droolicious : disney princesses

Roll Out the Royalty With This Toybox

JeanneSager — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 20:27:00 GMT

We have entered the realm of the Disney Princess obsession, and I'm afraid there is no escaping it. But as we work on our daughter's room makeover, I've been looking to incorporate her favorites in small ways rather than let a character take over.

Her favorite new addition? Her Princess toybox that rolls out of its organizer and around the room for easy clean-up and fun play around the room.

From Delta products, the three-tiered organizer is surprisingly easy to put together (alas, I can't lie and say I did it - thank you honey!) with each piece well-labled, holes pre-drilled and dowels already in place. It's also sturdier than most of the particleboard toyboxes I've found (the one downfall to this box, it is particleboard rather than real wood), able to withstand a preschooler packing it full of EVERYTHING she owns.

The roll out toybox uses the organizer as its "lid," so there's no need to worry about a lid getting beaten up with the constant up and down and no fear of fingers getting pinched. This gets bonus points for the three plastic organizing bins on the second shelf, each of which comes out separately so they can keep cars separate from little action figures and so on.

Better still, this is a small set, which easily fits into a corner of the room and at under $50 doesn't cost you an arm and a leg for something they'll soon grow out of. Get it at Target.

7 Days of Video Games: Disney Princess Enchanted Journey

Chris Ford — Sat, 02 Aug 2008 12:03:00 GMT

If you've got a Wii and a little girl who is really into princesses, then chances are you've probably looked this game over. And while in my experience it's not really a very good video game per se, it does have one thing that makes it better than most of the games on the Wii we have (and I'm not just talking about the fact that it features the Disney princesses). It's a game my three year old daughter and I can actually play together, which is what it's really all about.

The game is pretty simple. You get to be a princess (that you customize with hair, dress, jewelry etc.) that goes around and helps all of the Disney princesses. There are Jasmine, Cinderella, Snow White and Ariel "stories" that you become a part of, and you run around their respective kingdoms helping defeat bad goblins that turn into butterflies with your magic. Sounds mind-numbing, right? Well, it kind of is, but my daughter loved it not just for the stories, but because she could play too.

The game is played with the Wii "Nunchuck" (the thumb controller that attaches to the normal "Wiimote" controller) and the "Wiimote." You use the Nunchuck to run around in the game, and you use the Wiimote to wave your wand and shoot magic at the bad guys. The way my daughter and I played it was she was in charge of the wand and I was in charge of running our character around the map. The system worked out really well, and after a few weeks of playing it here and there we even finished the game.

The game itself doesn't seem to be written very well. It has lots of glitchy moments when you can't figure out where you're supposed to go, the audio levels are all over the place making it hard to hear the story sometimes, and to play you have to be physically much closer to your television than most other Wii games I've played. It also doesn't look nearly as polished as most other Wii games out there, but if you're looking for a game that you can do with someone who quite frankly isn't coordinated or old enough to play a video game by themselves, then this is a game you might want to check out.

Ultimately, it's a good example of how well the unique Wii controller system works, and how it's the best video game system out there for families.

Buy Disney Princess: Enchanted Journey for the Wii for $19.99 (cheap) from Amazon.
And shop Amazon for a Wii System (if you can find one).

FLOR Carpet Tiles for Kid's Rooms

Chris Ford — Wed, 13 Feb 2008 12:07:00 GMT

If you're decorating your son or daughter's room and are looking for something warm to cover the hardwood flooring, FLOR might be a good alternative. They now have carpeting options for children's rooms, including Disney Princesses, Pixar Cars and Classic Pooh.

But what exactly is FLOR? FLOR is a company that makes tile-sized squares of carpet that you buy individually and then arrange any way you want. You can use them to create anything from an area rug to wall-to-wall carpet. The designs they have for kid's rooms are really great too. If you would rather shy away from the Disney Princess thing, they have other, more modern designs (like the puzzles design pictured above) that look really cool. I've used them for years and have been very happy.

Just don't tell my daughter they have the Princesses. Please.

Disney / FLOR Kids, available for $4.09 to $6.20 per square foot from FLOR.com