My daughter, like most little girls, loves jewelry. I often sit with her while she is making bracelets and necklaces using her beads. I was looking for something new to do with her. This Artterro Collage Jewelry Kit was the perfect activity! She was still able to make jewelry and I was able to introduce new crafting techniques like decoupage.

What does your family look like? How about the family down the block?

Guidecraft makes beautiful wooden multicultural family figurines that reflect the diversity around us.

Both my preschooler and toddler, as well as visiting kindergartners and school-aged children engage in creative, pro-social play with these chunky blocks for hours on end…

I spotted this beautiful and educational wooden leaf shape puzzle over at Just Hatched’s Etsy Shop…

Learning another language is a big brain boost–plus it is tons of fun, too.

We’ve written before about the benefits of bilingualism. Watching a language video, like the ones from Little Pim, with your older toddler, preschooler, kindergartner, or grade-school age child can help boost proficiency–especially if you discuss the video with your child. And if you are not a native speaker, DVDs and CDs in foreign languages are absolutely essential as part of your language program…

Looking for a last-minute Hanukkah present or last-minute Christmas present? Visit your local toy store! There are so many benefits to shopping locally. One of the big benefits: education. Local stores provide personalized service. I have a great relationship with my local store owner, and I have appreciated some of their tips and product recommendations. My neighborhood toy store carries unique educational toys. But I bet you didn’t know that you are actually supporting your local schools when you shop locally.

As a mom and an educational consultant, I believe in the power of play. A few carefully chosen toys can boost creativity and problem solving–here are a few of our top picks this year. With the best educational toys, your children will not even realize how much they are learning!

Kids love tracing. My daughter will set there filling page after page, tracing numbers and letters. In an attempt to save a few trees, I got her a dry-erase book for copying her letters and numbers. Which works pretty well until she forgets to clean it or the pen dries out or her baby brother gets ahold of the marker and tries to eat it.

Even better? The LeapFrog Scribble & Write…

Since Deb and I are involved in education, we like to support educational charities. Literacy is especially important since it provides the foundation for lifelong learning.

As soon as I heard about Reach Out and Read, I knew I wanted to get involved…

Jumpstart believes in the potential inside of each child to succeed and learn and focuses on early literacy as the path to fulfilling that potential.

As a mother, as an educator, and as a human being, I believe that literacy is one of the most important gifts we can give to our children. Reading is a key to entire worlds filled with possibilities. Which is why it is so important that we give every child access to books…