The two spiraling ramps come with two Little People race car drivers, two cars and lots of extras. Some of these extras are working elevators, moveable car lift, stop signs, gas pump, and more. When the cars are getting gas children can hear guzzling noises, and car honking.
The Fisher-Price Little People Wheelies Stand ‘n Play Rampway (Frustration-Free Packaging)
• Stop at the repair shop for a tune-up. Load vehicles onto the lift and raise it up and down; the lift even has mechanical cranking sound effects.
• Send cars through the flipper sign-it spins around when vehicles hit it.
• Park at the meters to visit the shops or head to the drive-through restaurant.
• Load cars onto the clicking elevator to bring them to the top
The bottom level has a parking garage with vehicle-activated lift ‘n lower gate and gas pump with rotating hose which activates fun sound effects.
There is an adjoining lift/lower stop sign that activates lights – push sign down for red stop light and lift sign for flashing lights and car action sound effects activated as cars zoom by.
The Fisher-Price Little People Wheelies Stand ‘n Play Rampway (Frustration-Free Packaging)
When playtime is over clean up is made easier with a storage case with a built-in carry handle.
Filed under Santa by on Nov 14th, 2011. 
“7 Simple Techniques for Keeping Your Child Believing in Santa Claus”
Many parents love to see the joy and excitement Santa Claus can bring to their child. For many people, their childhood memories of Santa Claus are the best Christmas memories they have. Keeping your child believing in Santa, however, can be a daunting task. Children are smart these days, and some of the old Santa tricks just don’t get by them anymore. Many children are perpetually plagued with the question, “Is there a Santa Claus?”
Every family may have slightly different Christmas traditions with regards to Santa Claus, but there are some very easy things any person can do to keep the belief in Santa at an all time high. The following 7 techniques will keep your child believing in the magic and wonderment of Santa Claus and you don’t have to be familiar with the history of Santa Claus to apply them.
1) Have your child write a Santa Letter. This can be a simple letter that your child can write to Santa Claus. Children absolutely love to write a letter to Santa, but they occasionally need a little parental guidance to pull it off.
Help your child include a special list of gifts they desire for Christmas into the Santa letter. Many children enjoy getting more creative by drawing or cutting out pictures that represent the gifts they want.
Once the child’s Santa letter is finished, simply mail it to the North Pole. Mail it to the following Santa Claus address: Santa Claus, 1 Candy Cane Lane, North Pole 00001. Don’t bother using a return address, you wouldn’t want it to return as ‘undeliverable’ for any reason.
2) Write a Letter from Santa and have your child receive it in the mail. Create a personalized letter from Santa by directly mentioning your child’s name and certain information about your child in the text. This will make for a much more believable Santa letter. Be sure to make these letters from Santa different for each child in the same household. The child will have no doubt that Santa Claus is coming to town after they receive their personalized letter from Santa!
“I can honestly state as a parent that the personalized letter from Santa has single handedly restored my son’s belief! The look of shock and amazement on his face when he got an ‘authentic letter from Santa’ quickly abolished any doubt he previously had about Santa Claus.”
Print the Santa letter on authentic looking letterhead, as this will help to reinforce the believability. Many different styles of paper can be found at your local office supply store.
You can add to the fun by getting your letter from Santa postmarked at the North Pole. Simply send your Santa letter inside another sealed, stamped envelope to: North Pole Christmas Cancellation, Postmaster, 5400 Mail Trail, Fairbanks, AK 99709-9999. (It needs to arrive by December 15th)
Many parents add a certificate for being on Santa’s “Nice List” along with the Santa Letter for added effect. Another great item to add with the Santa letter is a Santa Claus coloring sheet. Combining the personalized Santa letter, the nice certificate, and the Santa Claus coloring sheet is a sure fire method for keeping your child believing.
3) Have your child leave milk and cookies out for Santa Claus on Christmas Eve. This is simple enough to do with your child. It lets your child know YOU still believe, too. Make it a bonding experience for you and your child by baking the cookies together on Christmas Eve. Don’t underestimate how powerful this can be for creating joyful memories of Santa Claus, for both you and your child. Did you know that Santa’s favorite cookie recipe is Chocolate Chip?
Put the fresh cookies on a plate next to a glass of cold milk. You can even put a short letter to Santa Claus next to the cookies and milk. These tasty treats will give Santa the energy he needs to continue traveling to the millions of other households awaiting his arrival.
Don’t forget to leave some crumbs on the table Christmas morning. Your child will feel honored that Santa Claus ate the whole plate of cookies and drank all of the milk before rushing on his way.
4) On Christmas Eve, have your child sprinkle reindeer food on the lawn. Santa Claus gets milk and cookies on Christmas Eve, but what about Rudolph and the rest of the joyful gang? What do they eat? Well, reindeer food, of course!
You can make a batch of environmentally friendly reindeer food with common grocery items such as oats or granola. (Do not use potentially hazardous items, such as glitter in your reindeer food. Although this may make the reindeer food appear to be magical in some way, it can be extremely dangerous if ingested by small children, should they decide to ‘sample’ the reindeer food. It can also be potentially hazardous to the small animals outside such as rabbits, dogs, or cats that may eat the food.)
Once you have the reindeer food mixed up, walk outside with your child on Christmas Eve night and explain the importance of making sure Santa’s sleigh team stays fed. Sprinkle a small amount onto your yard near bushes or trees.
This healthy reindeer snack will give Rudolph and the rest of the reindeer the nourishment they need to continue flying Santa’s heavy sleigh into the night. Your child will be proud for helping Santa Claus on his journey, and is sure to raise the belief in Rudolph and the other reindeer as well.
5) Leave Santa Claus tracks in your house on Christmas Eve. Being sure to not stain your carpet, leave some dirty boot prints by the fireplace (or doorway). Be sure to draw attention to the Santa Claus footprints on Christmas morning. To a child, this is solid evidence that Santa had been to their house.
6) A month or so after Christmas, send your child a postcard from Santa Claus on vacation. This not only keeps your child believing, but reminds your child that Santa is in their hearts all year long. It also answers the common question posed by children after Christmas, “Where is Santa Claus now?”
Be sure to make the postcard from somewhere very warm and sunny. After all, Santa does need a break from all that North Pole snow.
7) Mail your child a birthday greeting from Santa Claus. This technique works in tandem with the personalized Santa Letter you mailed your child previously. Mailing your child a simple birthday card from Santa is an excellent way to keep your child’s belief high throughout the year. Your child will think, “Wow! Santa actually knows my birthday!” The shock on your child’s face will be priceless.
Parents that have extremely intelligent kids or kids that are getting slightly older will genuinely need to utilize all 7 techniques mentioned above to keep their child believing in Santa Claus.
These techniques will assure your child is one of the millions of children that write Santa Letters each and every holiday season… one of the millions of children that believe wholeheartedly in Santa Claus.
A reputable, inexpensive website that offers all of this as a service can be found here:
All Gift Books Section
Filed under Santa by on Oct 4th, 2010.
Watching Classic Christmas Movies
Movies related to Christmas help to create a fun atmosphere and can also teach moral lessons related to Christmas. While everyone will have different Christmas movies that are most enjoyable, there are some that remain favorites.
“A Christmas Story” is told from the point of view of a young boy in the days before Christmas and on Christmas Day. It shows him doing routine things each day against the backdrop of the
Christmas season with the decorated store windows, Santa Claus, the snow and frostiness, and of course his wish for a Christmas toy. But his parents disapprove of the toy that he desired. The movie is good at showing the innocence of the Christmas season. One of my daughters insists that this movie, which runs for twenty four hours in our area, be playing all Christmas Day.
“A Christmas Carol,” written by noted author Charles Dickens, tells the story of old Scrooge whose only purpose in life is to make money. 
Scrooge puts making money above his family, friends and everyone who cares about him. His response to Christmas is a grumpy, “Bah Humbug.” He gets a different experience however, when ghosts appear to him and try to point out the error of his ways. The movie’s lesson is about the importance of appreciating people in your life.
“It’s A Wonderful Life” is a story about hope and the worthiness of everyone. It tells the story of a man experiencing despair and self-destruction because he thinks he is of no worth to those around him, and they would be better off if he
didn’t exist. An angel grants him his desire and he gets to see what he contributes and what life would be like without him.
Every Christmas, “A Miracle on 34th Street” can be seen on television. It asks and answers the question “Is there really a Santa Claus?” The movie is about a man who claims to be Kris Kringle, or Santa Claus, but is not believed and so he has to prove his identity claim.
“National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation” is about the Griswold family with Mr. Griswold, played by Chevy Chase, who gets into silly accidents that provide a lot of humor. The movie shows the lives of the family as they celebrate Christmas and the difficulties that arise when their entire family comes to visit for Christmas.
“Home Alone” is about a large and chaotic family with lots of kids who are going on Christmas vacation. Amid the chaos of leaving on the morning of the trip, one child is left behind and must stay and fend for himself in a very large house during the Christmas season. At first he was happy to be alone but then two thieves break in and he has to fight them off. The movie shows the importance of family and loved ones.
A sequel, ‘Home Alone 2: Lost in New York’ tells of the boy who was left alone going to an aunt and uncle’s home and again encountering the two thieves who are seeking revenge.
“How the Grinch Stole Christmas
Grinch is a grouchy, green man who lives in the mountains above the small town of Whoville where residents, called The Whos, celebrate Christmas enthusiastically every year. The Grinch, who doesn’t like Christmas, wants to spoil it for Whoville and so he tries to steal all the toys, food and gifts that The Whos have accumulated for Christmas. The movie provides a lesson on the true meaning of Christmas.
“A Charlie Brown Christmas” is an animated television movie about the popular Peanuts comic strip. The movie is about the comic strip’s main character, Charlie Brown, and tells of the experience with his friends for Christmas. It also has Biblical references that relates to the true meaning of Christmas.
“Frosty The Snowman” is an animated story about a snowman, named Frosty, that comes to life and who must avoid a greedy musician who is trying to get the magic that brought Frosty to life. The movie is very funny and has lots of wonderful songs.
“Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer” is also an animation about the reindeer with a shiny nose that kisses a pretty girl and also helps out his friends.
If viewing Classic Christmas Movies
Filed under Santa by on Sep 19th, 2010. 3 Comments.
Christmas crafts are fun for the whole family and one that is particularly good for all ages is making bead and pipe cleaner ornaments. This is a craft not only to be enjoyed by the family but one that can be used to provide gifts for those we want to remember in some small way.
Christmas ornaments made from ordinary pipe cleaners and inexpensive acrylic beads are very pretty and easy to make. They look quite impressive yet are easy enough for small children to make. This is one Christmas craft idea that you will want to use again and again Since the designs can be varied to make a number of different sparkling ornaments for Christmas trees, older people will enjoy making this craft, too
To make the bead and pipe cleaner ornaments, you need common pipe cleaners in desired colors and acrylic beads. Two types of beads are particularly effective when strung on pipe cleaners. One type is called sunburst beads, but they are also known as paddlewheel beads, snowflake beads, or starburst beads. These beads have six faceted paddles spaced equally around a center that contains the hole for stringing. When several of these sunburst beads are strung consecutively, they fit against each other in an interlocking pattern.
The other type of bead that is also effective for this Christmas craft is called the tri bead or propeller bead. It has three rounded bumps arranged around the stringing hole. Like the sunburst beads, the tri beads interlock when strung consecutively. For the most sparkly and attractive Christmas ornaments, get tri beads and/or sunburst beads in translucent colors of red, green, and clear. The tri beads can also be found in metallic gold and silver which can be used in this Christmas craft as well.
Pipe cleaners can be found in silver and gold tinsel as well as chenille of all colors. For the Christmas craft, the best colors to use are the metallics (silver and gold) and Christmas colors. The beads cover the pipe cleaners, but the ends which will need to be twisted together and made into hangers will show.
Anyone, even small children, can string these beads on pipe cleaners. Bend up the end of the pipe cleaner so the beads don’t fall off. The pipe cleaner works like a needle, this making a needle unnecessary. For best results, show the children how to alternate colors when stringing, or start a pattern of three colors. When the beads are strung on the pipe cleaners, they can be bent into different Christmas shapes. For example, string red and clear beads alternately, then bend down one end of the pipe cleaner for a candy cane shape. Or alternate red and green beads and form a circle for a wreath. Use a red pipe cleaner to form a small bow to decorate the wreath. Form a hanger for the ornament or simply slip the circle over a branch of the tree.
By experimenting with clear beads and silver pipe cleaners, you can make some beautiful snowflake or star ornaments. Snowflake designs can be twisted of silver pipe cleaners only, without the beads for a simple but pretty decoration.
Bead and pipe cleaner ornaments are a Christmas craft you will find yourself using every year. Children and their parents will both appreciate this simple yet pretty Christmas craft. Use your imagination to come up with some very different shapes and sizes. Above all, enjoy the time together as a family during this happy season.
Filed under Santa by on Sep 19th, 2010. 2 Comments.
Christmas is the most magical time of the year for children and adults. With all the traditions and merriment connected with this season it’s easy to hope for peace and good will for the year to come.
A lot of what is widely regarded as true about Christmas or held as a tradition cannot or has not been verified, or, has changed through the years. Even Christmas Day itself, December 25, has been questioned as to whether that is the exact day on which Jesus was born. Skeptics have asked “why would shepherds be out in the cold watching their flocks by night during the winter?” These skeptics have put forward the thought that Jesus may really have been born in the spring instead.
When even the exact date for the birth of Christ is unknown, there is little wonder that there are many fancy stories and tales that are told about Christmas and the Christmas season.
The most common fancy tale that everyone tells, particularly to children, is about Santa Claus, also called St. Nicholas. Two big questions arise about Santa: where does he live and how is he able to get to all the houses of good boys and girls on Christmas Eve?
In the United States, Santa Claus is said to have two homes. There is a home in Torrington, Connecticut, which is used as a distribution point for Santa and his many helpers, who are elves, to hand out gifts. And then, a second home is said to be located in Wilmington, New York, and that is where Santa Claus and his delivery reindeer crew are located. But Santa can be visited in Cyberspace at anytime and what about the widely held belief that Santa Claus really lives in a village at the North Pole?
The people of Finland also claim that their country is the official residence of Santa Claus. That’s because in Finland, you can actually visit a village any time during the year and see Santa’s workshop and observe Santa and his elves hard at work as they prepare for their very important Christmas gift delivery job on Christmas Eve. The only day when Santa’s workshop is closed to visitors is, of course, Christmas Eve. Maybe a very smart visitor could visit Santa’s workshop on the day before Christmas Eve to see if there are any clues to how Santa and his reindeers plan to make their trip the next day. That’s because as the tale goes, in Finland Santa Claus and his reindeers do not reach their destinations around the globe by flying.
Finland welcomes visitors to Santa’s workshop but there is nothing said about whether visitors actually have any chance of having a word with the man himself. While the chances of doing so are believed to be non-existent, among the questions that inquiring minds could ask Santa is whether Rudolph is the son of Donner (and to confirm the spelling – Donner or Donder) or whether Santa spotted him in a different reindeer village one foggy Christmas Eve when he had already started on his Christmas toy-delivery mission. If mere mortals got a chance to question Santa, then he also would likely have some questions for us humans. He may want to know whose idea was it to have Christmas trees and for the gifts to be placed under them.
The tradition of Christmas trees as it exists today comes from Germany by way of immigrants. But it isn’t clear how the tradition really gained a foothold in Germany. One story is that Christians in Germany during the 16th century started to bring trees that were decorated into their homes. Some of those Christians would build pyramids for Christmas. The pyramids were made of wood and would be decorated with evergreens and candles. It is however, Martin Luther, a Protestant reformer, who is said to have been the first to add lighted candles as decoration to a tree. Lighting the candles was based on his inspiration from the brilliant light of twinkling stars that shone through evergreen trees as he walked home one winter evening. As the legend goes, Martin Luther placed a tree in a main room of his house and placed wires with small, lighted candles around the branches of the tree. And that is how, as the tale goes, the Christmas tree as known today, was started.
Filed under Santa by on Sep 15th, 2010.
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