Many children love theatrics, and if your kiddo is one of them we have an easy, economical way to engage his or her taste for drama: A puppet show! (With a Twist)

A puppet show is always a blast because it combines imagination, collaboration and cooperation – all things very important to teach your munchkin. Not all of us are blessed, however, with the crafting skills of a Susie Homemaker – and that’s okay! We’re here to provide you with an alternative to the sock puppet that doubles as a regular toy, and as an “actor” in the show. Behold, Safari Ltd® Snappers!

Whether it is with a T-Rex, Alligator or Flamingo, your child can take you on a wild adventure with these toys. He or she simply must engage the trigger at the end of the handle to move the animal’s mouth, making it an instant substitute for a puppet! To create the “stage,” drape a sheet over your dining room table. Then, face all the chairs toward the table on one side, and have your child hide behind the other side for the show. Snappers also have long handles so your kiddo won’t have to worry about “ruining the illusion” by exposing his or her hand.

What games have you played at home by using household items and repurposing toys?

Halloween is almost upon us! Guys and ghouls (see what we did there?) all around will be dressing up in costume to partake in tons of fun and games. While it’s safe to indulge in an occasional sweet, the various events your child goes to throughout October can really add up between classroom parties, friends’ parties, local neighborhood parties, and Halloween night itself.

So instead of enabling this sugar high your kids are about to get, we offer you a solution that takes out all the unhealthy without removing the fun. In fact, we’d like to think it adds to it! Instead of giving out candy, invest in a Safari Ltd® Bulk Bag of replicas to disperse instead!

If you’d like to stick to the Halloween theme, we have everything from Glow-in-the-Dark Insects to Dino Skulls, but any figure would be a joy for a child to receive. Bulk bags contain 48 replicas, which are sure to be enough for most neighborhood Trick-or-Treaters since each child will get one instead of the traditional handful of candy. Beyond that, it can be a fun change for a child who may be tired of receiving the traditional chocolate bar or chewy candy.

What do you all think? Do you have any special Trick-or-Treating plans this Halloween?

While the classic school subjects are necessary, it is crucial to remember that social education is just as important – if not more. Every school has bullies, but as a parent it is your job to make sure your son or daughter isn’t one of them. One hot issue is discrimination, and a great way to teach your child to not discriminate against other races and ethnicities is through Safari Ltd® toys.

This might seem like a stretch at first, but using animals and toys is an excellent way to illustrate the point that although people are different, it doesn’t make them any less human. To teach this lesson, you first need to gather several replicas that are the same animal species but in different families within that species. For example, you can compare our Wildlife Wonders™ Asian Elephant and Wildlife Wonders™ African Elephant, Wild Safari® White Bengal Tiger and Wild Safari® Bengal Tiger, Wildlife Wonders™ Siberian Tiger and Wildlife Wonders™ White Siberian Tiger, Wild Safari® Bactrian Camel and Wild Safari® Dromedary Camel, any of our Wild Safari® Sealife Penguins, any of our Winners Circle Horses, and the list goes on.

Whichever two or more replicas you choose (we recommend you use a couple different species as examples) you can show that both animals are beautiful and unique in their own way, but a tiger is still a tiger and a penguin a penguin. You can then talk about how different many of your friends look, how you are blonde but your husband is brunette, how your best friend is Asian and her husband is French, but you all are still human. Show how neither of the animals is better than the other – they are just different. You can even elaborate how great it is that they are different because it adds so much more beauty to the world.

How have you taught your children the importance of accepting others? Tell us about it on Facebook and Twitter!

Don’t have the money to fly across the globe and dig for dino bones? We don’t either! But the good news is you can bring the magic into your backyard with our Prehistoric Mammal Skulls TOOB® and Safariology® Ancient Fossils. Here’s what to do.

While your kids are preoccupied, go bury several skulls and fossils around your backyard. Then come running into the house to your kids and exclaim that you just made a groundbreaking discovery! Dinosaurs had lived in YOUR very own backyard! Tell them to come quick to help dig out anything you can find.

This is also an excellent opportunity for kids to get creative by asking them what tools they can use to dig. Some easy household items include forks, spoons and pencils – but who knows what they may come up with!

If you want to take it a step further you can use one of our Mega-10 Magnifiers, complete with tweezers included, to examine each bone and fossil you find. You can then go into a whole discussion with your kids about what could have happened to the dinosaurs that made them become extinct. Watch their imaginations soar!

Have you ever hidden anything in the backyard for your kids to discover? Tell us about it on Facebook or Twitter!

Looking for a fun way to make your photos more interesting? Just add our replicas! Our replicas can be a great way to add cheer to your children’s faces during family photo shoots or used creativity for your own photography.

Don’t forget about holiday photos either! Our replicas can add the perfect touch to your party invite or holiday card. Take a look at some examples that our fans have sent in to us.

Looking for other holiday photo ideas? Check out our Pinterest account for creative ideas on how to photograph our replicas!