Play Boxes for Kids

Play Bill's New Best Friend

2010-02-25T19:51:32-08:00

Silly Winter Jokes for Kids

2009-12-17T10:17:11-08:00

From our Kids' Page.

Q: What kind of bird can write?
A:  A Pen-guin.

Q: What does a cat on the beach have in common with Christmas?
A:   Sandy Claws.

Q: What do you get when you cross a snowman with a vampire?
A:   Frostbite.

Q: What do you get if you deep fry Santa?
A:   Crips Cringle.

Q: Why was Santa's little helper sad?
A:   He had low elf-esteem.

Q:  What did the ghost say to Santa Claus?
A:   I'll have a boo Christmas without you.

Q: What did the Ginberbread Man put on his bed?
A:   Cookie sheets.

Q:  What did the bald man say when he got a comb for Christmas?
A:   "Thanks. I'll never part with it."

There's always room for knock-knock jokes.

2009-11-27T18:10:03-08:00

If your kids like our lunchbox kits, they will love these silly knock-knock jokes:

Knock, knock.
Who's there?
Little Old Lady.
Little Old Lady, who?
I didn't know you could yodel!

Knock, knock.
Who's there?
C-2.
C-2, who?
C-2 it that you don't forget my name again.

Knock, knock.
Who's there?
Arthur.
Arthur, who?
Arthur any treats for me?

Knock, knock.
who's there?
Hatch.
Hatch, who?
Bless you!

Knock, knock.
Who's there?
Ash.
Ash, who?
That's your second sneeze. Do you have a cold?

Kids' Thanksgiving Jokes

2009-11-24T16:35:16-08:00

Fall Funnies

Q: What do you call a man who hides in a pile of leaves?
A: Russell.

Q: Why was the turkey in the band?
A: Because he had the drumsticks.

Q: Why can't turkeys go to school?
A: Because they use fowl language.

Q: What type of music did pilgrims like?
A: Plymouth rock.

Q: Which side of the turkey has the most feathers?
A: The outside.

Q: What kind of key has legs and opens no doors?
A: A turkey.

Thanks for coming to our booth

2009-11-21T20:43:10-08:00

Thanks to all who came out to the WHC Boutique, at the Bindeman Center. We hope that your children enjoy their lunchbox kits. Visit us at http://lunchboxesforkids.com Happy, peaceful Thanksgiving.

Happy Halloween

2009-10-29T14:57:49-07:00

Just taking a quick break from preparing boxes for the WHC Holiday Boutique, to wish everyone a happy Halloween, adults and kids alike. Have fun, be safe and let your imagination run wild!

Video of Poetic Puppets

2009-10-14T05:55:38-07:00

Think outside the lunchbox for kids and enjoy some video of our sample puppets reciting their respective poems. Click here to watch all five.

Little Jester Photos

2009-10-11T21:53:14-07:00

Here are some photos of a very special and adorable little jester, modeling some of the items in his Box Office children's lunchbox kit. Thanks, LFB!

Lunchboxes for Kids Will Have You in Stitches

2009-09-28T11:57:46-07:00

Can children's lunchbox kits cure illness? No, but they are imbued with the high vibrational properties of joy, music, and creativity. Let's face it, being sick stinks, especially when you are a kid. Flu, ear infections and chicken pox feel lousy. Furthermore, chronic diseases test our physical, mental and spiritual fortitude. Having experienced chronic illness as an adult, I emerge from it grateful for certain aspects of the process. One of these is the timing; I was not a sick child. Of course, no child "should" ever experience disease. Unfortunately, however, they do. I continue to try to understand its impact upon my life, but for a child, it is just plain unfair.

Not surprisingly, my personal situation inspired Contagious Laughter TM children's lunchbox kits. While studies have revealed the hormonal/chemical benefits of laughing and smiling, both also simply reconnect us with that part of ourselves that "gets it," on an unconscious level. Therefore, it's my hope that sick children can enjoy that reconnection by making music with the Music Box, creating something with Artie's Crafts, giggling with the Barrel of Laughs, visiting other worlds with the Space Capsule, or escaping into a fantasy, with the Box Office. We all need balance in our lives, and chronic illness robs us of that. Why not restore some balance and control to a brave child, in the form of fun?

Get Kids Lunchbox Kits at Holiday Boutique, November

2009-09-26T17:20:19-07:00

Contagious LaughterTM will have a booth at the Washington Hebrew Congregation Sisterhood Holiday Boutique, November 15, 16, and 17th. The boutique will be held at the Julia Bindeman Suburban Center, 11810 Falls Road, Potomac, MD 20854. Stock up on your children's lunchbox kits!

Hours:

Sun Nov. 15th 9am-6pm
Mon Nov. 16 9am-7pm
Tue Nov. 17 9am-6pm

If you live/work in the Washington DC area, stop by and see us!

Astronaut Puppet for Kids' Lunchboxes

2009-09-16T13:42:42-07:00

Our Cosmo 12" hand puppet is here! Great companion piece with the Space Capsule children's lunchbox kit. He traveled a long way to get back home. Let us know if you would be interested in purchasing one.

Kids' Page

2009-09-15T13:35:10-07:00

Check out our new Kids' Page!. Get them ready for Halloween, with some creepy comedy.

New Bookmark Designs for Children's Lunchbox Kits

2009-09-03T11:58:09-07:00

We have updated some of the bookmarks for our children's lunchbox kits!

Lunchbox Kits for the New Older Sibling

2009-09-02T19:00:39-07:00

When a family welcomes a newborn, and wants the older child to continue to feel loved and special, we often get the older sibling a gift. Why not make it a gift with which the child can entertain himself, like a Contagious LaughterTM children's lunchbox kit? Since parents will be busier than ever, the lunchbox kit encourages the child to engage in activities that that invite more independent, even interdependent play (kids like to share the boxes with friends).

Furthermore, reinforcing the very important role of "older sibling" is fun, with our unique lunchbox kits. Depending on the box you choose, the new older sibling can play his own musical instruments (perhaps to the baby, if gently), or make a craft item or welcome home sign. She can even entertain the baby with an alien or fairy tale finger puppet show. However, she can also take some time on her own (supervised), to enjoy her new and special status, as the sibling who deserves her own lunchbox kit, to enjoy whenever she likes.

Stickers in Children's Lunchbox Kits

2009-08-26T19:53:08-07:00

These are the stickers in the lunchbox kits. The Barrel of Laughs, Box Office, Music Box and Artie's Crafts contain the Contagious Characters stickers.

The Space Capsule contains the Cosmo's Friends stickers.

We hope you enjoy them all!

More Puppets to Complement Lunchbox Kits

2009-08-25T14:51:02-07:00

Here are some more photos of our sample puppets. Give us your feedback; let us know if you would be interested in purchasing them. Thanks!

Puppet Regime Reminiscence

2009-08-20T01:14:01-07:00

Funny Bones sample puppet

In the movie Mr. Jealously, while on a first date with Annabella Sciora, Eric Stolz impresses her with his muppet walk. What girl's heart wouldn't melt? In the same vein, while developing our Contagious LaughterTM puppets, as complements to the children's lunchbox kits, I waxed nostalgic about the puppets in my own past.

Initially, at age five or six, I recall a tall puppet stage of cardboard, with red and white stripes. The stage, back curtain and felt puppets were great. However, I was most fascinated by the "admit one" tickets (included in the Box Office lunchbox kit), likely because they lent legitimacy to my productions. After all, puppeteer family member or not, no ticket meant no dice. Presenting a show in one's nightgown, post evening bath, required preparation.

In addition, I recall some muppet-like puppets that may have been Jim Henson creations. They had blank purple, green and yellow faces, upon which you could place whichever features you liked. What was most fascinating about these puppets? The velcro strips, used to affix the features, of course. Apparently, I assumed that the strips would double well as Band Aids. Consequently, my version of Ernie appeared to have been just one mundane job and crispy condo away from not talking about Fight Club.

Either way, we love puppets. Even as adults, mature-themed songs and dialogue make us laugh and bring us back at the same time. Therefore, we look forward to making puppets of our "Contagious Characters" available to your kids, soon. After all, we encourage children to think outside the lunchbox.

Play Bill sample puppet

Encouraging Strong sense of Self, with a Lunchbox

2009-08-11T20:27:11-07:00

As you may have read, I have blogged about the simple pleasure that Contagious LaughterTM children's lunchbox kits provide. However, I also had therapeutic benefits in mind, when developing these unique gifts. While not a registered drama therapist, I studied drama therapy and psychodrama, in social work school. I researched their use with the Borderline Personality population, who tend to experience an unstable sense of self. It was fascinating to read about how puppetry, mask work, role play, psychodrama and theatre games shed light on these patients' painfully confusing ideas about who they were.

With that work in mind, and because we want our children growing up with the healthiest sense of self possible, why not give the gift of self-discovery? No, our lunchbox kits for kids will not solve their problems or guarantee a strong, confident sense of self, but I do hope that they can prove useful tools in the growing up process. They simply provide a lighthearted means of self-expression, which every child needs. With the Box Office lunchbox kit, for example, finger puppets allow for that expression with some distance. A shy child can choose to inhabit a king, queen or wizard. With the advent of that bespectacled Brit and his thunderbolt scar, we all recognize the allure of the child-wizard. Similarly, a foam clown nose or jester hat could serve the same purpose as a mask, "protecting" the wearer, as she experiences different personas. Or more commonly, it will just make others laugh, a skill that is empowering beyond measure. Go put one on; you'll see.

Children's Lunchbox Kits, Not Just for Kids

2009-07-30T13:14:40-07:00

Who can forget the old, animated cereal commercial, with the children, admonishing the Trix-addicted rabbit that the stuff was "for kids," which he clearly was not? Alas, the rabbit was deemed "silly," and deprived of the yummy stuff.

Of course, we always rooted for the rabbit, hoping that one commercial would have a different ending. At Contagious LaughterTM with our lunchbox kits, we are all about spreading joy to kids or kids at-heart. Plus, as adults, we need to access that part of us now, more than ever. Furthermore, it is said that joy has the highest vibrational energy of any emotion. While we know that laughter has healing powers, we also just love to do it. And why should kids have all the fun with these lighthearted lunchboxes? As grown-ups, we have been there and done that, so we have the capacity to recognize the nuances of humor, that a child cannot.

In addition, when adults face illness or difficult times, we tend to spiral down into our own story, in a way that children have not yet learned to do. So why not send a Barrel of Laughs, Artie's Crafts, Space Capsule or any other box to an adult today? One adult Barrel of Laughs recipient reported that while in hospital, recovering from a stroke, the lunchbox kit brightened his day. It sounds simple, because it is.

When someone endures something like that, we tend to feel powerless to make things better for them, yet we are not. The gift of laughter is not only physically and emotionally therapeutic, but it provides a nice change of pace from flowers, beautiful and fragrant as they are. While illness and suffering are not funny, the capacity for joy is arguably our most powerful weapon against them. So it would seem that the silly rabbit, who made those children laugh, was really doing them a service. Okay, it's just a commercial.

In such complicated and changing times, some days, a smile is an enormous victory, so let's feed and nurture each one. If an adult you know is having trouble doing so, start them off with one of our lunchbox kits, which I sincerely hope will bring that joyful energy to light.

Kids Lunchboxes: Building Character [Puppets]

2009-07-22T20:24:48-07:00

I am thrilled to report that development of the puppet prototypes continues, as we proceed with revisions. It's exciting to see the children's lunchbox kit characters in all their plush glory. Melody's flute and Artie's paint brush and palette are attached with velcro. The colors are bright and the smiles are radiant! There is no doubt that I remain a kid at-heart. Look for video or photos very soon!