Mom's Zen

In honor of the holiday season, I am sharing some of the best presents we have experienced in our household.  These are our experience or opinions, as my daughter’s birthday is in November.  I hope this list gives you some good ideas in case you are having a difficult time deciding this year.

My kids are art fiends, so when we saw the Crayola Crayon Maker at the store, we knew it was a must have.  I also thought this would probably be one of those hard to find gifts, so I got this in early November.  My daughter got this for her birthday, so we have already played with it.  How awesome!  You put in your bits and pieces of crayons and presto, change-o you get brand new swirly crayons.  Coolest present ever!  Seriously though, this is a must have for the art lover on your list!

Another winner is the Lego Master’s Builder Academy.  We recently went to a Lego KidsFest, where the kids got to go to a session with a Lego Master Builder.  While at this session, we learned more about this cool set that .  It comes with a detailed design book with diagrams and building tips to build a model.  It also has an exclusive Minifig, which is sought after by collectors.  Kits 2-6 are available for purchase to build upon the skills learned in the last kit.

We have a lot of techies in our household.  One of the games I was impressed with is Scribblenauts.  This really innovative game is a unique puzzle/action-platforming game for Nintendo DS/DSi in which solutions to challenges faced in-game literally take shape out of the words and phrases that the player spells out.

Another game we love in our house is Little Big Planet 2.  This game allows the gamer to create scenarios that can be shared with friends and rated.  More importantly is the creativity of this game.  The adorable sackboy is the main character that can be individualized and saved.  This game is an adventure, a creative joy and won the Game of the Year for the original Little Big Planet.

A classic game that is hours of fun is Guess Who by Hasbro.  At Thanksgiving this year, we re-discovered this classic and had some amazing family memories.  I highly recommend this classic.  They have the original version, electronic versions, and even travel versions.  This game is sure to make game night a hit in your house too!

Please let me know what toys made your nice list this year.