award winning products Archives

Best Graduation Gifts

Published May 24, 2022

Elena Epstein

It’s that special time of the year — commencement ceremonies, celebrating the end of another school year and our kids’ many accomplishments. We have some unique gift ideas for the grad in your life — all NAPPA Award winners!

Wacom Intuos

Takes the traditional pen and journal gift to the next level. Its battery free pen, with more than 4,000 levels of pressure sensitivity, gives you a natural digital drawing and writing experience. A great tool to help high school and college students with studying and annotating digital files. It works with Mac, PC, and Chromebook devices, and there is a Bluetooth option which makes it flexible when using around campus. $99.95, Wacom.com

Filmmakers Academy

Perfect for anyone interested in the moviemaking business. Created by filmmakers for filmmakers, its mentors and masterclass courses not only equip members with the knowledge needed to thrive in the industry, but it packs in information about the nuances of the trade, useful film-hacks, and relevant terminology. A great resource for filmmakers who want to master their craft, meet like-minded creatives, and grow. Features online education on filmmaking, cinematography, lighting, production, post production workflows and lifestyle from the best industry professionals in the business. $396 annual all access, ages 12+, filmmakersacademy.com

Wacom One

Give your college or high school student new ways to get creative. They can easily capture digital ideas, create mind-maps, draw diagrams and enhance photos or videos. The pen display gives a natural pen-on-paper feel, and the battery-free, digital pen is ergonomically designed for comfortable drawing and writing. $399.95, Wacom.com

SwimWays Dry Float

Let your student relax and soak in the sun while staying completely dry. Each Dry Float features an integrated cupholder and fast inflation and deflation. Sit upright in the Socializer, lie back in the Lounger and relax under the shade in the Shadester. $44.99 – $74.99, ages 15+, spinmaster.com

A Smart Girl’s Guide: Tough Stuff

Help tweens and teens get through tricky times—from bullying to body image issues, friendship stress to family struggles, panic attacks to pandemic—and come out on the other side even stronger. Provides tons of tips on how to bounce back and find enough resilience to withstand the toughest challenges. $12.99, ages 10+, americangirl.com

Happi Tummi Happi Wrap

Help relax your high school and college students with this natural external wrap with warmth and aromatherapy. Does not restrict movement. Apply anytime. Sooths stomach pain, cramps, acid reflux, headaches, body aches, stress and anxiety. $39.95, happitummi.com

HUE Animation Studio

Contains everything you need to create your own stop motion animation videos. For use at home or for school projects. Encourages creativity and imagination. Whether you are making a LEGO® brick film; animating in claymation or capturing a flower bloom using time-lapse photography, you can bring anything to life in minutes with the easy-to-use software. $69.95, grades K-12, huehd.com

For more product reviews visit nappaawards.com

Indoor Fun

Published August 4, 2021

By Evonna Ranade

Try some of these fun, creative indoor activities to bring a little sunshine to any day.

PHOTO COURTESY GET SPLASHEZ

**A2PLAY Beginner Jigsaw Puzzle System**: Have fun and educate your kids with this innovative puzzle system. Guides them through the art of jigsaw puzzles with a treasure map to help understand the best building methods in 3 simple steps. $16.99, ages 3 – 5 years, getsplashez.com

PHOTO COURTESY SCHLEICH

**Sunny Day Mobile Farm Stand**: Don’t let the rain prevent you from finding the sun. Your child’s imagination will soar as they learn to buy and sell fresh produce directly from a farm. Set contains 2 figurines, 1 horse and lots of accessories. $34.99, ages 3 – 8 years, schleich-s.com

PHOTO COURTESY MISSING PIECE PRESS

**Science Stumper**s: Enjoy a fun-filled collection of bite-sized science mysteries that include brainteasers with counterintuitive results. Great activity to unleash the inner science genius in us all. $16.95, ages 7 years – adult, missing-piece-press.square.site

PHOTO COURTESY DISCOVERY

**3D Glow Spin Art Station**: Capture your little artist’s imagination with this unique, 3D swirl art machine. Watch as their paintings come to life! Just place a card on the wheel, pick a paint color and spin. Perfect for the entire family. $24.99, ages 6+, kohls.com

PHOTO COURTESY BOLD MADE

**Bold Made**: A remake of the classic game Old Maid without avoiding the older woman deemed too old to marry. Learn about bold women who made huge impacts on our world with this exciting game. $19.99, ages 3+, boldmade.com

PHOTO COURTESY WORLDWIDE BUDDIES

**The Book of Cultures**: This picture book allows young readers to discover the world, embrace its diversity and go on adventures all from the comfort of home! Features stories with buddies from different countries and interactive activities in each culture. $35.00, ages 4 – 9 years, worldwidebuddies.com

PHOTO COURTESY SHAMBHALA

**The Little Yogi Deck: Simple Yoga Practices to Help Kids Move Through Big Emotions**: Being inside does not mean we miss out on activity. Interact with this colorful card deck featuring yoga practices. Help kids work through big emotions while learning vibrant, new ways to move their bodies. $19.95, ages 5 – 9 years, shambhala.com

For more product reviews visit nappaawards.com

Kid’s Summer Playlist

Published August 4, 2021

By Evonna Ranade

It’s not summer without a great playlist to listen to. Here is a curated list of some of the best, uplifting albums and music to bring joy to kids all summer long.

PHOTO COURTESY DANA’S MUSIC PLAYGROUND

**Dana’s Music Playground Podcast**: Dana and Jingle host a magical hour of fun every weekday at 10am PT on the new children’s radio station, JUMP105.3. Also available to stream anytime! Enjoy songs and musical games centered on early learning in this interactive, educational radio show. Free, ages 2 – 6 years, danasmusicplayground.com

PHOTO COURTESY LITTLE MISS ANN

**28 Days**: Listen to Little Miss Ann’s 6th digital album. Features songs about her Filipino heritage and that have a gospel vibe about rebuilding hope. $9.98, ages 2 – 8 years, littlemissann.com

PHOTO COURTESY KATHRYN THE GRAPE

**Kathryn the Grape All Together**: A vibrant spectrum of positive, empowering and unifying lyrics. Help children experience love from the inside out and encourage them to dance along. Provides everyone with freedom to feel and express. $12.99, ages 2 – 8 years, kathrynthegrape.com

PHOTO COURTESY KELLI WELLI

**Let’s Go, Pistachio**: A country-style, humor-filled album with a special-edition googly-eyed cover. Original songs perfect for preschoolers that encourage growth, good eating, patience and celebrate potty training. $12.00, ages birth – 8 years, kelliwelli.com

PHOTO COURTESY MELODY PLACE MUSIC

**It’s Great to Be a Kid**: Renowned Disney music producer Fred Mollin creates an uplifting album to get through these challenging times. Contains new fun songs about life and living to help young kids struggling at home look forward to the future. $13.98, ages 1 – 6 years, melodyplacemusic.com

PHOTO COURTESY BUDDYPHONES

**BuddyPhones® Explore+ Headphones**: You can’t listen to all these amazing songs without a great set of headphones! They are stylish, comfortable and durable, and are also super portable to bring on any trip. Available in 6 vibrant colors and customizable. $29.99, ages 3 – 12 years, buddyphones.com

For more product reviews visit nappaawards.com

Summer Water Play

Published August 4, 2021

By Evonna Ranade

The warm weather is finally here, so it’s officially time to be outside. Kick off summer and cool down with these fun water toys your baby and toddlers will love.

PHOTO COURTESY GET SPLASHEZ

**SplashEZ Educational Sprinkler Pool**: Let the summer fun begin! Enjoy a splash pad, sprinkler pool, and learning center all in one. Has shallow water that creates a safe environment and a base mat that provides learning opportunities. $21.99, ages 12 months +, amazon.com

PHOTO COURTESY BBLÜV

**Spläsh**: Let your little one splish and splash their way into summer! Just pour in water and get ready for infants and toddlers to enjoy water play on a sunny day. $29.99, ages 6 months +, bbluvgroup.com

PHOTO COURTESY BBLÜV

**Näj**: Enjoy teaching your child how to swim safely. Features 24 removable floats for a perfect way to allow children to get comfortable in the water at their own pace. $34.99, ages 12 – 36 months, bbluvgroup.com

PHOTO COURTESY BBLÜV

**Wräp**: Even the warmest pool water can feel cold to a young baby’s skin. Make water play fun with this soft, neoprene wetsuit to keep warm in water and comfortable out of it. $25.99, ages 0 – 18 months, bbluvgroup.com

PHOTO COURTESY WATERLINE TOYS

**SkimBe**®: An exciting new outdoor toy for your favorite pool or playground. Skip, skim, slide and jump across any water surface for intense fun and games for everyone! $19.99, ages 3+, waterlinetoys.com

PHOTO COURTESY ZURU TOYS

**ZURU Glove-A-Bubbles**: Pop on this magical glove to create thousands of bubbles in one sweep! The eye-catching colors and on-trend characters, like Rainbocorns and Paw Patrol, make playing with bubbles so fun. $1.99, ages 4+, zuru.com

For more product reviews visit nappaawards.com

Get Ready for Summer

Published June 14, 2021

By Elena Epstein

PHOTO COURTESY AMERICAN GIRL

**Kira Doll, Book & Accessories**: Travel to an Australian wildlife sanctuary with the 2021 American Girl of the Year and learn the importance of protecting animals and the planet. Accessories include an outdoor backpack with koala keychain and a wide-brimmed hat, plus a plush kangaroo named Joey. $170, ages 8+, americangirl.com

PHOTO COURTESY GLOBBER

**Junior Foldable Fantasy Scooter**: This three-wheel scooter just for toddlers features a folding system with a push button, a wider deck in a range of fun colors and patterns with an adjustable T-bar to best suit growing toddlers. $79.99, ages 2-5, globber.com

PHOTO COURTESY ZURU

**Crazy ZURU Bunch O Balloons Water**: This toy that fills 100 balloons in 60 seconds is now 100% recyclable! Each stem comes with a mix of multi-colored balloons. $7.99, ages 3+, bunchoballoons.com

PHOTO COURTESY WATERLINE TOYS

**Skim to the Pin**: This fun water game set features a floating target and two polyurethane discs with a comfortable thumb grip and rocker bottom that skips, skims, slides and jumps across any water surface. $39.99, ages 3+,waterlinetoys.com

PHOTO COURTESY VTECHKIDS

**Go! Go! Cory Carson Two Scoops Eileen Ice Cream Truck**: Pick your favorite treat with lights, sounds and songs from the show. Great for hours of role-playing fun. $19.99, ages 2+, vtechkids.com

PHOTO COURTESY LIT LEAGUE

**Lit League**: A subscription-based book club for kids. Each box includes a book, a vocabulary bookmark, four to five fun-filled activities, discussion questions and answers and the tools to enjoy a shared family experience or to participate in a book club with friends. $30.99-$36.99, ages 3-12, litleagueboxes.com

PHOTO COURTESY ROOST BOOKS

**Maker Camp**: Create with your kids using 20 classic and inventive projects. From soap carving and knot tying to building toy cars and junk robots, this book links techniques of the past with the present while offering the satisfying fun of making things with your own hands. $19.95, ages 3+, roostbooks.com

For more product reviews visit nappaawards.com

Gift Ideas Just for Mom

Published May 4, 2021

Elena Epstein

Moms Don’t Have Time To: A Quarantine Anthology

An inspiring collection of original essays by bestselling authors organized around the theme of five things moms don’t have time to do: eat, read, work out, breathe and have sex. This unique collection speaks to moms everywhere. $24.99, zibbyowens.com

The Parent’s Hoodie

A sweatshirt for three stages: pregnancy, to carry baby and post-baby stage. This unique hoodie can also be worn by dad as a baby carrier and hoodie. No insert needed, it features an integrated and adjustable extension with invisible zip and wrap-over. $99, love-radius.com

Clea Bamboo Long Sleeve Classic Pajama Set

This unbelievably soft set is made of premium bamboo fabric and can be worn from pregnancy through breastfeeding and beyond.$69.99, kindredbravely.com

Buggie Huggie Shopping Cart Tray

Take the stress out of grocery store trips with this highchair tray for your shopping cart. With safety features built in, it comes with an optional phone holder accessory to secure your phone for your child’s favorite shows and apps. $39.95, ages 1-4, buggiehuggie.com

Piper Recliner and Swivel Glider

Sleek, stylish and comfortable, this glider features smooth and gentle 360-degree swivel motion and forward and backward gliding. Free of chemical flame retardants and GreenGuard Gold Certified. $329, davincibaby.com

Bug Bite Thing

In just three easy steps, enjoy the outdoors more with this innovative, chemical-free product that alleviates the itching, stinging and swelling caused by insect bites and stings. $9.95, bugbitething.com

Milkmakers Bath Tea & Foot Soak

Made with just four natural ingredients, these pregnancy-safe bath sachets help relax tired muscles and moisturize dry skin. Calming botanicals such as French lavender and chamomile mingle with rolled oats and pure Epsom salts.$10.00, munchkin.com

For more product reviews visit nappaawards.com

Wacom Intuos

Filmmakers Academy

Wacom One

SwimWays Dry Float

A Smart Girl’s Guide: Tough Stuff

Happi Tummi Happi Wrap

HUE Animation Studio

Moms Don’t Have Time To: A Quarantine Anthology

The Parent’s Hoodie

Clea Bamboo Long Sleeve Classic Pajama Set

Buggie Huggie Shopping Cart Tray

Piper Recliner and Swivel Glider

Bug Bite Thing

Milkmakers Bath Tea & Foot Soak

L.A. Parent