November 2020

Holiday of Play @ Home – A Winter Wonderland of Toys!

by scatteredadventuresNovember 25, 2020January 3, 2021

The Toy Insider’s Holiday of Play @ Home event, which was held on Thursday, October 22, was a captivating winter wonderland of toys that instantly put us in the holiday spirit! Holiday of Play, in normal circumstances, is usually an intimate cocktail party for select press and media outlets. We had the privilege of attending last year’s cocktail party and it was truly one of our favorites. The gingerbread house balloon sculpture that greeted you before entering the party was magical. Seeing the reveal of all of The Toy Insider’s top holiday toy lists, catching up with friends and colleagues we’ve known for years and making conversation while surrounded by the holiday excitement made it an event to remember. We honestly thought there wouldn’t be any type of events this year due to the pandemic. But, The Toy Insider team worked their magic to organize both Sweet Suite @ Home earlier in the summer and now Holiday of Play @ Home.

As soon as you entered the virtual world, you were greeted by festive holiday decor and everything you needed to navigate the showroom floor. There was a list of sponsors and floor plan which allowed for an easy journey to see all of the companies you were interested in. Each company’s showroom had provided images and press information for their products. Depending on the company, prerecorded videos were provided or some had options for either live one-or-one meetings and group presentations via zoom. The Toy Insider’s lists of hot toys were revealed including Hot 20, STEM 10 and 12 under $12.

We got to see the hottest holiday products from some of our favorite companies including Mattel, Funko Games, Moose Toys and Super Impulse. In addition to seeing the products, there was also many giveaways and fun activities held by many of the companies. There was even a fun contest throughout the event where you had to find the hidden socks within the virtual venue. Michael and Lindsey did a great job and won one of the runners-up prizes of a $50 Amazon gift card! Even Santa took time away from his busy schedule to attend the event!

The Toy Insider team sleighed this event and we are so grateful to them for bringing this amazing experience to us while safely at home. Check out our YouTube video as we take you on a walk-through of the fabulous toy-filled wonderland and if you haven’t already, get those Christmas wish lists started!

Snap Circuits MyHome Review – Learning How Electricity Works in Your Home

by scatteredadventuresNovember 17, 2020November 19, 2020

If you’re looking for a fun way for your kids to learn how electricity works in your home, the new Snap Circuits MyHome will light the way. Elenco recently launched Snap Circuits MyHome and we were sent the product for free for our review. It was created to help kids ages 8 and up learn how power works in their home through building various dwellings like a house or city building with functioning 3-D circuits as used in our everyday world.

The vibrantly colored base grids provide a captivating foundation to your child’s creation as they build their structure all while learning how electricity powers their home. The set provides everything you need to learn about circuitry, security systems, dimmer switches, automatic lights, alarms, motion detectors, fan speeds, appliance motors and generators! With the included manual, there are 25 step-by-step projects that are interchangeable but you can also come up with your own designs and combine with other Snap Circuits sets.

In our YouTube video, Michael and Lindsey picked a project from the manual but ended up customizing it in their own way. We were all impressed with how easy it was to follow the instructions step-by-step and having the ability to change it up without affecting the functionality of it was a big plus. MyHome is such a fun way to help you answer the questions your kids have about how electricity works while using their building and concentration skills. This set has been chosen by The Toy Insider as a 2020 Top Holiday Toy and is available at Target and other retailers.