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Gift Guide 2013: Best in Blocks and Construction Toys

December 4 by Steph (MPMK Founder)

Best building toys for developing math, problem-solving, and spatial thinking skills - love that there are suggested age ranges

Building and construction toys, blocks in particular, are my absolute favorites for both my son AND my daughter. They are the ultimate open-ended creativity toy and I love that my children play with them for huge chunks of time, all while developing math, problem-solving, and spatial thinking skills. Just like our "Best Toys for Active Play Indoors and Out" Gift Guide, this guide is also a two-in-one. First up are our very favorite sets for open-ended building and construction-themed dramatic … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Fresh Finds: Playtime, MPMK's Comprehensive Toy Gift Guides Tagged With: best blocks for kids, best building toys for kids, best construction toys for kids, best LEGO toys, best Legos for kids, best toys for building, block gift guide for kids, Christmas gift guide, kids gift guide, Kids toy gift guide, LEGOs, magnatiles, MPMK gift guide

Dipped Oreo Cookies with Teddy Graham Toppers

December 3 by Janssen

Looking for an easy and fun treat to make with the kids this year for your favorite neighbors, teachers, and friends?  Look no further!   This semi-homemade recipe relies on the goodness or Oreos, Teddy Grahamas, and some melted chocolate. Easy enough to make dozens at a time and a definite crowd pleaser. These cute cookies are one of my favorite things to make around the holidays. They are darling, a nice combination of homemade and storebought, and make great teacher gifts. More … [Read more...]

Filed Under: In the Kitchen, Janssen Tagged With: Christmas gift, Christmas treats, teacher gift

Our Favorite Handmade Learning Toys (Plus 20% Off)

December 2 by Steph (MPMK Founder)

Happy Cyber Monday friends.  While you're online shopping the sales today, we wanted to make sure you don't forget about all the great handmade learning toys readily available to parents at the tap of a keystroke. And good news! One of our favorite purveyors of just these types of toys, and also our newest sponsor, is generously offering up a discount to MPMK readers. … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Fresh Finds: Playtime Tagged With: handmade toys, learning toys, sponsored, wood toys

MPMK Gift Guide: Go-To Gifts for Elementary Aged Kids

December 1 by Steph (MPMK Founder)

Great list to keep on hand for Christmas or the next time you child gets invited to a friend's birthday party!

I am such a fan of your website and emails! Thanks for working so hard, especially at Christmas shopping time! Grandparents have scored major points after I forwarded them your lists. -MPMK Reader, Lauren These are awesome! I’ve waited to make Christmas lists until they came out- and now I”ve shared with all my friends. The past two years I’ve used them and the gifts are ALWAYS a hit! -MPMK Reader, Ellen Welcome to the famous MPMK Gift Guides and congrats on finding the most comprehensive and … [Read more...]

Filed Under: MPMK's Comprehensive Toy Gift Guides Tagged With: best toys for elementary school kids, gift guide for elementary school students, kids Christmas gift guide, kids gift guide, MPMK gift guide, toy gift guide

Black Friday Sales on MPMK Ultimate Gift Guide Toys!

November 29 by Steph (MPMK Founder)

Happy Black Friday friends, I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving! I got up extra early this morning to scope out the on-line sales and promptly sent my best finds off to my newsletter readers (sign up here to join). Normally, I don't share newsletter bonus material here on the blog but thought I'd make an exception today so you guys can get in on the deals too. These are 2013 Ultimate Toy Gift Guide selections that are on special Black Friday sales - which seem to be going on past Black … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Fresh Finds: Playtime, MPMK's Comprehensive Toy Gift Guides

Gift Guides 2014: Best Art Supplies for Open-Ended Creativity

November 26 by Steph (MPMK Founder)

Welcome to the famous MPMK Gift Guides and congrats on finding the most comprehensive and easy-to-use kids' gift guide on the internet! (If you're not familiar with our famous lists, learn all about them here)... Yay! I'm so excited it's time to talk about art supplies as part of this year's Gift Guide collection.  This is one of my favorites. But that probably doesn't surprise you, huh?  You all know how much I love anything that promotes open-ended creativity... I believe that every house … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Fresh Finds: Playtime, MPMK's Comprehensive Toy Gift Guides Tagged With: art supplies for kids, art supplies gift guide

The Forever Home Project: A Rustic Holiday Mantle

November 25 by Julee

Julee is back today with a seasonal addition to The Forever Home Project.  I love her easy-to-do ideas and I'm seriously thinking about picking up one of those bay leaf garlands - so gorgeous (see the Etsy link in the post). Without further ado, here she is... I'm so excited to spend the holiday season in our new home that I started decorating the day after Halloween. A little crazy, I know! My first project to tackle was the fireplace in our formal living room. We decided to place our … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Julee, Seasonal Fun, The Forever Home Project

Free Printable: 24 Page Thanksgiving Planner w/ Full Recipes!

November 21 by Steph (MPMK Founder)

Free Printable: Thanksgiving planner with full menu & shopping list plus an hour-by-hour cooking and prep guide. (Love the suggested wines too!)

Thanksgiving is next week and I'm giving my thanks to all of you for being such loyal and wonderful readers with this FREE 24 page PDF download.  Put together by our friends at Relish!, it contains everything you need to make Thanksgiving fabulous this year including: A full Thanksgiving menu complete with mouth-watering recipes A complete grocery shopping list How-to sections on defrosting, brining, carving and making the perfect gravy Recommendations and descriptions of 6 "perfect … [Read more...]

Filed Under: In the Kitchen, Meal Planning, Project Organize Your ENTIRE Life, Seasonal Fun Tagged With: Thanksgiving meal plan, Thanksgiving menu planner, thanksgiving recipes

Must-Make: Framed Family Recipe with Photo

November 20 by Steph (MPMK Founder)

Must make for Mother's Day! Framed photo of grandma with her trademark recipe - post has link for editable recipe card.

Today I bring you one of my all-time favorite gift ideas EVER!  The genius in this gift is that it has sentiment and thoughtfulness in spades but is shockingly easy to put together. This will be a gift for my mom that I know she will treasure as my "Nana" is no longer with us. You could easily knock several people off your gift list with this same idea in no time, especially with the free recipe card printable that's 100% editable so you don't have to worry about pretty handwriting. Ready … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Creating & Engaging, Photography & Memory Keeping, Seasonal Fun Tagged With: DIY Christmas gift, DIY Mother's Day gift, editable recipe card, frame recipe, Mother's Day Gift Ideas, photo gift

Family Advent Activity List & DIY Advent Calendar!

November 19 by Steph (MPMK Founder)

24 Advent activities for families to do together plus a modern DIY Advent calendar easy to make with kids of all ages

With next week being all about Thanksgiving and December rolling around right after that, this is the perfect week to get your Advent calendar squared away.  Of course, we're here to help with our list of 24 of our all-time favorite Advent activities for families. We've included activities that fall all over the preparation level spectrum (although we definitely tended towards the less-prep side of things).  I also fully reserve the right to switch the day's activity when my kids' heads are … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Creating & Engaging, Seasonal Fun Tagged With: advent activities, advent calendar, family advent activities, family advent calendar, family Christmas activities

MPMK Gift Guide: Top Learning Toys for Building STEM Skills

November 18 by Steph (MPMK Founder)

Best toys for building STEM (science, technology, engineering & math) skills - love the range of ages covered here. This is just one of 10 gift guides and I tell all my friends about them - super detailed and suggested ages too!

  Welcome to the famous MPMK Gift Guides and congrats on finding the most comprehensive and easy-to-use kids' gift guide on the internet! (If you're not familiar with our famous lists, learn all about them here)... With all the talk I've been doing on the blog about the importance of fostering STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) skills, I felt I absolutely had to include a STEM themed gift guide. I just keep hearing over and over how important cultivating innovation is … [Read more...]

Filed Under: MPMK's Comprehensive Toy Gift Guides Tagged With: best learning toys, best S.T.E.M. toys, Best STEM toys, best toys, Christmas gift guide, favorite, MPMK gift guides, MPMK S.T.E.M. gift guides, MPMK STEM gift guide, S.T.E.M. gift guide, STEM gift guide, top learning toys, toy gift guide

A New Holiday Party Tradition: Ice Cream Sandwich Bar

November 18 by Natalie

We've got a real treat for you guys today.  This ice cream sandwich dessert bar is so tempting I'm thinking of throwing an ugly sweater party just to have an excuse to set one up.  Be sure you read through to the end of the post for all of Natalie's amazing sandwich combination suggestions. Ginger Molasses Cookies with Eggnog Ice Cream rolled in crushed candy canes anyone? Question of the Day What's your favorite dessert for holiday parties? The holiday season and cookies go hand in hand, … [Read more...]

Filed Under: In the Kitchen, Seasonal Fun

Thanksgiving Books for the Kids

November 15 by Janssen

It's been a while since we've let our children's librarian, Janssen, do her thing. So get your library cards out, here are her picks for the the books that will get your kids super excited for Turkey Day this year. If you're looking for a couple more Thanksgiving recommendations, check out these on her blog.) With kids, it's sometimes easy for Thanksgiving to get lost in the shuffle. Halloween is such a kid-centric holiday and then Christmas is, indisputably, the biggest holiday of them all - … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Janssen, The Book Nook Tagged With: children's books, picture books, Thanksgiving books

Preventing Entitlement: A Gratitude Chore Game

November 13 by Steph (MPMK Founder)

Bet you didn't think the words "gratitude" "chore" and "game" really went together did you?  With all the holiday stuff I've been doing lately, I've been thinking a lot about another word, one that can sometimes arise as a consequence of too much focus on the gifts: entitlement. I started to think about this discussion we had on mindfulness and daily chores as part of our virtual book club last year. Do you remember discussing this quote? Housework may be the best opportunity to practice … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Parenting Tagged With: children's chore lists, chores by age, kid chore lists

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