Crackerjack Christmas Catalogue 2013

Here is this year's Christmas Catalogue. Bigger and better than ever.

If you don't know us, we are a family-run toyshop based at 208/216 Riding Road Balmoral, past Hawthorne Oval. We offer free gift-wrap and free assembly on selected items and offer the sort of service you wont get in the chains but at everyday prices.

Keep your eyes open on facebook and on this blog for news of Christmas Shopping evenings and our new website where you'll be able to order on line.

View it below or click on the link for the full-sized version.

Crackerjack Christmas Catalogue 2013

Snap Sale this Saturday 12 October

Hi everyone,

I Thought we'd have a snap one-day sale in-store this Saturday to clear some floor space for all the wonderful Christmas stock coming in. This is an excellent opportunity to get some quality toys at really good prices.

As you'll know from previous sales, the bargains go quickly so get in early to secure your items!
If you don't know us already, we are at 208/216 Riding Road Balmoral, just past the Hawthorne Oval.


Boikido Drum Trio
Beautiful wooden bongos from a quality French brand
Was $49.99 now $37.99
http://www.boikido.com/eng/Ours-toys/Musical-toys/Bongo-Drum-Trio

Wonderworld Wooden Vacuum
Cute little play hoover. Picks up all sorts of things.
Was $59.95 now $45.00

Nancy Hair-Style Doll

Experiment making different hairstyles with this dolls head - 8+

Was $79.95 now $60

Santoys Wooden Clothes Line and Pegs

Believe it or not, kids love pretending to do laundry.

Was $50 now $35

Darda Sky Racer set with Car & Darda Extension Kit

The world's fastest race cars.

Racer set was $54.99 now $35

Extension kit was $39.99 now $24.99

Mini Mercedes Bobby Cars

Were $9.99 now $5

Janod Kitchen

A beautiful wooden kitchen from this premium French brand.

Ex floor stock was $179.95 now $120

Plus selected books, outdoor toys and more...

See you Saturday

Parents Evening

Hi everyone,

Following the success of our 'Temper Taming' workshops, we are continuing hosting evenings on topics of interest to local parents.

The next workshop will be on building resilience in children and is led by Eliza from 'Child's Play Qld' Places are limited to 20 - 'first in best dressed'.

If there are speciifc areas you would like her to address, please let us know as Eliza is happy to accommodate.

Details below:

Children's Psychology Evening

Building Resilience and Managing Anxiety in children 2-12 

led by Eliza Vassalo, Psychologist*

When: Thursday October 24th

Where: Crackerjack Toys

Cost: $10 pre-paid (includes wine and nibbles)

How: Book by phone 3399 4444 (shop hours) with a credit card or come into the shop

* Eliza Vassallo is registered with the Psychology Board of Australia as a Psychologist. She is also a member of the Australian Psychological Society and a member of the Australian Centre for Grief and Bereavement. She has worked as a School Psychologist, supporting both the educational and developmental needs of children, both through their primary and secondary years.  She has also worked in an agency closely supporting children through family breakups and divorce and separation. Eliza has two young children.
Child’s Play Qld is a not for profit children’s psychology practice, located in Morningside, Brisbane. Child’s Play provides professional psychological services to children and young people experiencing a range of psychological issues.

Holiday Workshops

After the success of our workshops last time around, we are running more these school holidays.

This time round we are focusing on craft activities - making superhero costumes, bracelets, designing bags and Christmas decorations.

If you'd like to bring your child along, please call us on 3399 4444 with your credit card details and we'll reserve a spot for you. If you called us last school holidays, you'll know the spots are booked up fast!! Cost is $10 per child. For the competition day on Friday 4th, just call to reserve a spot and pay a gold coin on the day.

Any queries, give us a call, email us at crackerjacktoys@bigpond.com, post on our facebook wall, leave a comment below or pop in the shop.

Happy Holidays! Nic

Crackerjack's Holiday Program by Alex Callegari

New arrivals

Over the next couple of months we'll be getting in lots of new goodies for Christmas but as it's been a while since I last posted, here is a selection of new arrivals. If you've got any of these and would like to leave your thoughts/a review, feel free to use the comments section below.

Microscooters:
These are great little things. Fast, fun,  excellent quality, light, and safe. $129.99

Microscooter seat accessory
With a little seat attachment, toddlers as young as 12 months can start scooting. $39.99

Take a look at this charming video showing you how the seat works:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t6n-F53COkM


Duplo
Kids love Duplo and we've now got a Little Mermaid themed set. Ariel's undersea castle has a seaweed swing, a water slide, a treasure chest and Ariel and Flounder. $44.99

Click-Clack Toys
These Australian-owned and designed wooden toys sourced from sustainable forests are unique, fun and affordable. Starting from $12.99 there are police cars, ambulances, fire trucks, bulldozers, ambulance and fire stations.

++ Plus Plus

This is a great new construction concept from Denmark, home of Lego. Designed to stimulate imagination and creativity in boys and girls between the ages of 3 and 12. They are little 'plus' shaped rubber tiles that when fitted together can make nearly anything.  A 300 pack is $21.99.

Here is Bella with a penguin she made.

Moshi Headphones

For older children, we've started to stock volume limiting Moshi Headphones at $26.99

Janod

We love this French brand. They make very high quality traditional wooden toys strating at $29.99. We've got some new Janod products in for babies including this rocket:

Nanoblocks

We've got new ranges of the ever popular Nanoblocks starting at $12.99 including Hercules Beetle, Great White Shark, Praying Mantis, Lion, Pyramid/Sphinx and the Sydney Opera House.

Dive & Rise Sharks

These are really fun for the pool. Throw them in the water and they swim through the water like a shark before surfacing $7.99. They come in orange, yellow and blue.

Here's Jack with his (out of the water unfortunately)

Mogo Charm Bracelets.

A great gift for a 'tween' girl. These award-winning charms just click on and off. $14.99

Gruffalo Snakes and Ladders

The classic game re-visited with a Gruffalo theme. What 3 or 4 year old could resist?

Metal Earth

These amazingly detailed models start out as square metal sheets and end up as beautiful 3D models. Their website has 360 degree views of the models.

http://www.fascinations.com/metalearth

They start at $15.99 and we have a number of models including the Titanic, Eifel Tower, the Black Pearl (Pirate ship) and the p-51 Mustang (fighter plane)

Holiday Activity Program

Seeing as how well our Lego workshops went last holidays, we've decided to put on some more activities for the coming holidays.

As well as Lego, we've got a fantastic Tronico workshop for the mechanically minded, a Whipple workshop for any budding Cake Bosses out there and a Fluoro Art class for the creative. We are really pleased that local kids entertainer Nicky Noo will be with us on Thursday 26th and that  the Cupcake Parlour will be providing some yummy cupcakes also on the 26th.

See below for details, dates, timeslots for both weeks.

Please email us at crackerjack.info@gmail.com to book or call us on 3399 4444. Spaces are limited so book early to avoid disappointment. Cost is a gold coin or, for the Tronico workshop, $5 note (no eftpos or credit).

Crackerjack School Holiday Program 

End of Financial Year Sale

Hi Everyone,

We're having an end of year sale to make space for new lines and it's starting this Saturday (15 June) at 9.00am.

It's  our best sale ever so get in early and stockpile some great gifts for birthdays and Christmas.

Here is a small selection of some of the great deals on offer:

Kiddimoto balance bikes:

Curve bikes – red dot and red tyre was $110 now $85

Mod target bike was $199 now $140

Barry Sheene motorbike was $199 now $140

Micador Easy Carry Art Studio was $34.99 now $22

Micador Jumbo rush pencils 10 pack waS $7.99 now $4

Micador Clean Hand crayons 18 pack was 9.99 now $5

Jumbo chalk was $3.99 now $2

7 different varities of Wow toys, including:

Wow Fireball Frankie was $22.99 now 12.99

Wow Rosies Royal ride was $22.99 now 12.99

We’ll have lots of other things on sale such as  dress-ups, board games, 

activity books, books, cars and Klutz sets as well as perfect gift ideas.

And keep your eyes open for details of our school holidays activities program...

Nic

Science Kits

Science kits are  both educational and fun.  Introduce your child to the basics of chemistry, physics, gears, electronics, vulcanology, paleontology and DNA. We've got some really good ones in recently from the Museum of Victoria and the CSIRO.

CSIRO Forensics Double Helix Science Kit ($29.99) - Age 10+

Become a forensics science specialist as you dust for fingerprints, analyse handwriting, examine hair and fibre evidence, trace secret documents using chromatography, make plaster casts of shoes, determine the chemical within some white powder and apply DNA profiling to solve a mystery!

17 science experiments in total.
Choking hazard: Not suitable for children 3 years and under.


Museum of Victoria Make Your Own Volcano ($19.99) - Age 8+

With this easy, safe and fun kit you can recreate the spectacular sight of an eruption of a mini-Vesuvius in your own home or classroom. 
Discover fascinating facts about volcanoes and learn more about them in four exciting volcano-related activities:

• Make a simple lava lamp
• Sticky runny stuff — viscosity, magma composition and lava flow
• Honeycomb — produce your own edible version of gas filled volcanic rock
• Food fun — replicate a bubbling mud pool

Great for school projects or fun anytime.

CSIRO Slime ($29.99) Age 10+

This is a kit with a difference - it's gooey, slimy and slippery - a specialist branch of science called polymers!

In this Double Helix science kit, you'll discover the properties of those strange fluids that don't obey the usual scientific rules!

Learn about silly putty that stretches, snaps, bounces and shatters. Extract plastic from milk, sizzle the flesh of a slime monster, and create your own slime gel!

The kit includes an easy-to-read instruction book, along with most of the equipment needed to perform the experiments at home.

Museum of Victoria Dinosaur Discovery ($24.99) Age 6+

Explore the prehistoric world of dinosaurs with this excavation kit. Find out about Australia’s own dinosaurs, where they lived, what they ate and how they nurtured their young. Also included is a life size replica of a Tyrannosaurus rex tooth which vividly shows the scale of the dinosaurs. The T-Rex skeleton is assembled from 13 pieces to make a model 34 cm in length. Great for school projects and budding paleontologists!


Jurassic Eggs ($16.99) Age 6+

Geo World is bringing the Jurassic world back to life with their fun and exciting range of dinosaur products.Kids will feel like real life paleontologist’s discovering, cleaning and assembling the 14-piece bone replicas! These semi transparent dinosaur eggs contain a skeleton that needs to be assembled creating hours of fun and entertainment. Each egg comes with an informational leaflet outlining fun facts on the replica. There are 12 of the most famous and interesting dinosaurs to collect!


Liquifly Water Powered Rocket ($29.99) - Age 8+

This seriously fun experiment uses air and water to power the bottle rocket more than 30 metres into the atmosphere. Within two minutes the Liquifly rocket is ready to launch - all children need is a windless day, an adult, a 1.25L soft drink bottle, a bike pump, 1-3 litres of water and a fun-loving and inquisitive attitude. Liquifly works on the same principles as other rockets, sourcing its energy from water and air to create a thrust to send it sky-high. Pack includes: fins, low launch valve, high launch valve, 6m of launch hose, release fittings and an instruction booklet.



Jitterbug Electronic Kit (14.95) - Age 8+

This robotic ladybug-will shiver and scamper her way across the room. She’s easy to assemble, requiring only the included screwdriver. A gentle introduction to the amazing world of robotics, kids of all ages will be fascinated by the jittering, skittering movement.


Construct-a-Clock ($24.99) - Age 6+

This easy-to-build clock whips up in a jiffy, and will fascinate young minds with its turning cogs and swinging pendulum. The clock is spring-driven, so requires no batteries, promotes cognitive development and is the perfect way to teach children basic mechanical principles, and how to tell the time.

Horrible Science - Shocking Rocket ($19.99) - Age 5+

Make your own water fueled rocket using the Horrible Science Shocking Rocket Kit. Simply prepare for lift off by attaching the nose cone, fins and stickers to the plastic bottle body. Fill your rocket with water, attach a bike pump and expect to get wet as you rocket blasts into the sky! The child friendly experiment leaflet explores how rockets work and includes crazy space shuttle related facts. In the box you'll find: 1 x plastic rocket, 1 x nose cone, fins, 1 x rubber stopper, 1 x valve attachment, stickers, sticky tape and an activity leaflet. The Shocking Rocket Kit does require a bike pump and bike valve adapter (not included)

Parenting Evening

Hi everyone,

Having had many conversations in the shop with fellow parents, it seems likely that many of us are experiencing similar challenges with our children, whether it be emotional or behavioural.

So we thought it might be helpful for us to join with our local psychology practices to offer some evening talks that will give us some strategies for managing some of the most common issues we all face.

Over the next six months. we'll be holding parent evenings targeted at specific topics where we can all come together over a glass of wine and nibbles and listen to our local practitioners, with a question and answer session after.

Details of the first of these, is below with more to follow every six weeks. Please let us know if you have any ideas or feedback.

Temper Taming Evening

How to manage difficult behaviour in children 2-12

led by James Brown, Clinical & Counselling Psychologist*

How to discipline without arguing, shouting or smacking

How to sort behaviour

How to handle challenging and testing behaviour

Choosing your strategy: the three choices

When: Thursday May 2nd

Where: Crackerjack Toys

Cost: $10 pre-paid (includes wine and nibbles)

How: Book by phone 3399 44 with a credit card or come into the shop

* James, from 'Bulimba Psychology' is a father or four and a full member of the Australian Psychological Society and has undertaken research into the use of humour  in the home and the importance of relationship closeness between fathers and their children.

Read more about James:

http://www.bulimbapsychology.com.au/about-us/james-brown/

UPDATE (1 May 2013) - We've had such a phenominal response to this (all spots went in a matter of a couple of hours) that we scheduled another session which also booked out. We promise to do more. Keep your eyes on our facebook page where we'll announce the next session first and if it doesn't get booked out within 24 hours, we'll send an email out to everyone on our mailing list. If you'd like to join the mailing list, send us a message on facebook or email us at crackerjack.info@gmail.com

Nic

20 Under $20 - Boys

Impossible to find a great gift under $20? We say' no way!' Here are 20 great present combo's for boys.

Happy Shopping!

1. Usborne sticker dressing pirates $14.95 add pirate eye patch/earring set  (age 3+) $2.50 = $17.45

2.       Bobbleart tin dinosaur  money box $8.95, dinosaur coin purse $8.98 = $17.95 (all ages)

3.       Space links construction (age 3+) $19.95

4. Traffic Noughts and crosses game (age 3+) $19.95

5.       Woodies Tony the T-rex flexi dino (age 3+) – Stegasaurus and robots also available  $14.95 (special offer, was $24.95)

6.       Large foam rocket launcher (age 4+). A constant favourite. $14.95

7.       Neon go-go horn (age 4 - 99!) Top seller - once you buy one, you'll buy 5. Put it onto the handlebars of a bike or scooter and it makes a revving brmm brmm sound! $16.95

8.   Melissa & Doug decorate/build a racing car(age 4+)  $9.95

9. Foxtail Softie (age 4+) $19.95 . Large soft ball with a tail for easier throwing and catching.

10.   Djeco Knights stencils(age 5+)  $11.95, add pirate pencil pack $3.95 = $15.90

11.   Mighty rescue book and model kit  (age 5+) $19.95

12.   Two-way bug viewer (boxed) (age 6 +) $16.95

13.   Hand held microscope $11.95, add UV dino laces $5.95 = $17.90

14.   Klutz book of Jacks (age 6+) $16.95

15.   T-rex wooden 3-d building kit (age 6+) $7.95 add Dino Top Trumps card game $12.95 (or Dino 4D puzzle $4.95 or glow in the dark large dino sticker $5.95, an endless list of dino stuff!)

16.   Slimy slugs/Shocking Rocket science kits (age 6+). Slimy slugs makes gloop, shocking rocket a model rocket that propels off the ground with household chemicals - all included $19.95

17.   Djeco paper planes $13.95(age 7+), add a handball $5.95 = $19.90

18.   Nano blocks drum set $14.95(age 8+) , add cap bomb $2.50 = $17.45

19. Zingshot (age 8+). A slingshot with a soft ball - very safe as nothing else fits into the sling. $17.95

20. Sitting Ducks card game - great quick card game - brings out your competitive streak! Age 10 + $19.95

Not forgetting Lego Lego Lego! From $12.95