We were lucky enough to attend the New York International Gift Fair 2011 on Monday, and I want to reiterate that this is one of our favorite trade-shows to cover based on the variety of the products there, which include anything you can think of that could be classified as a gift. We were able to taste different chocolates and candies, visit our favorite book publishers, see many different types of toys, and also find new and innovative products that we wanted to share with our readers. While we have selected our top picks in the kids’ area, we also snuck in a few things that parents may find cool.
Not only were we able to talk to all the book companies with their children’s books like HarpersCollins, Random House Children’s Books, Macmillan, and Little Brown, but we also got the opportunity to see the new Bear in Underwear book and plush toy (pictured below). The boys just love Bear in Underwear books, and seeing the plush was great.
Not to be outdone, Bad Kitty author Nick Bruel was signing books at the show. The Bad Kitty series was the most checked-out series by my older son from the library last year. We also got to witness a full-size Bad Kitty at the show.
So with books out of the way, it is time to introduce you to the new and fun products that BSCkids thinks you should put on your radar for gift-buying. First up is the chalk board tee, which is a shirt that has a chalk board built right into it. Using chalk, your child can design any type of shirt he or she wants, or proclaim any message. We asked about the washability of the shirt and were told it was just like any normal shirt. The kids would love this! They had a pretty neat design where the chalk board material was in the form of a super hero logo in the middle of the chest, so you could have your children design their own hero design.
One of my favorites was toobalink, which is a consturciotn toy where paper towel tubes and toilet rolls are your building blocks. It allows your children to have a toy that can help teach them about recycling and is something that’s fun to play with. Christmas wrapping swords will be stepped up a notch with this toy! And it’s a great plus that the building material is free. The set is designed for children ages 5 and up, but I could see letting younger kids use it with supervision. I also figure you can collect the tubes from all over the place like grandmother’s house or that favorite aunt or uncle–just tell them to bring them over, and you can make a toilet paper roll castle in your living room. A great idea that will help your children’s imagination.
Need to lock up your stroller while at the park? Well, buggyguard has you covered with a line of anti-theft stroller locks in cute designs. A perfect idea for the parents going to the amusement park. They also have a line of portable air conditioners, which would be great for the child in the stroller on a hot summer day.
Now, something for both the kids and the parents is the Zoku Duo Quick Pop Maker which you can find at Williams-Sonoma, among other stores. You can make ice pops “in as little as seven minutes on your countertop without electricity.” Sign me up, because we love making all different types of natural pops for the children, but the patience required to wait for them to freeze overnight can be in scant supply. The Zoku really does everything perfectly with the way you make the pops, as well as dealing with the sticking inside the container issue you sometimes get when you make your own pops. It has a screw type attachment to pull them right out. They have also introduced a Zoku Character kit, which allows you to make some really neat looking icepops with the stencils provided in the kit. I would love to make a cute character pop for the children to bite an ear off of or lick away an eye from. 🙂 There is also a kit that makes 3 pops instead of 2, and I can tell you this is going to be my first purchase of items we were introduced to at the show. Real pudding pops, yum!
Another item that was a huge interest to me as a Dad was the FireWire Double Prong Skewer. Either you are burning the wood skewer, or the metal one is burning you when you go to take the meat off. Firewire not only allows you to skewer in a circle, but since it can be wrapped, you can also marinate the meat right on the skewer. The other great thing is you can drop the end off of the grill, so even when the meat and veggies are cooked, your hand will not be as you take it off the grill.
The item that I was all sorts of hyped to see at the show was the Sip N Go, the Reusable Foldable Water bottle with Snaps! There may have been other knockoffs at the show, but Sip N Go is the real deal when it comes to water bottles. It surpassed my expectations in quality, and the fact that you can freeze it is a huge plus. Also the fact that it has a snap to keep it folded is great, as well. I can already imagine a million and one uses for the water bottle, but my favorite so far is when you are biking or running and are done with it, you just slip it in your pocket. Okay, a better one: you throw it in a bag, and when your kids see a water fountain there’s no need for them to suck on the nozzle, since you can just fill up your Sip N Go. The fact that it is dishwasher safe is wonderful, and it has an insulated lining, carrying handle, and is BPA-free. It also stands up like a bottle.
Last but not least, if you want to clean up and be eco-friendly, make sure to check out People Towels, a reusable personal hand towel that is a great alternative to paper towels and friendly on the environment, as well. We got a great story behind the product and learned a bit of culture about places that do not use paper towels at all.