“Cobi Blocks are Cool!” Declares local Lego Expert

We recently announced through our email newsletter that Once Upon a Toy and both locations of LagoonaMagoo Toys are now stocking Cobi Blocks, a brick building system similar to Legos.   Cobi Blocks are manufactured in Poland and are a beloved toy in Eastern Europe.  Shawnta’, our fearless leader, discovered Cobi brick building sets at Toy Fair earlier in the year and is very excited to introduce them to our little part of the world.

Manufactured to the same exacting standards as Lego blocks, Cobi building sets are focused on real-world machines and scenarios.  Their most popular building sets have a military theme--  Cobi’s Small Army.  There are also military themed sets that feature Jeeps, civilian Boeing airplanes, and free-style building sets.  We were curious to see how well Cobi bricks would compare to Lego bricks, so we drafted a youngster to road test one of their Small Army sets.

Our Lego Expert, 12 years old, ripped into the 150 piece Small Army Vulcan Helicopter set.  Getting him to slow down long enough for me to change the batteries in the camera was a bit of a challenge.  With the skill and speed of a long-time Lego brick builder, he quickly assembled the Cobi helicopter.

Overall, he enjoyed the building process.  The pieces snapped together securely and the illustrated instructions were easy to follow.  The specialized shapes for the helicopter set intrigued him.  And the high level of detail in the accessories (the mini figures have noses!) won big approval from him.  One thing he noticed is that hinges and the rotor for the helicopter were stiffer than comparable Lego parts would be.  While that meant the chopper’s blades didn’t spin as freely as he would have liked, it also meant the pilot didn’t fall out the doors during a steep dive.  

He also tested Cobi blocks compatability with Lego bricks.  Some pieces clicked together in a satisfying way.  Others, like putting a Cobi mini fig head on a Lego body, were almost too tight of a fit.  For the most part, our expert thought the Cobi blocks would work perfectly well with his Lego collection, as long as he wasn’t trying to combine specialized pieces.  These would be special pieces like hinges, heads, or propeller blades.  When asked if he would spend his own money on a larger set, he quickly said “Yes.  ‘Cause these Cobi blocks are cool...”  

If you can’t make it in to either of our LagoonaMagoo locations or up to Once Upon a Toy, we are now offering Cobi sets through our website, happyupinc.com.  To see the sets currently available, click here:  Cobi Building Sets.

ICAA's Night Out

International Coalition
for Autism and All Abilities Logo

Autism Spectrum Disorders-- the phrase alone is enough to make any parent break into a cold sweat. The CDC estimates that 1 in 110 children are somewhere on the spectrum. That means it’s likely a person you know is touched by this. You may know a parent or grandparent of someone with an ASD. Or maybe you know a child or adult identified as being on the spectrum.

And it is an incredibly wide spectrum of behaviors, cognitive difficulties, and physical difficulties that fall under the heading of ASD. Maybe the person affected is very high functioning, just a shade off of “normal.” Or maybe the person is severely affected, unable to communicate and isolated by the difficulties of understanding human social interactions.

Early diagnosis is key, and you can read more about that here:
www.nichcy.org/babies/overview/Pages/default.aspx

and here:
www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/autism/index.html

But after identifying that a child and family is dealing with an ASD, what next? There are therapies, and teaching tools, and doctor visits and the list goes on and on and on. It can be incredibly daunting for the parents to find the resources they need. In response to that need, there are many local, national, and international groups working to serve the families and communities impacted by autism. One of these is the International Coalition for Autism and All Abilities. Their mission is “To advocate for, encourage acceptance of, and support people on the Autism spectrum and with other disabilities and their families throughout our global society. “

A worthwhile goal, wouldn’t you say? So if you’re looking for something to do Saturday, Sept. 11th, come out to a fundraising event they’re hosting at Fenton’s Stratford Bar & Grill in the Gazebo Room. The fun starts at 7pm, rain or shine.

A few of the members of the Happy Up Crew will be attending, too. They’ll have a table set up with toys and therapeutic items helpful to children and adults with special needs and different abilities. So stop by and say hello!
For more information about the International Coalition for Autism and All Abilities or Saturday’s event, visit their website:
www.internationalautismcoalition.org/index.php

Find the Fun in Game Night for your Group!

Set Game - a favorite for Game Nights

Playing games, at any age, is important. Studies have shown that challenging your brain to think in different ways is hugely beneficial to everyone, especially older adults and senior citizens. Other studies show that game play can boost the confidence of slow learners. And yet more studies show that through play, children can grasp concepts, ideas, and skills more readily than in classroom/structured learning situations. Not to mention the social skills, communication skills, and connectedness playing games can create between opponents. With all those studies floating around out there, you’d think we’d all be leaping at every opportunity to play games.

Here at the Happy Up stores we are devoted to the idea of play, for people of all ages. We want to encourage people to get off their couches, out of their houses, and to community events that support play and interaction between children and grownups, students and teachers, parents and children. Many groups, clubs, and organizations are looking for new ways to bring their members together. We have a suggestion: Let us help you find the fun in a Game Night!

Here’s the idea:

• Your group sponsors the event. This means you arrange the location and find volunteers to work the event. You handle the publicity and rsvp’s so we know how many people to expect.
• Our Staff comes to your event with up to 15 games for your guests to play at different stations. The games we bring are all fast-playing and good for a wide range of ages.
• We train your volunteers to work the stations. But never fear! Our staff will stay to help keep the fun going.

Our game nights are designed to be free, family-friendly events. All ages are welcome. Please note that we do expect parents/grown ups to stay and play with their children.

Many groups like to have snacks, pizza, and other refreshments available and use these as a fund-raising opportunity.

Tuesday, Aug. 31st, 2010 we’ll be providing the games at Alton Middle Schools’ Game Night and Open House. And on Wed., Sept. 1st, we will be supplying the games for UrbanFuture at L’Ouverture Middle School in St. Louis, MO.

If you have any questions or would like to get your group on the calendar, call Shawnta’ at (618) 656-9596.

Family Game Nights @ St. Louis Mills LagoonaMagoo Toys on Hiatus

Dear Play-Friends--
Our family game nights are taking a break. Subscribe to our Twitter feed (http://twitter.com/HappyUpToys) or follow us on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/HappyUpInc) to find out when we start them up again!

Thank you so much to everyone who came out to play with us!

Cody & his YoYo are coming back!

Loookeeeee! Cody Cassiday is visiting all three of our stores again! He'll be demonstrating tricks and chatting about yo-yoing with us every weekend through the end of July.

Hope you'll be able to stop by and visit:

July 16 - LagoonaMagoo Toys - Fairview Heights: 4pm - 7pm
July 17 - Once Upon a Toy - Edwardsville: 10am - 2pm
July 23 - LagoonaMagoo Toys - St. Louis Mills Mall: 5pm - 9pm
July 24 - LagoonaMagoo Toys - St. Louis Mills Mall: 10am - 2pm
July 30 - Once Upon a Toy - Edwardsville: 4pm - 7:30 pm
July 31 - LagoonaMagoo Toys - Fairview Heights: 11am - 2pm

Schedule for July's Game Night @ the St. Louis Mills Mall LagoonaMagoo Toys

You're invited to come play with us at the St. Louis Mills Mall location of LagoonaMagoo Toys!  Our family game nights are a great chance to get out and play your favorite games.  Or maybe discover a new favorite.  Or rediscover one you haven't played in eons.  If you have any questions, feel free to give the playful folks at the store a call:  (314) 227-5335

We play every Friday from 6:30pm - 8:30pm.

• July 9 - Dweebies - Round up Dweebies by matching cards on both ends of any row. Seems simple at first... but Dweebies can be tricky, and some will disappear before they've met their match! Collect the most cards and consider yourself the Dweebie-in-Chief! Ages 8 & up
• July 16 - Golden Gate - Golden Gate is an exciting card game combining a bit of luck with strategy to start piling up your points. Cards are played in sequence, progressing up or down. Gold cards help you collect chips, but the red cards may cost you! Ages 7 & up
• July 23 - Spot It! - There is always one, and only one, matching symbol between any 2 cards in this game. Spot it and you win! With only 8 symbols on each card, small details (like the size of the symbol) matter. The challenge increases as new cards are revealed in this fast-paced game. Ages 6 & up
• July 30 - Pigsup - How quick and precise are your fingers? Find out as you build piggy piles in this lively stacking game. And there is more than one silly way to stack up your piggies. Be the first player to get rid of all your cards to win! Ages 4 & up

More Chances to See the Yo-Yo Dude!

Cody Cassiday, local Yo-Yo Trickster, will be coming back to visit our stores.  Stop by and say hello!

Friday, July 2:
Once Upon a Toy in Edwardsville, IL
4pm - 9pm

Saturday, July 3rd:
LagoonaMagoo Toys in Fairview Heights, IL
11am - 2pm

Friday, July 9th:
LagoonaMagoo Toys at the St. Louis Mills Mall
4pm - 9pm

Here's another video of Cody, after working on his yo-yo skills for 6 months: