It’s time for Disney nuiMOs to hit the states! Originally launching at Disney stores in Japan, China, Shanghai Disney Resort and Hong Kong Disneyland Resort, the fashion-forward plush dolls are making their way to North America and Europe next week.
Launching on Jan. 19 at shopDisney.com and shopDisney.co.uk, Disney stores in North America and Europe and select Disney Parks around the world, fans will soon be able to pick up their very own Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, Donald Duck, Daisy Duck, Stitch and Angel nuiMO. Not only that, a colorful amount of outfits and accessories will also be available to customize your plush.
The name “nuiMOs” is a blend of the Japanese words nuigurumi, which means “plush” and moderu, which means “model.” The pocket-sized dolls are flexible, pose-able and can change their looks to reflect your own personality.
To help kick off the North American and European launch, Disney partnered with celebrity stylist Maeve Reilly to create five signature Disney nuiMOs looks for Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse. Her styles include Streetwear: Tokyo vs LA street style, Loungewear, Day to Night and a Day at Disney Parks, which you can find here.
You will be able to shop additional accessories, outfits and plush does on the first Monday of each month, beginning Feb. 1. New products will be in collaboration with Loungefly, Spirit Jersey, Ashley Eckstein and more. Disney nuiMOs plush retail at $17.99 each and outfits and accessories start at $12.99.
Some children are picky eaters, while others gobble down practically everything in sight. For those parents who struggle with getting their kids to eat, mealtime can feel nightmarish. Lucky for you, change is possible. Prepare to turn even the most challenging appetites into miniature foodies.
Here are 7 creative ways to feed your kids:
1. Use Fun Utensils. If you have a fussy eater, now’s the time to buy those adorable kid’s utensils you’ve been eyeing at the store. There are forks shaped like airplanes, trucks made to hold tacos, and even plates that make eating a game!
Honestly, with devices like this, mealtime should be just as much fun as playtime.
2. Make Tasty Treats. This tip is twofold. Firstly, if your kids don’t have food restrictions, get in the habit of cooking adult food. Season it as you would your own food and demonstrate how much you enjoy eating it. This is likely to make your youngsters curious enough to try it.
If they grow up eating bland kiddie food, you’ll have a greater challenge transitioning them to adult foods. However, keep in mind that people frequently use salt to season their dishes. While you may appreciate the taste, children require very little sodium in their diet. Instead, focus on other healthy seasonings like turmeric, garlic, and ginger.
Secondly, offer your children dessert if they finish the food on their plate. Frozen fruit smoothies and popsicles can be a sweet but healthy end to their meal. Pretty much every kid has a sweet tooth — making a tasty treat the perfect incentive for them to finish their veggies.
3. Space Out Meals. The human body has limits on how much it can eat at a time. If your child had a big lunch, they might not be as hungry at dinnertime. Space out the meals and offer nutritious snacks throughout the day. Babies usually feed every one to three hours, while toddlers and older kids will eat a mixture of snacks and larger meals each day.
4. Cook Together. Do your children help in the kitchen while you prepare their meals? Cooking together is a terrific way to teach them about nutrition. As they help you prep dishes, they can try new ingredients. By involving them in the process, you are sparking their interest and imagination. If they’ve helped you make the dish, they’ll be much more likely to try the food.
As a bonus, your children learn vital life skills that will be useful when they move out of the house. Many people struggle with cooking, and teaching your kids will help them cultivate these skills early.
5. Form Interesting Shapes. You can transform most foods into something fun and interesting with a cookie cutter or stencil. Everyone knows that a star-shaped lunch is much more fun to eat than a basic square sandwich! You can apply this same method to other foods like fruits and vegetables.
If the ingredients are difficult to cut, you can position them on the plate to form an image or word. Even a simple smiley face is more enjoyable than shapeless blobs of food. While distracted by the unusual designs, your kids won’t mind feeding themselves. For an educational twist, ask them to name the icons you made.
Easy shapes to create include:
Stars
Triangles
Letters
Numbers
Faces
6. Invent Wild Names. Sticking with the theme of making mealtime fun and exciting, try inventing wild new names to pique your child’s curiosity. These can range from entirely different words to fun descriptions that will make trying new things an adventure.
Some examples include:
Broccoli, also known as miniature trees.
Bananas, also known as monkey food.
Grapes, also known as tiny juice balloons.
Carrots, also known as x-ray vision carrots.
Pretzels, also known as tree branches.
7. Eat at the Same Time. Do you eat at the same time as your child? Some parents choose to eat separately because they’ve only had time to prepare their kid’s meal and not their own. Break this habit by cooking more meals that are suitable for the entire family. A quick toss in the food processor will make atypical meals soft enough for your toddler to enjoy. However, make sure to follow safety suggestions regarding portion size and consistency to avoid potential choking hazards.
Besides encouraging your kids to try new foods, eating at the same time teaches them the importance of family mealtime. They’ll learn they have to wait at the table while everyone is finishing, which means they’ll have more time to nibble on their leftovers.
Look Forward to Mealtime
Using these creative tricks, your kids will be looking forward to mealtime. Remember to stay positive as you try these various methods with your family. Some will be more successful than others, but the key is to remain enthusiastic and optimistic. Children can sense things, and if you’re worried or stressed, it could impact their actions.
Keep an open mind, and feel free to try variations of these ideas. Maybe bright colors will interest your child more than fun shapes—do what works for you and your family!
Jennifer Landis is a mom, wife, freelance writer, and blogger. She enjoys long naps on the couch, sneaking spoonfuls of peanut butter when her kid's not looking, and binge watching Doctor Who while her kid's asleep. She really does like her kid, though, she promises. Find her on Twitter @JenniferELandis.
What better way to celebrate Thanksgiving than with a miniature turkey-shaped butter sculpture?
The Keller’s Creamery Turkey Shaped Butter is the perfect accent to your Thanksgiving table and is sure to win plenty of praise. It’s almost too cute to actually spread, but your guests are sure to gobble it up. Hot (cold) tip: remove it from the fridge right before serving so you don’t lose any detail!
Add this one to your grocery list now because it’s sure to sell out once it returns in November. It sells for $3.99 and will be available at major grocery chains like Publix, Harris Teeter, Food Lion, Acme and Jewel. It’s salted and promises to serve eight people with buttery goodness.
If you just can’t get enough of this adorable butter sculpture, Keller’s Creamery also makes a Christmas Tree-shaped butter and an Easter Bunny.
Did you save beloved toys from your past to share with your little ones? Mattel announced the grand opening of the Fisher-Price Toy Museum, a virtual museum designed to celebrate the brand’s 90-year legacy. This first-of-its-kind virtual experience, which will be hosted on Instagram, enables visitors to relive their favorite toys through a curated exhibition.
The museum also includes a digital gift shop that offers an assortment of apparel, accessories, housewares and more, featuring vintage imagery from Fisher-Price classic toys.
“The Fisher-Price Toy Museum was inspired by the idea that, whether you were born in the 1950s, 1980s or 2000s, everyone has a memory of their favorite childhood toy, and many of those are from Fisher-Price,” said Chuck Scothon, SVP and Global Head of Infant and Preschool, Mattel. “The intent of this museum is to take visitors back to their unique childhood experiences, and give them the opportunity to relive their youth, even if just for a few moments.”
At the museum, the legacy of Fisher-Price toys will be on full display. In honor of the brand’s anniversary year, the museum will feature more than 90 different exhibits that will be organized by decade, enabling visitors to easily locate the vintage toys from their childhood. The collection will include a variety of classic products creatively presented by artist, set designer, and photographer Leila Fakouri, who focused on keeping the toys as the star of each environment while incorporating dimension and texture to create an authentic museum feel. Exhibits include Snoopy Sniffer, which launched in 1938, and sits atop a fabricated slice of blueberry pie, the iconic Roller Skates, which were first introduced in 1983, and are showcased in a miniature roller-skating rink, and many more.
Accompanying the museum is a gift shop offering 16 products that celebrate the brand’s timeless toys. Gift shop items, which will be available in limited quantities, include a Doctor Doodle T-shirt, Space Blazer socks, shoelaces featuring the brand’s classic roller skates and a lunchbox with imagery of vintage Little People figures.
Consumers can experience the Fisher-Price Toy Museum by following @fisherprice.toymuseum on Instagram.
All aboard! The elves are starting to get ready to make a trip to your home for the holiday season. Straight from the North Pole, The Lumistella Company (best known for The Elf on the Shelf Christmas tradition and Elf Pets), is gearing up for the Christmas Countdown with the new North Pole Advent Train.
The North Pole Advent Train offers 24 days of playable, collectible holiday fun. Your Elf can ride along on the train as you count down the days to Christmas. Each train car stores a miniature toy surprise including mini figures and themed accessories.
Each set includes: Cardboard train engine sized for a Scout Elf , 24 North Pole surprises in 4 themed train cars (Sweet Shop, Puppy Love, Snow Much Fun, ‘Tis the Season) ,4 Scout Elf or Elf Pets® mini figures, Mini cookies, baking sheet, mini hat, cookie booth, and sign Stickers, pop-outs, sled, and scarf, MIni Elf Pets blanket, bone, food, water bowl, and mini cabin, Mini tree, stocking, Santa sign, gift, and train toy.
For more fun activities, families can log on to santasnorthpole.com. Kids can explore a fully realized 3D world and play more than 30 interactive games and activities.
Amok! Amok! Amok! When fall begins do you sip pumpkin spice lattes while watching Hocus Pocus? Now you can invite the Sanderson Sisters (at least in miniature form) to join your movie marathon.
These Funko Pop! figurines of everyone’s favorite witches are bound to become a Halloween favorite.
Available on Spirit Halloween, you can choose from two sets. One set features the three sisters as individual figurines so you can place them in different areas. Each sister is posed with her favorite form of aircraft – Winifred with a broom, Sarah with a mop and Mary with a vacuum.
Both sets retail for $36.99. The cauldron set can be purchased both in stores and online, but the individual set of figurines is only available online.
Everyone’s favorite tiny car from the 80s and 90s is taking the fast lane to a store near you. Jazwares and Hasbro are teaming up to relaunch the entire Micro Machines line, including brand new playsets and vehicles. The new Micro Machines line is now available at target and Walmart.
Fans of the original toy line will be thrilled to find that the revival of the popular miniature vehicles and playsets tap into the classic toy automobile collections loved by many for over 30 years, now with a modern update.
A relaunch of this classic brand would not be complete without the cornerstone of the Micro Machines World, Super Van City. With over 20 action-packed locations and areas of play, this updated take on a classic Micro Machines item transforms from Super Van to Super City and features an entire miniature metropolis that can fold up to create an Airstream-inspired motorhome. Super Van City includes a working bridge, construction site, high rise building, drag strip, tons of ramps and the ability to connect to other play sets. As an added bonus, fans will also receive three exclusive vehicles with the Super Van City playset. The playset retails at $49.99.
Bringing back the Micro Machine bundles, fans and collectors alike can also purchase an assortment of vehicle packs, including blind packs and world-building sets. Vehicles at launch include Micro Machines Single Blind Packs($1.99), featuring an exciting mystery vehicle for their collection, a Micro Machines Starter Pack ($4.99) featuring three highly detailed vehicles that fall under a unified, iconic theme such as Muscle Cars, Farm, Racing, Construction, Off-Road and more, and Micro Machines World Packs ($9.99) featuring five highly detailed vehicles and a corresponding Micro City scene that allows you to play or display your vehicles. The line also includes new Core Playsets ($14.99), each featuring an exclusive vehicle, that will enable fans to build out a connected world.
“Micro Machines is one of those collectible lines forever etched in pop culture and the minds of adults who adored them as kids,” said Jeremy Padawer, EVP / Partner at Jazwares. “Not only will fans of the original Micro Machines love the updated collection, but now they’ll have the chance to introduce this iconic brand to their own kids as they connect and collect their Micro Machine universe together.”
“Our collaboration with Jazwares to relaunch such an iconic vehicle property in Micro Machines is driven by our common mission for kids to Think BIG and Play SMALL!” said Casey Collins , General Manager & SVP, Global Consumer Products, Hasbro. “Together we want to encourage kids to immerse themselves in a world of vehicle play and collect amongst an expansive diverse set of themed vehicles and playsets. Couldn’t be more excited to see this come to life globally.”
You are going to feel the need…the need for speed. Hasbro and Paramount pictures are teaming up to bring you the first ever Transformers-Top Gun collaboration starring the brand new character, Maverick. This new Transformers robot is the ideal wingman taking form as the iconic Northrop Grumman F-14 Tomcat jet from the original Top Gun film.
The new Top Gun mash-up Maverick robot was created in honor of the highly anticipated sequel to the iconic film. Top Gun: Maverick is expected to premiere Dec. 23, 2020.
The new Transformers Autobot Maverick stands at 7 inches tall in robot mode and can convert from a robot to a Northrop Grumman F-14 Tomcat in steps. Maverick includes a screen-inspired miniature motorcycle accessory and two alternate hands that can hold the included volleyball accessory. The figure also features folding jet wings, movie-inspired details, including a helmet design inspired by the new film. It also includes four missile accessories that can be mounted on the figure’s arms while in robot mode and under the wings in jet mode.
The Maverick figure is available now for pre-order at HasbroPulse.com, while supplies last.
The Art Institute of Chicago (ARTIC) has way more than Renoir, Picasso, Monet and Van Gogh paintings to pique a mini art aficionado’s interest. Don’t be deterred by the quiet library-like atmosphere, read on to learn about kid-appropriate spaces that encourage little ones to discover, explore and, believe it or not, make some rowdy noise.
Let’s Start with Some Fun Facts
The two massive, iconic bronze lions that flank the ARTIC Michigan Ave. entrance were made in 1893 and given as a gift from Mrs. Henry Field (Henry Field was the younger brother of department store magnate Marshall Field). And, they have some pretty epic names: In an Attitude of Defiance and On the Prowl.
The ARTIC has almost 300,000 works of art spread out over nearly a million square feet! That’s a lot of feet for little feet to walk, so we’ll help you break down the must-sees for littles.
photo: Wendy Altschuler
What to See
The number one exhibit on our list is the Thorne Miniature Rooms. Peek in on 68 unnervingly realistic little rooms from different periods in European and American history, filled with little furniture and little lights and little fixtures—everything is little! There are many kid-friendly activities in this area, including a short tour that links to a book series about the Thorne Miniature Rooms.
The Arms, Armor, Medieval and Renaissance exhibit is also a family must-see. Where else can kids marvel at an authentic full suit of armor, with weapon in hand, perched on top of a fully decked out horse in metal armor? Children can walk by a massive collection of medieval art, metalwork, stained glass, jewelry, cannons and steel as far as the eye can see.
The ARTIC is known for its impressionism and post-impressionism art. They have one of the largest collections of late-nineteenth-century French art in the world.
photo: Art Institute of Chicago
The Ryan Learning Center, which hosts regular family activities is currently under construction to become an even more accessible, inclusive and creative space for all audiences to enjoy. Once it’s back up and running, you’ll find drop-in art classes with take-home projects that are thematically connected to artwork in the museum. Kids can also take part in age-appropriate programs and workshops.
The Family Room has toys, books and games that teach children about the ARTIC collection. On the weekend and for special events, engaging craft projects are offered. Across the hall from the Family Room, there are special exhibitions that change regularly, which encourage kids to learn, play and investigate.
photo: Art Institute of Chicago
Nibbles and Thirst Quenchers
The Museum Café, located on the lower level, has a full kid’s menu with kid-favorites. Self-service dining is available from 11 a.m.-4 p.m.
In addition to the Museum Café, ARTIC offers a wide range of options, from casual to fine dining. If it’s nice outside, check out McKinlock Court. You might even get lucky and find live music on summer evenings. Bonus: Members of the museum receive a 10% discount in all ARTIC restaurants.
photo: Wendy Altschuler
Family Activities to Jot Down
On the first Thursday of each month at 11 a.m., Picture This invites the youngest visitors to immerse themselves in picture books that correlate to and help them appreciate the works of art in the galleries.
For kids that want to explore their creative side, ARTIC provides the supplies for family-friendly sketching in galleries on select Saturday and Sundays.
It’s All in the Details
Strollers are allowed in the galleries and there is stroller parking outside the Ryan Learning Center Family Room. Strollers are not allowed in the Thorne Miniature Rooms. Take note that some of the elevators are not conveniently located, which requires a bit of navigating in and out of galleries to get where you’re going. There are, however, plenty of stewards that can direct you. For personalized tours of the collections, download the free Art Institute Tours app, available for Apple and Android devices.
Start your adventure at home with JourneyMaker, an innovative digital interactive kids can use to create their own one-of-a-kind adventure with works of art from the Art Institute’s collection.
The museum is usually busiest right when they open at 10:30 until after noon. A less crowded time to enjoy the art with your kiddos would be around 2 p.m. or 3 p.m. Also, the Modern Wing entrance on Monroe Street is often much less crowded than the Michigan Avenue entrance—which means shorter lines.
photo: Wendy Altschuler
The Bottom Dollar
The best part about bringing your kids to ARTIC? Free admission for all children ages 14 & under and for Chicago teens ages 14-17. Chicago adult residents will pay $20 and Illinois adult residents pay $22. Or, you can pop in on a Wednesday evening from 5 p.m.-8 p.m. for free admission.
Art Institute Chicago, 111 S. Michigan Ave., Grant Park 312-443-3600 Online: artic.edu
Want to score a snack time touchdown at your Super Bowl party? Serve up Auntie Anne’s Snack Stadium for the win.
You don’t have to spend hours in the kitchen to whip up the best Super Bowl snacks, just make a stop at Auntie Anne’s to pick up a Game Day Pretzel Pack. You’ll get two buckets of your favorite pretzels and ten dips, including marinara, cheese, caramel, hot salsa cheese, honey mustard, sweet glaze and light cream cheese.
The best part is the nifty Snack Stadium you’ll score with the pack. The cardboard serving dish, which is made to look like a miniature football stadium, is the perfect centerpiece for your halftime spread.
You can purchase the Game Day Pretzel Pack at participating Auntie Anne’s locations or online at auntieannes.com now through Feb. 2.