Archive for Kids Toys

Toys for My Boys

Posted by html404 on June 27, 2012
in Baby Products, Family Stuff, Fun Stuff, Kids Toys, Reviews

In a consumer driven age it’s hard to keep “the stuff” at bay. I have always been one to go through my belongings and get rid of stuff. I can thank my mom for that trait or habit. Our home growing up was never cluttered with stuff and that’s the way I have strived to be, I just have double the people my mom did. It gets tougher when you have eight children, especially when they are home every day. Some of you have the advantage of purging while your kids are at school, I don’t have that luxury. I can’t throw out things they really want to keep, but are useless and take up space. You know all those little trinkets, drawings. They are wonderful but I can’t keep every single one my eight children make or I’d live in paperville! Thankfully, the older my children get the better they are becoming about keeping things to a minimum – that does not mean they are neat about it though!

We have always been on the conservative side of toys too – didn’t want to live in toyville either! So when our children receive toys it is usually something that they have really talked about or we thought they would play with it long term, a figure or little people or an educational toy.

People figures have always been a favorite in our house and something our children never really get tired of playing. Our children recently saw a transformers trailer and so we thought our four year old would enjoy playing with the Transformers Rescue Bot. It is really easy to transform and both our little boys love playing with it. It retails for $12.99.

Here’s a little video with my daughter showing how it works before we let the little boys have it, as I didn’t want to have to hunt for it!

Now my littlest guy gets a kick out of the Playskool Poppin’ Park Squeezn’n Pop lion toy. It’s this little toy lion that has a circle mouth where you can place a ball, then you squeeze and out pops the ball! Junior laughs every time. This is a toy for little ones 18 months and up.

Love these new toys for my boys!

Have your children received any new toys lately? If so, what?

Faith and Family Reviews received the following product in exchange for writing a review. While we consider it a privilege to receive free products to review, our reviews are our honest opinion and thoughts of the product.

Share and Enjoy

{3 comments}

Kohl’s Cares Campaign – A Review

Posted by Professor on June 24, 2012
in Books, Education, Family Stuff, Fun Stuff, Gift Ideas, Giving Back/Charity, Kids Toys, Organization

Kohl’s is one of my favorite stores… not only because they offer a great variety of fashion but because of their low prices and great deals! But Kohl’s is awesome because they also give back though their Kohl’s Cares campaign.

Kohl’s Cares Campaign features merchandise for children and 100 percent of the net profit benefits children’s health and education initiatives nationwide.

Items available through the Kohl’s cares campaign for the Summer 2012 campaign feature Vibrant Guy Parker-Rees illustrated Books, Coordinating plush toys, and tote bag.

Kohl’s Cares Cause Merchandise for Kids Books include:

Down by the Cool of the Pool – Children will love to sing and dance along as the story comes alive with animal sounds and celebration!

Giraffes Can’t Dance – This adorable story will teach children about the importance of individuality in a tale of a giraffe with two left feet.

Dinosaurumpus! – Read this fun story aloud to children and watch their excitement as they get a glimpse into the life of a dinosaur. Who knew dinosaurs could dance? This book and coordinating plush are available exclusively at Kohls.com only.

NEW ITEM: Down by the Cool of the Pool tote bag – Resourceful and cute, this multi-purpose tote bag is great for the pool, a sleepover or even a trip to the grocery and features a vibrant illustration from Down by the Cool of the Pool – a must have for summer!

All items are ONLY $5.00 each

Kohl’s Cares Cause Merchandise for Grown-Ups

Kohl’s is treating adults to a tasty way to support children’s health and education with two cookbooks that are great for the entire family. Beat the summer heat and treat friends and family to a variety of homemade popsicles featured in POPS! Icy Treats for Everyone by Krystina Castella. Adults can also learn to master the art of outdoor grilling with Good Housekeeping: Grilling cookbook. Each cookbook is available for just $5 – a real value!

In addition to the merchandise program, Kohl’s Cares features the Kohl’s Cares Scholarship Program, which last year recognized more than 2,100 young volunteers with a total of $410,000 in scholarships and prizes; the Associates in Action program, which encourages associate volunteerism and provided more than $10 million in grants last year to youth-focused nonprofit organizations and fundraising gift cards for schools and youth-serving organizations. For more information, visit www.Kohls.com/Cares.

OUR REVIEW:

We were very excited to have the opportunity to review items from the Summer Kohl’s Cares Campaign. We received a plush monkey and two books (Giraffes Can’t Dance and Down by the Cool of the Pool). The monkey plush is so cute…my youngest (3 years old) totes it around everywhere and has deemed it her best friend. The books are also a favorite in our household. The stories are very cute and the illustrations are wonderful. The illustrations make the stories pop to life…my children absolutely love hearing the stories again and again.

I would not hesitate to purchase more from this series…not only because the kids love the books and plush but because all of the profit goes to charity. I actually went to Kohl’s today and stopped by the Kohl’s care campaign Kiosk to grab a tote bag…and to my disappointment the entire Kiosk was empty. So…this must be the hot campaign this summer. I hope my local Kohl’s restocks so that I can get some more goodies real soon! Stop by your local Kohl’s and check out what they have to offer!

Share and Enjoy

{20 comments}

Melissa & Doug Giveaway on Facebook!

Posted by Brande on June 19, 2012
in Contests, Education, Family Stuff, Fun Stuff, Gift Ideas, Giveaways, Kids Toys, Parenting, Seasonal Stuff, Shopping

I’m a HUGE Melissa & Doug fan and wanted to share about this great giveaway! Every week they pick a new winner for a great Melissa & Doug Camp Sunny Patch Product – virtual camp for you and your kids! I missed the first 2 weeks, eek! Forgive me! The sprinkler above was for the week ending the 19th. According to their terms page here’s the weekly line up:

6/21 to 6/26 – Spark Shark Floating Target Game

6/17 to 7/3 – Happy Giddy Bug Net

7/5 to 7/10 – Speck Seahorse Sand Ice Cream Set

7/12 to 7/17 – Winner’s Choice Role Play Costume

7/19 to 7/24 – The Box Girls Camp Bunk Box of Questions

7/26 to 7/31 – Backyard Explorer Role Play Costume

8/2 to 8/7 – Spark Shark Fish Hunt Pool Toy

8/9 to 8/14 – Activity Cones – Set of 8

8/16 to 8/21 – Trunki Prize Pack (includes 1 Trunki Suitcase, 1 Trunki Saddlebag, 1 Trunki Tote Bag, 3 packs of Trunki Stickers)

8/23 to 8/28 – USA Map Floor Puzzle

Let me know which Melissa & Doug Giveaway your kids would love!

Share and Enjoy

{4 comments}

Playing Uno – Wordless Wednesday

Posted by html404 on May 23, 2012
in Family Stuff, Kids Toys, Wordless Wednesday

This little girl loves to play Uno! She also likes to give herself all the 4+ and the change color cards!

Share and Enjoy

{21 comments}

Kidorable “Lucky Cat” Backpack

Posted by Professor on May 22, 2012
in Children's Clothing, Family Stuff, Fashion, Fun Stuff, Kids Toys, Reviews

Kidorable delights both children and the adults who love them by transforming everyday, functional kids accessories into objects that excite their imaginations and enrich their lives at play.

From rainwear to backpacks to knitwear and towels, Kidorable speaks to the precious spirit of childhood.

OUR REVIEW:

We were very excited to have the opportunity to review an item from Kidorable’s backpack collection. We were able to choose which backpack to review and my daughter chose the “Lucky Cat” backpack! When we received the product both my daughter (3 years old) and myself were elated with the product. My daughter loved the whimsical kitty design on the front of the backpack as well as the little mouse zipper pull! I loved that the backpack is made of sturdy PVC material that can withstand a toddler’s wear and tear. The backpack is the perfect size for my 3 year old…the dimensions are roughly 10”x8”x6” so the size is great for little shoulders! I also like that it has both and inside and outside pocket for children to stash their items! ”

I do have to say that there are so many cute backpacks to choose from that I had a hard time deciding which one to review…so I did actually pull my 3 year old to the computer and let her “shop” for the one she liked. The online photos and dimensions were great! We were not surprised with any difference in the product than what is listed on the website…everything is just as described! This was great! The product also cam very quickly (to my surprise) and was packaged neatly in a box…this was great because too many times I get items mailed in an envelope that arrive misshapen because the bubble mailer was smashed and mishandled! Kudos Kidorable for great packaging and delivery!

Thank you KIDORABLE for another great collection!

From May 23 through May 31, you can purchase your own backpacks for 20% off by using code BACKPACK99 at checkout on www.kidorable.com.

Check out all the backpack styles for girls and boys.

Share and Enjoy

{17 comments}

Earth Day 2012 Giveaway – $50 Gift Certificate to UncommonGoods!

Posted by html404 on April 20, 2012
in Contests, Eco Friendly Products, Education, Faith and Family Reviews Friday Giveaway, Fun Stuff, Gift Ideas, Giveaways, Kids Toys

We love educational products and tools. UncommonGoods not only has educational toys, but also gifts for plant lovers, hummingbird feeders and unique home accessories. Many handmade and eco-friendly products all very different. Recently we were able to review two of their educational kits for kids – Cheesemaking and Crystal Explosion….And UncommonGoods is providing a $50 gift certificate for one happy winner of our Earth Day 2012 Giveaway! A great way to start off Earth Day weekend!

Cheesemaking Kit Review

We have always been interested in cheesemaking so this was a cool kit to do. My older girls actually did this one and we let the younger children do the Crystal kit.

The kit gives you a choice of making mozzarella cheese or ricotta cheese. We chose mozzarella since we eat more of it than ricotta. The instructions were very well laid out, easy to follow and included photos so you could actually see if your cheese was doing what they said it should at each step.

Everything you need is in the kit except for a gallon of organic milk and a pint of half and half. Those need to be purchased separately. Each little tablet shown has to be cut into quarters, so you can actually make 30 batches of cheese with this kit – bonus!

One of my daughters was worried that the cheese did not turn out, but once we tasted it was fine. We lightly salted it when we tried it and liked that better than plain.

This kit is for older children (teens) to do on their own or for younger children to assist a parent due to needing a heat source, like a stove or microwave. We really try to limit our microwave use.

The girls enjoyed their cheesemaking experience. Now we need our own cow so we can truly make our own cheese.

You can purchase your own kit here($25).

Crystal Explosion Kit Review

Our children have been studying rocks and have been fascinated by what they are learning. The Crystal Explosion kit was very fun for the younger children.

The crystals (bath salts) were a bit messy but the enjoyment the children got from completing the crystal experiment far outweighed the small mess on the table!

Again, this was another kit that is very easy to use. Instructions are easy to follow. Due to hot water being required, some parental guidance and help is required.

It was fun to wake up to the crystals in the refrigerator. We still have them in there! Every now and then the children will bring me the cup and say, “Mommy, look at the crystals” because they are in awe. Very cute.

To order your own Crystal Explosion kit visit this link. It is available for $17.99.

Both of these kits are winners in our house and we give them two thumbs up. Thank you UncommonGoods!

Now you can enter our giveaway….

Earth Day 2012 Giveway – $50 Gift Certificate to UncommonGoods

Enter to win a $50 gift certificate to UncommonGoods! Open to the USA only. Winner will be contacted in 2-3 weeks, if not before.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Share and Enjoy

{21 comments}

Pillow Pets Review

Posted by Brande on March 11, 2012
in Fun Stuff, Holidays, Kids Toys, Shopping

Come sing the jingle with me. I know you’ve heard it….

and a 1….. and a 2……

“It’s a Pillow, it’s a Pet… It’s a Pillow Pet!”

When Jennifer Telfer observed her sons crunching up their stuffed animals to make pillow out of them, Pillow Pets was born.

Most little kids have a special friend that goes EVERYWHERE with them. The Pillow Pet does double duty. BONUS for me – less to carry. These snugly creatures are very soft and have Velcro under their belly. They also have a flap to cover the sticky part of the Velcro. What began as only 6 Pillow Pets is now a huge line, including Farm, Zoo, Ocean, Fantasy, Sports, Specialty and Disney. Coppins Gifts has a large variety to offer.

My Review:

Sir Horse joined our family and he is very much loved by my daughter. He has gone from the grocery store to the couch. Much to my daughters dismay – the other day she found her Daddy taking a nap on Sir Horse. So, it’s a great product even for adults! I really like the flap to cover the Velcro, it keeps the Velcro clean and it doesn’t catch on everything. Go and buy your kids a Pillow Pet. Or tell the Easter Bunny to bring one as Easter is coming!!

Share and Enjoy

{11 comments}

Free Lego Club Magazine Subscription!

Posted by Brande on February 4, 2012
in Deals, Free Stuff, Fun Stuff, Kids Toys, Saving Money

Free Lego Club Magazine Subscription!

It’s for a 2 year subscription!

I signed up and got a confirmation email!

Share and Enjoy

{5 comments}

Hasbro Fun & Coupons!

Posted by Brande on January 20, 2012
in Contests, Coupons, Deals, Free Stuff, Fun Stuff, Gift Ideas, Giveaways, Holidays, Kids Toys, Saving Money, Shopping

I’m always looking for ways to save on toys and games. Sometimes it’s not always easy. I’m big on buying stuff on sale or clearance and saving it for a rainy day or holiday. I was super excited about an email I got this morning! I LOVE coupons and use them regularly.

Go and check out www.hasbro.com/fun . They have great coupons for Playdough, Transformers, Baby Alive, Elmo and more! In addition, they have a daily game for 6 to 13 year olds, are giving away Hasbro toys & games every hour until the end February. AND – they have a daily deal. Today’s was a Baby Alive for 50% off! I unfortunately missed it, but I signed up to get the daily email for a heads up!

Share and Enjoy

{6 comments}

Get a Melissa & Doug 25% Off Coupon When You Take the North “Poll”

Posted by Brande on November 14, 2011
in Baby Products, Books, Coupons, Education, Family Stuff, Fun Stuff, Gift Ideas, Holidays, Kids Toys, SALES, Saving Money, Shopping

Melissa & Doug want you to tell them which of their educational toys you think is the best! Just click on the image below to place your vote in the North “Poll!” You’ll Get a Melissa & Doug 25% Off Coupon** to use at MelissaAndDoug.com just for voting!