giveaway Archives - Page 6 of 16

Do you have your wagon ready for Halloween?

When you think Halloween, do you think wagons? We sure do! Wagons are the ride of choice here in Washington, and even better if that wagon has a canopy with our usual 90% chance of rain just in time for Trick or Treating. My kids will be riding in their spooky chariot, AKA Step2 All … Read more

Step2 LifeStyle Custom Kitchen

I
am a Step2 Test Drive Blogger. I received a product in exchange for my
review and opinion. No other compensation was provided and all opinions
are 100% ours.

I spend a good deal of my time at home in the kitchen. Whether I’m making dinner, washing dishes, packing lunches, or prepping snacks, the kitchen is where you will find me. My kids have seen me in the kitchen their whole lives and love to watch me cook and prep, so it’s really no surprise how interested they are in how things work in the kitchen.

This is why they are in love with their new play kitchen from Step2 that sits right alongside my real kitchen. They play with it every single day without fail and it’s become one of the biggest draws of our whole house that the kids flock to during playtime.

I love that they adore it so much, because I love to see them figure out everyday problems like how to make stew when all you have in the fridge is a few random vegetables because someone {ahem, the little one} took everything else for his picnic in the living room.

I love watching them work out math problems by dividing foods and subtracting, and I love seeing them problem solve amongst themselves as they figure out how many foods should be allocated to picnics and how many are for the stew.

Back to School with Fruit of the Loom “Underwear for Overachievers”

Sponsored Post 2

Every mom of school aged kids is aware of the infamous school supply list at the start of each year. If you’re not familiar, these lists typically involve large amounts of cash and leads to a bunch of questions about why your child needs 25 individual toothpicks, red yarn, and three tennis shoe laces, amongst other things. While I have no doubt that these items are necessary and will lead to awesome learning opportunities, I’m much more excited to back to school shop for things that don’t come on that list.

Things like fun t-shirts, jeans, and new kicks that will make getting dressed for school less of a chore each morning. Fruit of the Loom thinks that if you’re going to the trouble of refreshing your wardrobe that you should also consider the basics – like socks, underwear, tees, and tank tops. Even though these items won’t be seen at school, it makes all the difference in how your child views getting dressed each day and can take a morning struggle and make it far more peaceful.

The Fruit of the Loom Underwear for Overachievers program was started to help parents upgrade their children’s basics while stocking up for school. By offering seasonal bonus packs that include FREE underwear, t-shirts, socks, and undershirts in each pack, it maximizes your back to school dollars while making it each to prepare for the school year ahead.

Seattle style for the great outdoors from Kaidel Sportswear

As our header would have you believe; we are big into biking as a family. I’ve posted before about how Spandex-free biking is the way that I roll, typically with skirts, dresses, cute little flats, and other items you wouldn’t expect to see on someone pedaling past you. But, what you don’t know is that my husband secretly wants to be a real biker. You know, the kind that doesn’t wear flip flops.

The past few years have been a slow upgrade process; first with the fancy new street bike, then with quick clip pedals, and then the biking shoes to fit the pedals. The next step was getting him to look more like a biker, with appropriate clothing and gear so he could go out on all day rides comfortably.

So, naturally when Kaidel Sportswear, a Seattle company, contacted us with the chance to try out their family cycling and running jerseys, we said yes. And, as excited as I was to find some fun Seattle-themed biking gear for hubby, I also loved that they carried childrens bicycle jerseys as well so I could get father/daughter cycling jerseys.

Music anywhere with the HMDX Jam Bluetooth wireless speaker

In my family we love music. Music while we craft, music while we cook, and even music while we clean. But, while we have wired our house for sound, the fun unfortunately ends at our doorstep. We’ve been known to turn the music up and keep all the doors and windows open so we can still hear it outside while we garden, bounce on the trampoline, or play in the yard, but that unfortunately doesn’t work for when we’re at the park or beach.

And, really, what’s a beach party, cookout or camping trip without good music? Recently, we got to review the HMDX Jam Bluetooth Wireless Speaker courtesy of AT&T and it's now our go-to music source for whenever we're not indoors {and even sometimes when we are}.

Vote for your favorite math tip for kids and win with Zorbit’s Math Adventure

Did you enter the Zorbit's Math Adventure contest I posted about last month? If not, don't worry, because you can still win big just by helping to vote for the best tip. Read on to find out more. But, first: want to know more about Zorbit’s Math Adventure? It's a new iOS app from Best … Read more

Got a math tip for young kids? You could win big with Zorbit’s Math Adventure! {contest}

Teaching my kids to spell and read might just be my downfall as a mom, but both kids picked up basic math from me at a very young age. Ironically, math wasn’t my strong subject in school, so I thought English and reading were going to be where I excelled at teaching, but I guess it goes to show you that you never really know how you are going to be as a mom until you actually have kids.

For me, it was easy to infuse early math with simple games we would play from even the toddler stage. It started with counting to three before we ran, playing counting games with numbers, and adding small objects like toys and foods to make math fun and easy to learn.

With summer here, the last thing we want to do is spend our days indoors with flash cards and workbooks, so I love that I can even take the lessons outdoors. With simple games like hopscotch that teach ones and twos to chalk problems on the trampoline where the kids jump to the right answer, we’ve found all sorts of math games to do outdoors that are so fun that the kids don’t even realize they are learning.

Making math fun is the goal of Zorbit’s Math Adventure, a new iOS app from Best Boy Entertainment for kids ages 3-5 that will be launching in mid-August. Early childhood learning is so important for school success, and giving your child a fun and exciting way to learn the basics is the perfect way to help your child.

Name Art makes personalized art as unique as your little one

With four siblings growing up, you would have thought we’d have a lot of personalized items to help keep everything straight. But, instead of items with our names or monograms, we each had a specific color we always used to help us find our stuff. While the color-coded system was practical, it wasn’t always fun.

After over a decade eating off the blue placemat, out of the blue cup, and hanging my stuff on the blue hook, I really longed for something that was a little more… personal. Because of this, I have made a point to get my kids special items that have their names and truly reflect who they are as often as I can.

Name Art is a New York based company that was started for this very reason. They specialize in truly one-of-a-kind items that help you celebrate each child with unique and personalized gifts. From placemats to fine art prints, Name Art has a great selection of gifts and art that would be perfect presents for your little one.

Turn your kid’s drawing into a one-of-a-kind toy with Cryoow!

My daughter has had an imaginary friend since she was about 2 years old. During the past three years, I have heard an unlimited number of stories about “Sheeky Baby” {who surprisingly isn’t an actual baby} and the many adventures her and my daughter have embarked on. But, with as many stories as I have heard, I’ve never been exactly sure what she looks like. That is, until now.

My daughter drew this picture of Sheeky Baby for me this past month, and it all became so clear. Of course Sheeky’s a princess. And, of course she has a dress that matches my daughter; they are BFFs after all.

As much as I adored the picture my daughter drew, I started thinking wouldn’t it be pretty awesome if my daughter had a mini Sheeky Baby she could play with? Almost as if they had heard me wonder, I got an email from a company called Cryoow! asking if I wanted to turn my child’s art into a doll.

Naturally, I said yes.

Cryoow! is short for Create Your Own, and their goal is to take your child’s art and turn it into customized stuffed animals, personalized dolls, and just about anything else your child can dream up. It all starts with a beloved original picture by your child, which you can scan and send to Cryoow with any notes or messages about the design.

From there the artists at Cryoow do their absolute best to follow your child’s drawing – complete with all the quirks and special touches – to make a truly one-of-a-kind doll. Once they have completed all the detailing, including hand embroidery, yarning, and beading, the doll is ready to be sent back to the designer {AKA your child}.

VTech InnoTab 2S Wi-Fi Tablet prevents “Summer Brain Drain”

Do you remember as a kid you would go back to school each fall feeling like you were in shape from staying active all summer only to find your legs and abs burning after one gym class because you were now using muscles you had neglected during the past few month? Well, that is exactly what happens to your brain, too, and in a phenomenon commonly referred to as Summer Brain Drain.

What is Summer Brain Drain, you ask? According to research from the Center for Summer Learning at Johns Hopkins University, students typically lose one to two months of reading and math skills during the summer break because they are not regularly exercising their brains.

So, how do you combat Summer Brain Drain? You find fun ways to infuse learning into everyday activities to keep kids’ brains sharp even during the three long months of no formal schooling.

But, how can you do that when most of the summer is spent on the go and you don’t want to spend your days cooped up inside reading or in front of screens? You get a portable learning device that can grow with your child, offers age-appropriate content in a broad library of subjects and that keeps them learning no matter where they are.

Something like the awesome InnoTab 2S, the latest learning app tablet from V-Tech that is perfect for on the go as well as at home. We got to review the VTech InnoTab 2S for the past few weeks and we absolutely love how much fun it is for various ages and how it keeps the kids begging to keep learning.