Crafty Kids Mini Models Review and Giveaway! CLOSED

I don’t know if you all have seen the Shuttle Imagination and Creation Cottage by Crafty Kids, but they are awesome!  They are the kind of toys I would love to buy for my children.  The only drawback to them is their size.  Don’t get me wrong, the size is awesome, but the last thing I need is a giant craft in the middle of my room (plus my husband would kill me).

   

Enter Crafty Kids Mini Models.  I am super excited to introduce to you the Mini Creation Cottage and Mini Shuttle Imagination!  They are 1/3 of the size and 2/3 less the cost.  So you have to check these out!

      

We received a Mini Shuttle Imagination and my son practically jumped out of his shoes.  It was very easy to assemble so my son was able to play with it immediately.  I think we all know how important that is. 

 

The Crafty Kids Mini Models do come with markers so your child can decorate them.  I actually could not get my son to stop playing with his and decorate it.  He loves it so much.  I didn’t want to force him to stop playing and decorate it, either.  No matter how badly I wanted to see what he would do.  Every time I get it out to decorate, he ends up playing with it and using crayons and markers as space missiles.

 

The Mini Shuttle Imagination is a great idea for young boys.  It captures their imagination and lets their creativity soar.  It was even the perfect compliment to a certain “space ranger” that my son loves to play with.

 

Check out the Crafty Kids website and take a look for yourself.  This is the perfect birthday present, Christmas present, or a just because it is so stinking cool present.  Now preschool teachers and homeschooling moms could also use this in their curriculum.  The shuttle would be perfect for a unit about transportation or space.  The Cottage would be great for units about homes and family.

Crafty Kids creates eco-friendly playhouses and products.  They are starting to really get recognized for their great line up of fun and imaginative items.  They were even featured on the TODAY Show.  How awesome!

Here is your chance to win a Mini Creation Cottage (valued at $22.95) or the Mini Shuttle Imagination (valued at $24.95).  This giveaway is for U.S. residents only, sorry to all of my foreign land readers. :-(

To enter just go to Crafty Kids and look around.  Come back here and tell me what other items (not the Mini Models) you would love your kids to have.  For an extra entry you can “like” the Crafty Kids Facebook Page.  That’s it.  As always, the form will be used to keep your information private and not out there for the world to see. 

So enter now.  I want you to win one of these awesome Mini Models!  If you are reading this post in a reader or by email, you will need to click on the title of this post to come to my site and enter.  It’s worth it, I promise!

 

The giveaway has ended.  The winner will be selected using random.org (the above form puts all of you in a handy dandy numbered spreadsheet) and notified by email.  If the winner does not claim their prize in 3 days, as stated in the email, a new winner will be selected.

Disclosure: I did receive a Mini Shuttle Imagination as stated in the review.  Although I got this item for free, that does not sway my opinion in any way. I was not compensated for this post, either.  My reviews and opinions are always my own and honest.

Box Tops for Education and General Mills (it's a giveaway, too):CLOSED

Now that school has started (can you believe it?) and you have drained your bank account buying school supplies and clothing, how do get adjusted to the new routine?  An easy suggestion is to make sure your kids are filled with good foods for meals and snacks.  This will help them adjust mentally and physically.

Starting off the morning with a great breakfast is the best start.  But while you are getting ready and getting things together, the kids need to get ready and eat.  A fast and easy breakfast is a must.  General Mills has great cereals that are made with whole grains. 

A lunchbox filled with a PB&J, Juicy Juice,  and Gushers would be a huge hit.  Score even more when you offer Nature Valley Granola Bars for an afternoon snack.  Oh, and a Hamburger Helper dinner will help any busy mom get dinner on the table quickly.

I have loved these products for a long time, so I quickly accepted an offer to talk about them and Box Tops for Education.  I collect my boxtops for my son’s school.  It is a great opportunity to help out your school while getting the great products you would buy any way.

Through August 28th you can go to your local Target® and receive double Bonus Box Tops instantly when you buy 5 or more participating General Mills, Avery, Hefty, Juicy Juice and Welch´s Box Tops for Education® products and earn more for the participating school of your choice.   Now that is an easy way to earn for your school while stocking up for meals and snacks.

You can also go to Grocery Savvy and get coupons and find some great recipes.  Who doesn’t love coupons?!

Would you like to win these items AND a $25 Target gift card?  Duh, I thought you would.  Just fill out the form below to enter to win.  As always, I am using the form to keep your information private. 

If you are reading this in an email or in a reader, you will need to click on the title of the post to come over to my site to access the form. 

 

This giveaway has ended.  The winner will be selected by random.org and notified by email.  The winner must claim their prize within 3 days or a new winner will be selected. 

Disclosure: I did receive this prize pack, but was not compensated for this review. Although the gift card, giveaway hosting, and some of the information was provided by General Mills through MyBlogSpark, it does not alter my honest opinion.

Moon Dough: What is it really like?

I recently got sent some Moon Dough to try out.  Moon Dough is targeted for children ages 2-4 years old.  So needless to say my house makes a pretty good testing ground with a 4, 3, and 2 year old.  I am glad our madness can be used for something.  :-)

I was honestly expecting Moon Dough to be like play dough.  It isn’t at all.  It is a completely different compound.  If you could grind up marshmallows into flour, that is what Moon Dough feels like.

Moon Dough doesn’t play like play dough, either.  It crumbles easily and doesn’t manipulative the same way.  If you are expecting to be able to roll it up like a snake or into a ball, you won’t be able to do that.

Like I said, it is different.  So there is no sense in further comparison.

You can do a lot of fun stuff with it, though.  It is really neat to play with.  The texture is so different than anything I have ever felt.  The play set was really fun to play with, too.  It was easy to push the Moon Dough into the molds and take it out.

We were sent the Moon Dough Barnyard Play Set.  The barn isn’t just a part to play with, it is a machine that makes the animals for you.  The soft Moon Dough was really easy for my son to fill in the top.  The lever to push the dough through the mold is really easy to operate. 

Charley (2 years old) and Cole (4 years old) were making sheep, cows, and chickens at lightning speed.  Little Man was just going at lightning speed.  He really liked the texture and I had a hard time putting the Moon Dough away.

 

 

 

The next time we played with Moon Dough I put it in the sensory table.  Because although I don’t mind messes at all, I would prefer not to recreate this scene again.

The good news is that Moon Dough never dries out, so I just grabbed a handful at a time and stuffed it into a sandwich bag.  Tada!

To learn more about Moon Dough check out their website at http://moondough.com. 

For anyone concerned Moon Dough is hypo-allergenic and wheat-free.  It is an awesome all around toy.  I highly recommend it.  My kids have asked over and over again to play with the barn and the Moon Dough. 

 

Disclosure: I was sent a free play set to review as part of a Team Mom promotion.  This did not change my opinion at all.  My review was honest and my opinions are my own (because who else would want them).

Transportation Craft for Toddlers

I was recently inspired by my friend Karina over at Mumma Made It.  I am constantly inspired by her, but this food craft got me going immediately (not to mention being completely jealous of the koala in her tree).  I had intended this for Cole, but he wasn’t interested that day and Charley was extremely eager.

 

I took Daddy’s car magazines, some construction paper, white paint, scissors, cotton swabs, and glue.  If Cole was doing this I would let him cut out the cars, but Charley hasn’t really gotten cutting down (especially to that degree) so I cut out the cars and let her just cut however she wanted.   

 

Glue the road onto the other sheet of paper and make little dashes with white paint.  If you have correction tape it would be perfect.

 

Pour a little bit of glue into a container and let your child dip the cotton swab in the glue and spread it around. 

 

Charley spread the glue pretty much all over the paper, so it was really easy to put the cars wherever we wanted. 

 

There you go, a fun little craft for learning about transportation.

Kim

Homemade Number Boards for Toddlers and Preschoolers

I took some craft foam sheets I had and created these “boards”.  We play with them occasionally to keep our numbers in our head and not lose them over the summer break. 
All I did was draw little circles with markers on the sheets and the corresponding number. 
I bought some decorative glass stones at the dollar store.  They work great because the backs are flat.  I have seen a lot of these kinds of activities all over the internet in different ways, so I don’t really know who to send some credit out to. 
I did one large sheet like a bar graph from 1 to 10.
 
I also did smaller rectangles with individual numbers on them. 
 
While Charley is sleeping, Cole and Little Man have been playing with these.  It is great for Cole to reinforce his numbers and get him acquainted with charts and graphs.  It is great for Little Man to work on his pincher grasp (something he cannot do very well) and hand-eye coordination.  When guided he tries to put the stone in the circle.

When left to just explore, Little Man will just place as many as he can on one small sheet.  He also liked to stack the small sheets up.

This is a great activity for these kids at different levels to do.  I just had to watch Little Man very closely because he kept trying to put the glass stones in his mouth.  The stones did provide a great sensory experience, though.  They have a smooth feel, are hard, and are cool to the touch.  Little Man loved this activity and we have done it over and over again. 

Kim

Say What? - Who's #2

 

“You have got to come up with another name for him other than #2.”

 

Cole and Charley love to play cats or dogs.  The charade goes on all day long.  I am sure your child does this, too.  Well now that we have Little Man, they have taught him how to play along, too.

Cole has decided that Charley Cat is to be called “#1”.  So that , of course, means that Little Man Cat is called “#2”. 

Nothing says camaraderie like Cole yelling, “#2 get over here and eat your cat snack.” 

My favorite was “Mom, my #1 is licking #2.  Isn’t that so sweet?”  All I could do was laugh.

 

Chalk another one up to things I never thought I would say (or need to).

What crazy thing has come out of your mouth lately?

Kim