ZRecommends

Coursing Around is a recent book for encouraging physical activity and creative challenges in kids through chalk-drawn obstacle courses. We wrote about it back in one of our 2009 Gift Guides (you can find all five of them here) and it has served us ever since for ongoing inspiration in...

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Ever wonder how? This is how. And this is how to run to show them to your cousin... ...

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BPA May Raise Risk of Asthma in Kids ...

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Australia strengthens product-safety reporting law "Retailers will have to tell the federal government every time a customer is badly hurt using one of their products -- including tripping over a toy or crashing a car -- under Australia's first national law on product safety." Study links violent video games to violent thought,...

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There has been a lot of great conversation surrounding our post earlier this month in which we did something we don't usually do: Recommend against a product (the Safety 1st Air Protect car seat) based solely on the track record of the company that developed it. Depending on whether or...

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As a regular attendee of the American International Toy Fair, one thing that has struck me this year is less technology overall, rather than more. Last year it seemed like every toy touted the code that would unlock some (un)fabulous new virtual world. This year, there's a refreshing amount of...

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All I can say is, Zella came up with this entirely on her own, she was pretty proud to have figured out how to do it, and she was either playing "daycare" or "school," her two outlets of choice for pretend play tyrrany, argumentation, and mind games. Incidentally, Elmo's eye...

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When working my way through the sea of board games offered at the 2010 Toy Fair this week, my philosophy is simple: If you can't explain it to me in 30 seconds, it's too complicated for my kid. With the best game design, gameplay should be easily learned and intuitive,...

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In the past few years, environmentally friendly toys have become a growing segment of Toy Fair attendees. This year, for the first time, the American International Toy Fair has a dedicated space for Green Toys, and it's fitting, because this year's environmentally friendlier toys are showcasing better designs - and...

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Cosmetics, skin-care products don't last forever "Unlike the European Union's Cosmetics Directive, which requires expiration dates on cosmetic products whose 'minimum durability' is less than 30 months, there are no regulations under U.S. law to require cosmetic companies to print expiration dates on products. But some American cosmetic companies are voluntarily...

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Welcome to the first of four dispatches from the 2010 American International Toy Fair, going on this week in New York City. We were thrilled to get one of our favorite bloggers, Amy Kraft of Media Macaroni, to be our eyes and ears for big event. Remember the summer when suddenly...

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We've been seeing a lot of talk about BPA in toilet paper across social media channels recently, which we first reported on back in November 2008. We thought we'd bring up a few of our posts from the archive in case you missed them. Some Unpleasant Sources of BPA: As it...

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Imagine you hired a babysitter and caught her driving around town with your baby in a laundry basket in the back seat. So fired, right? Ten years later, a friend asks you if you can recommend a good babysitter. I'm guessing there's at least one person you would definitely not...

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When Z and I needed a break from octopus-watching at the Seattle Aquarium (she had been fever-free all morning but had developed one again during the outing) we found refuge in the second-floor cafe, where a lemon sugar cookie and peppermint tea (her) and coffee (me) held much promise for...

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We live in one of the many communities where all playgrounds seem to have the same equipment. But we're visiting family and making art in Seattle this week, where there are many playgrounds that are memorable for their unique play structures and toys. Z and I visited a park a...

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The Food and Drug Administration recently announced a new assessment of the endocrine-disrupting chemical bisphenol-A, and it's a sharp turnaround from their previous claims. The agency has spent the last decade and a half propping up industry's insistence that there is nothing wrong with using BPA, and exposing our children...

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Amy over at Crunchy Domestic Goddess has an interesting post recently about disposing of - and passing on - used children's toys, and it encouraged us to write about something that has been bothering us for a while here at ZRecs. From our point of view, the Consumer Product Safety...

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Last week, the CPSC announced the recall of a children's book published by St. Martin's Press that included a piece of vinyl that contained dangerous levels of lead. While the recall was the first in what will likely be a long list of novelty children's books coming under CPSC scrutiny...

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Use of potentially harmful chemicals kept secret under law "Of the 84,000 chemicals in commercial use in the United States -- from flame retardants in furniture to household cleaners -- nearly 20 percent are secret, according to the Environmental Protection Agency, their names and physical properties guarded from consumers and virtually...

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Recalled for literally bursting out of their packaging a year ago this month, JAKKS Pacific's Spa Fantasy Aromatherapy Fountain and Bath Benefits kits from the company's Spa Factory line were "fixed" by including a second lid and instructions for the consumer to swap it out at home so the carbon...

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Eco Kids USA's "Eco Dough" play dough is handmade by a very passionate and intense guy I met at the ABC Kids Expo and would have talked to all day if either of us had had the time. His company, which he runs with his wife, has the financial and...

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Turn Around My Son's Car Seat? Not Yet "Look at his legs, Rebecca!" my friend said the other day. "They're squished! Aren't you going to turn him around?" This is the stuff of great debate among parents: the so-called "car-seat conundrum," or when to turn around the car seat. Many are...

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After a much needed blog vacation (we'd recommend it to anyone) we're looking forward to giving you the skinny on a bunch of products we've been testing, sharing some personal stories, and shedding light on what's really in a couple of questionable products by inviting you, dear readers, to join...

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It's only natural that a person who could not help but make a fantastically bubble-blowing BubbleTruck would need a second act. The BubbleBus could be yours for a mere $50,000 on eBay. If I was a kajillionaire, I'd ship it to India and donate it to Arvind Gupta for a mobile science/craft/toy...

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Searching for last-minute gifts or deals? Let Z Recommends help! ...

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