The 2022 Independent Spirit Awards were handed out last night and Netflix’s The Lost Daughter was the big winner with three award wins. Netflix also had wins for Passing and Squid Game rounding out a great night for the streaming service.
See below for the full list of nominees and winners; winners are in bold.
FILM CATEGORIES
Best Feature
A Chiara
C’mon C’mon
The Lost Daughter
The Novice
Zola
Best First Feature
7 Days
Holler
Queen of Glory
Test Pattern
Wild Indian
Best Director
Janicza Bravo – Zola
Maggie Gyllenhaal – The Lost Daughter
Lauren Hadaway – The Novice
Mike Mills – C’mon C’mon
Ninja Thyberg – Pleasure
Best Screenplay
Nikole Beckwith – Together Together
Maggie Gyllenhaal – The Lost Daughter
Janicza Bravo, Jeremy O. Harris – Zola
Mike Mills – C’mon C’mon
Todd Stephens – Swan Song
Best Female Lead
Isabelle Fuhrman – The Novice
Brittany S. Hall – Test Pattern
Patti Harrison – Together Together
Taylour Paige – Zola
Kali Reis – Catch the Fair One
Best Male Lead
Clifton Collins Jr. – Jockey
Frankie Faison – The Killing of Kenneth Chamberlain
Michael Greyeyes – Wild Indian
Udo Kier – Swan Song
Simon Rex – Red Rocket
Best Supporting Female
Jessie Buckley – The Lost Daughter
Amy Forsyth – The Novice
Ruth Negga – Passing
Revika Reustle – Pleasure
Suzanna Son – Red Rocket
Best Supporting Male
Colman Domingo – Zola
Meeko Gattuso – Queen of Glory
Troy Kotsur – CODA
Will Patton – Sweet Thing
Chaske Spencer – Wild Indian
Best Editing
Affonso Gonçalves – A Chiara
Ali Greer – The Nowhere Inn
Zoi McMillon – Zola
Enrico Natale – The Killing of Kenneth Chamberlain
Lauren Hadaway, Nathan Nugent – The Novice
Best Cinematography
Lol Crawley – The Humans
Tim Curtin – A Chiara
Edu Grau – Passing
Ante Cheng, Matthew Chuang – Blue Bayou
Ari Wegner – Zola
John Cassavetes Award (Best Feature Made for Less than $500,000)
Cryptozoo
Jockey
Shiva Baby
Sweet Thing
This is Not a War Story
Best First Screenplay
Lyle Mitchell Corbine, Jr – Wild Indian
Shatara Michelle Ford – Test Pattern
Fran Kranz – Mass
Matt Fifer, Sheldon D. Brown – Cicada
Michael Sarnoski, Vanessa Block – Pig
Best Documentary
Ascension
Flee
In the Same Breath
Procession
Summer of Soul (…Or, When the Revolution Could Not be Televised)
The 2022 Independent Spirit Awards were handed out last night and Netflix’s The Lost Daughter was the big winner with three award wins. Netflix also had wins for Passing and Squid Game rounding out a great night for the streaming service.
See below for the full list of nominees and winners; winners are in bold.
FILM CATEGORIES
Best Feature
A Chiara
C’mon C’mon
The Lost Daughter
The Novice
Zola
Best First Feature
7 Days
Holler
Queen of Glory
Test Pattern
Wild Indian
Best Director
Janicza Bravo – Zola
Maggie Gyllenhaal – The Lost Daughter
Lauren Hadaway – The Novice
Mike Mills – C’mon C’mon
Ninja Thyberg – Pleasure
Best Screenplay
Nikole Beckwith – Together Together
Maggie Gyllenhaal – The Lost Daughter
Janicza Bravo, Jeremy O. Harris – Zola
Mike Mills – C’mon C’mon
Todd Stephens – Swan Song
Best Female Lead
Isabelle Fuhrman – The Novice
Brittany S. Hall – Test Pattern
Patti Harrison – Together Together
Taylour Paige – Zola
Kali Reis – Catch the Fair One
Best Male Lead
Clifton Collins Jr. – Jockey
Frankie Faison – The Killing of Kenneth Chamberlain
Michael Greyeyes – Wild Indian
Udo Kier – Swan Song
Simon Rex – Red Rocket
Best Supporting Female
Jessie Buckley – The Lost Daughter
Amy Forsyth – The Novice
Ruth Negga – Passing
Revika Reustle – Pleasure
Suzanna Son – Red Rocket
Best Supporting Male
Colman Domingo – Zola
Meeko Gattuso – Queen of Glory
Troy Kotsur – CODA
Will Patton – Sweet Thing
Chaske Spencer – Wild Indian
Best Editing
Affonso Gonçalves – A Chiara
Ali Greer – The Nowhere Inn
Zoi McMillon – Zola
Enrico Natale – The Killing of Kenneth Chamberlain
Lauren Hadaway, Nathan Nugent – The Novice
Best Cinematography
Lol Crawley – The Humans
Tim Curtin – A Chiara
Edu Grau – Passing
Ante Cheng, Matthew Chuang – Blue Bayou
Ari Wegner – Zola
John Cassavetes Award (Best Feature Made for Less than $500,000)
Cryptozoo
Jockey
Shiva Baby
Sweet Thing
This is Not a War Story
Best First Screenplay
Lyle Mitchell Corbine, Jr – Wild Indian
Shatara Michelle Ford – Test Pattern
Fran Kranz – Mass
Matt Fifer, Sheldon D. Brown – Cicada
Michael Sarnoski, Vanessa Block – Pig
Best Documentary
Ascension
Flee
In the Same Breath
Procession
Summer of Soul (…Or, When the Revolution Could Not be Televised)
I’m writing the bulk of this on Sunday evening, February 27th. According to the Destiny 2 Heatmap (link), I have played for a little over 40 hours before the weekly reset on March 1st.
Surprisingly, only one dark orange square signifying 9+ hours during launch week.
Crossing checking with my life time stats on WastedOnDestiny (a name I don’t concur with because I am having a great time with however many hours and don’t feel like a second has been wasted), those 40 hours are a small drop in a bucket of nearly 3300 active hours played. And for maybe the third time of the franchise, I feel confident in saying this is the best state the game has ever been in.
It’s a DLC tradition and recurring joke on the This Week in Nerd News Podcast that I share these statistics.
After a surprisingly tame one hour of server hiccups, I managed to get in and initiate a series of protocols that I pinned in a word document. One of their quality-of-life changes was drastically reducing the cost to switch affinities. I decided to take full advantage of it and altering and remodding my carefully curate armor selection. And once all of my stat blocks were verified and energy optimized, I set out to tinker with the new Void 3.0. For the past year, I had amassed a staggering number of kills as a Behemoth, introduced November 2020 in Beyond Light. I had become fond of the playstyle, but a new expansion means trying out all the new toys. So with a variety of toggles switches and theorizing, I set my cursor to the Legendary campaign. And a new adventure begun as I set out to combat Savathun, the Witch Queen.
Eyes Up, Guardian
I ended up doing the majority of the 8-mission long campaign solo, while also doing a handful of the missions as a duo. It was the first time in franchise history that I actually felt the enemies and challenge were appropriate with the number of people in the fireteam. And as a result, Legendary was also the first time where I felt actively challenged, and that $#!% was hard. However, with the promise of 1520 Power Loot (20 levels above the soft cap) that would accelerate the seasonal power grind and a new exotic, my Titan, armed with their new Void 3.0 overshield quickly discovered that said overshield would not save me. My usual flash and thunder tactics would not be applicable either. Instead, we reverted to the original style of attrition, and the best word to describe the experience is “taxing.”
The Entrance to Savathun’s Ship, Image Courtesy of Bungie’s Press Site
Missions were long. Multiple rally flags set up different Darkness Zone encounters that featured a plethora of mini bosses, bosses, and objectives. The shortest missions took around 30-40 minutes to complete on my own, and the longest ones clocked in at just over an hour. Of course, some of that time spent could be attributed to fatigue and making bad plays, but a nontrivial part of it was a constant stream of “Wait, there’s more!” There were bosses that lead to bosses that lead to post-script scenes that became bosses again. In the moment though, the mission length didn’t quite bother, because my hands were still trembling at a well-fought victory. My eyes were in awe of a different set pieces, and my ears absorbed the phenomenal orchestral score. Gameplay aside, the main narrative thread was some of the finest work from Bungie writers to date that catapulted the myth arc of the universe to a staggering degree. The tagline “Survive the Truth” was certainly apt in more ways than one.
My New Favorite Thing is Basically a Stargate SG-1 Staff
Very early on in the campaign, Guardians got acclimated with the highly marketed glaive. It was a weird hybrid weapon that features a low-speed projectile that generate energy to power a nigh impenetrable frontal shield while also allowing for a devastating three hit melee combo. This is the first weapon type introduced since Forsaken‘s Bow, and I am here for it. While it took a while to get accustomed to the new armament, it quickly became one of my main tools in the campaign and general play thanks to its versatility and ample amount of sustainability it offers. As someone whose main form of survival is throwing up as many walls as I possibly can (physical and emotional), having yet another implement to stave off the hordes is more than welcome. I have amassed over 2800 kills with the shooty, stabby, blocky stick, given it a title and a bespoke shader and have no plans to remove this from my Energy slot even after the seasonal mods that are elevating them to ridiculous levels of power vanish.
Fun fact: In the three intervening days, my glaive is Level 50 and has 3226 kills and counting.
The Enigma essentially spoiled my on-weapon crafting as its starter perks were fairly agreeable, and the “gun” itself was so fun to use that it was easy to level up. My next few experiments with the crafting system were not quite as kind. Weapon crafting is an entirely new system to the Destiny universe and is slightly easier to do in game than explain in words, but I’m gonna try to explain in words. In order to craft a weapon, you need to have its pattern. Some patterns are tied to a quest, but the majority are found by attuning Deepsight Resonant Weapons, basically legendary drops that have a red border. However, only a curated selection of Deepsight Resonate Weapons have patterns, but you’re gonna wanna use those red-bordered guns anyways to get all of the crafting material which does put you at odds when it comes to leveling up the guns you want to use.
Weapon Crafting at the Relic, Image Courtesy of Bungie’s Press Site
The system is far from perfect, requiring an almost myopic dedication, but as an enfranchised guardian, I have already been able to craft the new lightweight frame bow to my exacting specification. I made it to mimic the draw time time of my previous favorite bow, maxing out of the accuracy, and enhancing two of my favorite perks. Having a purely deterministic system is fantastic, and you still have plenty of opportunities to be excited by random drops as there are plenty of guns with unique perk combinations that aren’t crafting. However, given there is no centralized way to see how much material you’re carrying or how perk material overflows where as neutral element seemingly doesn’t have enough intake for the amount you’re using, sometimes I approached the Relic excited; only to discover I couldn’t quite make the changes. Still, the new armory features some great new perks and offers a lot of fun toys to experiment with while you fit out your monster killing machine.
The Other Half of the Sandbox
On the flipside of weapon sandbox, Void 3.0 marked the largest upheaval to some of the long-standing elements of the game with the new Fragment/Aspect customization. No longer the days of a fixed grid in D1 where there was often one actual configuration with very little straying and gone were the three trees of completely synergistic kits, and in its place the modular aspect/fragment system.
My initial reactions of Void 3.0 for Titan were tepid, and even after several iterations and buildcrafts, I have yet to find any configuration that completely sates my personal taste for combat. I appreciate the ranged melee, having bubble as a separate super, and the access to Bloom. Strangely okay with the bubble nerf as it means that I’m not going to be expected to run it by default in end game content, and its new blast shield functionality is practical and efficient if nothing else.
From what I’ve gathered, Warlocks basically unanimously sing the praises of the new Voidwalker, and Hunters are even split between “This is the worst thing that has ever happened to us” to “This is the best thing they could have done for me,” which speaks a lot about the community as whole and the weirdness of game balance.
So Much To Do, So Much To Do, So Much To Do…
In post-campaign of The Witch Queen, there were plenty of things to do. Exotic quests that unlock some of the coolest additions to the armory in the form of a Yeeting Worm Launcher and a Psionic Grenade Launcher that can switch elements. Seasonal challenges in the playlist, where I spent an ungodly amount of time grinding Gambit for power and incidentally becoming a Gilded Dredgen x4 before the first reset. New strikes and the addition of new battlegrounds to break up the pace, and a lot of trudging around the Throne World.
The Lightblade strike, Image Courtesy of Bungie’s Press Site
The realm of the Witch Queen, God of Lies, predictably has a staggering number of secrets, and honestly, it’s neat conceptually; however, it’s also my least favorite part of the Destiny 2 grindstone. I enjoy the moment-to-moment combat, I enjoy actively engaging in things and honing my skills more than skulking around an area. By that same virtue, I know plenty of folks who adore the detective work and that really gets to one of the most salient parts about this release.
Destiny 2: The Witch Queen takes the existing foundation of the game and has built a veritable fortress of content right on top of it. It has retooled fundamental systems and incorporated a staggering degree of quality-of-life changes, new systems to interact with, new toys to play with, an arena that allows you to play both offense and defense on alternative days, new environments to explore, and it’s been exactly one week.
Birthplace of the Vile strike, Image Courtesy of Bungie’s Press Site
We still have more seasonal content, more post-campaign story, and hell, the pinnacle of Destiny, the raid, hasn’t even come out yet. Who know what will happen after the first clear on March 5th. We have only begun to glimpse the surface of everything in store, and the fact remains this is the third time I can confidently say the game is staged to be in the best place it has ever been. I said it during Taken King. I said it during Forsaken. And I am happy to say that even as we near the end of the “Saga of Light and Dark” that I’m going to soldier on with this as my singular game.
Devotion Leads to Bravery. Bravery Inspires Sacrifice.
If you’re like me, you didn’t need any of this. If you’re a newcomer or returning player, I know it sounds like a lot, but if you’re willing to learn (and maybe convince someone to help you out), you’ll easily fall in love with one of the most ambitious game franchises, a shared world shooter that survived 8 years on the merit of it being real addicting. And once again, I have the stats to prove it.
Add some color into your kid’s life with our list of the best painting ideas for beginners!
Hello all, I’m back once again, and this time I bring you even more interesting goodies. Time to talk about painting ideas for beginners and that means it’s time to break out your brushes and paints. This list covers simple ideas for toddlers and kids to detailed ideas aimed at teens and up. Never painted before? Don’t let that intimidate you! I promise there’s nothing to be scared of, well besides getting messy. But that’s all part of the fun!
To start off our list of painting ideas for beginners, we have this kit of Paw Patrol figures. When my cousin was little, her obsession with Paw Patrol was too real! Everyday for hours and hours on end she’d watch it. It made me seriously wonder if that was the only show that was on. So, seeing this brought a nostalgic tear to my eye. I feel, if she’d seen this, she would have asked for them, and I would have had a beautiful bonding moment to share with her. But, alas, I missed out. Don’t you miss out though! Get this and have your own bonding moment!
As we know, Star Wars has lived in the hearts of fans for decades, and of course for some that means their kids have to be obsessed too. For a fun way to introduce your little Jedi to Star Wars, start by letting them paint the adorable Baby Yoda! Plus, the little easel it comes with is simply precious.
As someone who’s still living off the rush and excitement of No Way Home, I know I’m not the only one who needs more Spidey in their lives. Further, this 2-pack comes with the chibi-style Avengers art to paint! Blame it on my obsession with anime but chibi art makes my heart swoon. I mean, tiny Vision is just SO precious. Most importantly, you paint these using only water which means hours of easy, mess-free fun!
I’m gonna go way off topic for a second but bare with me. So, is it wrong that my favorite part of this isn’t even the paint or the paint sheets (which are great!), but the lovely assortment of stickers that comes with it? I know that’s not the topic for today but still they’re really lovely. And, hey, that means extra ways to jazz up the paint sheets! Hard to be mad about that.
How about we talk about something magical now. First, Watercolor Wonders comes with everything you need to begin your child’s journey with painting. That means, 7 colors of paint, a premium paintbrush, pages and pages of art. Second, and here’s the magical part, blank spaces on the pages, when painted over, reveal invisible ink art! Making for a fun and surprising good time.
As someone who grew up in the 2000’s and was pretty much obsessed with every facet of Lisa Frank’s existence (I’m talking folders, pencil cases, and stickers galore), seeing this took me straight back to my childhood. With this be careful, take your time, and use gentle brushstrokes; don’t be me! Too much water at once can make your painting a sloppy gray disaster.
I’ve been seeing these types of Funko Pops for a while. Mind you, they have actually a whole set of these beauties and a pretty decent range too. Also, not all of them are Disney characters, like good ol’ Simba here. There’s also the Sanrio icon herself Hello Kitty. Truly, I think what’s good about these is that they’re simple yet full of possibility. Which I’ll discuss again in a moment. So keep up, it’s just getting good!
As a Batman stan, every time the caped crusader comes into my life, in any shape or form, I get so happy. Much like the Funko above, how you decorate this is entirely up to you. Follow whatever vision you see fit because the pssibilities are limited only by your imagination. Or to be super cheesy about it: “Holy paint splatters, Batman, this makes a fun afternoon activity!”
You may have noticed that I have two Avengers items on this list. Don’t judge me, judge the MCU for making me love them so much! Besides, I love the fact this comes with not only detailed art but instructions on the various shading and color mixing techniques needed to help make your project look amazing. When you’re done, you and your kids can hang it up, and say, “Hey we did that!”
No list of painting ideas for beginners would be complete without the icon himself, one of the most soothing artists ever, the OG of ASMR, Bob Ross. Remember, it’s okay to make happy accidents and to always be gentle with your strokes. I know you might get a little excited wanting to see the picture come together, but it’s important to take your time. Enjoy the process, and if you make a mistake, it’s nothing freak out about. Have fun!
I’ve voiced this in the past, but I have such unbreakable love for the Disney princesses. And I’ll go live on that hill forever! Which is why when I saw this, I was taken aback. It’s stunning, and I’m absolutely drooling over the stained glass window look. Perfection! It works so well and makes for a nice calming paint-by-numbers concept. To be honest, I find it therapeutic.
I’ve been seeing this type of glass painting everywhere lately, especially among the anime community. So, it felt right to add it to the list. At this point, I feel like fate is telling me to just try it and see. I mean, I guess I could mess it up, but at least this kit comes with tips and tricks to make it easier to do right. Want a more in depth look at the process? Check out this YouTube tutorial.
It doesn’t need to be said that Studio Ghibli is and will forever remain an iconic animation studio. The movies they create live in my heart, and every time someone celebrates this in any shape or form, I feel such a sense of joy—whether that be official merch, fan merch, fan art, or, now, paint-by-numbers. Personally, this is on my pick-up list. Maybe, it’s Haku in his dragon form snuggling Totoro that does it for me.
Finally, on our list of Painting Ideas for Beginners, it’s time to show the original space daddy some love. Not only is this painting eye-catching, but believe it or not, it’s also paint-by-numbers! Further, it comes with all the paints and brushes you need to knock this painting out of our galaxy and into a galaxy far, far away. So, give into your feelings, reach out with the Force, and get this today!
Stimulate your developing infant’s senses with these baby toys for 6 to 12 months!
The 6 months to 12 months stage in infant growth is amazing! There’s a lot going on, including first steps and first words. As personalities develop, it’s fun to see their humor and interests blossom. Most toys for this age group encourage discovery, visualization, and learning. In addition, and probably most importantly, baby toys for 6 to 12 months can withstand chewing and lots of saliva due to the teething process that typically occurs during this exciting time. At this stage, they also learn how their hands work, along with cause and effect, making mental stimulation a must.
Electronics have shifted how we learn and play. Infants at this stage are fascinated by flashing lights, sounds, and bright colors. From learning the alphabet to just keeping busy, electronic baby toys for 6 to 12 months can help entertain or educate your little one during this crucial stage of growth.
This adorable robot grows with your child with its different stimulation and education levels. The robot is actually made of three separate robots, each with their own function, and can be stacked together or broken apart. Not only does it boost learning the alphabet, shapes, and numbers, but it’s also motorized, so it moves around, encouraging your new crawler to chase after it for stimulating physical play.
This turtle is so much more than meets the eye (no it’s not a Transformer, sorry to disappoint). First, this turtle supports bilingual learning, with English and Spanish. Second, this toy moves around to encourage crawling as well. In addition, turning and tapping are primary skills that are used to fine-tune motor functions. Lastly, the turtle shell lights up with shapes, alphabets, and numbers to encourage learning throughout the toddler phase as well.
Tablets are becoming a huge must-have nowadays. Instead of risking it with your own tablet, babies can now have their very own educational tablet. In addition to featuring letter learning, shapes, numbers, words, and songs, it also has pretend apps. Little ones can check e-mails and look up the weather, so that they can “work” alongside mom and dad.
Have you ever seen or been the parent that gives their kid an unconnected controller to make them think they’re also playing? Well, now you can channel your infant’s inner geek with this mock gaming controller. Certainly, the controller encourages learning, but the most impressive part to me is how accurate the controller is, with its D-pad, joystick, face buttons, and even a right trigger button!
Like a regular smartphone, this baby toy has several apps that provide learning and social stimulation. Further, the 12 different apps engage your child as they learn the basics, such as numbers, alphabets, and words. Children can also pretend to call home, helping with safe imaginative play. They can also sing along with numerous melodies or listen to instrumental songs (kind of like what adults hear when they’re put on hold). Finally, this phone comes in blue, orange, or pink. Choose wisely!
If you decide to opt-out of the more modern controller or smartphone, you have the option to go retro with this mock Game Boy toy. I’m not talking about a Game Boy Advance either. This duplicates the original Game Boy that even our parents had the pleasure of playing, but with a full color image rather than four shades of green pixels. With cute aspects such as a pretend cartridge and a Tetris-like slider on the side, you can bet your last 1-Up that your little geek will be entertained!
This easy to hold elephant piano is great for those looking for extra-musical modes while also building fine motor skills with the piano keys. In addition, this features different modes that include nursery rhymes and animal noises. Further, each key has a different note and also a different color to help young ones with auditory and color recognition.
This toy is the gold standard in helping your child master crawling. The ball wiggles and rolls around while playing 45 different melodies, sounds, and phrases. Children can press, spin, slide, and twist the animal buttons to learn about different animals and help develop their fine motor skills. Lastly, it comes in two different multicolor options: red and yellow or pink and purple.
Prep your little nerds with the ultimate school-training toy. First, this notebook comes complete with a baby calculator and ruler. Next, it’s teaches the alphabet, shapes, numbers, colors, the weather, and even has a built-in Spanish mode. Lastly, the little gadgets strengthen your child’s fine motor skills. With tons of stuff going on, your baby will have a blast while learning!
Non-Electronic Baby Toys
Although lights, noises, and movement can fascinate babies, there are times when kids need to play quietly, or with toys that don’t require batteries. The best thing about this stage in infancy is that children are constantly learning and will play with anything that they can get their hands on. So, why not turn that curiosity into learning?
Not only do you get blocks and balls, but you also get toy animals and stacking cups. All parts are made with BPA-free, food grade material, so, they can be used for teething and bath toys. The ten multicolored blocks are made with learning in mind, as they have different numbers, animals and patterns on each side. The stacking cups are also great for motor skill development.
What’s better than a toy that entertain babies at home? Toys that can entertain on the go as well. This Baby Einstein clip-on zebra can go wherever a stroller or car seat goes. In addition, the developmental parts of the zebra include a mirror, a see-thru rattle, and various textures and crinkle sounds to stimulate your baby’s senses.
These adorable baby books talk about the tails of various animals. Choose from three options: jungle, farm, or rainforest. Further, these crinkle books are easy to clean (important because we all know how books can get around babies). In addition, there’s also a velcro strap for strollers or car seats for when you want to bring the tail stories with you.
With the emergence of fidget spinners, we introduce to you the ultimate baby spinner. These cute toys have a suction cup to stick on any window. Babies use their hands to spin the toy around, developing motor skills, and getting sensory stimulation. Further, they come in a three pack with a carrot, a bee, and the Sun.
You really can’t go wrong with this sensory block. Each side of the cube is a different texture fabric, including an ultra soft minky side and a crinkle material side. A wooden teething ring and ribbons and tags of various textures provide even more sensory fun!
Active Play Baby Toys for 6 to 12 Months
This stage in life is all about groundwork and transitioning to upright. From tummy-time, sitting, crawling, and first steps, you are sure to be able to find a play mat on here that will grab your baby’s attention during this important time of development.
First, this play mat is a whopping 44 inches x 58 inches! Second, its material makes it easy to fold and moved to whatever room in the house you need. Also, it’s non-slip, for safe play with babies and parents no matter what kind of floors you have. In addition, the mat features all sorts of colorful and fun designs, including animals, letters, and fruits. This means you can use the mat for teaching even into the toddler stage.
And, unlike other playpens, this one isn’t made with mesh, gauze, or wires. That means, the sides are studier and don’t collapse easily. Further, it measures 47” in diameter and boasts holding 1000 balls, if it is used for a ball pit (here’s a bag of 400 to get you started). Lastly, it’s easily foldable and comes with a carrying bag for convenience.
This super adorable activity mat is giving me Candy Crush vibes. The donut shaped mat along with a popsicle pillow for the head rest is just too sweet (pun fully intended). Plus, the developmental toys (an ice cream cone, pretzel, lollipop, cupcake, and a unicorn with a teether attached) are all delightful. However, if this sweet, sugary look isn’t your thing, you also have the option of getting it in an equally adorable safari theme.
This mat features a piano keyboard for little ones just learning to crawl or walk. It includes tunes, animal sounds, and numbers. Most important, there’s an automatic shutoff for battery conservation and a volume control for the days that you really don’t need to be blasting baby Beethoven throughout the house. Finally, it’s easy to fold and carry around, so you can bring it anywhere.
Brightly colored and soft, this is a wonderful way to develop your child’s motor skills. Great for crawlers and early walkers to practice on without fear of bumps and bruises (adult supervision is required of course). Plus, your child can play with this all through their toddler years too. In addition, it features vegan leather and is Greenguard Gold Certified.