By choosing non-toxic toys for your little ones, you can feel good about sharing toys that are both fun and safe. Here are some natural, eco-friendly and educational choices that are great options for all the kids in your life.

Wild Republic
Fun comes naturally at Wild Republic because they educate children about the beauty and wonders of nature in entertaining and creative ways. They provide a wide range of safe, interactive and innovative toys that spark the imagination and make learning fun. Their Audubon Bird collection with plush birds and real bird calls, focuses on education and preservation of wildlife. Kids can learn about different types of birds, hear their beautiful songs and find out more about their migration and natural habitats. www.wildrepublic.com  

BeginAgain Toys
BeginAgain is a creative mix of old timey storytelling and responsibly crafted invention. Their mission to is to tell stories through toys, to teach through play, and to invent in partnership with the planet.  That’s why they use safe, earth-friendly materials like natural rubber, natural cotton fabrics, sustainably harvested woods, wheat starch plastic and bamboo. www.beginagaintoys.com

Melissa and Doug
Melissa and Doug was started 25 years ago by a husband and wife team in the basement where Doug grew up. Since then, they have grown to offer more than 2,000 toys that focus on an innovative approach to learning. Their Smarty Pants card sets are designed to fit the skills and curriculum of each grade level. Each set features fun games and quizzes to reinforce learning, expand the imagination and explore the power of the mind. www.melissaanddoug.com 

Green Toys Inc.
Green Toys Inc. makes an awesome line of classic children’s toys constructed from recycled plastic and other environmentally friendly materials. This helps reduce fossil fuel use and reduce greenhouse gas emissions, improving the overall health and happiness of the planet. Make sure to check out their non-toxic teethers and their super duper pink dumptruck. Girls like to play in the dirt, too! www.greentoys.com 

Crocodile Creek
Crocodile Creek provides a number of non-toxic and educational toy and accessory options for kids. Their NEW fun & challenging 200-piece puzzle sets come with a perfectly-sized wall poster and feature delightful and humorous illustrations. Packaged in a reusable storage canister, it’s a great way to discover and learn about the USA, Space and Ocean. Also, make sure to check out their easy travel puzzles for when you go on the road! These fun 100-piece puzzles come in a reusable pouch that is easy to take with you. www.crocodilecreek.com

We had unseasonably warm, rainy and gloomy Christmas Eve weather on our farm in NJ. With deep appreciation for loved ones present, elsewhere and my departed parents, we feasted on heritage turkey raised here and organic vegetables from the fall harvest. Our younger kids went to bed excitedly after night before Christmas stories, while my delightful older daughters conversed about college, their early careers and relationships.
I take an exhausted moment to close my eyes and reflect on the message of Christmas for me: We’re here to love, to be loved and pursue our dreams. In special moments like today I feel especially fulfilled and wish the same for everyone. Happy Holidays! – Tom Casey

The Christmas Season surely has different meanings for each of us.  In the center of all of the flurry of activity, there lies the true gift of the season.  We each have our own.  It’s a feeling that warms our hearts, than brings a sense of connection and connectedness. This Christmas may you find the time to quietly feel your personal Christmas gift.  Thanks for being part of our growing family of friends – Dr Daria

I love how Christmas allows us to keep traditions alive, even with modern technology. Sue and I will be gathered at home to enjoy food and fellowship with our family from around town. But we’ll also log on for a video chat to open packages together with our daughter and her husband, who couldn’t break away from Portland, Oregon, to join us. Here’s hoping that everyone can connect with loved ones this Holiday season, no matter the distance. – Dave Carter

Merry Christmas to all! Here’s a toast to discovering more ways to bring peace, joy, happiness and good food into our lives during the new year. And a special happy holiday wish to my amazing and talented fellow bloggers here at Wild Oats. You guys rock! – Linda Bonvie

My wish is for everyone to have a happy and healthy holiday season. Enjoy and cherish the time with friends and family from near and far. Take time to reflect back on the year passed and think about what you wish to accomplish in the year ahead.  Be thankful, be present, give back and … Smile – Suzanne Baker

“All you need is love!” The Beatles – Elizabeth Chatellier

A Very Southern Christmas Memory

Growing up in the bubbling stew-pot of cultures that is the Deep South, I was blessed to have two grandmothers that lived just a block apart. At Christmastime, family from what seemed to me the wide world descended on their two houses and we would commence a moveable block party of sorts–shuttling back and forth with food and between beds, mixing and matching and piecing together family parts until parents and grandparents alike could scarce tell their own from someone else’s.

It was the one time of year when our usually taut finances were loosed into a budgetary free-for-all, and excess rained. We ate like kings, sang like troubadours and moved like gypsies across backyards and front porches. It was chaotic, loud and frenetic, but filled with food, love, laughter and a kind of camaraderie that only seems born of disaster or time spent in cramped military barracks.

My aunts and cousins have since scattered. My grandmothers long passed. But this year I will travel again to coastal Mississippi for Christmas. I long to be braced by the salty Gulf air, lick my lips over pecan pie and oyster dressing and sit down with the remnant of my family.

It is not the Christmases of my youth, but there will be singing and feasting and kids piled high on outdoor pallets to watch sleepily as stars wink at them.

We will embrace the friendly ghosts of Christmas past, celebrate the ephemeral joy of Christmas present, and hope for the promise of Christmas yet to come.  Sebrina Smith

This is my wish for you: peace of mind, prosperity through the year, happiness that multiplies, health for you and yours, fun around every corner, energy to chase your dreams, joy to fill your holidays! -D.M. Dellinger

Wishing you all that and then some (perhaps even some tall, dark and handsome) this holiday season. -Aisleagh  Jackson

My Christmas wish is for people to capitalize on emptiness. Emptiness is not nothingness…emptiness is a space where we can decide what we feel about a situation, person or action. If we are in this empty space in a positive way, then everything that happens feels more positive. – Chelsea Vuciaga

May you chase your dreams till they catch you. – Karen Shepard

Once Upon a Time, a King, afraid for his throne, gave orders for the massacre of all children two and under, so that a child who he feared would unseat him, could not live to take his throne.

Real soldiers carried out those orders. Unimaginable horrors and suffering resulted.

Such is the power of Kings.

Meanwhile, the child that King Herod sought to murder, escaped with his family because of a dream. He grew to adulthood, changing the future and changing the world.

Such is the power of dreams.

What were the chances? A baby born in a barn vs  a cruel and murderous King? And yet…

This is the hope that lies at the heart of the Season, the triumph of Peace, over Principalities and Powers. The importance of one small, seemingly insignificant child, in the great striving for purpose, place and things.

And so, as the darkest time of the year tips toward the light, the light reaches into the belly of the New Year, full of promise, made of dreams.

The best part about making baked apples is the aroma it fills your house with.

And being that it’s Christmas Eve, it’s the perfect time to pare these wonderful holiday fragrances with an easy treat to enjoy before you settle in for that “long winter’s nap.”

Now this recipe has some extras that I love. But if you don’t, they’re optional. The only things really required are apples, a little brown sugar and cinnamon.

But once you taste baked apples with jam, I don’t think you’ll want to have them any other way!

Wonderful baked apple recipe with jam

Serves 4

• 4 Fuji, Gala or Granny Smith apples (The Granny Smith apples will be a little more tart)
• ¼ cup of Wild Oats strawberry or raspberry fruit spread
• ¼ cup of chopped walnuts
• 4 teaspoons brown sugar
• 4 patties of butter
• Cinnamon to sprinkle on top
• Optional – ½ cup of apple juice (to cover bottom of baking dish)

Core the apples leaving the bottoms intact. Make sure to remove all of the apple seeds and hard “pieces” in the core.

Peel about an inch of the skin off the top of the apples (around the hole you just made).

Place you apples in a baking dish, hole side up, and fill each one with an equal portion of fruit spread, walnuts and brown sugar. Top each hole with a patty of butter and sprinkle with cinnamon.

Cover bottom of baking dish with either water or apple juice (or a combination of both) and bake at 350 degrees for around an hour.

When done, the apples will be soft but still be shaped like apples!

Serve plain or topped with some (real) whipped cream.

Enjoy…and merry Christmas to all!

Storybook time is a common parent-child interaction.  It can be great fun!  So, should a computer replace us, the adult story teller?

I know this sounds like a ridiculous question but in our world of expanding electronics and self-directed activities for children, the topic represents a reasonable question.  And, knowing the answer can help us do a better job of doing what is “right” for our kids.

In this month’s issue of Frontiers in Psychology, a study looked at this question  –  “Can  the computer replace the adult for storybook reading?”.  This study included 1,272 children aged 3 to 11 years.  The purpose of the study was to determine if the children’s story comprehension and learning of new vocabulary was better with an adult story teller or with a multimedia electronic storyteller.  The study looked at different situations  –
●  an adult reading the story to the child with opportunities to explain the meaning of various words or concepts (the term for this is “adult scaffolding”).
●  the child reading the story without adult scaffolding.
●  the child (with adult scaffolding) interacting with the multimedia story which had features like animated illustrations, background music and sound effects.
●  the child (without adult scaffolding) interacting with the multimedia story which had features like animated illustrations, background music and sound effects.

OK, we are following the question here…  Does adult scaffolding matter in these different circumstances?

The study results give us these answers:
●  Multimedia stories read by the child without an adult were of equal benefit as a traditional story read to the child by an adult.
●  Multimedia stories are more beneficial for story comprehension and word learning than traditional print story reading if no adult is involved (no adult scaffolding).
●  When the multimedia story included embedded interactive features like hot spots and games, the child’s story comprehension goes down.

In simple language, if you read a story to your child and help them understand new words and concepts, or if you provide your child with a well-designed multimedia story, the results for learning new words and understanding the story is the same.  Either option is a good one!!  That is worth knowing …

The study also had this to say –  “The presence of an adult does not have advantages for story comprehension and vocabulary learning beyond multimedia books but may have other outcomes of book sharing.  Children’s reading motivation and attitude might be more facilitated by reading print books with an adult.  The parent-child relationship and children’s socio-emotional development may benefit from sharing and discussing stories together.”

So, whether you prefer to read an actual book with your child … or help them get set-up with a quality multimedia story experience  …. it will be good for him or her.   You’ll design the best plan for your family.  Yes, being a parent is a lot of work … and worth every bit of it!  The End.