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As a parent, you’re probably concerned about your child’s education and health. So every time you step into your local mass retailer to buy a toy, you wonder if the toys are really safe (lead paint, anyone?), if they’ll fall apart after a few weeks, or if they’re truly educational as the manufacturer claims.

If that describes you, let me introduce you to KoboldToys.com, a fantastic online toy store. Kobold Toys was started by Carmina Valdizan as a brick and mortar toy store in Panama. Her partner, Ana Eiras, a mom, launched the U.S. based online store in March 2008. (You can read more about their startup at the WomenHomeBusiness.com.)

In the days of toy recalls, Carmina and Ana search all over the world for toys that are high quality, safe, and have high educational value. They also carry unusual toys that are hard to find anywhere else, and are on the lookout for brands that are eco-friendly.

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Kellogg’s and Animal Planet have paired up to bring you Wild Animal Crunch, a whole grain, vanilla and chocolate flavored cereal. Wild Animal Crunch is one of Kellogg’s first cereals to meet the their new Global Nutrient Criteria. It has 14 grams of whole grains, 3 grams of fiber, 100 calories, 1 gram of fat and 8 grams of sugar per serving.

The folks at Kellogg’s sent us a box to try. As a mom, I’m not thrilled with the amount of sugar, though it’s better than most. I thought the cereal was o.k., but the kids found it delicious. Nathan and Lucie had bowls and bowls of it during every breakfast and snack until it was gone - about three days. I’m surprised it took them that long.

Besides the tie in with Animal Planet, eating Wild Animal Crunch is fun because it comes in animal shapes. This would be a great cereal to snack on while watching Animal Planet’s Meerkat Manor. It would also make a very portable snack to take to the zoo, camping, or hiking to go see animals out in the wild.

Take a Wild Animal Journey with Books

You don’t need to leave the house to go on safari. You can read Meet the Meerkat by Darrin Lunde from Charlesbridge Publishing (read my review here.) Sylvan Dell Publishing also has some terrific animal books:

• The Giraffe Who Was Afraid of Heights - a tale of a giraffe who’s scared of heights and two of his animal friends who have their own fears to overcome (read my review)
• Tudley Didn’t Know - the story of a painted turtle who adopts other animals behaviors (read my review)
• ‘Twas the Day Before Zoo Day by Catherine Ipcizade and illustrated by Ben Hodson. This book is an adaptation of ’Twas the Night Before Christmas and shares zoo keeper and animal preparations for the upcoming “Zoo Day.” Like all Sylvan Dell books, their website features a PDF of the For Creative Minds (PDF) book section, along with Teaching Activities, Learning Links and more.

Whether eating Wild Animal Crunch, reading books about animals, or watching Animal Planet, these are all fun ways to get your child interested in nature and the world around them. Get wild!

I was first exposed to the world of Baby Einstein videos when my friend - an occupational therapist - and her family stayed with us a for a few days. Her son was less than a year old and an extremely high need child . They took drastic measures from a darkened room with music and a special swing just to get him to sleep. (It ended up being severe GERD and the poor kid was in pain.)

One thing that always calmed their little boy down were Baby Einstein videos. They limited his viewing time, and only relied on the videos when they needed a break. My friend worked with many special needs children and knew that the videos were a great tool in getting her son comfortable and quiet.

In August 2007, Frederick J. Zimmerman, PhD., Dimitri A. Christakis, MD, MPH, and Andrew N. Meltzoff, PhD. came out with a study published in the Journal of Pediatrics that supposedly found that among babies ages eight months to 16 months, every hour spent daily watching programs such as Baby Einstein translated into six to eight fewer words in their vocabulary.

The media picked up on it immediately and Disney asked for an apology. Yet, no one pointed out that the study was preliminary and not very scientific. In fact the researchers were very biased since Dr. Christakis had a reputation for blaming TV for a variety of behavioral problems in children  and had been targeting Baby Einstein videos since 2005. I was so ticked off that I wrote “The Real Scoop on Watching Baby Einstein (just because you have a Dr. in front of your name doesn’t mean you’re right).”

I’ve been a big defender of QUALITY videos and television ever since. In fact, I support groups like the Smart Television Alliance, a coalition of nonprofit organizations committed to helping parents use technology to find and watch quality television programming. With this in mind I whole heartedly support parents use of Baby Einstein videos so they can take a break to shower, eat a snack, answer the telephone or make dinner.

Videos like Baby Einstein - Baby’s First Moves are meant to be shared with your child. In fact, the Baby Einstein website gives parents tips on ways to use the videos. Here’s one:

Make it a Family Affair
Consider using DVD time as a way to interact with the whole family. If baby has an older sibling(s) around, you can invite them to watch the DVD with you. (Nathan enjoyed watching videos like this with Lucie when she was a baby.) Encourage your older child to point out the names of the animals, say the colors or even make animal sounds. They will love playing with baby and will be excited about showing off how much they know!

Also, it’s not about your baby sitting like a big lump in front of the TV watching a video and drooling. With Baby Einstein - Baby’s First Moves, which was sent to me by Baby Einstein/Disney to review, it’s about getting up and moving! The video is an interactive “celebration of babies’ movement milestones.” This includes walking, clapping, jumping, and dancing.The purpose of the video is to get parents and their children discovering movement together. So grab a copy of Baby Einstein - Baby’s First Moves and get your jiggy on!