Step2

One of our favorite spring products, the Easy Turn Coupe was featured on NBC as a spring PAL (Play on Words) Award Winner. Creator of PAL, Sherry Artemenko, speech language pathologist, writer, and toy consultant recognizes toys for their quality, design, and  play value. Toys that receive the PAL award spark creative play within children, which is essential for their development.

The Easy Turn Coupe has fun features which both Sherry and parents admire:

• Gas cap, ignition key, and working horn for added fun
• Removable floor board protects mom or dad’s feet when pushing
• Molded in push handle in roof
• Clear roof enables mom or dad to see their child when pushing
• Easy maneuverability because of the front castor wheel
• Cup holders for both parent and child

What do you think of the Easy Turn Coupe?

The physical development of children is very important to us here at Step2. The toys that we create help develop the sensory, fine motor and gross motor skills of toddlers and preschoolers. Fine motor skills are defined as “actions performed with the small muscles in the hands, fingers and wrist.” Many of the new toys from spring 2013 collection will help increase the fine motor skills of your little ones.

The Stack ‘n Stay Hamburgers and Stack ‘n Stay Smores food sets help children to stack together different foods that are found in and on a hamburgers and smores. Children can interchange all of the topping on the hamburgers and smores to create a new recipe. In addition, children will be able to associate the realistic color of the play food with the actual food. Also, children can count the different play food they put onto and take off the burger and smores. These food sets can be used with play kitchens and also with the Fixin’ Fun Outdoor Grill. This particular grill also features another food play set, which is the Stack ‘n Stay Hot Dog set. Playing with the grill knobs and flipping the food on the grill will also enhance the use of a child’s fine motor skills.

The Sand-Tastic Construction Set and Sand-Tastic Castle Set will teach children how to shovel, pour, build, and roll while in the sandbox. The characters that are on the truck and bulldozer are interchangeable, which will help children to click pieces together just like they do on the Stack ‘n Stay play sets. In order to increase the different skills that children are developing, you can also put marshmallows or rice instead of sand in the sandbox. By replacing the sand for other materials, children will be able to improve their sensory skills.

Besides playing with shovels and sand sets in sandboxes, the Fun & Sun Climber and Sandbox, which was also released this spring, can help assist with fine motor skills. This toy includes a shovel for digging and pouring sand in the sandbox portion and through the cascade accessories. This toy not only helps with fine motor skills but gross motor skills by encouraging children to climb and slide using big muscle movements.

The toys from the spring 2013 collection are different from traditional fine motor skills activities such as cutting paper and tying shoe laces. The frequent change of activity and position will keep children fascinated. What activities and toys do your children play with to develop their fine motor skills?

Sometimes just seeing the bullet points of features and reviews about a product is not enough information to make a decision. At Step2, we listen to our customers and want to give you an insider’s look at the design and development of our products while answering your questions.

We have begun the process of creating behind the scenes vlogs (video blogs) that will be featured on the Step2 YouTube channel. There, you will get to meet the minds behind the products you’ve come to love.

Since we thrive on pleasing our customers, we want to make sure we answer the questions you really need answered. We invite you to be the script writer of our next vlog featuring one of our newest products, the Easy Turn Coupe.

What questions do you have about this fun new ride-on?  Submit your questions in the comment section of this blog post by April 26^th and we’ll get your questions answered in our next vlog.

Step2 is not the only one..

Thank you to all the Test Drive Kids that took the Easy Turn Coupe for a spin:

Baby Dickey
Blessed by Brenna
Carrie With Children
Energizer Bunnies Mommy Reports
Freckleberry Finds
Go Graham Go
Little Inspiration
Mom Dot
Mom Endeavors  
Mommy of Two Little Monkeys
A Moms Take
Mommy Testers
Newly Crunchy Mama of 3
Noah’s Dad
Rave and Review
The Denver Housewife
The Link Fairy
The Rock Father
Thrifty and Chic Mom
Thrifty Nifty Mommy
WAHM Connect Reviews

As a reminder, make sure to visit Step2’s Facebook page and comment on your favorite feature of the Easy Turn Coupe. For every comment received, Step2 will donate $1 to the Saving tiny Hearts Society.

The Step2 Company, LLC. showcased new products for spring and fall 2013 at the Toy Industry Association Toy Fair 2013 in New York City February 10-13. Proudly displaying photographs of the Everybody Plays photo shoot by photographer and best-selling author Kelle Hampton of Enjoying the Small Things. The Step2/Infantino booth showcased fun, excitement and, of course, creative play.

On display from our new spring line was a mix of versatile outdoor toys. The Fixin’ Fun Outdoor Grill™ is a stone oven barbeque grill that can be used for indoor play or outside as “me too” play. It features grill knobs that make real “clicking” sounds, plenty of counter space to prepare “meals,” and a realistic “lift up” grill lid. Plus, a molded-in side burner creates an extra cooking area.

Included with the grill is a 10 piece Stack ‘n Stay Hot Dog Set. Two additional accessory sets can be purchased separately – the Stack ‘n Stay S’mores and Stack ‘N Stay Hamburgers. Designed to help with gross motor skills, these unique play food sets have grooves so they stack and stay together.

Also new for 2013 is the Fun & Sun Climber & Sandbox. This 2-in-1 climber and elevated sandbox is great for small outdoor spaces and gives children a place to climb, slide and be active as well as a small sand area for sensory play. Children can pour sand in the cascade accessories and watch the sand flow. Included is a protective lid, a shovel for digging and a drain plug making for easy clean-up.

The featured spring item at Toy Fair this year was the Easy Turn Coupe. To celebrate the launch of this new little car, Step2 displayed this toy front and center as guests entered Booth #437.

After conducting extensive research with moms and dads, we found that our customers wanted a few new features when it came to their child’s play car. This included a see-through roof to keep an eye on their child while at play, a handle to easily push the car, and a better turning radius for all of those tight squeezes around the couches and kitchen table neighborhood. We also added a removable floor board so little feet are protected when mom is pushing, cup holders for both mom and child, and fun features included a gas cap, ignition key, and working horn.

In conjunction with the Easy Turn Coupe launch at Toy Fair, Step2 is launching a new campaign entitled I {heart} Easy Turn Coupe on the Step2 Facebook page.

Step2 focuses its charitable efforts on programs designed to enhance the health and education of children while enriching their lives and their family experience. It is that mission that has made The Saving tiny hearts Society (StHS), an organization that funds life-saving grass roots research of congenital heart defects (CHD’s), a non-profit that Step2 has supported for many years.

Several years ago, Step2 learned that CHD’s are America’s #1 birth defect affecting over 40,000 babies every year. With that type of statistic, it should have come as no surprise when one of Step2’s own, Tena Crock, was impacted by a CHD.

At her 20 week ultrasound appointment, Crock believed that the biggest news she would receive that day was the gender of the little miracle growing in her tummy. Instead, she learned that her son had a complex CHD, double inlet left ventricle (single ventricle) among other issues. Because of the established relationship, Crock was able to reach out to the founders of StHS who offered her support and information while educating her about their important research efforts.

Crock’s son underwent three heart surgeries and one heart catheterization in the first 7 months of life. He will have one more surgery before he is school aged, but for now, he is a happy and healthy toddler, enjoying the toys that Mommy brings him home from work.

Step2 would like to continue its support of the StHS with our “I {heart} Easy Turn Coupe” campaign. We invite you to watch a quick video on the Easy Turn Coupe and tell us what feature you {heart} most about it. For every comment received on the Easy Turn Coupe Facebook tab, Step2 will make a $1 donation to StHS (up to $10,000). You can submit your comment now through  April 6, 2013.

About TIA |Toy Fair

Celebrating its 110^th year, the annual American International Toy Fair® is the largest toy and youth product marketplace in the Western Hemisphere, bringing together more than 1,000 exhibiting manufacturers, distributors, importers and sales agents from around the globe to showcase their toy and entertainment products. The Step2 Company has exhibited at Toy Fair for 18 years. In addition to NY Toy Fair, Step2 also exhibits annually at International Toy Fair Nürnberg.

Have you ever considered your home or play room a disaster zone because the kids have made it their duty to leave their toys everywhere? Cleaning up after your children can be exhausting. After play time is over, maybe suggesting that clean up can be fun will encourage children to tidy up more.

Focusonthefamily.com suggests creating a point system You can encourage kids to clean up by developing a point system. Each time they clean up their toys you can give them a sticker by their name. Once they reach a certain amount of stickers by their name reward them with their favorite food.

Putting toys away every day could get tiring, so set a day and time each week, or twice a week, to straighten up toys. This will help teach kids how to stick to a routine. Clean up can be fun and rewarding if you make it challenging and rewarding.  Try to emphasize the benefits of cleaning up to your children such as: they will be able to find their toys better, they will not step on their toys, and they will prolong the life of their toys.

A great way for children to straighten up their toys is by having an organizer to arrange their toys in. The Fun Time Room Organizer will help children to put their toys away while harmonizing where their toys belong at the same time. The vibrant bin colors and dry-erase labels will allow children to locate and return toys easily. There is even a Corvette Room Organizer for the little car enthusiast in your life!

What tips do you have for helping children to clean up?