I'm back to work after a nice long Christmas weekend, and I hope you were able to spend some quality time with your loved ones over this extended weekend. Mostly, I hope you didn't get stuck in a snowed-in airport! If you didn't have a good weekend, maybe we can help cheer you up a little by offering free shipping on a few accessory items.

Since so many of you ordered LifeStyle Kitchens this year, we're offering free shipping on most of the accessories that so beautifully complement that line. These Cooking Essentials sets are the perfect fit for our LifeStyle Kitchens, as they're a bit more refined and realistic that the standard toddler fare. Our Play Food Assortment and Dining Room Set are also up for free shipping, and are a popular add-on for our Kitchens and playhouses (many of which have small kitchenettes).

This free shipping offer is valid only on the following products, and ends on January 8--don't wait until it's too late!

• Cooking Essentials Stainless Steel Set
• Cooking Essentials Enamel Cooking Set
• Cooking Essentials 20pc Baking Set
• Cooking Essentials Stool
• 101pc Play Food Assortment
• LifeStyle Dining Room and Pots & Pans

In yesterday's Wall Street Journal, Christine Rosen wrote an interesting article (subscription required; free alternate link here) about the effects of electronic toys on child development. The article cites a couple recent studies that question the benefits of electronic learning toys.

Electronic toys have become overwhelmingly popular over the past decade. Many of us in the toy industry have watched this trend with suspicion, believing imagination and human interaction to be at the heart of play--especially for preschool children. It stands to reason that too much technology might get in the way, and it now appears that some bona fide research is confirming this.

At Step2 we've introduced electronic features to a modest number of our products. Typically, these have been practical in nature (e.g., a light on the Art Master Activity Desk) or purely to add realistic sound effects to role play toys (e.g., cooking sounds on the collection of LifeStyle Kitchens). Overwhelmingly, our products engage children in open-ended, imaginative play, and this continues to be the focus of our product development efforts. I dare say our products with electronics are just as fun without the batteries.