Free Shipping Week!

Get an early start on your holiday shopping by taking advantage of our Free Shipping discount September 12th through September 18th 2010. Free ground shipping only available within the United States.

For those who wish to upgrade to priority shipping the price difference between the priority shipping  and ground shipping will be your discounted shipping price. Choose the free shipping option when checking out during the above dates to receive the discount. Treasure Box Kids offers a different promotional discount each month, so be sure to check back often.

Baby Shower Centerpieces

Make baby shower centerpieces to focus the baby shower theme. Baby shower centerpieces are the first thing to catch the eyes of your guests as they enter the room and will be the focal point of your party. Baby shower centerpiece ideas should coincide as a perfect compliment for the theme of your baby shower. Select your baby shower centerpiece ideas from the following list of possibilities:

Baby Shower Centerpieces

• Diaper Cake – A diaper cake is a popular centerpiece that can be decorated to fit any baby shower theme. The diaper cake doubles as a gift of much needed diapers for the expectant mother. Link to other post on make a diaper cake
• Edible Fruit Bouquet – Make an edible fruit bouquet as the centerpiece for a Cravings baby shower or just a unique centerpiece idea.
• Stuffed Animals – Decorate stuffed animals with diapers, bottles, pacifier or other baby accessories. Place the stuffed animal in a baby bathtub and add balloons for an adorable centerpiece idea.
• Baby Sock Rose Bouquet – like the diaper cake this centerpiece doubles as a gift for the mother to be.

Visit www.treasureboxkids.com for adorable baby outfits or onesies and more baby shower ideas. Be sure to look through our archived blog posts for more activities, crafts, tips and birthday party ideas.

Build a Fort

It’s easy to build a fort indoors as a rainy afternoon adventure. When you build a fort with your child or grandchild you will provide a rich opportunity to unleash your child’s imagination. Begin this fun activity by “scouting” out a place to build a fort: a hiding place under the stars or a fortress in a far off land help to create the imaginative background to build a fort.

Build a Fort

The framework for building a fort can be dining room chairs, sofa cushions, footstools, etc. Drape a blanket or sheet over the top of your framework to create their enclosed fort. Add sleeping bags to simulate camping, add stars to create a spaceship, decorate the fort as a palace for your little princess – the possibilities are as endless as your child’s imagination. Building a fort is a fun activity for rainy days, winter vacations or any time you want to let your child’s imagination soar.

Visit www.treasureboxkids.com for children’s clothing and special outfits. Look through our archived blog posts for craft ideas, birthday party ideas, children’s clothing tips and kid’s activities.

Golf Birthday Party

With planning, a golf birthday party is a unique outdoor party idea with fun activities. The golf birthday party is entertaining for children age 7 and up as they hold their own miniature golf tournament. Decorate the party with golf themed items: green tablecloths with white (golf ball) tableware, a bucket of golf balls makes for an adorable centerpiece, foam golf visors, scorecards, etc. Golf themed activities include golf ball relays (golf ball on spoon), putting practice or a golf obstacle course.

Golf Birthday Party

Make your own miniature golf course with ordinary items found around the house and garage. Make a sand trap with a baking sheet and play sand. Design your own ramps with croquet wickets and cardboard cutouts for your golf course. Have each hole played a specific way: backwards putt, hopping up and down like a frog, or eyes closed on another putt. Children may decorate their foam visors with letters, stickers and pom poms as another golf themed activity.

Visit www.treasureboxkids.com for children’s clothing and more party theme ideas. Look through our archived blog posts for activities, crafts, tips and birthday party ideas.

Memory Mobile

Making a memory mobile is a fun and educational family craft. A memory mobile can display family pictures, helping children to understand their family relations and where they fit in the family. Your family tree is the basis for your memory mobile, therefore the mobile can be as large as the information you have on hand.

Further research of your family tree will help the whole family discover if their last name is based on a profession, or if the family name has changed when ancestors came to this country. The memory mobile can be used to display your family history, a special family vacation or other special family event.

Memory Mobile

Materials:

• Colored poster board or construction paper, one color for each branch of the tree
• Individual photos of family members
• Twigs or dowels: One 10”, one 16”, two 8”, and four 5”
• String
• Glue

Memory Mobile Instructions:

• Cut a 3” square of one color, two 2.5” squares of another color, four 2.5” squares of another color and eight 2” squares of the last color.
• Cut photos of family members a half inch smaller than the colored squares. Center the photos and glue in place.
• Poke a small hole 1/8” from the top and bottom of each square.
• Lay out twigs/dowels in rows, largest to smallest
• Position the photo squares with mom’s side of the family on one side and dad’s on the other. Arrange each couple with the men and women each on their own side.
• Cut 22, 6” long pieces of string. Thread one piece through each of the holes in the photo squares. Tie to the twigs above and below each square. Hold up the mobile and adjust the photos until it balances.
• Cut a 24” long piece of string and tie the ends to the top twig, then hang.

Visit www.treasureboxkids.com for children’s clothing and ideas. Be sure to look through our archived blog posts for more activities, crafts, tips and birthday party ideas.

Make a Diaper Cake

Need to make a diaper cake? Make a diaper cake as a centerpiece with lasting value for the mother-to-be. To make a diaper cake is a wonderfully creative gift for an expectant mother. It is a collection of diapers (either disposable or cloth) rolled and stacked together to resemble a traditional tiered cake. The tiers of diaper cakes are also garnished with baby care items such as bibs, pacifiers, baby socks, bottles, toys, and often wrapped in ribbon. How to make a diaper cake? First let’s start with the “ingredients.”

Make a Diaper Cake

• Diapers – either cloth or disposable; depending what the expectant mother would like. Use one large box of diapers to create as many tiers as you would like.
• Wide Ribbon – patterned to fit the baby shower theme. Pink, blue, or yellow are good choices.
• ¼ inch Ribbon – to tie rolled diapers with.
• Cake Platter
• Large Baby Bottle or Bottle of Lotion
• Baby Items – Pacifiers, bottles, lotion, bibs, receiving blankets, miniature stuffed animals, baby towels, onesies, wash cloths, toys, etc.

How to make a diaper cake:

1. Unfold and tightly roll 17 newborn diapers, starting from the front and rolling to the back of the diaper and put a rubber band around each diaper.
2. Take the cake platter and place the 8-oz baby bottle or large bottle of baby lotion in the center. Then place about 5-6 diapers around the bottle and put a large rubber band around the entire ring of diapers.
3. Form a 2nd ring around the first ring with the remaining 11-12 diapers. Place a large rubber band around the 2nd ring of diapers.
4. For the final ring of first tier diapers: take 18-20 diapers, roll them up tight like before, but instead of a rubber band around each one, tie a thin, 1/4 inch piece of ribbon around the middle around each one. Then place them around the second ring to form a 3rd ring. Take a wide ribbon and tie it around the entire tier to hold them all together in a circle shape.
5. The next tier is made much like the first, except that instead of 3 rings of diapers you will only use 2 rings. Part of the bottle will be sticking out of the 1st tier, so place your 5-6 diapers around it to form the 1st ring of the 2nd tier. The 2nd ring will need 11-12 diapers. Use ¼ inch ribbon around each one of those 2nd ring diapers and hold them all together in a circle with the wide ribbon like before.
6. It is probably easiest to assemble the third tier on a table and then place it on the rest of the cake after it is assembled. Take a 4-oz bottle and place it on the table,
   then take 5-6 diapers and roll them up like before and tie them with the ¼” ribbon. Place the diapers around the baby bottle and tie your wide ribbon around it to hold it together tightly. Take the top tier and place it on top of the other two layers.
7. Place baby shower decorations on the diaper cake by adding items like onesies, baby towels, wash cloths, bottles, bibs, receiving blankets, stuffed animals – tucking them into the diaper folds and outer layer of ribbon.

Baby Shower Diaper Cake

Visit www.treasureboxkids.com for adorable baby outfits or onesies and more baby shower ideas. Be sure to look through our archived blog posts for more activities, crafts, tips and birthday party ideas.

Themed Parties

Birthday excitement begins with themed parties. Themed parties focus ideas for decorations, games, activities and food preparation. The key to creating the best experience comes from planning a birthday party. When planning a birthday party pick a theme that works for your child’s age and personality. Keep parties to no more than 90 minutes for preschoolers and 2 to 3 hours for school-age kids and teens. While you are deciding on a party theme idea, involve your child in the process. Watch for clues (excitement in their eyes) when you suggest certain themes.

Themed Parties

If your child already has a favorite story character, color, animal or activity these are helpful to include as you select a theme idea. A party theme idea can be tailored to your budget with incredible results no matter how much you spend. Visit www.treasureboxkids.com for children’s clothing and ideas. Look through our archived blog posts for more activities, crafts, tips and birthday party ideas.

Here Are a Few Party Theme Ideas:

Puppy Birthday Party                Safari Birthday  Ladybug Birthday

Elmo Birthday                           Space Party                  Baseball Birthday Party

Sleepover Birthday                   Floral Birthday  Princess Birthday

Ballerina Birthday                     Fishing Party                 Dinosaur Party

Storytime

Increase reading fluency with storytime. During storytime parents get to play a critical role in helping their children develop not only the ability to read, but also an enjoyment of reading. Toddlers listen to and gain information from short stories and rhymes, thereby increasing their vocabulary about everyday events people and things. Toddlers learn interactive reading by pointing to pictures in favorites books that they have chosen.

Storytime

During interactive reading with young children the child will often look through the book as if they are actually reading, holding the book right side up and turning the pages from front to back. As the child moves to read aloud books, share the activity by first reading one page and letting the child read the next. Patience is the key for read aloud books. At this stage your child is learning to be able to read the text accurately as well as understanding what has been read. Pause at the end of a page. Ask questions or comment on what has been read in order to build these skills. Reading can be a fun and imaginative activity for children that opens doors to countless new worlds for them.

Visit www.treasureboxkids.com for children’s clothing and ideas. Be sure to look through our archived blog posts for more activities, fun kids crafts, tips and birthday party ideas.

Diaper Baby Shower

Throw a diaper baby shower to help keep the mother-to-be stocked with her one absolute necessity. A diaper baby shower is all about diapers and diapering supplies like baby wipes, crèmes, powder, pads, pins, etc.  The diaper baby shower would not be complete without the all-important baby shower diaper cake.

Diaper Baby Shower

A baby shower diaper cake is a collection of diapers (either disposable or cloth) rolled and stacked together to resemble a traditional tiered cake. Garnish the tiers of the baby shower diaper cake with baby care items such as bibs, pacifiers, socks, bottles, toys, etc. For baby shower decorations it is all about the diaper and anything related to it. Pin diapers on stuffed animals and place around the room and make a diaper flower bouquet for a centerpiece.

Visit www.treasureboxkids.com for adorable baby outfits or onesies and more baby shower ideas. Be sure to look through our archived blog posts for more activities, crafts, tips and birthday party ideas.

Birthday Party Games

Playing birthday party games is one of the most important parts of the party for little guests. Birthday party games keep children’s active energies focused and provide enjoyable memories for your child. Kids party games should be tailored to the age group of the children attending as well as the location of the birthday party. Outdoor birthdays host kids party games with more activity like races and relays as well as messy games involving water.

Birthday Party Games

Indoor birthdays involve kids game ideas like charades, balloon ping pong, musical chairs and pin the tail on the donkey. Other kids game ideas include games based on pictionary, spoon races, bingo, or building the tallest marshmallow toothpick tower.

Birthday party games for children under age 6 should be simple and fun. For children 7 to ten years old the birthday party games need to be silly and fun.Visit www.treasureboxkids.com for children’s clothing and ideas. Look through our archived blog posts for more activities, crafts, tips and birthday party ideas.