52 Alternatives to TV
This is a great stocking-stuffer for your nieces and nephews for when/if they get tired of all the electronic gadgets and TV shows. Who knows? It might even bring your family closer together!
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fun word game - players pull letter tiles from the banana shaped case and have a crossword building frenzy. Each player is building their own crossword puzzle - not playing off of others. Play gets fast and furious. Lots of f... fun word game - players pull letter tiles from the banana shaped case and have a crossword building frenzy. Each player is building their own crossword puzzle - not playing off of others. Play gets fast and furious. Lots of fun for kids of all ages. ages 7 and up. great for travel.
Added 3 Years Ago from Mentalfloss -
habitat for a live butterfly garden comes with a gift certificate for 5 live larvae and necessary food that will be mailed to you when you are ready. Complete instructions for providing the perfect habitat and watching the larva... habitat for a live butterfly garden comes with a gift certificate for 5 live larvae and necessary food that will be mailed to you when you are ready. Complete instructions for providing the perfect habitat and watching the larva turn into butterflies. Kids love it and so do adults. There is nothing that compares to watching the beauty of nature up close.
Added 3 Years Ago from Amazon.com -
perfect for your favorite bird nerd! You don't have to be an expert - learn as you play.
Added 4 Years Ago from Uncommon Goods -
I wish I'd had one of these when i was growing up! Website details: Teach kids that it's what's on the inside that counts with this fascinating, educational puzzle. Five layers of outer and inner body, including the nervous, dig... I wish I'd had one of these when i was growing up! Website details: Teach kids that it's what's on the inside that counts with this fascinating, educational puzzle. Five layers of outer and inner body, including the nervous, digestive, muscular, skin and clothed layers, will teach kids about their own bodies and help them appreciate how amazing it is. A great introduction to science, this fun puzzle contains 29 pieces and comes in boy or girl version. Made of birch wood and child-safe water-based paints.
Added 4 Years Ago from Uncommon Goods -
Awesome puzzle features the pandas of the San Diego Zoo. details from website: Got pandas? We do and we would love to share them with you! Our exclusive San Diego Zoo Panda Puzzle is sure to create some excitement and with ove... Awesome puzzle features the pandas of the San Diego Zoo. details from website: Got pandas? We do and we would love to share them with you! Our exclusive San Diego Zoo Panda Puzzle is sure to create some excitement and with over 500 standard size pieces, hours of enjoyment will follow. Measures 17.5 x 23.5-inches when completed, and includes a free reference poster just in case you need a little help. Not recommended for children under 3 years of age.
Added 4 Years Ago from Shopzoo -
Finally an answer to the question of "we finished the puzzle... now what????" With this earth friendly puzzle you plant the pieces to grow wildflowers!!!! Pieces are biodegradable and imbedded with wildflower seeds to ensure tha... Finally an answer to the question of "we finished the puzzle... now what????" With this earth friendly puzzle you plant the pieces to grow wildflowers!!!! Pieces are biodegradable and imbedded with wildflower seeds to ensure that you will enjoy this puzzle long after it is complete. the website says: This 500-piece, interlocking puzzle is made of the highest quality blue board and created using precision dies. All materials, including the soy-based inks, are 100% renewable and/or recycled, all are biodegradable, and are imbedded with wildflower seeds. When finished, hang this puzzle on your wall or plant the pieces in soil to grow wildflowers! Soak the pieces overnight in water and plant them in the soil or pot. Water them daily until they bloom! Measures 13 x 19-inches when complete. Recommended for children 4 and older.
Added 4 Years Ago from Shopzoo -
Awesome puzzle that is completely portable, allowing you to work on it whenever and wherever you'd like! details from website: This fantastic 1,000-piece puzzle features friendly faces from the jungle. Assemble anywhere, it’s ... Awesome puzzle that is completely portable, allowing you to work on it whenever and wherever you'd like! details from website: This fantastic 1,000-piece puzzle features friendly faces from the jungle. Assemble anywhere, it’s a portable puzzle! Complete at your own leisure, the sturdy and convenient storage roll-up mat comes with its own tube and bands that will hold your puzzle together indefinitely. When complete your puzzle will measure 19 x 26-inches.
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WOW! - i have to admit I almost squealed with delight when i saw this puzzle. Great family fun and educational, too - not to mention beautiful. the website says: This American jigsaw puzzle features a collage of official stat... WOW! - i have to admit I almost squealed with delight when i saw this puzzle. Great family fun and educational, too - not to mention beautiful. the website says: This American jigsaw puzzle features a collage of official state birds of the contiguous United States. Each one is made with a special 1,000-piece die in the shape of America and is entirely produced in the U.S.A. Educational and fun for the entire family! When completed it will measure over 31 inches wide.
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great twist on an old favorite....
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Yes, more Sesame Street from the 70's!
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When this series was on television my entire lab watched it. We'd come in in the morning and talk about it for hours - how beautiful this was, how amazing that was, how cool sharks are ... I don't know how many years it took ... When this series was on television my entire lab watched it. We'd come in in the morning and talk about it for hours - how beautiful this was, how amazing that was, how cool sharks are ... I don't know how many years it took to make this visually spectacular series on oceans and waterways, but it is just incredible to watch. You'll sit there with your jaw dropped for most of it. There's something here for everyone. This is something you could give as a gift to a family. Something that you'll end up passing around to your friends.
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From FAO Schwartz: How would you like to be the editor-in-chief of your own fashion magazine? Here's everything you need to do just that- all you need is a computer and your creativity. Included are a digital camera with tripod... From FAO Schwartz: How would you like to be the editor-in-chief of your own fashion magazine? Here's everything you need to do just that- all you need is a computer and your creativity. Included are a digital camera with tripod, four photo backdrops for your fashion shoots, computer software, and complete, easy-to-follow instructions on putting it all together, from setting up the photos to working on the computer. 1. Set the scene 2. Shoot the photos 3. Import photos to your computer 4. Use the templates to layout your stories 5. Print your magazine 6. You're fabulous! Voila! Camera is compatible with Windows 98SE, ME, 2000, and XP. Software is compatible with Windows 2000, XP and Vista. Camera requires 2 "AA" batteries, not included. Doll and outfit sold separately.
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With all of the holiday travel plans ahead, what a perfect gift for a young person to use to record their adventures.... from Garnet Hill: This pocket sketchbook features a collection of 12 tiny colored pencils and a pad of pa... With all of the holiday travel plans ahead, what a perfect gift for a young person to use to record their adventures.... from Garnet Hill: This pocket sketchbook features a collection of 12 tiny colored pencils and a pad of paper. It's just the right size for stuffing into stockings, backpacks and purses. Imported. Size: 4½"H x 2¼"W Buy two and save! Two for $24.
Added 5 Years Ago from Garnet Hill -
I love the passport idea- fun and interactive. from Garnet Hill: Travel the globe without leaving home with this fun, unique game. To collect passport stamps, players must hop from continent to continent, answering questions... I love the passport idea- fun and interactive. from Garnet Hill: Travel the globe without leaving home with this fun, unique game. To collect passport stamps, players must hop from continent to continent, answering questions about world cultures. Age 10 and up. Imported.
Added 5 Years Ago from Garnet Hill -
Click the "Norad Santa Tracker on YouTube" link at the very bottom of this rec for videos of the tracker in action. If you don't know about this site, GO BOOKMARK IT NOW! Even if you don't have kids. Chances are, you will cross... Click the "Norad Santa Tracker on YouTube" link at the very bottom of this rec for videos of the tracker in action. If you don't know about this site, GO BOOKMARK IT NOW! Even if you don't have kids. Chances are, you will cross paths with your nieces and nephews over the holiday season.... Heck, this is amazing even for grown-ups. The site won't go live for a few weeks so put it somewhere in your Bookmarks now for later. What is it? The most incredible thing to happen to Christmas since Santa himself, courtesy of the very real US/Canada alliance, NORAD. It's run by the military. The main event kicks off on Christmas Eve. Basically, it's a live webcam INSIDE SANTA'S sleigh that is paired up with Google Earth (it refreshes every five minutes) and let's you see EXACTLY where the Big Guy is at, how long until he gets to YOUR house (you can even zoom in on your own house!) and aerial views as he flies through the sky- ie you actually see his sleigh do a loop around the Eiffel Tower, zoom past the Tower of London, etc. It is, frankly, incredible. I discovered this three years ago. Each year's version is more sophisticated than the last but they all have been the major part of my kids' Christmas Eves. The anticipation and interaction it delivers is something I could never replicate any other way. I literally stop people on the street with kids each year and tell them about this (while slipping my hand into their pockets and taking their wallets.... ah, just kidding.) One tip: Download Google Earth (it's free) ahead of time and install it on your computer. Here are some blurbs from other sources and a history of the whole thing: _________________________ NORAD details its tracking system: Detecting Santa all starts with the NORAD radar system called the North Warning System. This powerful radar system has 47 installations strung across the northern border of North America. NORAD makes a point of checking the radar closely for indications of Santa Claus leaving the North Pole on Christmas Eve. The moment our radar tells us that Santa has lifted off, we use our second mode of detection, the same satellites that we use in providing warning of possible missile launches aimed at North America. These satellites are located in a geo-synchronous orbit (that's a cool phrase meaning that the satellite is always fixed over the same spot on the Earth) at 22,300 miles above the Earth. The satellites have infrared sensors, meaning they can detect heat. When a rocket or missile is launched, a tremendous amount of heat is produced - enough for the satellites to detect. Rudolph's nose gives off an infrared signature similar to a missile launch. The satellites can detect Rudolph's bright red nose with practically no problem. With so many years of experience, NORAD has become good at tracking aircraft entering North America, detecting worldwide missile launches and tracking the progress of Santa, thanks to Rudolph. The third detection system we use is the Santa Cam. We began using it in 1998 - the year we put our Santa Tracking program on the Internet. NORAD Santa Cams are ultra-cool high-tech high-speed digital cameras that are pre-positioned at many places around the world. NORAD only uses these cameras once a year - Christmas Eve. The cameras capture images of Santa and the Reindeer as they make their journey around the world. We immediately download the images on to our web site for people around the world to see. Santa Cams produce both video and still images. The fourth detection system we use is the NORAD jet fighter. Canadian NORAD fighter pilots, flying the CF-18, take off out of Newfoundland to intercept and welcome Santa to North America. Then at numerous locations in Canada other CF-18 fighter pilots escort Santa. While in the United States, American NORAD fighter pilots in either the F-15 or F-16 get the thrill of flying with Santa and the famous Reindeer Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner, Blitzen and Rudolph. About a dozen NORAD fighters in Canada and the United States are equipped with Santa Cams. ____________________________ History: In 1955, a Colorado Springs-based Sears store ran an advertisement encouraging children to call Santa Claus on a special telephone hotline. Due to a printing error, the phone number that was printed was the hotline for the Director of Operations at the Continental Air Defense (CONAD). Colonel Harry Shoup took the first Santa call on Christmas Eve of 1955 from a six-year old boy who began reciting his Christmas list. Shoup didn't find the call funny, but after asking the mother of the second caller what was happening, then realizing the mistake that occurred, he instructed his staff to give Santa's position to any child who called in.[1][dead link] [2][dead link] [3][4] Three years later, the governments of the United States and Canada combined their national domestic air defenses into the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD), but the tradition continued.[3] Now major media outlets as well as children call in to inquire on Santa's location. NORAD relies on volunteers to help make Santa tracking possible.[2] Many employees at Cheyenne Mountain and Peterson Air Force Base spend part of their Christmas Eve with their families and friends at NORAD's Santa Tracking Operations Center in order to answer phones and provide Santa updates to thousands of callers[5][dead link] [6]. About 800 service members and their families volunteer, and shift run from 2 a.m. MST December 24 to 2 a.m. Christmas morning.[6] In 1997, Canadian Major Jamie Robertson took over the program and expanded it to the Web where corporation-donated services have given the tradition global accessibility.[5] In 2004, NORAD received more than 35,000 e-mails, 55,000 calls and 912 million hits on the Santa-tracking website from 181 countries. In 2005, more than 500 volunteers answered questions.[7][dead link] In 2006 half a million calls and over 12,500 e-mails were handled from 210 territories.[3] The site now gets well over 1 billion hits. The fictional background storyline has changed with the world political situation: during the Cold War when the tracking team provided updates via radio announcements, only North America was mentioned and Santa's approach was described in tense terms with interceptor aircraft scrambled to shoot down the "bogie."[8][9] Only at the last minute would the pilot realize who he was engaging[10]. Now the Web shows that as Santa approaches Newfoundland, a flight of Canadian Air Force fighters (CF-18 Hornets as of 2006) rendezvous with him to provide an honor guard and ensure that he has no difficulty with the various Air Defense Identification Zones (ADIZ) he must enter[11]. In 2005 holiday season marked the fiftieth anniversary of NORAD's annual tracking of Santa Claus on Christmas Eve. The following year, NORAD Tracks Santa began using Microsoft Virtual Earth-style maps that instantly provide Santa's current location. In 2007, NORAD Tracks Santa used Google Earth to track Santa Claus in 3-D.[2] They displayed Santa's location at 5 minute updates. _______________________________ Every year in December, the United States Northern Command (NORAD) is given a mission-critical assignment: provide aerial escort for and track the movements of Santa Claus. Last year, NORAD provided a Santa Tracker KMZ file that could be loaded into Google Earth and auto-refreshed every few minutes. The Santa Tracker makes use of the KML programming capabilities of Google Earth to mark his whereabouts with gift-wrapped icons and a 3D sleigh pulled by 9 reindeer. _____________________________ The NORAD site goes live with tracking Christmas Eve but you can monitor the activity at the North Pole as Santa and his helpers get ready for the big night. There's an interactive tour you can take, checking out the workshop and all the preparations. Then, Google has some free Internet tools you'll want to download ahead of time, like the Google Earth application, which, combined with its mapping and satellite imaging will let you virtually zoom in on your house with a Santa-eye view that takes you right to the chimney.
Added 5 Years Ago from Noradsanta -
I've probably said this here before but just to be clear: I didn't have three ten-pound babies for nothing. My payment? The chance to passive aggressively encourage them to rewalk my own childhood footsteps. Kind of like a "life d... I've probably said this here before but just to be clear: I didn't have three ten-pound babies for nothing. My payment? The chance to passive aggressively encourage them to rewalk my own childhood footsteps. Kind of like a "life do-over." Only I hope they do it more gracefully. The purpose? So that I can answer deep, provocative questions like, "How different would my life be if I hadn't sported 3-inch high vertical bangs in high school?" (Sidenote: I grew up in So. Cal in the 80's. So it was only partially my fault.) This book made me think of one thing when I saw it: "I played those games. Now THEY will... err... I mean, can if they would like... play those games." from the site: Cat's Cradle, Crow's Foot, Jacob's Ladder - we remember well the happy hours spent playing string games handed down to us by our mothers and grandmothers. Thankfully, Richard Darsie's careful, step-by-step instructions and photographs will help us teach our children. Three rainbow-hued cord loops that are much easier to work with than the yarn we used as kids are also included. A special kind of heirloom for ages 4 and up. Size Hardcover, 8" x 8", 95 pages
Added 5 Years Ago from HearthSong -
No Irish jokes, please. Oh fine. Go ahead. God knows I've already got a few running through my big head..... from the site: This game is HOT! Pass the polished plastic potato around a circle of friends - faster, faster!! ... No Irish jokes, please. Oh fine. Go ahead. God knows I've already got a few running through my big head..... from the site: This game is HOT! Pass the polished plastic potato around a circle of friends - faster, faster!! Whoever has their hands on it when the bell goes off is out of that round of play. But the fun doesn't end there - it's almost as much fun to watch others hastily hand the tater around. Wind it up to set the timer ticking and kids giggling. For ages 3 and up.
Added 5 Years Ago from HearthSong -
A low-tech, low-cost introduction to the night sky that will enable you to spot stars and constellations depending upon the day of the year and the time of the night. For all ages. Good astral gifting.
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Kids can get out their aggression towards each other while learning about strategy, motion, force, and engineering. May the best builder win!
Added 5 Years Ago from Uncommon Goods -
Finally! A children's book teaches kids about the importance of being green- things like saving electricity, recycling, cleaning up litter, and even building community. With beautiful, colorful, vibrant illustrations, this book wi... Finally! A children's book teaches kids about the importance of being green- things like saving electricity, recycling, cleaning up litter, and even building community. With beautiful, colorful, vibrant illustrations, this book will have every youngster thinking green!
Added 5 Years Ago from Thegreatergreen -
Just another geeky gadget I'd love to have. I think I could totally impress some boys with this celestial globe. It has light sensors so when you turn off the lights, the blue LED kicks in and displays constellations all over the ... Just another geeky gadget I'd love to have. I think I could totally impress some boys with this celestial globe. It has light sensors so when you turn off the lights, the blue LED kicks in and displays constellations all over the globe. Great for kids and romantic soirees. Find a constellation and go outside to try to find it!
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Extremely realistic model of what earth looks like! Give this toy to an aspiring astronaut to play around with. I think this would look cool in just about any house - it glows and reminds you that the earth is important!
Added 5 Years Ago from Playfairtoys
