Blogging Parent » Kids Toys

Total Recall II for Mattel Toys

Isaak Kwok — Wed, 15 Aug 2007 01:37:57 +0000

According to reports in the International Herald Tribune / New York Times / Guardian Unlimited / BBC News, there is a global recall for another 18.2 million toys from Mattel that were made in China that had little magnets that could fall out.

You can click here to see what the more than 80 toys that are recalled.

Technorati Tags: mattel, recall, safety risks, toys

Total Recall for Fisher-Price Toys

Isaak Kwok — Thu, 02 Aug 2007 04:20:38 +0000

Just read that Fisher-Price has made an announcement about a recall of up to 1 million Chinese-made Fisher-Price toys that contain paint that has excessive amounts of lead.

Thankfully, we don’t have many Fisher-Price toys and the ones we have are not on the recall list. You can check whether your toys are on recall list through this link on the Fisher-Price website.

Anyway, it’s still a good idea to make sure your kids don’t put the toys into their mouths just to be extra careful.

UPDATE: Here’s another write-up on International Herald Tribune.

UPDATE II - 3 August 2007: Just read in Singapore’s Straits Times today had an advertisement from Mattel that there are only 4 products that are recalled in Singapore. And in Australia, 43,000 toys are recalled and you can see the model numbers via the link.

Technorati Tags: fisher-price, recall, toys

Why Kids Love Thomas the Tank Engine?

Isaak Kwok — Mon, 30 Jul 2007 01:38:32 +0000

Matthew is currently in love with Thomas the Tank Engine. Just last evening, we bought a Thomas the Tank Engine pillow for him from Toys “R” Us. And he already has a train set, a VCD, a boxed set of books as well as a couple of T-shirts.

So, why does Matthew and many other kids around the world love Thomas the Tank Engine? Well, according to this article on Guardian Unlimited, it’s because of

straightforward stories, overt narrative resolution, bold colours and clear facial features

And for those very reasons, it’s educationally good for autistic children as it helps them distinguish emotions, colors, numbers and words.

I know Matthew always tells us what the trains are feeling when he sees the faces of the trains, whether it is on TV or in the books. Guess it helps him identify with the different emotions that he is going through.

Technorati Tags: books, children, toys, thomas the tank engine, tv series

Isaak’s Quick Links - 29 November 2006

Isaak Kwok — Wed, 29 Nov 2006 06:08:09 +0000

- Trophy Husbands
The news article looks at the increasing number of women who make more money than their husbands. And also the increasing number of men who take on the household duties while their wives work.

- The Answer to Long Life for Men is 9

A strong grip
Being married
Not smoking
Not being overweight
Low levels of bad cholesterol
A good education
Avoiding excessive amounts of alcohol
Maintaining a normal blood sugar
Having a normal blood pressure

Seems like I need to work on a few of the points listed above to ensure I live a long life. And to ensure I don’t step onto the roads without checking first.
(via Inside Fatherhood)

- Real-life Solutions to Everyday Living
One of the solutions listed that I find real useful, particularly when we have a dog and a young child.

If you want your upholstered furniture to survive, just have each piece hermetically sealed with crunchy-hard clear plastic.

- Ambitious parents spend on educational toys for toddlers
It has been reported that about US$1.7 billion was spent on “edutainment” toys with the figure reaching US$5.5 billion by 2010.

Well, I’ve got to admit that we do spend quite a bit of money this past year buying toys for Matthew. He has a couple of toys from LeapFrog plus others. And I’m sure we’ll be buying him more toys in the foreseeable future. Oh, and he wants a ‘Bob the Builder’ doll for Christmas.

- The Birthday Budget
A good way to inculcate in your child about the proper management of money through making him/her responsible for keeping to the budget of his/her birthday party.

Technorati Tags: family, parenting, toddler, toys