Feature Articles: Features

At The Giggle Guide®, we know that slumber parties are never about sleeping. To truly set the party vibe, it’s important to start things off with some bang-up invitations! So, we invite you to review our survey of invitation supplies designed to knock little socks off before the bunny slippers even come out. Sit back, relax, and let these fun-filled companies help do the talking: Doodlebug Design Inc., and Dahlias and Pears, Frazzled & Bedazzled.

Happy New Year! For retailers, January signals the start of the gift-buying season and a national round of trade events focused on what’s new in the gift market. Since children’s gifts are one of the most resilient product categories, buyers are encouraged to support the gift shows and discover ways to start or expand their gift selections. Here’s a preview of the first gift show of the season, The Atlanta International Gift & Home Furnishings Market, January 6-13 at AmericasMart. Also see January’s Trade Show Calendar on The Giggle Guide® to plan your gift-buying schedule.

Colors can affect mood and reflect our personalities, both in what we wear and the palette chosen in our homes. Using paint, we can enhance our living environments with an endless spectrum of hues, and the classic white walls of the past are becoming awash in a myriad of color. Color is therapeutic. Studies show, for example, that spending just 15 minutes in a pink room can noticeably reduce depression, while green can significantly reduce levels of anxiety.

Hammocks bring to mind images of lazy summer afternoons spent swinging in the breeze, sipping a cool drink with a good book. Curiously, the origins of the hammock go way back in history. Some credit the ancient Greeks with its invention, while others point to the early inhabitants of the Amazon Basin. The Mayans knew that the hammock is an ideal sleep system for an infant because it surrounds the baby, simulating the mother’s womb, as it naturally responds to the child’s movement. The Giggle Guide® surveys this alternative sleep system for babies, with selections from Hushamok, Kanoe and Mama Little Helper.

Lullabies are traditionally used to transition young children into peaceful sleep. However, current research also indicates that infants have the ability to retain portions of what they hear during sleep. Comforting music may help them wake up energized and ready to absorb the wonders of their world. Rockabye Baby Music, Hushabye Baby Music and Sleep Lullabies offer a new age symphony of relaxing harmonies to help calm and nurture such developing young minds. When it comes to lullabies, babies have never had such a hit parade of merry musical innovations and orchestrations.

In the spirit of sharing the Good News, Christians from every denomination are moved to carry Christ’s message of love and peace into their daily lives, and especially to their young children. 80% of Americans believe in God, and 60% consider themselves to be Christians. With numbers like that, the Christian market can provide retailers with a good following, if they carry a selection of Christian-based products for children.

What’s for dinner?” is a common question uttered nightly by children with rumbling tummies. Savvy parents know that encouraging kids to help out in the kitchen is a great way to bond as a family and teach children about good food! Today there are several products available that take children from a “make-believe” kitchen to actually making delicious meals of their own. The Giggle Guide® presents Sassafras, Growing Cooks and Dressing Up Dishes… a hot three-course meal of cooking sets and activities designed especially for children. Bon appetite!

Children love creative play that imitates the activities they see Mom and Dad perform — like cooking! For generations, little chefs have dished up everything from mud pies to elaborate tea parties using realistic, make-believe toys. Kitchen play sets deliver an educational recipe for fun times that allows children to pretend they can cook, just like grown-ups! The Giggle Guide® has found some products to help kids cook up all kinds of make-believe adventures with pretend goodies! Add HaPe, Guidecraft and KidKraft to your retail product menus!

Premature infants benefit from an extra special dose of tender love and care, as well as some unique products to help with their special needs. In honor of Prematurity Awareness Month, and the The March of Dimes’ efforts, The Giggle Guide® recognizes the following companies who offer products designed to help small infants, with special attention to the needs of preemies: Mommy’s Little Helpers, Comfort Silkie,Itzy Ritzy, TummyTubs and AvaBaby’s.

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