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  • Home
  • About Us
    • Guestbook
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  • Blogs
    • Animal House
    • Crafty Corner
    • Deep Thoughts from the Bus Stop
    • Momoirs
    • NJ Mom's Blog Posts
    • ParenthoodNJ's Picks
  • Education
    • Money Matters - Kids
    • Back to School Guide
    • Preschools, Private Kindergarten & Child Care >
      • Preschool/Day Care Open Houses & Special Events
    • Child Enrichment Programs >
      • Art, Dance & Theatrical Schools >
        • Culinary Creations
      • Art & Painting Fun for Kids
      • Music and Writing
      • Paint Your Own Pottery & Glass Studios
    • Special Needs Children
    • LibraryPrograms >
      • Books for Kids
    • Summer Reading Fun
    • ParenthoodNJ Recommended Reading >
      • Books NJ Kids & Parents Love
      • Book Lists from NJ Libraries
    • Foreign Language Getting Started >
      • Foreign Language Classes
      • Other Foreign Language Resources
      • Foreign Language Groups
      • Foreign Language Books
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      • Learning on TV
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      • Other Techie Learning & Fun
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    • Preschool, Private Kindergarten & Child Care
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    • Free Activities in NJ
    • Events Calendar >
      • Memorial Day Parades & Events in New Jersey 2014
      • July 4 Fireworks and Events in New Jersey
      • Halloween 2016 Events in New Jersey
      • Father's Day Fun
      • Other Halloween Fun
    • Winter Holiday Events Listings
    • Winter Holiday Fun Page
    • Annual County Events >
      • Atlantic County Annual Events
      • Bergen County Annual Events
      • Burlington County Annual Events
      • Camden County Annual Events
      • Cape May County Annual Events
      • Cumberland County Annual Events
      • Essex County Annual Events
      • Hudson County Annual Events
      • Hunterdon County Annual Events
      • Mercer County Annual Events
      • Middlesex County Annual Events
      • Monmouth County Annual Events
      • Morris County Annual Events
      • Ocean County Annual Events
      • Passaic County Annual Events
      • Salem County Annual Events
      • Somerset County Annual Events
      • Sussex County Annual Events
      • Union County Annual Events
      • Warren County Annual Events
    • St. Patrick's Day Parades & Events
    • LibraryPrograms
    • Child Enrichment Programs
    • Holiday Gift Guide 2011 >
      • Specialty Toy Stores
      • Plush Toy Review
      • Little Pim Review
    • Holiday/Seasonal Books >
      • Spring Holiday Books
      • Summer Holiday Books >
        • Summer Reading Fun
      • Fall Holiday Books
      • Winter Holiday Books >
        • Oscar the Kitten Review
    • Kid-Friendly Fun >
      • All About the Arts for Kids
      • Animal & Nature Lovers
      • Dinosaurs
      • Jr History Detectives
      • Knights & Dragons
      • Mad About Science
      • Outer Space Page
      • Pirates! Arrr!
      • Superheroes
      • Planes, Trains, Automobiles, Ships
      • Princess and Fairies Page
    • Kids Camps >
      • Camp Tour Dates & Open Houses
      • Summer Camps by theme
    • Other sites for events & activities >
      • Koddler Events New Feed
    • The Great Outdoors >
      • Amusement Parks
      • NJ Spraygrounds & Water Parks
      • NJ Ski areas
      • NJ Farms
      • County Parks in NJ
      • Rec Departments in NJ
      • Beach Towns
    • Zoos, Horseback Riding >
      • Zoos by county
    • Museums
    • For a Rainy Day
    • Sports & Recreation >
      • Indoor Rock Gyms
      • Gymnastics & Yoga
      • Skating Rinks
      • Soccer Programs
      • Swimming Classes
    • Historic Sites & Houses >
      • Revolutionary War History & NJ Sites
    • Theaters & Shows
  • Health & Safety
    • Travel Safety
    • General Health & Safety Resources
    • Safety Lessons for Kids
    • 10th Anniversary of Sept. 11
    • Fire Safety & Planning
    • Hurricane Sandy & Emergency Preparation
    • NJ Safety Resources
    • Warm Weather Safety
    • Winter Weather Safety
    • Swine flu and seasonal flu
    • Allergy Resources
    • Helping Kids in Need >
      • Holiday Fashion Show for Charity
    • Internet Safety
  • Misc Resources
    • ParenthoodNJ Forums
    • Shopping Deals
    • Adoption & Foster Care Resources
    • Pregnancy and Baby Resources
    • Entertainment & Party Planning >
      • Disney Frozen Birthday Party
      • Pirate Birthday Party
      • Superhero Birthday Party
    • Mompreneurs
    • Travel Resources >
      • Car Travel with Kids
      • Flying with children
      • Travel Safety
      • Travel Tourism by state
    • Green living >
      • ParenthoodGreenlist
    • Arthritis Walk
  • Classifieds
  • Child Care and Preschools in New Jersey

Holiday Toy & Gift Guide 2011

Holiday Shopping Deals, NJ Holiday Event Listings  & Holiday Calendar, Holiday Fun Page
Click on pictures for reviews or buying information; prices (including best/worst deals) are meant as a guide and were true at the time of posting (retailers continuously change prices so we apologize if a "deal" is no longer current).
On this page:
Toys and Dolls, Potentially Hot Toys, A Little Bit Different, Books, Creative Play,
Educational Books, DVDs and Games, Educational Toys, Game Console Systems

Free Shipping Deals! Avoid the stores and shipping charges. Free Shipping Day is December 16 - shop with participating merchants. Also, Real Simple Magazine's list of online retailers offering free shipping

Toys and Dolls

Picture
Our Plush Doll Review
Disney Princess & Me Dolls - ages 6 & up; 18-in dolls that seem like a cross between over-sized Barbies and smaller American Girl dolls; these two have become more desirable especially for princess-loving girls and parents who don't want to spend $100 on an American Girl doll; characters include Tiana, Aurora, Belle & Cinderella and now Rapunzel; sold at Amazon, Toys R Us; $49.50 average price at Disney & a little more at Toys R Us; Amazon sold many for twice that; they also have a 16-inch version

Uglydolls - all ages; soft-covered characters in a variety of sizes & colors; they have become more popular since being sold by Toys R Us; you can buy directly or find a store in NJ; small 7-in ones are $10, large 14-in are $20 and 2-ft ones are $50;
American Girl Dolls - ages 3 & up (mostly for choking hazards) & some for girls 8 & up; these are still among the most popular dolls for little girls; pick your own Bitty Baby's hair (not real hair, just plastic), eye & skin color; ($45 for 15-in baby, book, toy bear & outfit); 18-in dolls start at $95 for the doll, outfit & book (better deal getting a ready-made doll than picking your own); dolls mostly available at American Girl although you might find accessories cheaper at other retailers like Amazon




Books

Christmas and Winter Holiday books - books suggested by ParenthoodNJ for all ages this holiday season
Oscar the Christmas Kitten (Robert & Beverly Kynor) - preschoolers and older; a heartwarming story of a kitten who is lost around Christmas (see review here); available at FHL Publishing and Borders; $13.95
Sports Illustrated Kids: All Access - for kids and adults who love baseball; see our review here; retailers include Walmart, Barnes & Noble and Amazon; $13.50
Amazon had best price (with free shipping)
Holiday Deals! Check out our list of retailer deals, special prices on selected items & ways to save
Little Pim Fun With Languages

Tips on Toy Safety
& Recall Info from BabyCenter


ParenthoodNJ Holiday Fun

Winter Holiday Events Listings
Winter Holiday Calendar
Annual County Events

Winter Holiday Books

Winter Holiday Contest
Winter Holiday Fun Page
The Holidays w/Kids & Dogs


Educational Books, DVDs and Games

Picture
Little Pim Language DVDs
Little Pim- Foreign Language DVDs for ages 0 to 5 in Arabic, English (ESL), French, German, Hebrew, Italian, Japanese, Mandarin Chinese, Russian & Spanish - see our review
Leapster 2  Learning System - ages 4 to 8; Leapfrog's handheld learning system with more than 40 games with popular characters including Disney Princess and Toy Story; green or pink console or limited edition princess Leapster; average price $39.99 plus the cost of games; sold at Leapfrog, Amazon, Toys R Us, Walmart (which sells bundles of the console & games), Target
MobiGo Learning System - ages 3 to 8; V-Tech's handheld; touch-activated screen and a QWERTY slide-out keyboard; dozens of games with popular characters including Disney Princess, Mickey Mouse & Cars ; comes in blue or pink with one game cartridge; average price is $59.99;  sold at Vtech, Amazon, Sears, Target, KMart, Walmart & Toys R Us; Walmart has best price of $49.54 (if you can get them); Amazon also good price of $49.99 with free shipping

Educational Toys

Encyclopedia Britannica Talking USA Puzzle - for ages 4 & older (choking hazard for under 3 yrs); talking puzzle has a voice that identifies the state name, capital city and nickname for each of the 50 states; retailers include Amazon, Toys R Us, Target, Walmart; $25
Leapfrog Interactive Maps - for Tag Reader pens; there is an American map and a World map; they retail for $19.95 but Leapfrog and Amazon sometimes offer deals
Learn & Groove Musical Table - for ages 6 to 36 months (although my 4-year-old still loves it so you'll get a lot of mileage out of it); you can get bilingual spanish/english; available at Amazon, Leapfrog, Walmart, Target, Toys R Us and Ebay (these are pretty durable so used should be fine, but confirm condition); best price $35.54 (with free shipping) at Amazon
Crayola Dry-Erase mats -
Lamaze Plush Learning Toys - infant to toddler; cute animals with crinkly limbs, jingling parts and different textures for little ones to explore; variety of animals including Stretch the Giraffe & Henry the Hippo; about $10 to $12; sold at Amazon, Kohls, Babies R Us

Potentially Hot Toys

Some of the hot toys this year? This list might help with ideas but it's kind of odd that the Elefun Ball Popper is on the list, a toy that is at least a few years old

Learning Tablets for kids - the top contenders are Leapfrog's Leappad Explorer which retails for $100 and VTech's Innotab selling for about $80 - the main differences: Leappad Explorer is smaller and has a built-in camera and video recorder; the Innotab has an SD card for expandable memory and a music player
Sing-A-Ma-Jigs - 3 to 6 years; plush toys that sing when squeezed; characters have different vocal ranges and can sing alone or harmonize with other Sing-A-Ma-Jigs; they still seem to be pretty popular among kids; average price about $13 but you can find some cheaper; sold at Toys R Us, Target, Amazon (most expensive), Walmart has best price of $9 if you can find them
My Keepon -

A Little Bit Different

Strong Start Solar Laptop - for ages 4 & up; preschool games & activities, plus 10 number buttons that convert to a musical keyboard; uses 3 AA batteries while solar panel recharges; $39.95 at Young Explorers; Amazon sells a similar solar laptop for $34.95
Recordable Story Books - all ages; Hallmark offers 15 titles for $29.95 (but you can now take $10 off) where you can record your voice; Amazon also sells books ranging from $5 to $20, depending on the title; a great gift idea for the child who doesn't live nearby
Personalized Books - kids who can read will appreciate this more but all ages will enjoy literally becoming part of the story when his or her name is included in the narrative; Identity Direct sells the major brands such as Disney Fairies for $12.99; DH Books also offers personalized books for $12.95 for superheroes like Batman, Scooby Doo and Sesame Street and other titles for $10.95

Find
FAO Schwarz
items at Toys R Us
and
our list of
Specialty Toy Stores

Creative Play

Lego Duplo Play with Numbers - for ages 2 to 5; big blocks ideal for little builders and for a bonus, they can help teach numbers; $25; can be found at retailers including Walmart, Amazon (the cheapest with free shipping), Sears, Target,  Toys R Us (seemed most expensive). Note: some retailers call it Duplo Learning 5497
Fisher Price Little People Farm - ages 1 to 5; barn that makes sounds, Little People animals & farmer; the youngest will learn what sounds animals make & older kids will enjoy playing with the set (& hearing the sounds); really any Little People set is a great imaginative toy that grows with boys & girls; the farm retails for $40 but you can find it for less at Toys R Us, Walmart & Amazon but best price at Target for $29.09
B. Toys Parum Pum Pum Drum - suggested for 18 to 24 months (but preschoolers will enjoy; see review); a drum and other instruments including a tamborine and maraca; retailers include Target (in stores only), Amazon, Bed Bath & Beyond, Barnes & Noble (BBB & B&N were most expensive) $20
Felt Tales Storyboards - ages 2 (with parent) & 3 to 7; parents & kids can create stories & scenes with felt people & animals; fosters imaginative play; various boards/scenes from farm animals, to pirates to princesses; average price is $19.95 at Buy.com, Babaluinc & sometimes Toys R Us, which but you can find them cheaper; for example, a pirate & princess on are selling on Amazon for $15
LeapFrog Enterprises Inc.

Hi-Tech Wish Lists for Santa

Picture
You can avoid the long lines at the malls & hop on your computer to tell Santa your holiday list.

Kids (with parents) can chat with Santa online, send him an email & even get a personalized email from Santa Claus.


Game Console Systems

Check our 2010 Holiday Gift Guide for detailed information.

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