This week the Parent Bloggers Network and FamilyAware.org are talking about ways that parents deal with the holiday craziness.  We always seem to fall behind and have a late Christmas eve, but this year I made an effort to at least get my Christmas shopping done in a timely manner so I can avoid any last minute trips to the mall.  There aren’t many stores near where I work so for most of my shopping I went to Amazon and took advantage of my Prime membership with its free 2 day shipping.  A little bonus this year is that Christmas is on a Thursday so there is still time to order gifts and get them in time.

To help any other last minute shoppers here is a list of 12 of our favorite toys that are Amazon prime eligible and in stock.  Make sure to check prices though, because some unscrupulous 3rd party vendors have been price gouging.

Here is our list of 12 last minute games and gadgets that we love:

1. ThinkFun Zingo – This is a fun version of Bingo that uses pictures instead of numbers. Each player gets a card and the pieces are stacked into the dispenser. Slide the dispenser back and forth and 2 pieces will appear, each with a picture on it. The first one to call out the picture of one of the pieces they need will get it. Have a tie? Put the piece back in the stack. The boys love playing this game and the playing field is even between the parents and kids.
2. Monza – We LOVE Haba games. They are all the perfect mix of fun and strategy. Monza is a car race where the track is broken into colored squares. Each player takes turns rolling the six dice and then choose the best path to take based on the colors that came up on their dice. The pieces are real cute and the game teaches kids to look ahead. I had to coach the boys the first few times we played, but now they’re beating me on a regular basis. Games are fast paced and last about 15 minutes.
3. Tangram Puzzles – The boys discovered Tangrams this summer at grandma’s cabin. The game comes with different shaped pieces and cards that have silhouette pictures. The challenge is to use the blocks to create the picture. Heather and I would race using two sets and played this before we had the kids. What a pleasant surprise to find the kids so engaged by the challenge at a young age. There are many versions out there so shop around. I saw a magnetic one that looked great for in the car.
4. Sequence for Kids – Another game we discovered at grandma’s. The boys absolutely loved this one during our visit. The board and cards have pictures of animals and each turn players match one of their cards to an animal on the board. They then put a chip on that animal. First one to get 4 chips in a row wins. Basically it is an advanced tic tac toe game for 2 to 4 players that is great for kids 4+ years old.
5. TiVo HD Digital Video Recorder – Here is a big ticket item for the parents, but is also a must have for TV watching with the kids. We recently dropped our satellite service and went to using a rooftop antenna with this Tivo. It has a digital tuner and the picture quality is amazing. Although our channel selection is limited we supplement it with Amazon Video on Demand and just added this month, Netflix streaming downloads. The Netflix selection available for streaming is limited, but we have found some real gems like the complete original series of Inspector Gadget. The best part is that the Netflix streaming comes free and unlimited with any Netflix account $8.99 or over.
6. Legos – Legos are huge in our house right now. I’m not surprised since Legos were my favorite toy as a kid too. The Star Wars sets and Bionicles are the most popular with the Ethan and Ben, but they love anything that gives them more pieces to add to their creations. Another great gift idea is the Lego Brickmasters magazine. There are 6 issues a year and each comes with a special edition Lego set.
7. Snap Circuits Jr. SC-100 – So we haven’t tried Snap Circuits yet since they are technically still in Santa’s bag, but I can’t wait to try it out. This is a simple electronics project set for kids that has won a bunch of awards. Ethan and Ben love building things on my work bench and I thought this would be a great activity for us to share. If you’ve got a builder in your family, give these a try. I think the burglar alarm project will be a hit.
8. Big Box of Boynton – I love Sandra Boynton books and this is a boxed set of 3 board books. Great for bedtime reading. Fun to read and great illustrations.
9. Hyper Jump and Animal Scramble – We’ve become big fans of Wild Planet games. These are 2 great indoor games that our kids love. Hyper Jump times how fast you can hit the correct color or number. There are different levels of difficulty with the harder ones using math and memory to figure out the right one to hit. Animal Scramble times how fast you can find the correct animal. This one is great if the parent sets them up in a room while the kids are in another room. Have them take turns and see who can have the fastest time. Great way for the kids to burn off energy on a rainy day.
10. Rapelli – This is a great green game, made from bamboo. The challenge is to keep your caterpillar in the burrow the longest. The game pieces are adorable and the games are quick and fun.
11. Feed the Kitty – This is a great beginners dice game that is based on luck rather than strategy. A fun game that teaches taking turns and rolling the dice. The object is to be the last one with mice remaining. Another good one that puts parents on equal footing with the kids.
12. Bristle Blocks – When the kids first got these I wasn’t all that impressed. A lot of these construction toys seem pretty limited compared to Legos, but the kids proved me wrong. These are great because they are easy for the little ones to build with, but the older kids can build amazingly creative things. This has become our favorite rotational toy. We put them away and whenever the kids are looking for something to do we bring them out again and they come up with a different theme to build on. Ethan and Ben have built everything from dinosaurs and families of ducks to Star Wars blasters and Spore creatures. There are many versions of bristle blocks under many names so shop around. A set that comes with wheels is great for kids that love cars and trucks.

Amazon has made this mallophobic dad love Christmas shopping and makes last minute shopping a breeze.  Avoiding the malls removes an amazing amount of stress.

Shop around on other websites too since many others are offering express shipping at reasonable prices this year.  A good place to start is right at the source.  I needed to order a set of K’Nex that was no longer available at Amazon and found them on the K’Nex site at a cheaper price.  We also fell in love with RideMakerz remote controlled cars and they are offering 2 day shipping for $9.50.

Before you head to mall and make those panic impulse purchases just to escape the madness, grab a drink and sit down at the computer to shop around.  There’s still plenty of shipping days left for your packages to arrive.

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