale.com Qwirkle is played by creating rows and columns of matching colors and shapes - it's Dominoes meets Scrabble - since the simple play requires no reading, the whole family can play. Younger ages love to match while older players make strategic multiple-tile moves that earn maximum points.

GAMES OLD (8 yrs+)
1. Set Cubed, a Curious Game of Clever Connections (Set Enterprises, Inc.*) ∙ Ages 8+ http://www.setgame.com An exciting new game that challenges a player’s ability to find SETs by combining the dice in his or her hand with those already on the board. Set Cubed adds an element of strategy to the visual perception game of SET. It also requires players to take turns, so the need for speed is eliminated.
2. Bananagrams (Bananagrams*) ∙ Ages 7+ http://www.bananagrams-intl.com

SCIENCE
1. Wind Power — Renewable Energy Science Kit (Thames & Kosmos*) ∙ Ages 8+ http://www.thamesandkosmos.com This science kit offers a hands-on introduction to one of the fastest growing sources of clean, renewable energy. Experimenters ages eight and up can build a wind turbine complete with electric generator, adjustable rotors, and wind speed indicator to harness power out of thin air. The kit includes more than 20 experiments with wind turbines, such as powering an LED, lifting a weight, and charging a rechargeable battery.
2. Geyser Tube (Be Amazing! Toys*) ∙ Ages 8+ http://www.beamazing.com This toy is the perfect marriage of a great, popular activity with all the cool chemistry and physics that makes the Wow! happen. Everyone knows what happens when you drop Mentos into Diet Coke—now you can make it even better!

ACTIVE
1. The Original Flying Turtle (Mason Corporation*) ∙ Ages 3 – 12 http://www.masoncorporation.com Everyone's favorite zip-around zoomee made right here in the good old U.S.A! Climb aboard the low seat, brace your feet on the bars, and start swinging. In seconds, the Turtle's off and flying! Sturdy enough to hold up to 150 pounds, the Flying Turtle scooter comes fully assembled with skateboard wheels and easy-grip steel handlebars.
2. Mini Super Sports Disk (OgoSport, LLC*) ∙ Ages 4+ http://www.ogosport.com The OgoSport Sports Disk is sure to get you and your family up from the couch! Indoor and out, in teams, or individually, the Sports Disk provides safe, year-round fun. Great for advanced play or to develop motor skills – the play possibilities are endless!

WOW (PUNCH)
1. Multi-colored Ball of Whacks (Creative Whack Company/US Games Systems, Inc.*) ∙ Ages 8+ http://www.usgamesinc.com Six brilliantly contrasting colors transform the Ball of Whacks.
2. Karito Kids World Collection (Karito Kids by KidsGive*) ∙ Ages 3+ http://www.karitokids.com Open her world, her mind, and her heart with these multi-award winning soft bodied play dolls and hard cover books representing modern-day girls from around the world. The “WOW” factor is that every purchase helps another child and the owner decides how they want to help by activating online and directing the donation to one of four areas: school, home, health or food. Teach kids to be aware and care and have a real impact in changing their world.

Toy Museum at Bee Active Toys

2008-10-20T15:32:00.002-05:00

Bee Active Toys and the Piatt County Museum have opened up a new exhibit, Playthings from the Past, at Bee Active Toys. While we have had over 300 vintage and collectible toys on display throughout the store since we opened, this display is in a room all by itself and adds over 100 antique cast iron banks, dolls, games and other playthings that Piatt County residents have played with since the late 1800's. This is a joint venture between the Piatt County Museum and Bee Active Toys and is the first time in over 10 years that the Museums collection has been available for the public to see. The museum entrance is on Charter St. but can be accessed upon request through Bee Active Toys. If you have a group or would like a tour of the toys in the Museum, please call us to arrange a time where we will be glad to show you.

Lego has arrived at Bee Active Toys

2008-09-19T11:30:00.004-05:00

Finally the wait is over. We now have Lego in Stock. Bee Active Toys is carrying the Star Wars, Speed Racer, Indiana Jones, Thomas the Tank Engine Lego sets as well as the basic building sets too. This year Lego celebrates 50 years with their Golden Anniversary set and we have it. Lego continues to be one of the hottest selling toys for Christmas. Now is your chance to get them before the rush. Come on in and get these Lego sets before they are gone.

New Window Display on Charter Street

2008-09-13T22:55:00.004-05:00

Hey next time you are walking around in downtown Monticello check out our new display window behind the book store on Charter Street. We are trying to bring back the old window displays from the past. Do you remember looking at the window displays at Christmas time at companies like Wanamakers, Macy, Fao Schwartz, Marshall Fields and others? Well, our window isn't quite as large as those but we still hope that it will become an interesting focal point for Monticello. This month come on out and see how we have gone to the dogs. The window theme is Adopt a Pet. You see a wide variety of the very life like Melissa & Doug stuffed dogs as well as dress up outfits from Small Miracles.

School has begun

2008-08-21T23:23:00.004-05:00

Today marked the first day of school here in Monticello. Hurray! Hurray to all of you parents out there that have kept your children active over the summer. Hurray to all the teachers who are about to start educating our children.

Teacher's we would like to let you know about a website called www.gamesforeducators.com. The websites mission simply is to promote games in education, to help enrich the learning process for both teachers and students. It may be a great resource for you to use this school year. Bee Active Toys believes strongly in the use of games to teach. I myself have used the game Block by Block by Thinkfun in the classroom to help teach students 2 dimensional drafting techniques and to enable them to see what a 3 dimensional object would look like in a 2-D world. A lot of other games can help teach concepts, problem solving, and teamwork. What's even more interesting is that game play also fully engages the child's mind. We would be more than happy to assist you in finding the right game to meet your needs.

We at Bee Active Toys would like to wish everyone a terrific new school year. Study hard, Learn a lot and of course learn to play and play to learn!

It's almost time for Back to School

2008-08-07T21:56:00.002-05:00

It's almost back to school time again and Bee Active Toys would like to invite you to come in and preview all of the educational toys and games that we carry. A lot of the toys and games in our store can help to refresh kid's memory and give them a head start to a great school year while having fun playing and learning through play.

Here is a list of some of the products in our store by subject area.

Reading and Writing:
Bananagrams, Words on my Mind. AmusaMaze, Whizzizzle Phonics, Poppo, Apples to Apples
Mathematics:
Math Dice, 99 or Bust, Sudoku, Head Full of Numbers, Pizza Fraction Fun,
Science:
Eino Science Kits, Amazing Animal Trivia, Gyroscopes, Prisms, Snap Circuits, I-Dig Fossils, Girder & Panels, Folkmanis Puppets
Social Studies:
USA States and Capitols Bingo, USA Map Puzzles, Go Mental
Art:
Mosaic Art kits, Shrinky Dinks, Tissue Paper Art

For certain developmental issues:

Spatial Relationships: Block by Block, Shape by Shape, Brick by Brick, Gordian’s Knot
Cognitive Skills: Rush Hour, Chocolate Fix, Poppo
Kinesthetic Skills: O-Balls, Chinese Jump Ropes, Zoob, Flip-n-Stack Monkeys, Flipping Frogs, Black Hole, Diabolos, Poi
Musical Skills: Tone Blocks, Guiro Shakers, Rhythm Stix, Tick Tock Blocks, Box Shakers
Interpersonal Skills: over 50 games in stock. Lots of other activities for team building
Multiculturalism: Putamaya Kids music CD’s, Kid's of the world puzzles
Manipulatives: Peg Stackers, Puzzles, Blocks, Lacing Toys

We carry top brands such as Educational Insights, Learning Resources, Thinkfun games, Lauri Products and a variety of other manufacturers. Cataloques will be available upon request for special orders.
We will be happy to demonstrate many of these items for you. Believe it or not, I really do try to play with everything that is in the store. With over 2400 items that is not always possible but I can still keep trying!

Come on in and let us show you how we can help your kids learn through play.

Poppo

2008-07-28T23:44:00.009-05:00

Do you remember playing Trouble and how much fun it was? I sometimes would just keep pushing the clicker just because I liked to get it to pop and shoot the dice up in the air. That's probably why I got pretty excited when I saw this new game called Poppo. You don't get just one popper, you get four and you get them all to yourself. I was in poppin heaven. I played this game at the American Specialty Toy Retailers Association convention back in June and was very excited about all of the possibilities that could be achieved with this new game. The object of the game is to get a word card and then pop out the lettered dice and spell that word. This is a great game that is very active in involving the child and it's a fun way for kids to challenge each other at spelling.

Zoobies - Now In Stock

2008-07-28T23:21:00.004-05:00

Have you heard about the new Zoobies yet? Bee Active Toys now has them available and ready to provide lots of cuddle love. In stock right now we have a Crocodile, Hippo, Elephant, Giraffe and Monkey and there are more on the way. As you can see in the pictures, these are more than just your average stuffed animal. Velcro tabs on their underbellies allow them to open up into a pillow or they can be unzipped and a comfy, cozy fleese blanket is inside waiting to be wrapped around your child to keep em warm. Come on in and check out these great little animals.

Welcome to Bee Active Toys

2008-07-28T23:07:00.002-05:00

Hello and welcome to Bee Active Toys official Blog. Here we will be keeping you up to date on all of the latest and greatest toys, games, puzzles, books, action figures and collectibles that we have in our store. Currently we have over 2300 fun items in the store just waiting for someone to come in and get them to take home and play with. We will try to keep you updated on a regular basis and of course you can always just come on in to the store and see what all the buzz is about at Bee Active Toys!

2008-07-28T22:17:00.000-05:00