Our July Newsletter: Celebrate Your Independents + Brio Wood Trains

Two Weeks Left to Celebrate Your Independents!

A Chance to Win $1,250 in Gift Cards from 25 Locally-Owned Independent Businesses

Throughout July, we've teamed up with a bunch of awesome local indie stores, including Bibelot, Micawber's Books, Wet Paint, the Wedge Co-op, the Electric Fetus, and Kitchen Window. With each participating store you visit, you'll score a chance to win $1,250 in gift cards--$50 from each store! Heck, you can pick up 3 entries just in our neighborhood!

Plus, each store is offering specials all month long. At Peapods, simply mention Celebrate Your Independents and receive a free canvas shopping bag with any purchase. For all full list of merchants, click here. (But hurry, this all ends after July 31!)

In other news, wouldn't today be a great day to play in a sprinkler?

We're also celebrating this month the return of Brio Trains. They were unavailable to us for several years, but they're back with the same great design and incredible quality as always. Brio trains encourage open-ended play and are so durable they're usually handed down from one child to another. Brio has always understood why children love toy trains, which is why we've always loved Brio.

You can shop our Brio selection on our website, but it's more fun in the store because we have a brand new train table to play with!

Here's some of our other recent new arrivals:

Wooden Cash Register Made USA	Lollacup Weighted Straw Cup- Made USA	Chewbeads Stanton Silicone Teething Bracelet
Janod Owly Family Wooden Nesting Dolls	Panda Insulated Lunchie by Skip Hop	Wood Baby Toys from Germany by Heimess

A Simple Playground Ball may be the Best Toy Ever

At 12 1/2 months, Ellie's figured out how to kick a ball around. It was a joyful discovery.

Even without considering sports, it's amazing how much a child can learn from a ball. Motion, inertia, tracking, the geometry of bouncing angles. A simple ball invites experimentation and cooperative play. Balls are the most open-ended toy ever invented. 

When Riley was little, one of his favorite activities was to search for forlorn tennis balls at Mattocks Park. He almost always succeeded--then we'd make up games to play with it before tossing it back in the grass for the next kid to find. 

Duncan, on the other hand, has always been partial to the ball crawl, especially the one at the City Museum in St. Louis. 

What would childhood be without a ball to kick around? No downloaded app can beat the simple playground ball for the pleasure of play. 

Celebrate Your Independents! (And Win!)

Shop Local & Win

Join us in celebrating Twin Cities locally-owned independent businesses throughout the month of July! Peapods is joining 24 other awesome local indies this month. Each of us is offering a special deal and each store you visit gives you a chance to win $1250 in gift cards -- $50 from each participating store. Sign up now to get started!

Stop into our store for a free canvas shopping bag with any purchase. Click through on the guide above to check out all the other deals at our fellow indies, too!  Have a Happy Independents Month!

Brio Wooden Toy Trains Roll Back into our Store!

We've always preferred simple toy trains that are designed for open-ended play without anthropomorphized rolling stock or odd Victorian morals. And, for many years, Brio wooden trains were the perfect fit.

Brio trains encourage open-ended play and are so durable they're usually passed from one child to another. A good set of track and trains offers a child the opportunity to continually recreate a working world in miniature,  an exercise of imagination that also seeks to understand the workings of our real world. Brio has always understood why children love toy trains, which is why we've always loved Brio.

In the past couple of years, however, Brio was unavailable in the U.S., which was a little sad.

Thankfully, Brio Toy Trains are now back in the U.S. and at Peapods! We've got new wooden engines, track, and a variety of starter sets to choose from. We recommend starting with one of Brio's starter sets and adding expansion packs, additional track or trains, or a BEKA train table over time.

Stop in and play on our new Brio Train Table and see what we mean. There's just something magical about pushing little wooden trains around on wooden track.

The Brio Play Table at Peapods

Introducing Lollacup Weighted Straw Sippy Cups

The Lollacup Sippy Cup

Lollacups are easy to hold
and easy to love!

When were first heard about Lollacups a few years ago, we failed to grasp their awesomeness. We already had a lot of great BPA-free sippy cup choices and we didn't think we needed another.

But when we recently handed our 11 month old daughter Ellie a Lollacup, we changed our minds. Like most early toddlers, she wanted to feed and drink by herself, but she almost always made a mess with her water or got frustrated when she held the sippy wrong and couldn't get any water at all. But the Lollacup has a flexible weighted straw that automatically stays in the liquid while she drinks. Yeah! Water!

The Lollacup is also easy to wash and it travels great--just flip down the sliding cap. Like all our sippy cups, of course it's BPA-free. And, the Lollacup is also made in the USA. Replacement Lollacup straws are also available.

So, if you're looking to keep your baby or toddler hydrated, the Lollacup is a great choice among our many different sippy cup and reusable water bottle options.

Introducing the new BEKA Ultimate Art Easel -- Made in Minnesota

The BEKA Ultimate Art Easel, Made in St. Paul, MN

BEKA's art easels have been a central part of our store for over a decade. And, for many years, we've offered them in the regular version or the deluxe adjustable version, which cost extra. Many parents preferred the adjustable version, which cost more, because it could be lower for a younger child and then raised as the child grew.

BEKA's new Ultimate Easel simplifies things by starting out as a lower 41 1/2" tall easel with an optional leg extension kit to grow the easel as high as 53 1/2". So, you don't have to pay more for an easel that can adjust!

Ultimate Easels are available in store with a chalkboard on one side and a magnet board on the other, or with a chalkboard / dry erase whiteboard. We also sell BEKA's high-quality art paper rolls, which mount on top.

Like all BEKA toys and art supplies, these easels are made in St. Paul by these guys:

Jamie Kreisman and his son John, toymakers at BEKA in St. Paul

Wee Can Too Edible Art Supplies

Edible Veggie Crayons by Wee Can Too

We love it when we find a supplier who's doing everything right! Wee Can Too Art seems to be just that kind of company.

Wee Can Too makes art supplies for kids that are so non-toxic, they're actually edible! Made in the USA, Wee Can Too's Finger Paints, Sidewalk Chalk, and Veggie Baby Crayons are gluten-free, dairy-free and vegan and made from organic vegetables. And, they've got bright vibrant colors! What's not to love?

Wee Can Too Edible Sidewalk Chalk