Love to play Old Maid? How about adding a Michigan spin to this game with some cool Old Maid in Michigan Jumbo Playing Cards? This is just one of the thing we’re loving this month – including those Kinder Joy eggs, which are finally legal in the United States. Peek at our obsessions here!
If you’re obsessed with a product, tell us about it and we could feature it in Metro Parent and give you $25.
Old Maid in Michigan Jumbo Playing Cards
A friend gave us a deck of these fun Michigan-themed playing cards featuring colorful artwork by Pontiac illustrator David W. Smith, and we love them. The kindergartner and preschooler can sort out half a deck for games of memory, and as they grow older we’re graduating to Go Fish and Old Maid. Oversized for little hands, these sturdy cards feel retro and luxe at the same time. Cool characters like the Mitten Kitten and Motor City Man give us an excuse to clear the table, talk about a state we love and have the littles working on winning and losing with grace. A pack is $12 at michiganmittens.com.
– Meredith Counts, mom of two in Whitmore Lake
Quartz News App
In a time-crunched life, news should be quick, reliable and engaging. The free Quartz app is all of this – and convenient, too, because it’s delivered by text or Facebook Messenger to your most important parenting tool: your smartphone. Personal enough to feel like it’s from a news-savvy friend, Quartz reports global headlines to keep you in the know for kids’ current events assignments, plus it serves up human-interest stuff – even recipes. Five minutes a day, and you’ll amaze everyone with what you know.
– Claire Charlton
Kinder Joy Eggs
If your kids are like mine and have obsessed over Kinder Surprise eggs after seeing them on YouTube or getting a taste in Canada, you’re in luck: We finally can buy them in the states. Well, sort of. Meet the Kinder Joy. This surprise egg has two separately sealed halves – one with yummy chocolate/cream and two wafer bites and the other with a tiny (mostly worthless) toy. Not ashamed to say I buy them for myself, too – the chocolate is that good. By Ferrero, $1.49.
– Jessica Schrader
Vtech Touch And Learn Activity Desk
My 2-year-old son is obsessed with this colorful desk. It has five activity “pages” – we set them on the desktop and he presses various touchpoints to learn his alphabet, numbers, shapes, animals and more. There’s a toy telephone, red-critter LED display and music player at the top. If you flip the desktop up, it has a chalkboard on the other side with a clip for paper so he can also draw on it like an easel. I’m all about toys that help him learn, and this one does! Ages 2-5. It’s $39.82 on Amazon; costs vary for 10 expansion packs.
– Kari Zaffarano
Are you obsessed with something? Tell us what and why or email us your reasons at myobsession@metroparent.com. If we love your pick as much as you do, we’ll feature it in Metro Parent and give you $25.
