The Countdown to Christmas has arrived, and we can’t wait to show you what we have in store! Get your Christmas Lists and Letters to Santa ready, because this Saturday, November 6, we will be previewing our newest arrivals LIVE on our FaceBook page just in time for your holiday shopping. Not only will we be opening new toys and sampling new tales, but we will also be sharing some exciting news about all the happenings at our Thanksgiving Weekend Holiday Event. You will NOT want to miss this!
Here’s what you need to know to get the most out of our Holiday Gift Preview!
Invite your friends, cozy up under blankets, pour a cup of hot cocoa, and get set to find that perfect gift for your little someones at Jughead & Bean’s Holiday Gift Preview LIVE!
]]>We love Halloween! Costumes, candy, music, games, trick or treating!! And we'd love to celebrate it with you!
On Saturday, Oct. 30 we are having a Halloween open house in the North Village Market of Norton Commons (where our store is located). Each of the market cottages will be getting in on the fun, so there should be something for everyone. This event coincides with the Norton Commons Fall Festival that is in the South Village Main Squre from 2-5.
If you haven't been here yet, The North Village Market is located at:
6301 Moonseed St
Prospect, KY 40059
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It can be difficult figuring out what to get that special boy and girl for Christmas. Will they like it? Do they already have it? Will it break after 5 minutes? Jughead and Bean’s is here to help you. Imagine the delight on those little faces when they open up a gift from our shop that is beautifully crafted, thoughtfully designed, and oh, so fun! With that in mind, we’ve chosen 12 of our favorites for this holiday season: (you can sing along in your head)…
The first gift for Christmas that Jughead has for you: A musical treasure box
Everyone needs a place to store their treasures. These unique music boxes from Djeco turns a special gift into a keepsake. Wind up the crank, open the lid, and watch it come to life. Secret drawers keep treasures safe. Made from quality wood, plastic, velvet, and metal, they are designed to be enjoyed for years. Ages 3+
For younger children, these melody boxes with removable figures delight with moving parts and soft melodies. Turn the key underneath and the figurines begin to spin and dance on the magnetic surface. Ages 12+mo
The second gift for Christmas that Jughead has for you: A Hopping Two-headed Blue Dragon
This mythical, Hopping Two-Headed Dragon is covered with soft removable/ washable plush fabric. It's easy to use--just inflate with the included hand pump and off you to! With two heads for grasping, and at just the right height to develop coordination skills, this hopper encourages active play and develops hand-eye coordination.
The third gift for Christmas that Jughead has for you: Some Fancy Pals to carry and snuggle
These adorable stuffies are perfect for carrying around. High quality materials and hand construction makes for a unique and soft touch. Includes a removable animal that can be carried inside the reversible sequin bag!
The fourth gift for Christmas that Jughead has for you: Some Snap Ships to build and battle
Welcome to the future…where humanity is under constant attack from a brutal alien threat. The Komplex spreads through the galaxy and growing stronger with each species they defeat and assimilate. To fight them, humanity relies on an elite team, the Forge, who pilots their own armada of spacecraft known as Snap Ships.
Now YOU can Build to Battle! Snap Ships is a versatile building system for creating multiple crafts with action play, and all sets and pieces are interchangeable, so kids can build however they want. Ages 8 & Up
The fifth gift for Christmas that Jughead has for you: Slugz vs Mushrooms
In Trailz, the down to earth strategy game, two players, with teams of shrooms and slugs, face off to out-smart and out-maneuver each other to get to one shroom safely to the other side! Your shrooms are on the run to make it across the board…but watch out for slugs! Slugs eat shrooms! So, move carefully and use your own slugs to keep enemy shrooms from reaching victory before you do! Ages 7 & up.
The sixth gift for Christmas that Jughead has for you: A Be Bright Doll with color changing hair
Ignite her Spirit Animal Magic in the Sun and watch as her hair changes color! Be Bright Dolls are playful and will surely inspire, motivate, encourage and uplift young girls to live in a world where anything is possible! Within the "Be Bright" collection, each girl has her own unique spirit animal, story & hashtag. Whichever doll you pick (or collect them all!), there is a Be Bright doll for everyone. Makes a perfect alternative for 18in dolls.
The seventh gift for Christmas that Jughead has for you: A tea set for your awesome tea parties
An essential part of every child's toy box. Children will love having tea parties with friends and family with this uniquely themed pretend tea set. Not only will your child learn important values and skills — coordination, sharing and socializing — but they will be creating precious memories too. Packaged in an illustrated carrying case to keep all pieces organized and portable. Ages 3+
The eighth gift for Christmas that Jughead has for you: A copy of A Boy Like You
There's more to being a boy than sports, feats of daring, and keeping a stiff upper lip. A Boy Like You encourages every boy to embrace all the things that make him unique, to be brave and ask for help, to tell his own story and listen to the stories of those around him. In an age when boys are expected to fit into a particular mold, this book celebrates all the wonderful ways to be a boy. Written by Frank Murphy
Interest Level: preschool--Grade 2
Reading Level: Grade 1
Number of pages: 32
The ninth gift for Christmas that Jughead has for you: A Find It game to pass the time.
Find It® “Kids Version” has bright primary colored pellets in which to find 40+ items. The plastic ends are a cheerful bright red. Perfect for the classroom, in the car or keeping the kiddos occupied anytime. The items contained are kid friendly and include one of every letter of the alphabet, a car, balloon, star, baseball, and more. And as always, the hidden penny.
The tenth gift for Christmas that Jughead has for you: The cutest puzzles you’ve ever seen
The original shaped puzzle box. Djeco’s best known puzzles make the perfect gift. The shape of the box brings to life a character from the puzzle them. Ages 3-5 years.
The eleventh gift for Christmas that Jughead has for you: A Chocolate Dipped Cotton Candy Lollipop
Are you cotton candy crazy? Our handmade cotton candy lollipop is dipped in chocolate and coated in pink cotton candy sugar.
The twelfth gift for Christmas that Jughead has for you: Mindful Kids Cards to settle your wiggles.
This series of easy exercises serves as an introduction into mindfulness to teach little ones (ages 3+) how to unlock their own sense of stillness and wonder in the present moment.
Designed to empower young kids with basic techniques like awareness, breathing, meditation, gratitude, and stretching, we hope to embolden their inherent capacity for calm, confidence, and joy available to them at all times. This collection serves as a great addition to your kids' morning rituals or bedtime routines.
Each deck comes with 40 two-sided cards with watercolor illustrations for the little ones as well as more detailed instructions for parents, teachers, and caretakers.
Thanks for reading (and maybe singing) along. Find all these great toys, tales, treats and more at www.jugheadandbeans.com
Merry Christmas
and keep playing!
~Jughead
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Family Closeness through Shared Experience
One of my favorite things to do is to visit a new place with my family. We are always a little scared to try new things, but doing it together always makes me feel safe and valuable as a member of my family. One time, we stayed on this ranch and they had chickens there. We were invited to gather eggs in the morning from the coop for our breakfast. I’d never done that before, but early the next morning, we pulled on our socks and shoes and walked down the gravel road to the chicken coop. We could hear the soft whining purr that the hens make when greeting you. We looked at each other to see who would reach in first; you could tell we each had to gather courage before we could gather any eggs. After managing to get 8 eggs that morning, we walked together back to our cabin a little taller, a little braver, a little more experienced.
Sharing experiences together in a book will do that, too! Flying with the Darling children into Neverland for the first time, rooting for Wilbur to win at the county fair, bursting through the factory ceiling in a glass elevator with Charlie and Grandpa Joe, feeling the life leave Aslan alongside Susan and Lucy and thinking nothing will ever be good again...as Gladys Hunt puts it in her book Honey for a Child’s Heart: The Imaginative Use of Books in Family Life (Zondervan Publishing House), “We have gone through emotional crises together as we felt anger, sadness, fear, gladness, and tenderness in the world of the book we were reading.”
Family Closeness Through Shared Language
Ms. Hunt writes “Something happens to us which is better experienced than described - a kind of enlarging of heart - when we encounter passages full of grand language and nobility of thought.” Enlarging of heart: makes me think of the Grinch when he is knocked over by the Who’s Christmas morning song. Maybe a bit of that feeling happens when sharing the language of a good book. It’s the Dr. Seuss rhyming we recall while marching out the door with places to go! It’s in the spoken agreement of how we like going South...It’s like going downhill. It’s in the time when someone asked for a cookie and the reply came back, “Well, if I give you a cookie then, you’re going to want…” Yep. You all said it, didn’t you? And we drink the glass of milk, all feeling that “enlarging of heart” over shared language.
It’s not really the sayings or the vocabulary, either, it’s the knowing each other afterward. Hunt says it this way, “Knowing someone means sharing ideas, growing together. It means not being embarrassed about feelings or being yourself...being taken seriously and being liked for who you really are.”
When I was very little, I couldn’t understand all the words in some of the stories we read together. It was okay, though, because I was included in the sound of my dad or mom’s voice as they read, leading us with courage, ready to confront the Wizard behind the curtain, save Amy when the icy pond cracked, or defend Ferdinand’s wish to smell the flowers.
Family Closeness Through Shared Wisdom
Once, we were reading a shorter, simpler story out loud together...one for “learning how to read” rather than “learning through reading” (we’ll save that for later)...and the story presented a moral issue of killing all the birds that were bothering the farmers. The youngest in the family, who was the one learning how to read by the way, stopped reading and looked in frustration. She exclaimed to the rest of us, “that’s so stupid! If you kill the birds, then all the bugs will come out and eat the garden and then the people will have no food to eat in the winter!” Since she had laid out the entire rest of the story, she wasn’t interested in actually reading it any more. In fact, she felt quite through with reading for the night.
Ms. Hunt puts it this way, “Nothing offends a child more than having to be told when something is mean and base or noble and good.”
When a well-written story is read together, learning wisdom happens naturally. We start to question cruelty against kindness, truth against dishonesty. What should Peter Rabbit have done instead of going to Mr. McGregor’s garden? Why does Harry help Dudley when he doesn’t deserve it? Why does Horton sit and sit and sit on that stupid egg - are promises really that important to keep? No one sets a timer; no one records our speed or reading mistakes; no one cares how many pages we master. There is Goodness to be found! And when we find it, we are warmed by it more deeply than Scrooge on Christmas Day after his repentance.
Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote, “I cannot remember the books I’ve read any more than the meals I have eaten; even so, they have made me.” When we read good books, we are being made into the people we mean to be. I, for one, am glad we’re doing it together.
Find some really great books to read with your family in our shop, jugheadandbeans.com
See you out there, and remember to have fun!
Jughead
]]>For instance, in the Season 2 episode “FLAT SITIS”, the typically energetic Rooney (the blue Doodlebop) was repeatedly warned that too much time on the couch or in front of a screen would give him “Flat-Sitis.” Flat-Sitis is the imaginary disease that a person catches when he or she gets too little movement or exercise. He ignored the warnings, thinking they were silly and, you guessed it, he eventually turned flat. No, really, ...as a pancake. The only cure was for his friends to help him start dancing and get enough movement to turn him back into fully-formed Rooney. It was a fun, but impactful way to show kids (and adults) that too much time on couches and in front of screens can actually zap the energy right out of them - leaving nothing behind but a flat shell of their true selves.
Lately, our homes have become screen-dependent with online schooling, working from home, virtual meetings, virtual doctor’s visits, virtual parties...virtual EVERYTHING! I don’t know about you, but I’ve been seeing a LOT of FLAT folks out there these days!
The fall weather is the perfect time for walking, hiking, camping, and exploring. Bikes, scooters, skates, hoola-hoops, jump-ropes all help kids get the exercise they need. Even throwing or kicking a ball around is a nice break from the screen. Don’t let the wet or cold weather keep you inside, either! Bundle up and splash away! Even 15 minutes in the fresh air will keep flat-sitis away! (and if it’s truly nasty out - have a DANCE PARTY inside!)
Good toys are designed to spark imagination and creativity. They help develop motor skills and learning. Dolls, action figures, building sets, games and puzzles all provide children opportunities to do their most important job…play! Grownups, join in! I bet your imagination could use some dusting off, too!
Markers, crayons, moldable dough, paints and much more can help turn a boring afternoon into a delightful day. Let the creative juices flow and unlock the inner artist in each child. It doesn’t have to be fancy, and it’s okay to get messy! (especially if you do it outside!) That’s part of the fun!
Whether it’s a beloved classic or a brand-new story, reading creates a place for us to escape, to feel connected to others, and to grow in empathy and understanding. Kids strengthen skills they need to engage the world around them when they read a book. Reading alone or together is always a great way to keep flat-sitis away!
Most smart phones, tablets, and video game systems allow grown-ups to set up screen time limits for either individual users or families. This often-overlooked option will give kids that extra nudge to choose another more active way to spend their time. Unplugging and getting up and active can be the smartest way to guard against flat-sitis!
We all know it’s important for EVERYONE to keep moving! So, do what Jazzmin, the Doodlebops’ manager, says, “Keep your body in an active way or you’ll feel tired and FLAT all day.”
Need some help stocking up to prevent Flat-Sitis in your home? Check out our inventory of toys, tales, and treats for even more ideas. Visit me and Bean at JugheadandBeans.com
Can’t wait to see you out there and remember to have fun!
~Jughead
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