Kidcore Toys

At Kidcore Toys we have heard about the Partners Card for several years and we are so excited to be able to be part of such a great cause this year. The Partners Card is a unique charity event that benefits the Family Place. The Family Place is the largest family violence service provider in the Dallas area reaching out to thousands of victims of family violence each year with award-winning programs that keep women and children safe. For 33 years, The Family Place’s mission to end the epidemic of family violence has remained constant. They believe that intervention, emergency shelter, and crisis counseling for all victims—women, children and men, will save lives and that transitional housing and case management will transform lives for the better. By purchasing a Partners Card, you will be donating to an amazing local cause and in return you will receive a 20% discount at over 750 retailers and restaurants in the DFW area, what a perfect time to begin your holiday shopping. Partners Cards are $60 and can be purchased Starting Friday October 21st at Kidcore Toys. Once you purchase your card you can start planning your week of shopping that begins on October 28th and ends November 6th. Since its beginning in 1993, the Partners Card has raised more than $11 million to help end the cycle of abuse in our community. 100% of your $60 Partners Card purchase goes directly to supporting survivors of family violence. Here are some examples of what one Partners Card can do, buy diapers for a baby for 8 weeks, provide shelter for a mother and child for one night, and buy 25 bus passes to help women find employment, receive medical care and secure protective orders. We hope to see you at Kidcore Toys to be part of a wonderful cause this year! Take a look at the amazing video below done for the 2010 Partners Card to see how purchasing your card can be life changing for a member of our community who is need of our help.

Learn more about The Family Place at www.familyplace.org

Kidcore Toys Announces Try Me Program

The “Try Me” program is a brand new, risk-free way for customers to “test drive” products at Kidcore Toys. Since educators are sometimes on their own to provide unique and interesting products for classrooms, Kidcore Toys realizes that often, money is spent on items in which the kids have no interest! To avoid wasting money on unused items taking up space in classrooms, Kidcore Toys now offers the “Try Me” program. Teachers and administrators can check out some of the favorite and most popular items to use in the classroom to see if the kids really like them. Teachers are invited to visit the Kidcore Toys store in Arlington, Texas to check out the first “Try Me” product.

The first “Try Me” product is from one of Kidcore Toys’ favorite companies, Infinitoy. Infinitoy is the proud creator of the award-winning Zoob® Building Toys. ZOOB is an open-ended play system that is quick to learn and easy to use. Its ball & socket units easily snap, click, slide, and pop together to form unlimited creations. These tactile sensations enhance the enjoyment and play value, making children and adults feel compelled to touch, twist, and connect ZOOB units. ZOOB pieces are intuitive, easy-to-use, and packed with educational value, a factor that is becoming increasingly important to parents and educators as they select toys for their children. While kids are playing with ZOOB, they improve their abilities with spatial relationships, modeling, motor skills, creative visualization, and problem-solving. Each Zoob building set comes with enough pieces to provide up to five kids with a base and pieces to build. Appropriate for ages 6+. For a list of all Zoob building products at Kidcore Toys, please see Zoob Building Toys Keep checking back with us as more products are added to the “Try Me” list!

About Kidcore Toys

Kidcore Toys is a family-owned and operated store located in the Arlington Highlands shopping center in Arlington, Texas. The company was established in 1996, recently celebrating its 15th year in business. Kidcore Toys received the “Best Toy Store” award by Fort Worth Child Magazine 2011.

For more information contact:

Kidcore Toys
4001 Arlington Highlands Blvd., #161
Arlington, TX 76018
817.548.0498
www.kidcoretoys.com
www.facebook.com/kidcoretoystx
www.twitter.com/kidcoretoys

Kidcore Toys is a locally owned business, as are most of the businesses we work with on a regular basis, in addition many of our customers are local business owners as well so we felt the need to share this great project that was recently shared with us!

The 3/50 Project is a new outlook to save your local economy…three stores at a time! Here are the details of the 3/50 Project as they list them.

3

Think about which 3 independently owned business you’d miss if they were gone. Stop in and say hello. Pick up a little something that will make someone smile. Your contribution is what keeps those businesses around.

50

If just half of the employed U.S. Population spent $50 each month in independently owned businesses, their purchases would generate more the $42.6 billion in revenue.* Imagine the positive impact if ¾ of the employed population did that.

68

For every $100 spent in independently owned stores, $68 returns to the community through taxes, payroll, and other expenditures. If you spend that at a national chain, only $43 stays here. Spend it online and nothing comes home.

1

The number of people it takes to start the trend…you.

Pick 3. Spend 50. Save your local economy.

For more information on this fantastic project visit: the350project.net

*Employment statistics courtesy U.S. Labor Department 2/6/09 report; 68/43 stats courtesy Civic Economics

Thank you for reading this post! We hope you will take the time to share The 3/50 Project with your families, friends, and communities. For more information visit, the350project.net.

Today’s new Green Toys toy is the The Dump Truck The dump truck is a great toy for indoor or outdoor play for kids one and up. Kids can fill the dump truck bed, dump it, and fill it again. The dump truck is free also free of metal axles! Checkout the video below to see the dump truck at work! Just in case you have missed our previous posts here is a little about Green Toys. All Green Toys are made in the USA in San Francisco California and are manufactured from 100% curbside collected recycled plastic. Because Green Toys are made from recycled plastic this reduces greenhouse gases, saves energy, and minimizes their carbon footprint. Green Toys are safe and non-toxic meeting all international toy standards and contain no BPA. Their products are food safe and dishwasher safe. Of course even their packaging in recyclable and printed with soy ink! Get your dump truck and many other Green Toys at Kidcore Toys today!

Today’s new Green Toys item is the Tugboat. The tugboat is a fun water toys safe for ages 6 months and up. The tugboat floats and scoops and pours water. It has a handle that is easy for little ones to grab making it easy for little ones to scoop and pour! The Tugboat even looks like it has a face, created by the front windows, and opening to scoop water! The tugboat is available with a red, blue, or yellow cabin. Checkout the video below to see the tugboat in action! Just in case you missed yesterday’s post here is a little about Green Toys. All Green Toys are made in the USA in San Francisco California and are manufactured from 100% curbside collected recycled plastic. Because Green Toys are made from recycled plastic this reduces greenhouse gases, saves energy, and minimizes their carbon footprint. Green Toys are safe and non-toxic meeting all international toy standards and contain no BPA. Their products are food safe and dishwasher safe. Of course even their packaging in recyclable and printed with soy ink! Get your tugboat and many other Green Toys at Kidcore Toys today!

Today at Kidcore Toys we unpacked 5 new Green Toys! To share them with you, we will be featuring one each day over the next 5 days. Since it is Green Toys we are talking about we thought it only made sense to share the Green Toys Recycling Truck today, but first here is a little about Green Toys. All Green Toys are made in the USA in San Francisco California and are manufactured from 100% curbside collected recycled plastic. Because Green Toys are made from recycled plastic this reduces greenhouse gases, saves energy, and minimizes their carbon footprint. Green Toys are safe and non-toxic meeting all international toy standards and contain no BPA. Their products are food safe and dishwasher safe. Of course even their packaging in recyclable and printed with soy ink! Now on to the recycling truck perfect for ages one and up. With the recycling truck kids can sort cans, bottles, and paper, (all cuts out on the side of the box), then open the back of the truck and tip it back to dump the load and start over again. The cool eco-design of the recycle truck has no metal axles. The recycling truck is easily pushed and maneuvered by kids of all ages! Checkout the video below to see the recycling truck in action!

At Kidcore Toys the Melissa & Doug Shopping Cart is without a doubt a child favorite. We have a cart on the floor for the kids to shop with and I often have negotiate a trade with the kids to avoid a total meltdown. I give them a smiley face balloon they can take home and they give me the cart back. For the most part our negotiations go well, the balloon is not near as exciting but seems to do the trick. Since the shopping cart is so loved but a little pricey we have created two different money saving bundles to make purchasing it a little easier on your wallet. Choose from the Shopping Cart & Produce bundle which includes the shopping cart and 11 plastic fruits and vegetables which are a lemon, apple, nectarine, banana, orange, pear, tomato, carrot, corn, pepper, and cucumber; or choose the Shopping Cart & Groceries bundle which includes the shopping Cart and 18 wooden grocery items which are butter , cheese, vegetables, bologna, ice cream, yogurt, waffles, orange juice, milk, mustard, sugar, crackers, cereal, ketchup, spaghetti, tuna, soup, and salad dressing. Choose the best bundle for your family, and we will happily send it on its way to your little shopper!

Perfect for the 4th of July, checkout this recipe for red, white, and blue snack mixes, that the kids can help you make!

Prep Time: 5 Minutes
Makes 12 servings

You will need:
A medium mixing bowl
Cupcake pan liners

Ingredients :
1 cup of yogurt covered mini pretzels
½ cup of yogurt covered raisins
½ cup of dried pineapple, cut into small pieces
½ cup of dried banana chips
1/3 cup of dried blueberries
1/3 cups of dried cherries or cranberries

1. Combine all ingredients together in medium mixing bowl, toss them to blend everything well.
2. Spoon into cupcake liners and serve.
Store in an air tight container, makes about 3 ¼ cups.

Come by Kidcore Toys this weekend for all of you glow in the dark 4th of July needs. We have bracelets, wands, light show sticks, flashing rings, and more! If you are in need of a family friendly event Monday evening, come out to the Arlington Highlands starting at 7pm for snow cones and face painting. A Hard Day’s Night will play starting at 7:30 and a fireworks display with start a 9:30. Have an awesome weekend! Be safe and Happy 4th of July!

The Small World Toys Storybook Station is a busy activity center with fun around every corner! Kids will love all of the activities the Story Book Station has to offer including a magic mirror, talking light-up shapes, a driving game, a telephone, animal sound buttons, a story book to flip, and a piano style keyboard. Use the keyboard to play a one-octave scale - or with the press of a button play an assortment of wacky animal sounds and so much more! The Story Book Station teaches developmental skills including cause-and-effect, manual dexterity, and hand-eye coordination. The carry handles makes it easy to take along wherever you go! Come by Kidcore Toys serving the Dallas/Ft. Worth area and checkout the Small World Toys Story Book Station anytime! If you already have a Story Book Station or another great Small World Toys toy, tell us what you think about it.

Activity toys are a popular category at Kidcore Toys. We have everything from kid sized gardening tools, to kid powered riding toys and lots of things in between. While our Sunny Patch gardening tools and sand toys are must haves for the summer, here are 5 other fantastic activity toys we can’t seem to keep on our shelves during the summer months.

1. The PlasmaCar PlasmaCar is one of the coolest riding toys around! Its best feature is that it requires no batteries it is solely kid powered. PlasmaCar is easy to use and has a weight limit of up to 225 pounds making it great for all ages! Kids are sure to love riding the PlasmaCar and since it is great exercise you are sure to love it too! Available in a variety of colors there is a PlasmaCar for everyone! Some assembly required.

2. The OgoSport Disks The OgoSport Disks are a cool and entertaining toy for the entire family. The OgoSport Disks are an EVA foam ring with a nylon-spandex membrane center which creates a hand trampoline for balls! The OgoSport Disks are lightweight and easy for even little hands to grab. The play possibilities are endless! You can play a volleyball style game with the OgoSoft ball included, for added fun during the summer months try water balloons! If you want to try something different jump in the pool for a water polo style game the Ogosport Disks float! You can even throw the OgoSport Disks like Frisbees too! Available in two sizes the Super Sports Disk at 17” in diameter, and the Mezo Disk at 15” in diameter.

3. Rocket Balloons Rocket Balloons are fantastic for keeping kids busy! Inflate the balloons, they are 3 feet long inflated! Once the balloon is inflated let it go and watch it sail through and listen to it squeal. Rocket Balloons are reusable and Dads love them too!

4. The Super Skipper Kids jump to the music as the pole revolves around the electronic base, but don’t let the pole hit you or you’re out! Super Skipper has 3 exciting songs, 3 different speed modes and an acceleration mode that speeds up as it spins for the more advanced skippers, as well as 3 adjustable heights for beginner, intermediate, and advanced skippers. The telescoping poles fold up small for easy storage.

5. The Stomp Rocket UltraWith the Stomp Rocket Ultra, jump on the launch pad and a blast of air sends the rocket flying up to 200 feet in the air. Stomp Rocket Ultra rockets have an OG-1 nosecone for added fun! The Stomp Rocket Ultra set includes the launch pad and 4 foam rockets.

Come by and see these fantastic activity toys and lots of other great toys for summer at Kidcore Toys. We have toys perfect for travel, arts and crafts to keep the kids busy indoors and much more. Come by and see us in the Arlington Highlands shopping center. Located in the heart of the DFW Metroplex area.