The month of March is full of riddles and teasers at GTB! Get ready to Shamrock and Roll your way to savings. Answer the leprechaun’s riddle correctly at the time of purchase and roll the dice to save some gold. The number you roll determine’s the precent discount off your entire purchase!

There’s different types of riddles and we have a good assortment of them on hand to test your skills.  There’s two types of riddles: enigma’s and conundrum’s.  Enigma’s are riddles that are presented as either a metaphor or allegorical language.  These one’s require careful thinking and ingenuity.  Conundrums are riddles that rely on the questions effects on punning the answer or question itself.

Families that participate in brain teasers and riddles exercise their brains and can increase their overall thinking potential.  Just think of them as aerobics for your brain!  You exercise your body to stay physically in shape, so why shouldn’t you exercise your brain to stay mentally fit?

To help, be sure to stop by our monthly game nights – the second Friday of every month.  We always have staff on hand to teach and play the games with you!

The roller-coaster we’ve all been riding for the past couple years has certainly changed our daily conversations; we’re all worried about the “bottom line”.  While businesses continue to rethink their financial bottom lines, we recognize that customers are scrutinizing their purchases more closely too.

As our customer, you know that the “bottom line” for us is much broader and more meaningful than the current economic reality.  Our “bottom line” is about the meaning and purpose of the products we sell and the kind of community we want to promote.  Out goal is to make sure the store demonstrates our understanding of how play is essential to a child’s development; it’s not: “here’s a whole bunch of toys,” but “here are carefully selected toys to enable play that builds and establishes relationships, develops physical, cognitive, emotional, and social skills, all while stimulating life-long learning and quests for fun.”  So… it go us thinking.  We offer all these activities for kids, why not some for the parents?

On October 22, 2009, Geppetto’s Toy Box collaborated with local psychologist and mother, Dana Flynn Schneider, Psy.D., to host a conversation entitled: “Why Play?!”  In our busy world, it’s important to remember that play is purposeful, meaningful, and necessary.  Play is the language of children and is how we, as adults, fully connect with our families and those around us.  It is a language that can be “spoken” by all ages and it has an incredible impact on individuals, families and communities – nothing builds better relationships than having fun together!  So on October 22nd, we talked about how spontaneous, imaginative (and “unplugged”) play could lead to happier, healthier children and better-connected families.  We also discussed facets of our children’s development so we could better understand the real “bottom line” of play in the life of our children and families.

So get out there and explore, play a bit, and make sure you take the time to enjoy the beautiful fall weather with your families.  We’ll have lots of fun games and puzzles waiting to keep you busy over the winter!

This is the first of MANY posts to come and we’re really excited! Geppetto’s Toy Box prides itself with serving the Oak Park and River Forest communities with great toys and events for children and their parents. We want to inspire your kids and spark their imagination! Stop on by soon to see our hand-selected array of educational toys that help your kids create, imagine and grow!