Now through September 3, 2012, American Girl and Save the Children's U.S. Literacy program have teamed up to raise up to $100,000 to promote reading.

For every American Girl book purchased on their website, $1 will be donated to the Save the Children's US Literacy Program. Here's the link to explore the American Girl book titles that are currently available.

American Girl dolls are historical, collectible, fashionable dolls that arrive with a storybook. Aside from these popular dolls, there is also an American Girl Arts and Crafts line that encourages young girls to use their eye-hand coordination skills and creativity to scrapbook, sew and design fashionable accessories for themselves and their dolls.

With the arrival of the iPad, have not come some unique and interesting iPad games for kids. These games are not just played through the apps, there are additional devices such as the Duo Plink by Discovery Bay Games that can be purchased separately that encourages children to participate in games using manipulatives with their peers.

The apps that work with this device are free and encourage kids to learn about their friends, answer world trivia and test their memory using hidden pictures. Children record their answers to the questions by placing their individual colored token in either the purple or green spot. The Duo Plink automatically drops the token into the chamber for those that answer the question correctly.

Kids birthday party gifts can be expensive with having to buy for multiple children throughout the year. How much do you budget for birthday gifts for kids?

Umagine, a Spinmaster brand, has brought all sorts of sensory textures and experiences to the toy world. These same creaters of Moon Sand and Moon Dough, have now released Squishy Baff. Squishy Baff (compare prices) provides a whole new way of bathtime fun, allowing children to play in the bathtub in goo. This formula is non-irritating and environmentally safe. It comes in pink, blue, green and red.

After filling the bathtub with water, slowly sprinkle Step 1 Squishy Baff powder, which transforms the bathtub water into colored goo within minutes. Then, let the kiddies jump in and play in the goo. When bathtime fun is over, add Step 2 Squish Baff and after several minutes again, the goo turns back to water. It will remain the same color, but can easily travel down the drain.

Not only for the bathtime, this could be a lot of fun in small outdoor kiddie pools and either classroom or backyard sensory tables. A little coloring remained on my fingers when playing with Squishy baff, but it washed off.

Are your children asking for Squishy Baff?