Love Birds' Afternoon of Fun With The Big Toy Book

Update: I came back 1/1/13 to add a few more pictures I took at the event. Enjoy!

I have an obsession with 80s toys, in case you haven't noticed, so when I got an invitation to The Big Toy Book's Biggest Day of Holiday Play including Spirograph and Slinky I knew we had to go! Mr. Love Bird had just returned the night before after a week out of town so it was the perfect family outing!

The event was held at the Yo Hotel, a fun space that I had heard of but had never been to. With the bright, futuristic layout it was the perfect space for a toy showcase. My Lil Love Bird jumped right in, and I'm excited to share with you the toys we loved the most (and logo links are clickable to learn more about the products) . . .

Mystixx was Nia's favorite toy - it's a vampire doll that has interchangeable wigs and looks. It can go from human to vampire as Mr. Love Bird so graciously demonstrated below:

A bit creepy!

Just Play included Doc McStuffins, bouncing Tigger and Minnie's Kitchen and was a booth Nia visited a few times! She had watched Doc Mc Stuffins at my parents home a few times when we've visited in the past since they have cable but this was Nia's first time playing with the doll and she really liked it. I later saw in my Twitter feed how it seemed to be sold out everywhere! I never realized it was so popular. Nia also enjoyed playing with Minnie's Kitchen as much as she loves playing with hers at home and Mr. Love Bird got carried away with the Tigger tail . . .

{Image Credit: http://www.toddphilip.com/}

This booth was our first stop and since Nia's been recently introduced to Play-Doh, it was exciting for her to be able to play with dough that she could actually eat! She was more interested in eating the cooked dough vs. playing with it, but I felt good knowing it was safe to eat. If you'd like to give Yummy Dough a try here's a buy-one-get-one-free promo code to use at http://www.smartyparents.com: BOGODOUGH. It's good until January 1/7/2013.

{Image Credit: http://www.toddphilip.com/}

Did you know Slinky is celebrating its 50th anniversary? It was Nia's first time experiencing a Slinky and she had fun pulling the Slinky dog! Now that we're at my parents' home with a long staircase we've been having fun showing Nia how to make the Slinky walk down the stairs. It's fun seeing her partake of a part of my 80s childhood!
 

{Image Credit: http://www.toddphilip.com/}

I think I may have scared the rep with my enthusiasm for Spirograph! I've written it about it on the blog before and was excited to learn that it's coming back to the market. Mr. Love Bird even made a Spirograph drawing to take home! If you're like me, and share my enthusiasm for Spirograph stay tuned for a fun announcement soon . . .

{Image Credit: http://www.toddphilip.com/}

This new toy was the most intriguing to me! It's like a digital Etch-a-Sketch that erases with the press of a button. It's super-thin, lightweight and doesn't require a battery, but has enough erases for up to 10,000 uses. That's years of usage! You can use it for things like making lists, learning, doodling etc. The red one's magnetized so you can put it on your fridge and luckily I won one and am so excited to use it at home! 

{Image Credit: http://www.toddphilip.com/}

The Drip Drops was a really popular booth for toddlers - a new and only digital preschool property centered on art, color, reading and creativity is a great way for children to express themselves through art. Nia didn't get to play the game at the event, but the app of their story is available for iPad and Android. I downloaded it on my SIII for the ride to my parents and Nia enjoyed listening to the story of the Drop Drops (there was a "read to me" option) and answered the questions enthusiastically about the colors. I look forward to when the game launches on Google Play!

{Image Credit: http://www.toddphilip.com/}

Nia didn't play with this at the event but loved playing with her little bug in the gift bag when we got home. It's a wheel-less little bug that runs around the floor and can battle other bugs. I captured a fun video of my Love Birds playing with the Hex Bug at home: 

 

Thank you to The Big Toy Book for such a fun afternoon!

Disclosure: I received an invitation to TBTB's Biggest Day of Holiday Play and a gift bag of toys to take home courtesy of  The Blogger Connection. All opinions expressed are my own.

*P.S. I wrote this at my parents' home and forgot to bring along my hard drive where I stored my DSLR pics from TBTB so I used many of the event photos via http://www.toddphilip.com. I'll update the post later next week with better pics!