Modern Modular Eco-Friendly Indoor and Outdoor Playhouses for Kids.

Play Modern designs indoor and outdoor easy-to-assemble modular playhouses for children. Made of FSC Certified wood, the outdoor models are made from high quality, weather-resistant, marine-grade plywood and the indoor models are made of Baltic Birch plywood.









The finishes are non toxic and the products comply with the California Air Resources Board (CARB) standards, which are among the most stringent in the country for indoor air quality.








Even the railings are made from aluminum that is 100% recyclable and has a high recycled content.



above: Custom House letters, aluminum hanging boxes and magnetic chalkboards are available as accessories.


above: the Cuba in Baltic Birch requires no hardware to assemble


• Modern, modular playhouses with limitless possibilities
• Environmentally friendly materials
• Made in USA
• Outdoor and indoor modules available
• One or two story
• Quick, easy assembly with minimal tools
• Expandable to grow with your child
• Ships flat; Stores compact


Learn more and/or purchase here.

Hot Wheels On Steroids - Slot Mods Luxury Custom and Replica Slot Car Raceways.

With humble apologies to Mattel's Hot Wheels, once you've seen these luxury slot car raceways, it's hard not to move them to the top of any slot-car hobbiest's wish list.







Slot Mods creates museum quality hand-crafted custom and replica raceway slot car tracks (of some of the world's most famous raceways) for serious slot car racing enthusiasts. Whether you're a NASCAR, Formula One or Vintage Car racing fan, these miniature scaled functioning raceways will blow you away.






From the pole position to the pit-stop, incredible detailing and beautiful craftsmanship make these perfect for commercial applications, showrooms or simply the ultimate man cave. Founded by David Beattie, the creations start at $15,000 and can go as high as $75,000.







A video of one of their custom slot car raceways in action:


Born from their passion of vintage racing, Slot Mods is now offering limited-edition replicas of cars from one of the greatest eras of racing inside which is a slot car raceway.



Their first offering: the RCR 917 that Vic Elford and Gerald Larrousse drove to victory at the 1971 12 Hours of Sebring. With just a push of a button, the body opens to reveal the ultimate slot car racing experience!



The RCR 917 is a faithful reproduction with fiberglass body panels true to its original shape. Specifications: rolling aluminum 3-piece original-style center lock wheels, race-worn tires, working headlights and taillights, and inside…a beautiful 1/32 scale wooden slot car raceway, featuring handcrafted, period-correct signs, banners, aluminum Armco railing, trees and structures.

But they couldn’t stop there. Also available to test your endurance, they’re offering the RCR GT40, RCR P4, and RCR T70. Choose period livery, or your own design.

"This is slot racing at it’s best!…combining the fun of slot car racing with the great tracks and history of the sport." Derek Hill – Race Drive & son of legendary Phil Hill

“Bodies provided by Race Car Replicas. Slot Mods has no affiliation with Ford Motor Co, Porsche, Ferrari, and Lola Cars.“

See their impressive portfolio and learn more at Slot Mods

LEGO Minifigs Stow Away on NASA's Juno Spacecraft Mission To Jupiter.

Okay, so they weren't really stowaways, but certainly not your expected passengers. The special cargo - three 1.5" tall aluminum LEGO® Minifigs- left earth on NASA's Juno deep-space probe on August 5th for a five-year mission to Jupiter as part of NASA and LEGO's Bricks In Space program, a joint partnership to inspire children and broaden awareness of the importance of planetary research.







above: the Lego Minifigures affixed to the Juno probe before take-off.





In Greek and Roman mythology, Jupiter drew a veil of clouds around himself to hide his mischief. From Mount Olympus, Juno was able to peer through the clouds and reveal Jupiter's true nature. Juno holds a magnifying glass to signify her search for the truth, while her husband holds a lightning bolt:







The third LEGO crew member is Galileo Galilei, who made several important discoveries about Jupiter, including the four largest satellites of Jupiter (named the Galilean moons in his honor). Of course, the miniature Galileo has his telescope with him on the journey:







The LEGO Minifigures will help get attention for Juno’s mission to improve understanding of our solar system’s beginnings by revealing the origin and evolution of Jupiter.





above: click to enlarge and get a better look at the Juno Spacecraft



The inclusion of the three mini-statues, or figurines, is part of a joint outreach and educational program developed as part of the partnership between NASA and the LEGO Group to inspire children to explore science, technology, engineering and mathematics.







Video of the August 5th launch (on which the minifigs were affixed to the space probe):





The spacecraft is expected to arrive at Jupiter in 2016. The mission will investigate the gas giant's origins, structure, atmosphere and magnetosphere. Juno's color camera will provide close-up images of Jupiter, including the first detailed glimpse of the planet's poles.



More information about Juno is available at: http://www.nasa.gov/juno and http://missionjuno.swri.edu. You can follow the mission on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/nasajuno.



images courtesy of LegoSpace, NASA and Wired

Ride-On Torpedo Toy For Kids In 9 Cool Designs by Jerry Koza.

Jerry Koza is a designer whose speakers for Symbio I shared with you many moons ago. His name is back in the blogosphere lately with his sleek ride-on toy for kids.




Despite being designed in 2005, Jerry Koza's Torpedo has been getting a lot of attention lately, largely because of Gessato's nice post on the toys on their Gblog.

The Czech designer created laminate shell children's toys in a sleek shape with glossy colors, images and numbers.








Be aware that the images are a little misleading. The toys are very small (26 x 70 x 36 cm) as seen below:

and are available for purchase here

images and info from Prague Art & Design