These Live Cams of Polar Bear Cubs Will Brrrring a Smile to Your Face

by Karly WoodOctober 25, 2021

It’s time to get excited: Polar Bear Week is almost here! Running from Oct. 31 to Nov. 6, the special time coincides with the annual gathering of hundreds of polar bears on the shores of Hudson Bay where they wait for the sea ice to freeze so they can start hunting seals out on the frozen ocean.

Polar Bears International (PBI) is using this week to focus on protecting polar bears and people. Families can tune into Polar Bear Live Cams, play polar bear cam bingo, access free curriculum and activities, and watch live-streamed “Tundra Connections,” with scientists and experts.

photo: ©Kt. Miller + Polar Bears International

Polar Bears International will also be doing a live, family-friendly concert to kick off Polar Bear Week for the first time. The concert will host a performance by Kishi Bashi (multi-instrumentalist, singer and songwriter) with bears in the background, and families can tune in this Wed., Oct. 27 at 1:30 PST / 4:30 EST (it’s free, just RSVP here).

––Karly Wood

Feature photo: ©BJ Kirschhoffer + Polar Bears International

Adorable Animal Cams You Can Watch All Day Long

These Kid-Friendly Live-Streams Can Help Beat the Boredom

The Basics of Brushing Baby’s Teeth & Gums

by Heather DixonJuly 22, 2020

Think it’s too early to brush baby’s teeth? Think again. Even before the first tooth breaks through, it’s a good idea to establish oral hygiene habits. If your little one is used to teeth-brushing as a part of the daily routine, you may have fewer battles later on. If you’re not sure when or how to get started, here are helpful tips on brushing your baby’s adorable little pearly whites.

photo: grabease; the Double Sided Toothbrush

1. Start before baby’s teeth come in.
Keeping your baby’s mouth clean even before the first little tooth pops through is an important beginning step. Wiping gums after feedings will help to remove surface bacteria. To do this, wrap a clean, wet washcloth or a piece of clean gauze around your finger and wipe those toothless gums.

You can also try brushes designed for gums, like The RaZ-Berry Baby Toothbrush or the adorable finger-puppet brushes The Brushies.

photo: RADIUS

2. Choose the right toothbrush.
Once babies have teeth, it’s time to introduce a toothbrush. You’ll want to look for one with soft bristles, a small head and a large handle that little hands can hold—and you’ll want to replace it every three months or so.

The Double Sided Toothbrush from grabease (pictured at top; for kids 6+ months) has a tapered brush head, a wide handle for little hands to grip, and bristles on two sides to make it easier and faster to get those teeth brushed. The handle sports a choke protection barrier for safety, so your little one can safely practice brushing.

The Pure Brush from RADIUS (pictured above; for kids 6-18 months) has a small, cornerless oval brush head that’s designed for babies’ mouths, with soft bristles. The handle is tapered to fit in baby’s hand, and the entire brush is free of BPAs, synthetic dyes and harmful chemicals.

3. Help them out.
Since baby’s fine motor skills aren’t fully developed yet, it’s best if you brush the teeth. Since that doesn’t always go as smoothly as we’d like, take a “Mommy’s (or Daddy’s) turn, and then your turn” approach. Continue to supervise the process until your child can rinse and spit without help.

photo: jennyfriedrichs via Pixabay

4. Talk to your dentist about toothpaste.
It’s a question many parents wonder about: Should I use a flouride or flouride-free toothpaste? The answer depends on many factors, including whether your water is flouridated, so your best bet is to ask your pediatric dentist. Whichever you choose, experts recommend brushing with toothpaste the size of a grain of rice.

5. Take your baby to the dentist.
The American Dental Association recommends that you take your baby to the dentist for their initial visit no later than their first birthday. However, you may want to ask your pediatrician’s opinion.

You can choose a pediatric dentist or kid-friendly family dentist to make the experience more comfortable for your little one. Some are equipped with TVs or colorful art and give kids treats. Since baby teeth are important because they hold the spot for permanent teeth, be sure to take care of them by scheduling regular visits.

—Heather Dixon & Eva Ingvarson Cerise

RELATED STORIES:

10 Bathtime Essentials for Baby

Top Teethers for Babies & Toddlers

15 Tips to Ease Teething Pain

5 Things Every Parent Should Know about the Tooth Fairy

by Katie KavullaFebruary 20, 2020

Congratulations! Your kid is about to lose her first tooth. In order to help you out, we’ve chatted with the Tooth Fairy herself and found out everything you need to know to ensure the handoff goes as smoothly as possible. Keep reading to discover the best way to handle every question, from what the Tooth Fairy actually does with the teeth to when she “forgets” to make a stop at your house.

photo: Ryan Johnson for North Charleston via Flickr

1. What to do with the teeth.
Do they stay or do they go? Some kids get very concerned about where their teeth are going. Make it fun and tell your kid her tooth will be used in the advanced Tooth Research Lab to discover how to make teeth more resistant to cavities and decay. If you decide to keep them, tuck them away somewhere special in a little jar … preferably one that is not easily opened by curious little toothless kids.

2. Select your currency of choice.
First-time parents, please remember that your little one has a lot of teeth to lose, so if you start out high, you’re going to have to maintain that level of payment for the next 10-ish years. You can always increase the amount, offer more for molars, and how about combining cash with a new toothbrush and floss??

3. When the kids compare notes.
Have your story prepared for why some kids get more money than others. Something along the lines of the amount of the money you get depends on how many other kids lost teeth that day too is a good story. So, if there were a ton of teeth lost, he might only get a quarter, whereas his friend got $5 (parents who do this, you’re killing us) last week for her tooth because not many kids had lost teeth that day—the Tooth Fairy had more to give.

4. Provide a tooth receptacle.
So you don’t have to frantically search under your kid’s pillow without waking her up, consider a special bag, dish, pillow for teeth. There are a ton of fun options and we especially love these adorable, personalized pouches.

photo: Phillip Brookes via Flickr

5. Post-delivery clean-up.
If you want to go all out, it’s been said that the Tooth Fairy leaves a trail of glitter behind. Kids cam check window sills, front porches, kitchen tables, etc. for signs of arrival and departure. If you want to play it up, but don’t want to deal with a glittery mess, there’s even a Tooth Fairy door to welcome her into your home.

—Katie Kavulla

You’ll also love:

We Interviewed the Tooth Fairy and You Won’t Believe What She Told Us

You’ll Love This Boy’s Letter and Hilarious Response from the Tooth Fairy

Mind the Gap: 10 Magical Tooth Fairy Trends

Mind the Gap: Photos the Tooth Fairy Would Be Proud Of

“How to Train Your Dragon” Comes to the Small Screen This December with a New Holiday Special

by Erica LoopOctober 14, 2019

DreamWorks Animation recently announced the release of a How to Train Your Dragon holiday special—and your kiddo won’t want to miss all the Toothless fun!

The half-hour special, How to Train Your Dragon Homecoming, is set to air on NBC on Dec. 3 at 8:30 ET. The holiday-time event will also stream on Hulu starting Dec. 5.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by How to Train Your Dragon (@httydragon)

So what can you expect from the 30 minutes of animated awesomeness? The story takes place before the epilogue, but 10 years after the end of, How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World. The special starts with Hiccup and Toothless prepping for the Snoggletog Festival.

According to an official synopsis of the story, “When it becomes clear that the new generation of Vikings doesn’t remember the bond between dragon and human, Hiccup makes a plan to celebrate dragons with a grand holiday pageant.”

This special is sure to bring plenty of heartwarming hijinks, sweet sentiments and holiday happiness for the whole family!

—Erica Loop

Featured photo: How to Train Your Dragon via Instagram

The Hallmark Channel’s Christmas Con Is Coming & It’s 3 Days of Holiday Bliss

Get Ready to Kick Off Your Christmas with Freeform’s Holiday Schedule

A “How to Train Your Dragon” Hatchimal Is Coming & Yes, There’s a Dragon Inside

by Erica LoopMarch 6, 2019

With the recent release of the third movie in the How to Train Your Dragon series comes news of the How to Train Your Dragon Hatchimal! The dragon-filled interactive hatching egg made its grand debut at the 2019 Toy Fair and is slated to hit stores next fall.

Inside the newest Hatchimal isn’t just any dragon—it’s the film’s adorable animated star: Toothless! Like other Hatchimals, Toothless moves and shakes—and his eyes light up too!—just to let your kiddo know he’s in there.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by YWM Family (@youngwildmefamily)

But that’s where the similarities end. Instead of sweetly rubbing and patting the egg to gently coax the creature out, your child needs to make this dragon mad. That means shaking, tapping and overall agitating Toothless until he hatches. After Toothless emerges from his egg your kiddo can feed him a fish-filled snack, teach him to fly or dive-bomb and watch him use his plasma blast. The dragon also roars or purrs, depends on his current mood.

Reports say the Toothless Hatchimal will retail for $60 and will be available sometime in August 2019.

—Erica Loop

Featured photo: Courtesy of Dreamworks Animation

Better Learn How to Spell “Alohamore” because Harry Potter Is Coming to Scrabble

Here Are Your 2019 Toys of the Year

First Birthday Party Themes That Will Wow You

by Christal Y.January 28, 2018

First birthdays are big deals. While planning a party is no cakewalk, it’s more fun when you have a theme. From camping to circuses to carousels, there are tons of choices you can run with. Click through our photo album for inspiration from super-creative moms and rest easy knowing your baby’s big toothy (or toothless) smile will make it all worthwhile.

Ballerina Bash

When little Brooklynite Eloise celebrated her big first, she had a pink ballerina party at Jane’s Carousel. With the Brooklyn Bridge and Manhattan cityscape framing her photos, the stunning backdrop was all the decoration this party needed. Click here to check out our guide to planning the perfect carousel party.

photo credit: Raquel Frechette

Got any great first birthday party theme ideas? Let us know in the Comments section below. And don’t forget to check out our party theme-o-matic guide for more stellar ideas!

— Christal Yuen

7 NYC Toy Stores You Need to Visit This Season (And What to Buy!)

by Yuliya GeikhmanNovember 5, 2016

Sure, doing all of your holiday shopping on Amazon is convenient. You don’t have to leave home and you can find almost anything. But NYC’s full of fabulous indie kid shops, where they know what is truly hot this year. We spoke with the top toy stores around town to find out what items are flying off the shelves. Some are obvious — Pokemon trading cards, anyone?— others might not be on your radar. But all of them are sure to bring some cheer. Flip through to discover what the cool kids are getting this season.

Piccolini: Lite-Brites

Searching for that extra special gift for baby’s first christmas? This charming boutique on Mott Street is your go-to store. It peddles a selection of New York City-themed onesies as well as unique rattles, plush toys and books. And for children ages two and up, there are arts and craft kits, cars and trains, as well as building and learning sets.

Holiday sales at Piccolini are revealing that Lite-Brites are back in vogue. The timeless classic includes a removable storage tray, six reusable templates and tons of different shaped pegs to keep little ones occupied. For the toothless set, the shop’s signature Hot Dog Pretzel NY onesie has been a huge hit and frequently sells out.

Piccolini
167 Mott St
Little Italy
212-775-1118
Online: piccolininyc.com

photo: Alexandra Z. via Yelp

What toy is all the rage at your local store? Tell us in the comments below!

–Michelle McIvor Cohen

Mind the Gap: Photos the Tooth Fairy Would Be Proud Of

by Erin LemMay 19, 2015

Childhood is full of milestones–first solid food, first steps, first day of school and first lost tooth. In honor of the first time the Tooth Fairy paid a visit, we asked our staff and our readers to show off a photo of their kid’s first lost tooth. Want to share your own? Send your photo to our editor (editor AT tinybeans.go-vip.net) or tag #redtricycle on social media and we’ll add yours to the gap-toothed bunch.

Jacqui, CEO & Founder of Red Tricycle, showed us this photo of her son proudly displaying his lost teeth.

San Diego Editor, Leah Singer sent us a photo of her daughter smiling for the camera after she lost her first tooth!

Atlanta Editor, Shelley Massey’s son lost nine teeth in 12 months! This is a photo of his first lost tooth, which happened to take place when Shelley was in the hospital having her youngest!

Red Tricycle Seattle Editor, Kristina sent us this photo of her son wiggling his first tooth free.

Gabby, who heads up Red Tricycle’s National edition, showed off this photo of her daughter with her recent lost tooth (thanks to Brittany Fort for the great shot!).

Anna, who contributes to Red Tricycle Portland, sent in this photo of her daughter that captured the moment right after she lost her first tooth on their family camping trip.

Reader Heather writes to us, “My boys, Esten and Clayton are 18 months apart, but there was a time where they each lost the same exact tooth within a week of each other. This went on for at least a year. This is my favorite “toothless” photo during that time. They’re 9 and 10 now and STILL are in competition for The Tooth Fairy cash!”

Red Tricycle reader, Linda writes, “After walking around with finger in her mouth for a week wiggling tooth, at bedtime my 6 year old Josie quietly walks out of her bedroom with her hand in air displaying baby tooth, ‘it happened! I can’t wait to see what tooth fairy brings!'”

Send your photo to our editor (editor AT tinybeans.go-vip.net) or tag #redtricycle on social media and we’ll add yours to the gap-toothed bunch.

If your kid has lost his or her first tooth tell us about it in the Comments below!

6 Free Apps to Celebrate Lost Teeth

by Christina Montoya FiedlerMay 13, 2014

Loosing a tooth is a major milestone for kids. There’s always the excitement of leaving it under the pillow for the tooth fairy. How much will she leave? When will my new teeth come in? Will I catch a glimpse of her? Plus there’s the adorable toothless grin that comes with it all. Here are six apps that will help you celebrate the loss of a tooth, and work towards better oral hygiene for your child’s new adult teeth.

The Tooth Fairy Was Here
For those children who couldn’t keep their eyes open long enough to meet the tooth fairy, this app will give them what they want. Proof! Snap a picture of your snoozing child, and super impose an image of a cute, illustrated tooth fairy. Choose from six different spritely fairies – all magical in their own way. Share with friends and family via social media with just a few clicks.

Available for the iPhone and iPad, free

Download here.

Tooth Fairy Calculator
Okay, this one might be more for the parents than the kids but it’s so worth it. As kids, the tooth fairy left us change. Today, children are getting actual paper money. If you’ve ever wondered what the going rate for a tooth is, this calculator will help. Just enter all the appropriate information and it will give you the value of the tooth lost. Of course its all just fun and games, but a good laugh nevertheless.

Available for the iPhone and iPad, free.
Download here.

Disney Magic Timer App, by Oral B
This newly released app is used in conjunction with Oral B or Crest Pro Health Stages toothbrush – for ages 4 months and up. Simply scan your child’s toothbrush and watch Disney characters come to life. Timed brushing sessions reveal hidden games and activities once completed. Good for multiple teeth brushers.

Available for the iPhone, iPad, and Android, free
Download here.

Tooth Fairy Voicemail
Need to report a wobbly tooth? Want to request a toothpick up? Need to get in touch with the tooth fairy to ask her a few questions? This app makes it possible for kids to communicate in the best way they know how – through a smart phone. Parents can record their own voices for all responses needed.

Available for the Android, free.
Download here.

Aquafresh Time to Brush
Sometimes getting the kids to the bathroom to brush is half the battle, but this app makes kids actually look forward to the task. A funny, animated blob of toothpaste dances, tells jokes, sings, but most importantly helps your child brush correctly and for the right amount of time.

Available for the iPhone, Free
Download here.

Colgate Tooth Fairy Game and Diary
Your mission, if you choose to accept it, is to protect your teeth from invading bacteria. This easy to navigate video game helps kids realize the importance of brushing and the dangers of a dirty mouth. Also included is a fun tooth diary where you can record specifics about baby and adult teeth, plus pictures of your child’s toothless grin. Apps for the Android and iPhone differ slightly in design but serve the same purpose and amount of fun.

Available for the iPhone and Android, free.

Moms, what do you think about bringing the tooth fairy into the digital age of smart phones? Tell us in the comments below.

— Christina Fielder

featured photo courtesy of Jenn Durfey via flickr

June Hot List – Los Angeles Sales & Deals, Classes & Events

by writerredtriJune 7, 2012

ML Interest Tag: toothless

These Live Cams of Polar Bear Cubs Will Brrrring a Smile to Your Face

Related reads

The Basics of Brushing Baby’s Teeth & Gums

Related reads

5 Things Every Parent Should Know about the Tooth Fairy

Related reads

“How to Train Your Dragon” Comes to the Small Screen This December with a New Holiday Special

Related reads

A “How to Train Your Dragon” Hatchimal Is Coming & Yes, There’s a Dragon Inside

Related reads

First Birthday Party Themes That Will Wow You

Ballerina Bash

Related reads

7 NYC Toy Stores You Need to Visit This Season (And What to Buy!)

Piccolini: Lite-Brites

Related reads

June Hot List – Los Angeles Sales & Deals, Classes & Events

PLUSH Luxury Baby Event on June 10

Shoots and Giggles Photography

A Creative World of Color Awaits at Summer Art Camp and Classes at The Children’s Art Studio

Newborn Care Services, Postpartum Doula and Infant Sleep Training with Baby Nurse and Doula Services

Related reads