Sourcing Toys in China

I just got back from the Toy Show in China, which is one of the largest in the world where people from almost every country come to source toys and see what’s new.  This year I heard a lot of Italian and French being spoken, along with Chinese, Thai and English.  The crowds are heavy on opening day with everyone rushing to see the new products.

The convention center overlooks Hong Kong harbor and that’s a great sight!  One of my favorite parts of this show is taking the harbor ferry from one side of the harbor to the other each day.

We stay in a hotel on the Kowloon side of the harbor because that’s where many showrooms are open from early in the morning to late in the afternoon so that buyers can drop in or schedule appointments.  Our days start around 8 AM and sometimes don’t end until late into the evening.

Here is a photo of one of the wonderful displays at the show. Everything is colorful and fun and of course, there are cool toys everywhere.

Being a toy buyer is a great job – you get to play with toys all day long.  But don’t forget, we also have to be aware of all the new safety regulations, study a toy for possible problems with safety, think about what colors will sell best, what’s the best cost we can get so that customers receive a lot of value when they purchase – it takes a lot of time and energy to bring the best toys home for our customers.

Hong Kong in January is usually warm – in the range of 60 degrees F.  This year most days were quite chilly and temperatures were more in the range of 40 degrees F.  But the hustle and bustle of Toy Fair keeps your mind off the cold and focused on what’s the best new toy and what might be found just around the next aisle or in the next showroom.  It’s an exciting and challenging time.

This is me at the show. I’m the one in the front in the white cardigan. My boss, Beverly is standing behind me. Next up on the show schedule is Nurnberg Germany – another huge show with a lot of excitement.  And then on to New York for the final show of the season.

The toy industry packs the shows tightly together so that all the newly developed toys are brought out from under wraps at the same time, ready for reviews and lots of happy kids!

by Roberta J, product manager

Making Music

Some of my earliest memories involve music, and good music is still one of my greatest joys today. My mother loves music too and shared that with me. In fact, when I was only 6, she gave me my first album (yep – the old vinyl kind) of Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker Suite. There was always music in our house – records and the radio when we were younger, and then our own as my brother and sister and I got old enough to make music ourselves. I really believe it is a gift to instill an appreciation of music in your children. It can be a comfort, a joy and an inspiration.

There are lots of formal programs to teach music to kids: the Suzuki method is one of the most well known. We’ve all seen the groups of 3 and 4 year olds with tiny violins. Programs like that are great, but it’s easy to expose your children to music in ways that can be fun for the whole family.

Put on your favorite CD or play the radio and encourage your child to tap, walk or dance to the beat. Different tempos and beats can make her feel calm, happy or energized. You can also talk about what sounds you both hear. Challenge her to hear a voice, a drum, a piano or a guitar. She’ll begin to listen more closely and appreciate the different themes and harmonies that make up the song.

If your child expresses an interest, you may consider purchasing a simple instrument for her to explore. A Lap Harp is great for this because it’s easy to play and get quick results. Our model comes with song sheets that fit right under the strings, so it’s easy to see which ones to pluck to play the melody. Encourage her to perform for the family and let everyone have a turn. Make sure to applaud and cheer loudly for everyone. There’s nothing like positive reinforcement to keep a kid interested and working on a skill.

Guitar or piano lessons might be the next step for your 6 to 8 year old if she seems to want to develop her musical skills even further. It’s usually easier for the child (and the teacher) if they have some basic reading skills before starting formal lessons. And there is a certain level of fine motor skills that are required so the child can get the results that will keep her interested in pursuing her lessons.

Whatever you do, make it fun and do it as a family. I have to say that some of my favorite memories are of my family standing around the piano harmonizing to hymns and old songs. Mom and I still compare notes on the latest CD releases and attend concerts together whenever we can. The love of music is a gift that will last a lifetime for your child.

by Lynn G, Director of Marketing

Valentines Day

In the deep cold of winter, what a wonderful time to have a holiday such as Valentines Day! The holiday to celebrate that warmest of emotions~ LOVE!

Whether you’re looking for a thoughtful gift or wishing to make your own, we have put an assortment together that you won’t see anywhere else. Out unique crafts provide everything you need for homemade valentines, necklaces, bracelets, beeswax candles, and beaded hearts for decorating your windows. Each craft carries the standard HearthSong 100% satisfaction guarantee and many can only be found exclusively at HearthSong.

In the spirit of Valentines day, we encourage you to take a little time to make a little memory with your little ones this Valentines day, to give just a little token of your whole lotta love! May the spirit of Valentines Day be with you everyday of 2010.

by Amanda J, product manager, HearthSong and Magic Cabin

Cabin Fever Days Activities

When days are cold and gray and the kids are itching to move, parents need to find lots of fun indoor activities to keep everyone happy.   Some of my favorite activities were always centered in the kitchen – baking cookies or making modeling dough from scratch offer kids a basic knowledge of kitchen tools. Of course make sure Mom or Dad always supervises use of  the stove!  And it’s fun to add food coloring to the modeling dough while the cookies bake!

Try asking them why flour and salt combined with heat make modeling dough.  Do you know?  Look it up on the computer and everyone has learned something new! Add cornstarch to water and make a liquid that acts like a solid – why?  Here’s another opportunity to learn a little science while having fun.

For those Moms and Dads that don’t enjoy the kitchen that much, try making Valentines for the kids to give out at school with our Valentine Kit.  Or dance to the Hokey Pokey in our musical skirt.

Other ideas would be to play games where kids have to move, jump, stay quiet or hide.

I recently watched a father and daughter in the airport pass the time by inventing different arm, leg and whole body positions.  At first it was Dad coming up with all the movements but quickly the child (around 8 yrs old) began to make up her own and have Dad copy her.  They were having fun and the child was getting all that energy used up before the flight.  This is fun for almost any age child and keeps parents fit as well.

Making a fort out of the couch cushions is a kids’ delight.  Add sheets and a flashlight and they’ll play all kinds of imaginative and fun games.

Older kids can be a little more challenging especially if you want to get them away from the TV or computer games. We offer these kids creative ways to express themselves.  Try using Gel Gems to decorate the front window – there are endless ways to arrange these colorful pieces and make a pretty contribution the whole family can enjoy.  Or challenge them to a building contest using any one of our Connectagons sets – who can build the tallest, widest, prettiest, or scariest creature?  It will inform their understanding of how structures are built, challenge their creativity and they may even learn a little bit about geometry while having fun!

By Roberta J, senior product manager

Playing in the Snow

When you’re a kid, snow is magical. The world outside gets really quiet and everything is clean. And there’s a pretty good chance school will be cancelled! When I was growing up, Mom would bundle us up in lots of layers – so many it was hard to walk. But we would trudge outside with all our stuff and play until our fingers and toes felt like icicles.

We had a regular sled that we all shared, but I think these kick sleds would have really been fun. We could have traveled pretty far through the fields with one of those. The Zipfy Mini Luge also looks like a blast. I know my brother always went for speed and he would have loved this. A couple of times he built mini jumps for the sleds to go over and this mini luge would have flown over those!

Of course, with the Olympics coming up, every kid is going to think they are Shawn White or Gretchen Bleiler. Our snowboard has adjustable foot holders that work with regular snow boots, so it’s a great way to give your future champion a taste of the sport. And don’t forget the helmet – it even has earmuffs for warmth!

And what would a good snowfall be without an all out snowball fight? We would have really been able to turn out some great ammunition with a Snowballer. In my neighborhood, it was always the boys against the girls with everyone ending up tired, laughing and covered in snow. Then it was time to go inside and get warm and dry and have some hot chocolate.

What are your favorite memories of playing in the snow? We’d love to hear about them.

by Lynn G, Director of Marketing

HearthSong’s Campaign to Reforest America is Growing Strong

In October, HearthSong joined with its sister brand, Plow & Hearth in the Campaign to Reforest America and we’re so excited about the results so far. Along with Magic Cabin and Wind & Weather, the companies pledged to donate a tree for every transaction completed between October 15^th and December 31^st. Our sales were better than expected and so, the companies will donate over 729,000 trees to be planted in North Carolina, Louisiana and Pennsylvania.

The Campaign to Reforest America began in October, 2008 when Plow & Hearth set a goal of donating one million trees within a year. They partnered with the National Forest Foundation and the Virginia Department of Forestry and this past October announced that they had successfully reached the goal. That same day, Tim Hopkins, the company’s president announced that the company was renewing its efforts and set the goal of donating another one million trees in the coming year.

This year’s Campaign to Reforest America expanded to include Plow & Hearth’s sister brands Wind & Weather®, HearthSong® and Magic Cabin®. During the holiday season, after every purchase, customers received an email asking them to select one of three state-based programs where their seedling donation will be directed.

• 31% of customers chose to support the Coastal Roots program in Louisiana, which teaches school children about coastal habitat restoration and allows them to plant and nurture trees.
• 30% directed that their tree be planted in North Carolina. There, contributions of longleaf pine seedlings will help restore the habitat of the Red Cockaded Woodpecker, a species whose population has dwindled to only 1% of its original size.
• 39% of customers chose to send their tree to Pennsylvania in support of the TreeVitalize program. This effort allows trees to be planted along streams to aid in providing clean water and restored habitats for trout and other stream life.

In addition to these state efforts, HearthSong and its sister brands have continued the Planting Two for One® program whereby the Company donates two trees for every one used in catalog production to the Virginia Department of Forestry.  Through this program, the company has planted over 1.5 million trees in Virginia during the past eighteen years.

It’s pretty amazing to work for a company with such a strong history of caring for the environment. I think everyone here is proud of the Campaign to Reforest America.

by Lynn G, Director of Marketing

Staff Picks for Favorite Toys

Everyone is thinking about toys this time of year and what to buy the special child in their life. It’s so hard to decide with all the choices available, so I got curious about the favorites of some of the folks here in the office. I decided just to ask some people – What is your favorite Hearthsong toy and why? It was pretty fascinating to get the wide variety of answers!

Tim, our company president, chose Connectagons without any hesitation. He thinks they are great for inspiring imagination and allowing a child’s creativity to shine through.

Dyan works in the Internet Marketing department and she chose Hex Bugs. She says she has a “love / hate relationship with them.” She’s really a little freaked out by them, but they’re so cool she likes them. It’s pretty funny that her dogs are afraid of them too!

Roberta is one of the product managers for HearthSong and she likes the Seascope “because it is such a well made product and actually works. Kids can experience the critters below water and in the sky above and pretty much everything in between.” Not surprising then that her favorite toy as a kid was a microscope!

Joanna works in our Service Center and she likes the GBOP. We have some great photos of her inside one rolling around in the call center, so we know she likes it.

Carin is the copywriter for HearthSong and she chose the Studio Design Kits. She says, “I would’ve loved having one or all of them when I was younger. I had all these great ideas for fashion and room décor but no way of expressing them. These kits give kids all the tools they need to encourage and develop their interests.”

Nancy, our receptionist says,” I love the stove, sink, and refrigerator toys.  I love the little “real cookware”.   I have always liked the miniature version of things.”

Dana works with the Internet Marketing group and loves the Imagine My Place Dollhouse. I’m sure it’s because of the fond memories she has of her own dollhouse. She and her mom used to cut pieces of old fabric for rugs and bed linens, old lace for curtains, and patterned papers for wallpaper.

Lindsay, who is a planner and buyer for our retail stores says, “I love the Snoopy Snowcone Maker. It brings back memories from my childhood when my sister and I would make snow cones.  We had the exact same classic Snoopy model!!!”

So it’s pretty clear that there are plenty of choices to let everyone have their own favorite. Oh, I almost forgot – my favorite is the Flingshot Monkeys. I’ve never seen anyone play with these and not laugh. My nephews all got them as a gift last Christmas and the whole family had a giant Flingshot Monkey fight. It was a blast!

By Lynn G, Director of Marketing

Family Tree Wall Stickers

Family is something that is very important to me.  Always has been and always will be.   And while I know it’s important, it’s even more important that I teach my son this same principle.  He is very attached to the aunts, uncles and cousins he sees almost every day, but we have other family that live far away and we don’t get to see them that often.  With the Family Tree Wall Stickers from HearthSong we are able to have a fun, creative, colorful piece of art on the wall that reminds him of the family members far away.

At first when you open the package and start to unroll the sticker sheets you start to wonder if it’s going to end!  There are leaves in different shapes and colors, birds, butterflies and don’t forget the actual tree.  Finally the unrolling ends and you have two pages of fun waiting to happen!

My husband and I actually got to do this activity with our son and before we even got the first sticker off the page we knew that he was running the show.  He was coordinating whose picture went with what color leaf, how many “falling leaves” we would have, how high the flying bird would fly, and which butterflies were going to be “talking” to each other.  We chose a great spot of wall in our hallway to decorate.

I was in charge of putting the tree stickers up.  I got the trunk on just fine, but when I started to put the first branch on I realized that it was going to go right across the light switch…makes it difficult to turn the lights on and off.  But because these stickers are repositionable and reusable all I had to do was peel up and move the trunk over slightly and then put the branch on missing the light switch.  It was perfect!  Being reusable also helps when you want to change out the pictures or change location of your tree.

What followed next was a blur of reds, blues, greens, yellows and pinks.  “Can this leaf go here?”  “Yes, but the picture is upside down.  Turn it around.”  “Where can the yellow bird go?”  “How about right in front of the tree in the grass.”  “Mommy, I wanted Sydney’s picture in the blue leaf.”  “Oh, sorry.”

Then it was done!  We stepped back and thought “Wow, that’s a great tree!”  I noticed the next morning when he came out of his room dressed and ready for school that he took just a minute to create a little conversation between the two butterflies he had put up the night before.  Now, can you get any more priceless than that?

By Shannon L, executive assistant

Thanksgiving Leftovers

“I don’t like that.”

“That’s gross.”

“No way.”

“Ewwww!”

“I can’t eat that, I will get sick.  Seriously!”

Kate is a very picky eater.  Not in a bad way, I mean considering other kids her age, she is pretty adventurous.

She loves sushi, especially eel.  I think she would reconsider if she actually knew what an eel looked like or that it is just a big, icky water snake.  Maybe I will spring that on her when she gets older.   I am an evil stepmother after all.

She also loves pumpkin pie, dipping hot dog buns in Italian salad dressing, and Little Debbie Swiss Rolls.  She has a box hidden in her room so that she knows there will be some for her when she visits.  She made the mistake of leaving the box where Daddy could find it and needless to say, Little Debbie was “eaten by the dogs”.

However, there are some foods that will never pass her lips.  Mayonnaise is the biggest one.  How can someone not like mayonnaise?  No butter either. THE HUMANITY!!

She only likes “grandma’s cheese” which is shredded mozzarella.  Grandma makes pizza from scratch, including shredding the blocks of mozzarella.  Kate won’t eat a chunk of mozzarella, but shredded is ok and so are sticks.  No other cheese will do.

And don’t let any of the foods on her plate touch each other because that is actually the Eighth sign of the Apocalypse.

So you can imagine, Thanksgiving is a bit of a challenge.

Turkey? Only white meat, and there will be consequences if any kind of fat or skin even touches her plate.

Green Bean Casserole?  But no fried onions please, they look like worms.

Mashed potatoes? No butter. (She does this just to hurt me, I know)

NO sweet potatoes, even though we promise that they taste just like her beloved pumpkin pie.

Are you even serious suggesting the cranberry sauce?  Please!

Rolls?  Yes.  Got Italian dressing?

So if getting through the pain of the actual Thanksgiving dinner isn’t enough, there is the traditional meal.  Leftover Friday.

We’ve solved that problem by taking her favorite thing in the world, grandma’s homemade pizza, and instead of the traditional pepperoni, we top the dough (or you can use a Boboli crust) with a spread of mashed potatoes mixed with gravy (instead of tomato sauce), shredded white meat turkey, broccoli florets, and sliced mushrooms.  Then cover the entire thing with grandma’s cheese and bake until the cheese is golden brown and bubbly, about 20 minutes in a 350 degree oven.

For the grownups, one of my favorite things to make is stuffing cakes.  I take any leftover stuffing, moisten with some gravy and an egg, and form into patties which I fry in a little bit of butter and olive oil.  Top the cakes with a dollop of cranberry sauce, a spoonful of mashed sweet potatoes, and on top of that, pile on some of the leftover turkey and top with a good handful of shredded Smoked Gouda cheese.  Bake in a 350 degree oven for about 10 minutes or until the cheese is melted.  Serve with a nice side salad of mesclun greens, sliced Granny Smith apples, toasted walnuts, and vinaigrette made with apple cider vinegar and Dijon mustard to cut the richness of the cheese.

Start your own tradition of Leftover Friday!  Feel free to share recipes and ideas for recipes by commenting on this post.  I would love to hear how our HearthSong customers enjoy Thanksgiving leftovers!

By Dyan C, website producer and affiliate manager

The Countdown to Christmas

It’s the most favorite countdown of the year for adults and children alike.  Christmas advent calendars started 150 years ago in Germany and are going stronger than ever nowadays.

I remember when I was a child and our family would have one of the thin box calendars that I’m sure had a very fun or beautiful image on the front.  However, as little children we weren’t excited about the front picture.  We were excited about what would be behind each little door that we opened – a small piece of chocolate!  The chocolate combined with one more day down in the countdown to Christmas meant everything to us as little kids!  My family now moves a snowflake from pocket to pocket each day.  But what’s amazing is that I see the same excitement I felt about that little piece of chocolate in my son’s eyes about moving the snowflake.

Times have changed since I was little and with so many different themed advent calendars it is fun to give your kids the option of what kind they want.  Hearthsong has several styles of the chocolate calendars available today although if you have more than one child it could be interesting each night!  I speak from experience with four siblings.  We also have the Nativity and Dear Santa sticker calendars that any child would enjoy.  These styles of calendars get you through the year and you pick up a new one next year.

If you’re family is wanting a more “long-term” calendar there are ones available with biblical verses to help even the smallest of children understand the Christmas story.  There are also 3-dimentional calendars some even with drawers holding small surprises inside.  HearthSong’s 3-D Advent Tree includes figurines and even a game to enjoy for the holiday.

Of course Santa is always a welcome sight at Christmas and there are calendars featuring the big man himself.  It’s also fun to see how the elves countdown to Christmas in our Evergreen Elves Countdown Calendar.

Whatever kind of advent calendar your family chooses for your countdown, the best part is seeing the excitement in your kids eyes as you spend time each evening to countdown another day until you’ve counted them all down and it’s time!

by Shannon L, executive assistant