Choosing Toys that Keep Kids Interested and Engaged
If your family includes gift giving in your celebration of the holidays, you are probably familiar with the wildly enthusiastic reaction kids have when they see piles of brightly wrapped packages waiting to be opened. Those moments of hyper-charged anticipation when excited children can barely contain themselves add to the holiday magic for many families.
Yet many of those same families experience a let-down after all the gifts are unwrapped and all the must-have toys are assembled and filled with the required number of size AA batteries. The same child who asked over and over for that heavily advertised ultra-popular toy plays with it for a while, and then quickly loses interest. Read the rest »
By Katherine on 11/23/07 in Children, Toys, Columns, Tookie's, Holidays
As the summer days grow shorter and begin to fill up with school shopping, school physicals, and getting the family organized for the fall, your preschooler or kindergarten child may be showing signs of anxiety about making that BIG transition to being a BIG kid who goes to school. What can parents and grandparents do to help?
“One of the best ways to get young kids prepared for a school environment is to promote healthy, constructive play,” says Susan J. Oliver, Executive Director of the national not-for-profit organization Playing for Keeps. “To be ready for school means a child has developed in a more or less balanced way—she is physically competent for her age; able to form relationships and play cooperatively with others; is curious and open to learning; and can listen and speak in a manner appropriate for her age. If a child has spent his early years engaged in good, old fashioned play—which is the way kids learn those skills—chances are he will be more than ready for school.” Read the rest »
By Katherine on 07/21/07 in Parents, Toys, Featured, Columns, Tookie's, Clever Living
Kids want the “hot” new toys for holiday, but parents worry: What happens when those holiday fads fade? Now there’s a list of exceptional toys that children will love to play with long after the holidays. Tookie’s Toys shares its “Top 20 Toys” list for Holiday 2006, compiled by the American Specialty Toy Retailing Association (ASTRA). This one-of-a-kind list is based on input from stores such as Tookie’s Toys around the country, the “toy professionals” who spend every day of the year working with consumers and kids. This daily interaction gives these
retailers unmatched, firsthand knowledge of toys that are truly compelling to both kids and parents.
“Every year, parents tell us how some of the latest, trendy toys and gadgets end up at the bottom of the toy box soon after the holidays,” said Katherine Hodges, owner of Tookie’s Toys. “But a toy from Tookie’s Toys will ignite the imagination and provide a different play experience every time the child picks it up. These unique, fun toys inspire creativity, making them favorites the children turn to again and again all year round.”
These toys also earn high approval ratings from parents and educators by helping children build developmental skills, Read the rest »
By Katherine on 10/15/06 in Toys, Columns, Tookie's
Growing up, Katherine Hodges favorite thing was to play “store” using her toy cash register. Her first job was working for a family owned specialty toy store when she was 15 years old. Katherine liked the store and the work so much she continued to work there through college and beyond. And in 2001, Katherine and her husband, John, bought the toy store and renamed it Tookie’s Toys after a nickname given to Katherine from her nephews. Clever Parents caught up with Katherine to learn more about how she selects the toys she sells, customer service and tips for non-parents who want to buy a toy for a child. Read the rest »
By Kris on 10/9/06 in Parentrepreneur, Toys, Featured, Raleigh, Tookie's, Raleigh Shopping, 2006 Business Spotlights
