The newest attraction on my kitchen counter is a small plastic “aquarium”, which doesn’t house fish, but instead is home to 3 small Aquasaurs. That’s the “toy name” for a critter called a Triops, which apparently dates all the way back to the dinosaur era. They are related to crabs, according to the instruction sheet.

The Aquasaurs are another Christmas present, this time for my 5-year-old son. The nice thing about this toy is that, unlike other creature toy habitats, this one actually comes with the animals. Aquasaurs lay eggs in temporary pools of water, and when they dry up, the eggs can lie dormant for up to 20 years. So you just drop them back in a new puddle (or plastic tub filled with spring water, in our case!) and out they come. Kinda like those old capsules that dissolved in water and produced a foam outline of an animal, except the Aquasaurs are real.

So last Saturday we set everything up. I went to the grocery store and picked up two gallons of spring water, since you can’t use tap water without risking Aquasauricide. Rinsed everything out, filled the aquarium, dumped in 1/2 of the Aquasaur eggs, and waited.

36 hours later we were able to find two VERY small Aquasaurs swimming around. We’ve been checking them each day, until yesterday when it was finally time to start feeding them. I crushed up two food pellets and let my son dump them into the water. We watched for awhile, which is more fun now that the Aquasaurs are bigger and easier to see. We finally discovered that we have 3 of them, not just 2! One is about 20% bigger than the other two…maybe he’s the Alpha Aquasaur.

Tonight I get to go home and change out the water. What fun… but it’s better than cleaning a kitty litter box, and it sounds pretty easy, because we only have to empty 1/2 the water and replace it with fresh water. Hopefully I can keep all 3 of the little guys safe, and not accidentally wash them down the garbage disposal.

Approximate Retail: $19.95
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Play-Doh has always been one of my favorite activities for the kids. They can immerse themselves in it, and can often entertain themselves for over an hour. Sure, there’s always a mess to clean up afterwards, but it gives me a good chance to straighten the house or write an entry here.

So when my sister in law gave us the Play-Doh EZ2DO Silly Friends for Christmas, I was pretty excited. It looked especially fun for my middle child, who, at 3 years old, isn’t quite ready for some of the trickier Play-Doh contraptions. This set features 3 large tubs of Doh, and about 30 body parts – plastic eyes, arms, mouths, ears, etc. Think Play-Doh meets Mr. Potato Head.

The first thing I noticed was that nearly EVERY SINGLE INDIVIDUAL PIECE was INDIVIDUALLY silver-twisty-wired onto the plastic backing. You know what I mean…those silver twisties are the bane of every mom’s existance, especially around Christmas! I think there were roughly 20 wires. When we finally got them all done, the kids started playing with the pieces.

What I thought were the beauty and simplicity of this toy was pretty much ignored by the kids. My 5-year-old son keyed on the “injector” and its ability to mold feet by squeezing a tube of Doh through the top of the shoes (which is actually a pretty neat double-feature). He also made some hats. My daughter was just happy to have some fresh Doh to play with…she’s content with a few colors and a plastic knife to cut the Doh into tiny messy pieces.

Overall I think this is a nice addition, and I’m glad we got it as a gift – but I probably wouldn’t spend my own money on it. I’d go for a new basic set of fresh Doh and a box of plastic knives from the picnic section.

Approximate Retail: $17.95
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