The Office Playground Blog

Ready for March Madness? Shoot Hoops at Work!

Are you ready for March Madness? Even if you're not, someone in your office might be feeling the excitement of the NCAA Basketball Championships. Selection Sunday is March 14, 2010 and the Finals are on April 5th. Who will be in that game? Who will win?

Do you and your co-workers still toss random garbage into your trash can and yell "3 points!"? If so, isn't it time to upgrade to a real Trash Can Hoop?

Get into the spirit of March Madness with an Office Nerf Hoop or a Basketball Stress Ball.

Why not get a bunch of Basketball Stress Balls and/or Hoops and give them out to your entire office? Sure, you're saying, "but then no one will get any work done". Just make sure everyone understands that office hoops are an acceptable form of stress relief and team building, provided the other work is still getting done. You'll be pleased to see that employee morale and productivity will likely increase.

To help you get your office ready for March Madness, we've reduced our entire line of Basketball related items by 10% through March 22, 2010. Use coupon code BBall10 at checkout.

So, don't throw an air ball this year. Drive to our site, face up, shoot and score with your very own Office Basketball Hoop or Stress Ball. (Whew, yeah, that's all I've got for the basketball lingo. Could you have done any better? Get it? Like betting on the games using a bracket? Something you shouldn't do at work. Sorry, I'll stop now.)

Here are some of our favorite basketball hoops and basketballs, but we have lots more fun basketball stuff! Come check them out!

Basketball Hoop - Backboard	Nerfoop	Breakaway Hoop
Basketball Stress Ball	Basketball - 4 inch Pro Mini	Basketball - 7 inch Junior
See all of our Basketball products here

Bill Ross
The Office Toy Guy
OfficeToyGuy@OfficePlayground.com

www.OfficePlayground.com
We help you play on company time.

Winter Blues? Think Beach!

As I write this, I see that it's raining outside... again. My finger tips are a little bit colder than my toes (I'm wearing socks). It will be dark soon and work isn't over yet. Sounds like I've got the winter blues. Do you find yourself daydreaming about summer bliss? Can you feel the warm sand beneath your feet? Is there the aroma of hamburgers barbequing on the grill? Can you taste the cocktail you're having with friends while watching the sunset? Do you still feel the sting of that jellyfish that snuck up on you? (WHOA, time to snap out of this daydream... it just turned ugly).

You can't easily jump on a plane and fly to a warmer climate (chances are flights are grounded anyway, due to bad weather). But, you can use the power of your imagination and some thought management to get through the last stage of winter.

Once again, we're here to help you out. We created a fun list of our best summer themed office toys and put them on sale. Our suggestion is to pick out some of this stuff and play with it at your desk. You can live that summer lifestyle now, in your mind. Thinking of positive things will help lift your spirits. Warm your soul with these playful toys and drift off into another summer daydream. Don't worry, we don't sell jellyfish, just an octopus.

Beach in a Box	Cool Sun	Dolphin Stress Toy
Pineapple Stress Toy	Exec. Sandbox - Day at the Beach	Inflatable Palm Tree
See more Summer Desktop Toys

Celebrate the spirit of summer without mosquito bites, sunburns or jellyfish stings. (You do know the home remedy for neutralizing a jellyfish sting, don't you? Remember that episode of Friends? Eewwww.)

Bill Ross
The Office Toy Guy
OfficeToyGuy@OfficePlayground.com

www.OfficePlayground.com
We help you play on company time.

Top 10 Toys that Promote Creativity

How important is creativity in your job? Being "creative" and thinking "outside of the box" are huge business buzzwords these days. We don't claim to be business consultants who can help you creatively "re-engineer, re-organize or re-invent" your business model. We do claim to be experts at playing with creative toys at work. We believe that if you can express creativity with desk toys daily, the bigger picture stuff will fall into place naturally. To make sure you have the right creativity toys on your desk or meeting room table, we have compiled a list of our Top 10 Toys that Promote Creativity.

Often, it's hard to have a breakthrough moment when you are focusing too hard on finding a solution. By playing with toys, you actively work your brain while giving your subconscious a chance to come up with the answer. With these fun office toys, you can maintain a clever and productive mind while creating sculptures, shapes or designs from putty, magnetic art, or buildable puzzles. Have a pumped up brainstorming session with a fun shaped wipe-off board. Take your drawings and doodles to the next level with a pin art board, magnetic drawing board, or Wikki Stix.

Check out our Top 10 Toys that Promote Creativity. What will you create?

		Magnetic Cubism
		Human Pyramid - Color
		Thinking Putty - Chameleon
		Wikki Stix
		Ball of Whacks - Red
		Incrediwall - Talk Bubble 24x18
		Executive Sandbox - Day at the Beach
		Finger Drums
		Etch A Sketch Keychain
		Pin Art - Metal 5x7"

Are you inspired? Send us a photo of your creation using a product from Office Playground for the chance to win a free surprise gift. Send entries to officetoyguy@officeplayground.com by 2/28/2010. Click here for more details.

Playfully,

Bill Ross
The Office Toy Guy
OfficeToyGuy@OfficePlayground.com

www.OfficePlayground.com
We help you play on company time.

Bring Toys Not Donuts

Are you still bringing donuts to meetings? WAIT! You don't need to do that anymore. There's a better way to get everyone energized and excited at your next meeting. It's simple: bring toys, not donuts.

We all know that donuts are bad for you and the sugar crash is a serious downer. Bringing donuts to meetings is like saying, "Here, I hope you all feel sick for the next 5 hours and act like zombies all afternoon." Donuts only take a minute to eat, give you heartburn and require an extra workout to burn off the empty calories. On the other hand, a good office toy is long-lasting, stress relieving and brightens up your workspace.

Note the health considerations of Donuts versus Toys:

Have some fun at your next meeting and bring a box of office toys. Who knows, maybe you'll impress your boss so much, you'll get further in your career (we make no guarantees).

Instead of a dozen donuts	Bring a Stress Ball Box	Or a Meeting in a Box	Or a Desk Toy Box
Image Credit: Emran Kassim

Be more playful and bring some fun and health to your office...Bring toys, not donuts!

Playfully,

Bill Ross
The Office Toy Guy
OfficeToyGuy@OfficePlayground.com

www.OfficePlayground.com
We help you play on company time.

New Year's Resolutions or Vices?

Now that 2009 has come and gone, I'm thinking about my 2010 New Year's Resolutions and how much I really can't stand them. Everybody resolves to do the same old feel good self-improvements, such as lose weight or learn something new. You don't usually hear New Year's Resolutions like "I'm going to take up smoking" or "I've decided to eat cake every single day." What if your New Year's Resolution was to start a new vice?

Of course, I'm not recommending you actually start a vice in 2010 (we want you to be happy and healthy, after all). Just be a little more playful this year and have some lighthearted fun with your co-workers. As a joke, it would be funny to tell folks you have a New Year's Vice. We assembled some of our best vice related office toys to assist you in your quest to bring humor to the office. Put some of this stuff on your desk to get a few good laughs.

As you reflect on the past year, can you honestly say you enjoyed it as much as possible? Did you smile enough? Have you shared enough laughs with the folks in your life? Now is the time to relieve yourself of some stress and have a bit of fun. Are you going to start a New Year's Resolution or adopt a New Year's Vice?

Playfully,

Bill Ross
The Office Toy Guy
OfficeToyGuy@OfficePlayground.com

www.OfficePlayground.com
We help you play on company time.

Buckyballs - The Toy of the Year!

Everybody is talking about Buckyballs! This set of 216 rare Earth magnets can be manipulated into an endless amount of shapes, patterns and designs. They're great for relieving office boredom and getting through the daily grind. How you play with Buckyballs is really up to your imagination: create geometrical shapes, letters, animals, or even one of a kind jewelry. We can talk all day about this cool magnetic toy, but let's see what others have to say.

• Rolling Stone proclaims Buckyballs as the "Toy of the Year."
• Entertainment Weekly says Buckyballs are "much more satisfying than a stress ball."
• Real Simple magazine calls them addictive: "Payment for addiction therapy not included."
• People magazine added Buckyballs to their Stocking Stuffers gift guide.
• Esquire says they're "just like Silly Putty but made of metal. There's no better desk toy."

They were also seen in Maxim and Wired magazines and on the Good Morning Texas TV show.

How can you get your hands on a set of Buckyballs of your own? We've got them at OfficePlayground.com for just $29.99.

Be the Best Secret Santa Ever!

Image Credit: Michael Wade   What is the most embarrassing thing that can happen to you at work during the holidays? Sure, getting too drunk at the company holiday party, telling the CEO he looks like Screech and photocopying your behind are all pretty bad. But, we're talking about never being able to live down being a lame Secret Santa. Maybe you didn't even want to participate in the first place. Some people don't believe in Santa anymore. Yet, we all still stand in line to pick one of our co-worker's names out of a hat. You don't have to dread the workplace Secret Santa. The Office Toy Guy wants you to embrace it! This year, your co-workers will refer to you as the most amazing Secret Santa gift giver in company history. Or, at least they will think you are really cool and thoughtful for getting them such an awesome gift. OfficePlayground.com is ready to help you be the best Secret Santa gift giver you can be. Check out these unique gift ideas for your next Secret Santa exchange and really nail it this year!

Dependable and Classy Need to play it a little safe while making a good impression? Give a Zen Garden, Newton's Cradle, Kinetic Motion or Liquid Motion. Zen Gardens Newton's Cradles Kinetic Motion Liquid Motion Vulgar and Irreverent Do your co-workers appreciate low brow humor? Are your company's policies a little loose? Share a chuckle over our Vulgar Stuff and Desk Toys. Vulgar Stuff Desk Toys Cute and Cuddly A desktop plant or an animal toy will win you the cutest gift award. There are many adorable items in Desktop Gardening and Animal Toys. Desktop Gardening Animal Toys Stress Relieving If everyone is stressed out in your office, you can't go wrong with a Stress Ball, Stress Reliever or Foam Stress Toy. Stress Balls Stress Relievers Foam Stress Toys Silly Yet Practical Sometimes goofy can be useful. Give a Funny Office Supply or Gumball Machine for a fun twist on the regular. Funny Office Supplies Gumball Machines

You don't have to be a lame Secret Santa this year. Just make your picks, place your order and we'll get that awesome Secret Santa gift to you really fast. We wish you the best at your holiday office party and may you be remembered for your non-lame Secret Santa gift and not for dancing with a lampshade on your head. Lamelessly, Bill Ross The Office Toy Guy OfficeToyGuy@OfficePlayground.com www.OfficePlayground.com We help you play on company time.

How Scary is Your Office?

It’s the time of year where ghosts, witches and goblins are making plans for their favorite day of the year, Halloween. Have you let them visit your desk yet?

Halloween isn’t just for children dressed as spooky (or sometimes adorable) creatures, going door-to-door asking for candy; you can have just as much fun at work! This year, bring the spirit of Halloween to the office. Here are some ideas for making your workplace "spooktacular"!

• Decorate your desk or cubicle walls with a row full of smiling pumpkins
• Host a number of spooky Halloween contests: Scariest Costume, Jack-o-Lantern Carving, Pumpkin Seed Spitting, and Best Decorated Desk
• Hide fake giant spiders in your co-workers’ desk drawers
• Ask each of your co-workers "Trick or Treat?" Give those who say "treat" a piece of candy; pull a fun office prank on everyone else
• Host a Halloween Fright Wind-Up race
• Bring a large bowl of Halloween candy to share or bake a batch of Halloween cookies

Adding a little Halloween spirit to your workplace can make your day a little more exciting and everyone a little happier. Try out some of our ideas and let us know how it goes!

Image courtesy of Elvia Dametto.

Boss's Day Gift Ideas

Friday, October 16 is National Boss Day. It's an opportunity for employees to show appreciation for their hardworking boss. It's also an opportunity for an employee to make a good impression with a thoughtful gift. You can present a classy gift or a useful item or a whimsical toy that adds a little fun to your boss's day.

If you're in need of ideas for a gift, start with a pre-purchase observation; look at what types of items adorn the boss's desk and office. For sophisticated gifts, check out our Executive Toys category or Kinetic Motion and Levitating items. Take note of how much space is available for your gift. If your boss's desk is crowded, consider something that hangs on a wall such an amusing clock, a funny sign, a dartboard, or a basketball game.

Novelty items that draw positive attention to an office include the Magic Fishbowl, Executive Desk Gong, Exotic Sands, or Zen Garden. A gift from our Desktop Gardening category will please any plant lover.

Golf enthusiasts will enjoy the Executive Office Putter, the Chip Shotz Golfer game and Executive Sandbox-Golf Sand Trap. Surprise your boss with comical Office Supplies such as funny note pads, a Dog Stapler or a Chocolate Calculator.

Make this National Boss Day a memorable one.

Business Decisions

Bad business decisions are something every company tries to avoid, but they happen. Some legendary ones include the makers of M & M's decision to not allow their candy to appear in the movie ET. Reese's Pieces were used instead and the sales exploded. Jerry Yang decided to walk away from Microsoft and missed out on receiving $44.6 billion of Bill Gates' money. Many book editors rejected the Harry Potter book series and Decca Records had the opportunity to sign the Beatles and didn't.

An example of important decision making can be shown through choosing stock investments. The Chicago Sun-Times wanted to illustrate the often chance nature of picking stocks, so they had a monkey sit on newspaper stock pages and make marks on five stocks. As of January 2007, the stock-picking monkey had beaten the market four years running.

If you don't have the resources to hire a monkey, perhaps a fortune-telling item such as the Wall Street Guru Ball, the Mystical Orb, or the time honored Magic 8 Ball may help. The Dartboard Decision Maker is a fun and active alternative.

Next time you're faced with a landmark decision, give the Affirmation Ball a shake; its response might be "Brilliant Idea!" However, the Sarcastic Ball might warn "Not a Chance!" and the Wall Street Guru might suggest "Ride it Out". The Dartboard Decision Maker offers many options. Give it a spin and toss the dart, which might land on "Take a Vacation," "Stay Late," "Call a Meeting," "Hire" or "Retire". A fortune telling ball or decision maker may not offer the appropriate advice, but it's sure to generate some lighthearted stress relief.

Gumby vs. Mr. Bill

Who would win a battle between Gumby and Mr. Bill? Both are animated clay figures that made their debut to the public on popular TV shows, both have made their way into feature length films, and both are immortalized as bendable figurines. We decided to collect the facts to predict the winner of this potentially famous battle.

Name: Gumby
Debuted: August 1956
Creator: Art Clokey
Best Friend: Pokey
Nemeses: Blockheads
Claim to Fame: Gumby starred in his own television series, The Gumby Show, that aired from 1957 to 1967 and in 1988
Best Characteristic: Flexibility
Accomplishments: cameo appearance in 1987 film The Puppetoon Movie; 1995 feature length film Gumby I (aka Gumby: The Movie); 8 DVD collections (2000s); video game Gumby vs. the Astrobots (2005); appeared in campaign ads for Library of Congress (1994-1995) and Cheerios (late 1990s)

Name: Mr. Bill
Debuted: February 28, 1976
Creator: Walter Williams
Best Friend: Spot (his dog)
Nemesis: Mr. Sluggo
Claim to Fame: Mr. Bill starred in several short sketches on the television show, Saturday Night Live from 1976 to 1980
Memorable Quotes: "Ohhhh noooooooooooooo...", "Perfectly awful!", "Stunningly bad!"
Accomplishments: 1986 live-action movie Mr. Bill's Real Life Adventures; 1998 television show Ohh No!!! Mr. Bill Presents; appeared in television ads for Pringles (1980s), an anti-drug campaign (1988), Pizza Hut (1990s), Subway (2008), and MasterCard (2008)

Based on the character's personality, history and popularity, Gumby wins the battle hands down. However, we believe it's all up to the circumstance and personal preference. Take the battle into your own hands to determine who you think is the real winner.

Silly Putty — The Great American Mistake

Many products have been created or discovered by accident and Silly Putty might be one of the most popular and best selling mistakes of all time.

During World War II there was a shortage of rubber in the United States. The government funded research into synthetic rubber compounds in an attempt to solve this shortage. Silly Putty was created in 1943 during this pursuit. The new product had useful qualities: it bounced like rubber, stretched like taffy and had adhesive qualities; it also broke into pieces and had the ability to lift pencil marks off paper. However, Silly Putty was not the sought-after substitute for rubber.

Silly Putty was called Nutty Putty when the little pink blob made of silicone polymers packaged in an egg-shaped plastic container made its debut as a toy in 1949. Its sales soared to the top of the toy chart that year. In 1961, Silly Putty went worldwide. It even reached the Moon in 1968, courtesy of the Apollo 8 astronauts who used it to secure their tools in zero-gravity.

After its success as a toy, Silly Putty was found to be useful in medical and scientific fields. It is widely used by physical therapists for rehabilitative therapy of hand injuries and as a fidget item for stress reduction. A number of other brands have emerged which alter the material's properties offering different levels of resistance, color and size of the product. Some of the names it is marketed under are Power Putty, TheraPutty, Thinking Putty and Bouncing Putty.

To date, Silly Putty has sold over 300 million eggs. Crayola, LLC (formerly the Binney & Smith company), which also owns Crayola crayons, owns the trademark name Silly Putty and currently sells 20,000 units per day.

It doesn't look like this American icon has to worry about popularity as its unique qualities continue to provide fun, exercise and stress relief to users of all ages all over the world.

Image courtesy of Eugene Peretz.

Extreme Workplaces

Eating lunch outside at the Googleplex

The Travel Channel's segment on Extreme Workplaces is mind boggling and dream inspiring. Showcased in the show and the article, "Thinking Outside the Cubicle" written by Erica Walsh, are seven businesses that go all out in providing uniquely designed workplaces and unbelievably fun perks for their employees.

Ping Pong at the Threadless Warehouse

While not all employers can provide such wonderland-type settings and expensive perks, fun doesn't have to be high priced. Small gifts given out at a meeting can make a big impression. Freebees are appreciated and the good will associated with them can help stimulate creativity that just might give birth to the next great idea for your business.

Office Playground's Meeting in a Box is a modestly priced box containing 17 fidget toys. These little toys add an element of fun to any meeting or workday. The briefcase shaped box makes it easy to carry and it will definitely be the center of attention when placed on the conference table and opened to reveal the variety of toys inside. Let the brainstorming begin!

Images of the Googleplex courtesy of Erik Hersman. Image of the Threadless Warehouse courtesy of Joe M500.

May is National Physical Fitness and Sports Month

Since 1983, May has been observed as National Physical Fitness and Sports Month. Individuals and organizations everywhere have joined in the fun to promote awareness of the value of physical activity in the pursuit of happier, healthier, more productive lives.

Many people spend most of their work week sitting at a desk. "We are made to move, not sit at a desk 12 hours a day," says Joan Price, author of The Anytime, Anywhere Exercise Book. "As ergonomic as your desk or chair may be, sitting produces back pains, headaches, and listlessness. You become less productive." The Surgeon General recommends at least 30 minutes of physical activity a day, but with today's hectic schedules, even 30 minutes of exercise can be difficult to squeeze into a busy day. Micro workouts are a step in the right direction. Get in a few minutes of exercise right at your desk. Three minutes of exercise ten times in a day at work and you've done your required thirty minutes of exercise. There are exercises you can do at your desk. Stretching is good for your neck and back and it can be done while sitting. (Read more about stretching at your desk.)

Zig Ziglar is an author and famous motivational speaker focused on inspiring true performance in the corporate world. He said "for every five minutes of exercise you do, you'll get back fifteen minutes of productivity". L.L. Bean recently tested this theory. They provided their workers with three five minute exercise breaks. At the end of the day when they measured productivity, they found that they had gained thirty minutes in output.

The key to exercise and physical activity is fun and convenience. At work, do fun activities during breaks such as play office golf, magnetic darts or a quick game of air hockey. At lunch time, take a walk or play catch with a Nerf ball in the parking lot. Walk up and down stairs rather than using the elevator. If you ride a bus, get off a few blocks early and walk the remaining distance. At home, take advantage of summer's long hours of daylight and warm evenings by enjoying sunset walks or bicycle rides. Working in the garden or playing games with the children can be a great way to end a day.

Office Playground offers scores of choices to help you score on the exercise scale. Add fun physical activity to your day with Indoor Sports Games, Sports Balls, Basketball Hoop games, Magnetic Dart Games, Disc Shooters and Safe Shooters. At your desk use Therapy Balls for hand and arm exercises.

Images courtesy of About.com © Anne Asher 2006-2007 licensed to About.com

Fun Is Profitable! -- Just Ask Google

Google sets the standard for a happy work environment.

In 2007 and 2008, Fortune Magazine named Google the Number 1 employer in their annual 100 Best Companies to Work for. With a market cap of 120.97B and 12,000 employees in offices throughout the world, Google’s casual dress code and “work hard, play hard” philosophy is a prime example of when people are happy they perform better. It is a company that goes out of its way to ensure staff happiness and contentment. Their staff turnover is low, while job satisfaction is high. Google's playful approach to serious business is echoed in the many variations of their logo they create to honor interesting people and events around the world.

Great ideas start with just one person sowing a seed. You can make your workspace a more enjoyable place by adding colorful items, tactile toys and whimsical office supplies. Create variety by rotating items from your drawer to the desktop. You’ll be happier and your co-workers will be inspired. Watch your idea grow and spread throughout your company.

Office Playground is a provider of a wide variety of affordable products that add fun to any office. We’ve shipped toys and games to Google offices and we can ship them to you. Staff happiness encourages success.