Melissa and Doug

If your child's room looks like a hurricane whipped through it, it may be time for you to enlist the help of your wee ones to get things done around the house. Chores can help take the burden off of mommy and teach the tots a thing or two about responsibility and pride.

Invest in a Melissa and Doug's Magnetic Responsibility Chart ($16) to help keep track of the youngster's accomplishments. Mounted on a dry-erase board, mom and dad can choose from over 130 magnets to reward their lil one's behavior on a day-to-day basis. Pretty soon, a bevy of angels will be whistling their way into seven star day territory while mommy kicks up her heels and relaxes. Well, maybe just a little.

Every evening when I come home, I am torn between rolling around on the ground with my toddler or getting her dinner on the stove. Now, I do both at once.

Melissa and Doug's magnetic letters ($10) allow her to learn her ABCs and colors while I start chopping. In between slicing and dicing, I look down to her and ask, "Where's your blue letter F?" She scrambles around, finds it and places it on the "board." I cheer her on and we both clap. Mission accomplished: fun and learning time spent together.

One of my earliest memories is stacking up buildings with wooden blocks. A cinch to construct and even easier to tear down, they were and still are some of the best entertainment for tots. The only thing that could improve them is a carry–all to store them in.

Simple: For a bargain $8, you can have your blocks and wheel cart, too! IKEA offers the Mula wagon with 24 colorful blocks in tow.
Swank: Add $7 more and you get the Melissa and Doug unit block on wheels with 36 bright blocks.

Which one is the block wagon of your dreams?

Plastic chicken drumsticks and rubber grapes are SO yesterday.

Get with the times and introduce your babe to roe covered spicy tuna and California rolls with Melissa and Doug's Sushi Set ($15).

The fishy set of wooden rolled sushi, sashimi, wasabi, ginger, soy sauce and chopsticks fit perfectly in a cherry blossom adorned black bento box. The sliced sushi rolls are topped with Velcro enabling tots to stick them together and use the enclosed cleaver to chop them up like a real sushi chef. An added bonus, the kids will delight in playing "restaurant" as the menu is provided on the back of the box.

Everything cycles back — bell bottoms, shift dresses, even leggings! And, the trend applies to baby toys. If it’s old school, it’s the new cool and wooden toys are the current comeback kid.

Maybe it’s nostalgia that makes us buy wooden stacking rings, puzzles, trains, blocks, musical instruments and activity centers, but parenting groups say the toys are safer to play with since they are made of natural materials.

Oompa, Melissa and Doug, and Plan Toys have great selections. Who knew a timber tambourine would buy so much peace of mind?