Kimochis: Plush Toys with a Purpose!

Feelings can be messy...Kimochis can help!

If I told you that you could raise your child to be happy and successful, and that it could be as simple as having them play with a plush toy, you might raise an eyebrow. Initially, that is! Because once you see and experience Kimochis, you will see exactly what I mean.

My heart skipped a beat when I was first introduced to Kimochis about a year ago. I was thrilled when the creators submitted them for our award. It didn’t take long for our reviewers to see that Kimochis and our Preferred Product Awards went together like PB&J.

Kimochis (KEY.MO.CHEES), which means “feeling” in Japanese, is the name given to these whimsical plush creatures, which do more than just look cute and colorful on your child’s bed or shelf. They are so much more than plush toys. In fact, they are plush toys with a purpose!

It’s all about the feelings. Being able to identify them in ourselves and others is a critical life skill. Moreover, being able to cope with those feelings, manage intense and uncomfortable feelings and having the confidence to handle whatever problems come our way, are the things that great lives are built upon.


An example of some of the feelings in the "mixed feelings" bag.

Kimochis help with all of the above in a way that is accessible and FUN for young children. Often, you will hear parents or caregivers say, “Use your words”, when trying to assist a child in communicating about intense emotions. Kimochis actually give your kids the feeling words to use.

Kimochis come with three feelings face pillows, that have the feeling written on the back. More available for purchase.  In the extra kits, there is a blank pillow and a marker, for your child to be able to talk about and deal with whatever feeling may be pressing at the moment!

More examples of feeling pillows!

They also come with an incredible 48 page “Kimochis Feel Guide”, which is an incredible resource when it comes to creative uses of the Kimochis plush toy and feelings. (Seriously folks, this “Feel Guide” alone is golden!)

Kimochis is all about the business of helping your kids manage feelings in socially acceptable ways. Only they make it fun, memorable and upbeat!  Don't think these will just benefit the kids, though.  Better communication about feeling benefits us all!

Welcome to the Kidlutions Preferred Product Award family, Kimochis!  So glad you have joined us!



Signing Families(tm) Helps Grow Great Kids!

Kidlutions(tm) Preferred Product Award winning DVD:
"Baby, Toddler, and Preschool Sign Language" by Signing Families(tm).

The unstoppable Louise Masin Sattler, Nationally Certified School Psychologist and founder of Signing Families(tm) has produced a DVD worthy of two parental thumbs-up. This film isn’t coming soon to theatres near you, but it should be. It should also be one of the loop tapes that play from kiosks in grocery stores and malls, as well as on electronic billboards in metropolitan areas.

The inimitable Louise Masin Sattler, founder of Signing Families(tm)

Signing Families(tm) “Baby, Toddler, and Preschool Sign Language” DVD is a clear and convincing choice for our Kidlutions(tm) Preferred Product Award. Our reviewers knew just seconds into the 35 minute DVD, that this product excelled when it came to helping kids develop social and emotional literacy. That initial hunch got more convincing as the DVD played on.

Communication is a key aspect to getting our needs met, expressing ourselves and building relationships. And of course, all of that is directly tied to social emotional development. But, what if a child is too young to talk, has delays that inhibit speaking or has other conditions or factors that mitigate verbalizing their needs? Frustration. Irritation. Tantrums. Explosions.

The “Baby, Toddler, and Preschool Sign Language” DVD helps you help your child reduce frustration and increase cooperation. In her own inimitable style, Louise will have you signing with the best of them. She’ll give you quick, easy ways to remember the signs and she spends plenty of time explaining the origin of most of the signs.  All of this helps anchor the signs in your memory, meaning easier recall and a smooth transition to teaching your child!

You’ll have your youngster learning how to share, take-turns, clean-up, pay attention, wait, and use caution sooner than you can say "jump"! Louise even teaches the sign for “STOP”, but, as any admirable psychologist would do, reminds us that using the sign too much will make it lose its effectiveness! Save that sign, and that word, for times when it is really necessary!

This DVD is appropriate for use in the home or the school setting.  Parents, as well as teachers will find applicability to their respective settings, and will be able to utilize what is taught on this DVD.

Louise remembered all of the important words to increase social awareness and courtesy, too, helping you teach your youngster the signs for “please”, “thank-you”, “sorry” and “you are welcome.” You’ll teach your child how to ask for help or indicate they are hurt, as well!

Of course, to be worthy of a Kidlutions Preferred Product Award, there must also be a link to helping kids recognize, identify and/or deal with feelings.  Yep!  It's in there, too!  The “Baby, Toddler, and Preschool Sign Language” DVD features 50 English signs, numbers 1-10, the ABCs, as well as Spanish words and numbers in sign, as well.

When she isn’t busy signing, or training teachers and parents on the merits of signing, Louise spends time entertaining the masses on her radio show, “Learning and Laughter with Louise”, which airs Wednesdays at 8 a.m., Central Standard Time, on Toginet Radio.
 

Welcome, Louise and Signing Families, to our Kidlutions(tm) Preferred Product Awards family.  We're so proud of all of your accomplishments and pleased to have you join us!

Grow Good Kids with Bingzy and Bing Note Products!

Oh, that every school child would know the likes of Bingzy!

Bingzy, the fun-loving character for Bing Note’s series on social and emotional development will warm his way into every child’s heart as he teaches important social-emotional skills to the PreK-Second Grade crew. Early childhood is a key time to begin intentionally teaching these concepts and Bingzy does it in a way that is non-threatening, fun and easy to remember. Those factors all add up to some incredible products…worthy of the Kidlutions Preferred Product Award.

We test-drove the “That’s BINGZY! Let’s Talk About It Discuss & Do Activities” and “That’s BINGZY! Busy Building Self-Esteem: Sing with Me - Book & CD” and WOW, we can’t say enough good things about them!

It’s one thing to tell a child, “Be nice, play fair,” or “Believe in yourself, you can do it,” and an entirely different thing to SHOW them how to do it. Bing Note products and BINGZY do that in spades. With activities, worksheets, talking points, a story and songs, these products cant help but grow good kids!

There are many, many curriculums out there for which you can pay hundreds of dollars to teach kids social-emotional skills. What we like about this workbook and story/songbook, is that it is accessible to both teachers for classroom and daycare use, as well as to parents for home use. It can be used with ease in all types of settings.

The website for Bing Note shares the following:

"Bingzy! Let’s Talk About It – Discuss & Do Activities" and "Bingzy! Picture Book & CD" helps kids become:

STRONG, POWERFUL, HEALTHY, LOVING, HARMONIOUS, CREATIVE, SUCCESSFUL, AND HAPPY.

According to Bing Note’s website:

The activities were created by a group of experienced teachers who have taught children for numerous years. These activities have proven to be effective learning tools in the classroom, in small group settings, and one-on-one.

Includes 48 activities plus additional discussion questions.
Developed by award-winning teachers!
Grades PreK – 2

Some of the topics include:
Feeling Discouraged: Keep Trying – I AM STRONG
Gaining Knowledge Through Reading – I AM POWERFUL
Learning The Food Groups – I AM HEALTHY
Giving Gifts From The Heart – I AM LOVING
Including Others At Playtime – I AM HARMONIOUS
Recycling:Other Uses For Plastic Water Bottles – I AM CREATIVE
Starting The Day Being Organized – I AM SUCCESSFUL
Helping Others Makes You Happy – I AM HAPPY

With Bingzy and Bing Note Products, you’ll get a surefire way to help your children develop crucial social-emotional skills. And you’ll do it for a most reasonable price.

Find the Bing Note crew around the web at:

Bing Note Website - Be sure to visit for some great printables on all things self-esteem related!
Twitter - Sweet tweets by the Bing Note gang
Facebook - Fun, fast, easy tips to grow good kids!

Congratulations, Bing Note and welcome to the Kidlutions Preferred Product Award family! We’re so happy to have you aboard!

Personal Child Stories...as unique as your child

Shara Lawrence-Weiss

Founder, Personal Child Stories

http://www.personalchildstories.com/

Personal Child Stories. The name is self-explanatory. The result is simply amazing. These books are so personalized that you would think that Shara Lawrence-Weiss, the creator of PCS, knows each of the children for whom she writes the books.  Clearly, she does her homework when it comes to their creation.

The stories are creative and the prose is catchy. Each book stars your child as the main character, with a storyline that relates to whatever you wish. PCS books can assist you in helping your child adjust to any number of transitions:

~ a new sibling
~ preparing for surgery or other medical procedures
~ understanding death
~ behavioral issues
~ coping with divorce
~ dealing with moving
~ special needs of any sort
~ being a sibling of a special needs child
~ or any other issue that you are helping your child tackle

PCS, the brainchild of Lawrence-Weiss, grew out of a very personal need to help her own child cope with a medically-related issue. You can read about it here.

The books are child-proof and virtually indestructible. They are ring-bound, laminated and very sturdy. They can be written on and easily wiped off.  That makes them even more perfect than traditional "paper" books.

While holding these books in my hands to review, I could almost feel the love that was poured into them. REALLY! They were sweet, with a very powerful message.

PCS books build self-esteem, encourage social and emotional development and help kids solve problems. With your child as the main character, a PCS book is sure to become one of his or her favorite reads. 

To get a glimpse at just how well-crafted these books are, take a peek at one of my faves. It’s a bittersweet memoir of a little girl’s beloved dog. Be sure to get the tissues…you’ve been warned.  After viewing this, and others available on the PCS site, you'll see why they were a natural for the Kidlutions Preferred Product Award.
You can also see a short video of a child reading her own PCS book, too:

While the books I reviewed were created for younger children, I personally witnessed an almost 10-year-old and a 12-year-old enthralled with them.  (Note that the books were not even about them...they featured other children.) Following is a conversation between the two kids that I overheard,  "Wow.  How cool is that?  These are neat!"  "I know, I really like these!"

These books are more than books, they are treasures...and because they are so durable, they are also family heirlooms.  You won't find 'em in a store, though...you'll only find them at Personal Child Stories.

Cheryl Melody Changes the World One Note at a Time...

For over 25 years singer/songwriter Cheryl Melody, B.M.ED., MA, has been bringing music to life. Melody, as she is known by her friends, is filled with both passion and compassion, which seems to come through each note of her music. Cheryl's music has garnered a Kidlutions Preferred Product Award for two sets of three CD's.

The first set includes (for early childhood):

Let's Pretend and More (Ages 4-7)
Songs that Make the Heart Feel Good (2-8...and for those young at heart)
Peek-a-Boo, I Love You (Birth - age 5)

These CD's boast a broad range of offerings, with an upbeat mix of both songs and stories. Some songs are classics and some are Melody's own creations. She includes a beautiful blend of mulitcultural songs from around the world, that can provide a wonderful conduit for a child's imagination. No matter which of these CD's you purchase (or better yet, if you get all three), you can be sure that you are buying a product that will bolster your child's self-esteem, nurture their hearts, improve their social and listening skills and enhance their creativity. Melody even teaches kids how to be their own best friend.

A bonus is the foot stomping, hand clapping, finger tapping, singing, dancing good time that is guaranteed in all of Melody's works. These songs have far reaching effects...and will stay with your child for years to come. One child who listened to these CDs at bedtime as a preschooler at the age of 4, still remembers the lyrics to many of the songs as a fourth-grader. Now that's staying power.

The second set includes (for elementary aged up):

Friends Forever (ages 4/5-grade 2/3)
Celebrate (Ages 5-adults)
World Peace: The Children's Dream (Ages 5-10)

In this set of CD's, Melody conquers some big issues, such as character-building, self-respect, respect for others, bullying, conflict-resolution, anti-bias, world peace and more. All of this is handled in a way that is accessible to young people and helps them think about the impact they have on others, as well as the difference they can make. These CD's empower kids to make good choices and to be "change-makers".

Once the CDs are purchased, some of the CD's have FREE downloadable lyrics, lesson plans and MORE that complement the music and stories.


Melody's life's work has been to teach others a kinder, more gentle way of being in this world. It is fascinating to read her life's story, which will give you more insight into the driving force behind the music and the message. Visit her site to learn more.

Congratulations, Melody, on your award-winning products.