Winter Stocking Stuffers for Girls
Girl's Butterfly Beanie by Gymboree – Size XS/S – Deep Teal – Deep Teal – $13.99 82% acrylic/18% polyester. Features detailed embroidery. Allover ribbed knit texture. Machine wash; imported. Faux Fur Ear Muff –...
Shop Local for Neighborhood Toy Store Day
Did you know that shopping locally fosters a sense of community?
Shopping locally also offers a diverse product selection: many independent toy stores carry the unique toys that you may not see elsewhere plus there is a reduced environmental impact due to less travel, traffic and carbon usage for consumers. You will also find great customer service specialty brands that you can’t find at national chain stores.
Spending money in your local community contributes to economic stability by providing local jobs and tax dollars. There is also a sense of community and support for a friendly, thriving neighborhood.
The 4th annual Neighborhood Toy Store Day will be held on Saturday, November 9, 2013 to help kick off the holiday shopping season Neighborhood Toy Store Day introduces families to the fun of shopping locally and celebrates each toy store’s commitment to the community. Participating stores will host local in-store events for families such as face painting, craft projects, live performances and special discounts.
This is the Pulsar Powerball that my son made.
WANT TO JOIN IN?
Find a store near you by visiting the ASTRA Website
SHOP & WIN WITH ASTRA!
To celebrate the fun of shopping for toys at the local toy store, ASTRA is kicking off the “I Heart My Neighborhood Toy Store” campaign. Now through November 8, 2013, log onto www.yourneighborhoodtoystore.org to enter to win the following sweepstakes:
A Grand Prize Vacation Package! Thomas & Friends™ invites you on the family vacation of a lifetime at select all inclusive Hard Rock Hotels in Mexico and the Dominican Republic.
Six individual winners will be selected to win one of the following featured prizes:
- One gift basket of Kidoozie products from International Playthings valued at $250
- One gift basket of Calico Critter products from International Playthings valued at $250
- One gift basket of earlyears products from International Playthings valued at $250
- Gift certificates for Playmobil products. Two winners will receive a $250 Playmobil gift certificate each to be redeemed at an ASTRA-affiliated retailer
- One gift basket of assorted Best Toys for Kids winning product from ASTRA valued at $250
VISIT YOURNEIGHBORHOODTOYSTORE.ORG
YourNeighborhoodToyStore.org is an online resource for parents interested in learning more about the best toys on the market and where to find them
The website is a one-stop resource that connects parents with local toy stores, specialty toy makers and industry experts. Its mission? To help parents discover the “woohoo factor” – or the delight, the joy and the excitement – of finding and playing with today’s best toys!
The website content includes:
- Feature articles with expert advice on toys and play for children of all ages
- Up-to-date information on creative and educational play and toy trends
- Handy toy store locator with information on where to find the best toys in your neighborhood (Don’t forget: local, independent toy stores support the community and tend to offer many high-quality, specialty products not typically found at a big box store!)
- Calendar of local toy-related events
- Information on the benefits of shopping local
- Toy buying guide by age, including a section for children with disabilities
GET SOCIAL WITH ASTRA
Check out the ASTRA Website
Like ASTRA on Facebook
Tweet with ASTRA on Twitter with the hashtags: #toystoreday #IHeart
I love this shop local idea! Plus local toy shops have the best toys 🙂
I love this because my city is a smaller city surrounded by a bigger one so we are all about shopping locally to support the city. We have a fabulous local toy store just a short drive from my house. It has toys I cannot find anywhere else which makes for great gift giving!
I really like the idea of shopping local, especially for my family here. It’s a little harder for the gifts that have to be shipped, but maybe I can find something local to them and send from there?
Hi Stacie,
You know, I have never thought about the fact of “reduced environmental impact due to less travel, traffic and carbon usage for consumers” buy buying local. While I have acknowledged that it is better for our community, I never took the environmental impact into consideration too. Great point – you gave me an additional incentive to purchasing toys locally.
So, I went on ASTRA and could only find one toy store in my area. I was a little bummed to only find one, but I’ll take it. I’m heading there with the kids this weekend!
Thanks again for the great insight.
~Victoria
Mommy’s Playbook
I love supporting small businesses especially the ones in my neighborhood. Small business Saturday is coming up also I try to buy gifts from that to support.
What a great idea to support your local toy store. We are in a very small town(no stop lights in the whole county) Civilization is over an hour away. We do have a small hardware store that has some toys and other odds and ends. I am going to make an effort to buy some Christmas gifts from the local stores.
I am excited to use the website to find some local toy stores here. Everything seems to be a big box store now a days.
I live in a very small town, so no local stores for me. When I was city girl, we had a favorite local toy store. I loved all the educational toys they had.
I miss my small town that had some great local shops. Not many where I live now. But perhaps more will pop up soon. I love shopping local and supporting the mom and pop stores.
The local shops always have the best toys! I can’t go in there with a wallet full of plastic.. I’ll come out with bags and bags of stuff! LOL
We love to shop local for our nieces and nephews! Everything is more personal that way 🙂
I love the idea of shopping local, but I live in a small town that has virtually nothing! If we lived closer to Atlanta (like we would LOVE to), I know this wouldn’t be a problem.
I’ve always been a fan of neighborhood toy stores. Of course I did a lot of shopping at Toys R Us also, but I try to go to the small neighborhood stores also. They always have more educational toys anyway.
What fun! I wish we had a toy store like this around!
It is such a great idea to encourage people to shop at their local toy store. Communities are better when people shop locally.
I love the idea of shopping local. So many small Mom and Pop shops get overlooked by the big box stores, but the local stores have the best customer services and well hidden little secrets. I will have to check to see if our area has a neighborhood toy store like this!
I always shop local whenever I can. I love the idea of keeping my money in the community rather than sending it to other places of the world. Shop local!