Amazingly Cool Night Lights & Toys for Kids

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Amazingly Cool Night Lights & Toys for Kids

Post by roxybeast » November 30th, 2009, 4:19 am

<center>Amazingly Cool Night Lights & Toys for Kids (& Adults)</center>

We're considering getting my twins some cool night lights for their room for Christmas. So I put together this list of some of my favorite night lights & space-age lighting devices from ThinkGeek.com with links! Might make a really cool & useful Christmas present this year!

And below the cool lighting suggestions, have added some really cool toy ideas I've found in shopping for my twins this year! :)

Awesome space-age lighting ideas for night lights for kids rooms (or even for adult mood & party lighting!) .... might just make your kids actually want to go to bed!

Here's a link to the Mathmos Space Projector. I have one now that Abby & Bella love at bedtime! (Caution you will need to turn it off after about 5 hours or so to keep it from getting too hot & burning out, but it's still way cool & my twins just love falling asleep while watching this!) Projects light through a rotating lens filled with color gels that eventually get pretty trippy like a multi-color lava lamp projected on the wall or ceiling ... you can buy additional gel lenses for other color variations ... I even use this sometimes for lighting at music shows!
http://www.thinkgeek.com/gadgets/lights/600c/

This is cool - the 21st century lava lamp from Mathmos* at ThinkGeek.com
http://www.thinkgeek.com/homeoffice/lights/7226/
(The Mathmos company actually invented the very first lava lamp in the 60s!)

Here's a real old-style lava lamp from the same company - ThinkGeek.com
http://www.thinkgeek.com/gadgets/lights/c872/
or get lava lamps at Spencer Gifts only $19.99
http://www.spencersonline.com/product/5 ... lava-lamp/

Here's a Plasma Ball light from the same company - ThinkGeek.com that might also work:
http://www.thinkgeek.com/geektoys/science/964e/

Here's an Aurora Borealis projector from the same company
http://www.thinkgeek.com/gadgets/lights/9a97/

Here's a Laser Stars projector from the same company
http://www.thinkgeek.com/gadgets/lights/8ed4/
(caution can't leave it on for more than 5 hours, and really should only use to get kids to go to sleep as eventually laser will burn out over time with more use ... note-this is $149 at thinkgeek, but I found it at a couple of other sites like amazon or this one for $99 ... http://www.shopgadgetsandgizmos.com/product/17128/
or for only $99 at Spencer Gifts ...
http://www.spencersonline.com/product/star-laser1/
or at Amazon for $105 ...
http://www.amazon.com/HPI-Hong-Kong-Lim ... B000QV97E8
Here's a video demonstration showing how it looks & works: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kG8sFGMK ... r_embedded#

The Mathmos color bubble light ...
http://www.thinkgeek.com/gadgets/lights/5ad0/

Sun & Moon jars - leave outside in day, take in house for a way cool nightlight ...
http://www.thinkgeek.com/homeoffice/lights/994a/

Glow brick night lights - same concept, leave outside to charge, bring in at night ...
http://www.thinkgeek.com/gadgets/lights/9b60/

Bi-Color Electronic Candles ... turn on & off simply by blowing on them ...
http://www.thinkgeek.com/gadgets/lights/94ce/

LED jellyfish Mood Lamp ... a jellyfish tank night light (not real jellyfish, but glow in dark)
http://www.thinkgeek.com/homeoffice/lights/9a8c/

Luminglass .. an electrical storm inside a glass plate (like a kitchen plate) ...
http://www.thinkgeek.com/homeoffice/lights/362c/action/

An LED faucet light ... hook it up to your faucet and change the water color to red or blue ...
http://www.thinkgeek.com/homeoffice/kitchen/8122/

LED magnetic graffiti ... small magnet colored lights that attach to any metal surface - cool ...
http://www.thinkgeek.com/gadgets/lights/b2c2/

Multi-Color LED Panel ... changes color ... great for a night light ...
http://www.thinkgeek.com/homeoffice/lights/9380/

And finally, here are some of non-light related toys I really like for kids to spur their creativity and imagination ...

Bucky Balls ... magnetic balls that stick together to form whatever your imagination can create (for kids/adults 12 & up, possibly younger, but you just have to make sure they don't eat or swallow them) ... these are way too cool ... endless possibilities for designs or words, and you can even wear them as jewelry! Way too cool! :)
http://www.thinkgeek.com/geektoys/science/bbe8/b/
-or- here: http://www.getbuckyballs.com/
Watch this video!: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UIYJiZ8Tf8w

The Smart E Plushies Talking Teddy Bear v2.0 ... plug into USB download the software & this plush teddy bear will address your child by name and tell him/her stories, sing songs, play games & interact with your child! ... also, comes as a dog or cat variety ... apparently works with either PC or MAC ... and can adjust USB download program to be more difficult as child gets older or to even work in foreign languages ... downside is that it will cost you 99¢ for each additional song or $1.99 for additional games, which are constantly being added to their website, so may continue to cost you money to add new songs, games & features ... but still a great product for kids in the 3-7 age range!
http://www.thinkgeek.com/geek-kids/3-7-years/bdb6/
(note - $60 at thinkgeek, but just found same bear at Amazon for $44 ... BEAR: http://www.amazon.com/Kids-Prefered-906 ... pd_sbs_t_1 or DOG: $49 http://www.amazon.com/Smart-e-Dog-Softw ... pd_sim_t_2 or CAT: $54 http://www.amazon.com/Kids-Preferred-Sm ... pd_sim_t_1 )

For young girls, Flitter Fairies ... young girls (8 & up) will absolutely LOVE this!
http://www.thinkgeek.com/geek-kids/7-13-years/b993/
Parents be sure to watch the instructional you tube video! ...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h6NPtzo-nEU
They even have their own website:
http://flitterfairies.com/

Scented pencils ... send your kids to school with pencils that smell like their favorite flavor! ...
http://www.thinkgeek.com/geek-kids/3-7-years/ba80/

The rolling laughing monkey ...
http://www.thinkgeek.com/geektoys/plush/bc30/

This is just cool & educational - an Anti-Gravity Globe ... that's right it hovers above your desk ...
http://www.thinkgeek.com/homeoffice/gear/98b8/

And, finally ...

Scanimation! Picture Books for Kids ... NY Times #1 bestseller for kids ...
Watch Video to see how it works - the pictures actually appear to move on each page! http://www.amazon.com/gp/mpd/permalink/ ... nt_fb_link

Gallop! Scanimation Book ... http://www.amazon.com/Gallop-Scanimatio ... 0761147632

Waddle! Scanimation Book ... http://www.amazon.com/Waddle-Scanimatio ... gy_b_img_b

Swing! Scanimation Book ... http://www.amazon.com/Swing-Rufus-Butle ... pd_sim_b_1
Last edited by roxybeast on November 30th, 2009, 6:06 pm, edited 2 times in total.

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Post by roxybeast » November 30th, 2009, 9:54 am

A friend also recommended this site for kids educational/learning toys ...
http://www.fatbraintoys.com/

From a cursory glance, it appears more dedicated to toys for toddlers ...

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Post by roxybeast » November 30th, 2009, 9:50 pm

These squishable pillow animals are very cute!

http://www.squishable.com/

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Post by roxybeast » December 1st, 2009, 2:22 am

Some of the toys the twins play with most often are ...

For boys or girls, a cheap electronic keyboard ($10-30) that has built in songs, and rhythms, and LED lights in the keys to help them learn songs. I frequently find them turning it on & just letting the pre-programmed songs play while they play, or dancing or singing to the built-in rhythms, or just playing the keys and trying to make up their own songs ...

For girls, 2-D magnetic dolls that stick on your refrigerator and come with a variety of outfits (we got these for $1 or $2 at Dollar General)

And, of course, for boys or girls, tricycles or bicycles are always a big, big, big hit on Christmas morning! :),

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