Imagination & Knowledge

"Imagination is more important than knowledge" ~Albert Einstein

This quote from Albert Einstein is sure to cause some discussion among our readers – is imagination MORE important than knowledge, or is it JUST as important? We’re not going to entertain the question of whether imagination is less important than knowledge, because we believe imagination is an integral part of a child’s development and education.

And yes, we are biased, considering we sell items that are made to foster children’s imaginations and creativity. And proudly so! We love the fact that the stuffed animals and figurines and puppets in our store are things that take kids on magical adventures, whether it be jungle safaris or animal tea parties or dinosaur hunting.

For some new, fun ways your kids can foster their imagination by playing with stuffed animals and toys, take a look at this post and this post!

PS, this awesome imagination illustration is for sale here!

Folkmanis Puppets Win Parents Choice Awards

A couple weeks ago we posted about a few of our brands that had been recognized by Dogster.com for having cute and realistic stuffed dogs. Now we're proud to brag about another one of our favorite brands, Folkmanis, whose puppets (also very cute and extremely realistic) have been honored by the Parents Choice Foundation in their annual Parents Choice Awards!

American Alligator Puppet: Gold Award

Parents Choice says: "Eerily realistic except for size, this beautifully-constructed 32-inch puppet can be used not only for fun and entertainment but also for curriculum development in science... A printed attachment provides interesting facts about alligators and related folklore. This highly appealing toy may be correlated with numerous storybooks, such as Mercer Mayer's There's an Alligator under My Bed or Maurice Sendak's Alligators All Around. Stylish young practical jokers could even attach a gold chain and carry this puppet as an alligator "purse."

Nibbling Mouse Puppet: Silver Award

Parents Choice says: This six-inch-tall furry mouse has a feature rarely found in puppets: a 360-degree rotating head. The body cavity typically used for hand/finger insertion contains a plastic stick that may be grasped and rotated. Such maneuvering can mimic the shaking head gesture (for "no") or other quick, darting movements... The story "Church and Cheese" is attached, and numerous children's books could be correlated with this lovable critter, such as Laura Joffe Numeroff's If You Give a Mouse a Cookie.

Little Puppets: Silver Award

Parents Choice says:  The Folkmanis set of "Little Puppets" includes six half-body hand puppets ranging from six to ten inches in height. These tiny but fierce creatures (an alligator, hare, brown bear, polar bear, chipmunk, and lion) all have four "finger openings" that allow puppeteers... to "bite" their own two front legs/paws-or to "talk" and gesture at the same time. All are sturdily constructed with both realistic and cuddly features.

 

And those are just a fraction of the wonderful, realistic puppets we carry from Folkmanis. Visit their brand page on our site to see all of the animals - from dogs and cats to bugs and even dragons - they bring to life!

Educational Toys: Safari Limited Toobs

It's a sad truth that educational toys aren't always fun. Although they might have seemed entertaining to the toy developers, they fall flat when presented to actual kids who, if they have to learn, want it to be fun.

The Toobs from Safari Limited do NOT fall into this category. Their realistic mini figurine sets are the type of toys that encourage imagination and play while still presenting educational opportunities. The Toobs cover a variety of themes, from animals to vehicles, dinosaurs to historic humans. Take a look at a few of our most popular Toobs.

Space Shuttle Toob

 On The Farm Toob

Coral Reef Toob

Knights And Dragon Toob

Dinosaurs Toob

Cats Toob

Toobs are the perfect toys to take with you anywhere, since the figurines come in a resuable plastic tube for easy and portable storage! They're also great for dioramas or educational projects and presentations. AND, each Toob retails for only $9.98! To see our entire selection of Toobs from Safari Limited, click here.

Show Off Those Fabulous Figurines!

We were looking around Pinterest the other day and came across this photo that we wanted to share with our readers. It's a great way to artistically display some of your child's (or your) favorite animal figurines on a shelf or desk top.

The glass jar next to the figurines gave us another decorating idea: Fill clear jars or canisters with all of your child's figurines. It's easy storage, keeps them contained and will look great on a shelf (as evidenced by the picture below)!

Want to see more ideas on decorating with animal toys and items? Then check out our Pinterest board!

Images via here and here.