We know your house is only so big, your patience so long, your eardrums only deep enough for so much cotton. Oh, but imagine your heart’s joy as you listen to your children learning and making music in the next room. The chance to express themselves creatively and physically, to work on their coordination and develop a sense of rhythm is a gift you can give them at a young age by bringing musical toys and instruments into the home as early as possible. For preschool musical toys, Discount School Supply has page upon page of rhythm instruments such as a Guiro tone block ($5), a Chilean rainstick ($17), beginner bongo drums ($5.49), and 15-piece rhythm set ($50) that includes jingle clogs, cluster bell, tone block, triangles, cymbals, shakers and a tom-tom. As their brains and bodies develop, consider a toy baby grand piano ($70), available in black, white, or pink for ages three and up. Or perhaps a miniature tartan cover chalice bagpipe ($142) for the same age group? Sitar anyone? A mini is $50, half size $194, three-quarter size with case $254, and all ship free from Musical Instruments for Children, where you can also find drum sets, accordions, and more. You say your four-year-old wants to be a rock star? Get him/her a half-size Les Paul-style electric guitar outfit ($140), although for acoustic guitars THE female guitar company claims to be Luna Aurora. Check out the mini Aurora ($120), the body of which is a blank slate your kid can draw on with damp erase markers. Another instrument for future pop stars is the Casio portable keyboard (pictured; on sale for $70) from Music for Little People. They’ve got a whole page of instruments on sale. Think of it this way: The kids won’t be staring into a computer screen.

Was your man born with two left feet? You’ve got just enough time until the season of wedding party dances is upon us to teach him – and maybe yourself – how to move on the floor with the greatest of ease. Chuck Reed’s How to Dance with Two Left Feet: A Comprehensive Guide to Real World Dancing ($60) offers hope to the rhythmically-challenged with simplified, sometimes humorous instruction on a three-disc DVD covers basics such as how to lead and how to find and follow the beat in the music. Direct your guy to How to Have More Social Success for  tips on the basics of dancing. The site, written by a self-described recovering socially inept awkward guy, says men need to know that they just have to be good enough to blend in with the crowd on the dance floor and not look like a dork. At Learning2Dance.com, you and yours can learn from a dance instruction video that timing really is everything in salsa, hiphop, ballroom, Latin, tango and more and will even make a custom DVD for you. Highly recommended is DanceTutor.com, because its instruction videos can be downloaded and watched frame-by-frame and in slow motion. A manual is still a good choice if you or your partner scored high in kindergarten on the “follows directions well” portion on your report card. The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Ballroom Dancing includes step-by-step photos that cover common ballroom dances and an instructional DVD ($17). Both you and your partner will feel like stepping out in official ballroom wear from DanceSport Ballgowns. For those who crave context, the dance manual section at Library of Congress includes much more than a history of social dancing in America. Video clips feature dancers in period costume performing dances like the Washington Post two-step against the backdrop of the Library’s Great Hall in the Jefferson Building.

Celebrate Easter — it’s Sunday, March 23! — with a sweet basket of edible goodies and little toys that will surprise your children and give the whole family some fun. Whether you create the basket yourself or buy one from the pros, Easter just isn’t the same without the seasonal basket left by the Easter Bunny. Cherry Moon Farms wins the prize for biggest and best variety of fully assembled gift baskets, such as the Hoppy Easter Basket ($39.98, pictured). Select from cookies, dipped berries, nuts, fruits or a combo of any of the above. When I was growing up, See’s Candies ruled every holiday, with its hand-decorated chocolate cream Easter eggs being everyone’s favorite — and we weren’t even religious, unless you consider chocolate worship a form of devotion. Check out the See’s home page to begin your hunt for fabulous holiday sweets. Of course, you may look forward to doing the basket yourself each year, in which case the people at Williams Sonoma have some advice, as does a web site called Robin’s FYI. If all you need is a nice empty basket and no advice, visit Peterboro Basket for an impressive selection. As for candy to put inside of it, you’ll find everything you could possibly want at Candy Warehouse’s Easter page. Add some toys for the occasion, and you’re done. Almost. Don’t forget to show the kids how to decorate real eggs. It’s a fun activity that let’s them create and participate in Easter. As always, Martha Stewart has several DIY pages on just the subject. Shopperati wishes you a wonderful Easter Sunday.

Anybody who spends the long hours, weeks, and years learning fine woodworking — not to mention investing in nice wood to ensure a project will last for decades — is right to feel some pride in the finished result. The builder may have opportunities to brag discreetly when visitors ask, “Where’d you get that beautiful table?,” but what about a generation from now, when this year’s hobby has become an heirloom? Take a tip from craftsmen of yore, and put your mark on it. Rockler offers customized branding tools that will forever mark projects from your workbench; $30 gets your initials, and an additional $20 buys a classy looking three-line message along the lines of “Handcrafted by John DeFore, Austin, Texas.” (Hey, just because I don’t know how to make a dovetail joint today doesn’t mean I can’t learn.) Additional decorations can be added to the text, and you can also pay a bit more for brands that electrically heat themselves, rather than requiring the use of a torch. Finally, a reasonable-sounding $170 lets the customer not only choose the text but use his/her own logo — any black-and-white image, up to three square inches. Who knows — 50 years from now, that maker’s mark might mean something to an expert on Antiques Roadshow.

Some say fall is the best time of year to plant a tree, but many garden enthusiasts embrace spring as the time to establish new roots. Autumn Ridge Nursery has more than 250 types of trees you can buy online — everything from the American filbert ($5.95) to the yellow transparent apple tree ($8.50). Another great source is Tree Heaven, where you’ll find gorgeous spring trees like dogwood ($8.99) and Japanese maple ($10.99), along with a variety pack of 10 quality trees ($24.99). Heronswood’s top tree picks include the sycamore maple ($21.95) and a birch from Nepal ($18.95) along with the glorious magnolia ($21.95). For something more exotic, consider the palm tree selection at Aaron’s Nursery. But it’s hard to top this offer from the Arbor Day Foundation: If you join the foundation for $10, you’ll receive 10 free trees. Before you start digging, consult the Plant Hardiness Zone map: That’s where nurseries categorize plants, flowers and trees according to numbered climate zones, to make sure your favorite tree is suited for your area. At Arborday.org, finding your zone is as simple as putting in your ZIP code, and the shipping schedule outlines ideal delivery windows. You can even use the handy Tree Guide to get a complete picture of almost any tree. Don’t be afraid: Most online nurseries provide a 100 percent money-back guarantee on the quality of their trees.

When did the phrase “go fly a kite” become a putdown? To me, that sounds like the makings for a pretty wonderful day. When I was a girl my sisters and I used to get those inexpensive nylon diamond-shaped kites ($6.95) every March. But kites have changed a lot since the ’70s, and now they come in a wide variety of shapes, sizes, colors and even performance grades. From the ultra-cool Sopwith Camel airplane kite (on sale, $21.95, pictured) that would keep the Red Baron on the run, to fun Sky Dancers ($14.65) perfect for kids 6 and older, there is probably  the right kite for anyone. Today, kites are big business and with some practice, you can make the leap from pretty butterflies ($9.95) to a serious stunt kite like the Maestro ($119.00). But if it’s just a lazy, simple afternoon in the park you’re looking for, this dragonfly kite ($9.95) is both beautiful and has “realistic wing flapping motion.” For a little more flair, sail the skies with this 3D pirate ship ($22.99) or the seemingly less floaty R2D2 ($33.29). But if DIY is more your style, you can learn how to make your own kite with this semi-ambitious craft project. Whether you’re going for high-flying objets d’art or want a kite that can actually do tricks, embrace the art of kite flying this Spring.