Win Caldecott Favorites on DVD- Great Educational Movies for the Kids

This is a wonderful 3-pack of DVDs from SCHOLASTIC that will both engage your child and expose them to some of their favorite stories. No flashy, wild animation here- these low-key movies are slow moving pictures from the mentioned books that they come from, with the words along the bottom that your child can read along with,

On the Caldecott Favorites DVD, featuring the award-winning Snowy Day, you and your child will see 23 Award-Winning Stories in a 3-DVD collection-
Caldecott award winners including Ezra Jack Keats’ The Snowy Day, Hans Christian Andersen’s The Ugly Duckling and Denise Fleming’s In the Small, Small Pond come together for the first time in Caldecott Favorites!
Antarctic Antics
o Antarctic Antics
o Bear Snores On
o In the Small, Small Pond
o Bark, George
Ezra Jack Keats Collection
o The Snowy Day
o Peter’s Chair
o Whistle for Willie
o Pet Show!
Make Way for Ducklings
o Make Way for Ducklings
o The Ugly Duckling
o The Story About Ping
o Angus and the Ducks

And maybe as a follow up, you can visit the library and choose a book from the series that you may not have read together yet!
We had never read Peter’s Chair, so that is just what we did. What a great way to expose your child or children to more books and stories, and these are award winning favorites and classics all children should read.
Fabulous for the classroom, daycare, or an in-home-care environment as well, literacy can only help your child in every aspect of his or her life, and these videos support honesty, humor, respect, and a love of reading. Not to mention if you have an animal lover in your home, this will be a smash-hit, with all the animal antics going on in these DVDs!

Another Read-Along DVD that I love (and is appropriate for today!) is called “Giving Thanks (and more stories to celebrate Native American heritage)”. This DVD will help support a love of history, learning, friendship, and an appreciation for our culture and the culture of Native Americans.

This DVD contains the following stories-

GIVING THANKS (Written and narrated by Chief Jake Swamp, illustrated by Erwin Printup Jr.) Known as the Thanksgiving Address, this Native American good morning message is based on the belief that the natural world is a precious and rare gift – from the moon and the stars to the tiniest blade of grass.

HIAWATHA (By Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, illustrated by Susan Jeffers) Hiawatha’s boyhood is gracefully brought to life against a background of authentic Native American music in this excerpt from Longfellow’s classic poem.

THE PILGRIMS OF PLIMOTH (Written and illustrated by Marcia Sewall) The arrival of the Pilgrims in the new world is chronicled in this dramatic reenactment of their daily activities during those first trying years in the colony they called Plimoth.

LINCOLN AND DOUGLASS: AN AMERICAN FRIENDSHIP (By Nikki Giovanni, illustrated by Bryan Collier, narrated by Danny Glover) The story of an unusual, historic friendship between two great American leaders – Abraham Lincoln and [Read more…]

Olly Oogleberry- an Alien Review

Olly Oogleberry is a strange little alien from the planet Oogleberry. He is on a mission of discovery and adventure. Olly and his friends explore different planets and even a planet we all know and love, Earth.
Olly is a cute little guy, who is on a T-Shirt Little Man likes a lot. We got this cool orange shirt with an ‘army of Olly’s’. The shirt also says hello in five languages. Little Man likes it because not only is there an alien on it, but also there are words he doesn’t know. Every time he puts it on, or takes it off or just happens to take a look a it he asks, ‘what’s that one say?’. Take a look at the Olly Oogleberry site.

You can pick up all sorts of Olly gear, from shirts to skateboards to books to phone cases.
After traveling 11 million years from his home Planet of Oogleberry, Olly and his band of alien misfits have landed on planet earth to a town near you, just in time for the holidays.

Olly and his friends are here to to educate and inspire with a published [Read more…]

Merry Christmas- From Timmy Time! Cute toy and DVD- GET YOURS HERE

My Son LOVES Timmy Time! Since the minutes he got his Jakks Pacific Timmy Time toy, he has not put him down, including to the mall, to see Santa, and you can bet pretty much everyplace else. Timmy looks just like he does on TV/in the Movies, and he makes all sorts of adorable “Baa-ing” sounds as well. Lots of varieties! LOL.

Timmy is super soft, snuggley and cuddly, and my son’s buddy of choice at the moment. He has also asked Santa for Ruffy the Puppy, so we will see what “Santa” can come up with. The soft factor is a must for a stuffed sheep, don’t you think? LOL
Timmy has a few friends that you can also pick up, which feature all the key characters from the show, including Timmy, Mittens the Kitten, Ruffy the Puppy and Yabba the Duckling. These cuties are huggable and playable – the perfect collectible plush!
The newest Timmy Time DVD, Go Kart Timmy, is available as of November 22, 2011.

Timmy’s newest movie!
Fun for all the kiddos, and a hit “across the pond” that made it’s way to the USA 🙂

PROGRAM DESCRIPTION
It’s go time for loveable lamb Timmy and all his barnyard buddies in Timmy Time™: Go Kart Timmy, featuring five fun adventures all about being preschoolers on the move, coming to DVD November 22, 2011 from Lionsgate and HIT Entertainment. From the Oscar

Trash Pack Review and Giveaway

These were some of my FAVORITE new toys from Time To Play and I COULD NOT wait to show them to you! Tomorrow is the Biggest Shopping Day of the year- make sure these are on your list! So cool- and all the boys love them. LOVE them!

So, we all know about Squinkies and all the rest of the small toys. The only issue is most of these little toys are geared toward girls. Little Man absolutely loves anything handheld or smaller, pretty much any toy that is small enough to fit in his pocket. Out comes Trash Pack. Trash Pack is are these nasty little toys which are fashioned after garbage or bugs or vermin of some type. These toys are perfect for little boys or tom boys. They are even good for kids who want to play in all that icky nasty stuff, but don’t want to play in the icky nasty stuff.

The little toys themselves are very detailed and incredibly creative, just take a look at Wasted Banana.
We had the pleasure of trying out the Collector’s Trash Can. This is a great start to your Trashies collection, not only do you get a Collectors tin that can hold 18 Trashies and their mini trash can holders. It also comes with two to start your collection, pew-Shi and SkummySkull. If you happen to collect more then just the allotted 18 Trashies, you can always fit more into the Collector’s Trash Can.

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Extra Entries
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-Become a Fan of TrashPack on Facebook – Facebook is in no way sponsoring this contest- never required, always appreciated! You can also tell them what your favorite toy is.

-“Like” me on Facebook– Feel free to leave some comment love! FaceBook is in no way sponsoring this contest.
+2 entries

-Subscribe to Have [Read more…]

Think Geek Pre -Thanksgiving Geek Out

Kittens, Trekkies, Ninjas, and stunts. Oh my!

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to a Holiday episode of ThinkGeek Awesome from Daddy to you!
Today we are highlighting some great gift ideas for those of you who are looking for something just a bit nerdy for those you care for.

First up from the hit TV show Big Bang Theory, Soft Kitty. Soft Kitty is an absolutely soothing song which Shelden’s mother used to sing to him when he was ill. This little kitty is cute and when you press her paw she plays the song, in a sweet voice. A good gift for either the warrior princess in your life who still loves her stuffed animals at bed time, little nerds in training, or just for any fan of The Big Bang Theory.

Up next is the Star Trek Nutcracker. These nutcrackers are of Kirk and Spock. Most important item of interest is they are functional, they can crack shelled legumes with the best of them. Yes I know, the nuts do not crack in their mouths. Well I am sure Kirk and Spock would feel mighty silly and rude now that it’s mentioned, spitting food into your hand, what are they- 3? These are high quality and officially licensed Star Trek nutcrackers, great for an Trek fan for a Holiday gift. Or even for a non-Star Trek fan to watch as Kirk struggles to open a Brazil nut with his chest.

Cookies- is there a way to make them more awesome then they already are? Is there anything better then walking into a house and smelling fresh baked cookies then being able to bite into a warm cookies? I think not. The holidays [Read more…]

HexBugs Review and Get Yours Here!

I am positive you have all heard of HexBugs. Those odd little bug-like robots that are brightly colored and seem to be kid magnets. The HexBugs line up is constantly, well evolving, and one of their most recent additions are the larva. These are very creepy crawly insects that look like brightly colored maggots. These larva react to objects in their path. That means if you happen to get in front of it as it is crawling along the table, it backs up and goes tin the opposite direction.

On the surface, it doesn’t seem like much- but when it is part of the crawling tail wiggling etc., it makes for a very odd and creepy creature. HexBugs are very interesting as single creatures but you definitely get more of the Bug activities when you have more then one reacting to one another. It gets to the point where you get weird-ed out they are so realistic. The movement and reactions of the Bugs are so alien and bug like they really creep out the kids, to the point where they didn’t want to touch them. But after some prodding they were laughing and playing with them too.

HexBugs are fun for both kids and adults. Kids think they are cool and weird. Adults are curious and interested.
I know this sounds, bad but HexBugs shine in swarms. If you ever get a chance check out a big set up of the Nano Habitat. It is mesmerizing how ant/swarm/bug like they all move/interact and in general move about.

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Leave me your email so I can contact you if you win.

Extra Entries
Leave a separate comment for each entry.
-Become a Fan of HexBug on Facebook – Facebook is in no way sponsoring this contest- never required, always appreciated! You can also tell them what your favorite toy is.
+2 entries

– Follow HexBug on Twitter and tweet about this contest

#Win @HexBug Prize Pack #GIVEAWAY!!! http://tinyurl.com/6tr6jqf @HaveSippy



ScentSicles- Perfect for your Holidays! Win yours here :)

Don’t you just love Christmas?
We decorate the day after Thanksgiving, to get the most out of the holidays.

I cannot believe Christmas is nearly here! Thanksgiving is just a few days away, which means that there are just a few days left to get ready. For us, this year, with the flood doing what it did, this will be a WAY toned down Christmas- what can ya do, right? We are even using (GASP!) a fake tree, for the first time.

I am one of those people who love that smell of a real tree and hate, hate, hate fake trees. But this year we are going to do what we need to do, and moving on! LOL. But we were sent these fun holiday products to try, called ScentSicles.

ScentSicles™ Fragrance-Infused with the Smell of Fresh-Cut Trees and Cinnamon Sticks, they smell so great!

Made of natural fibers sourced from sustainable resources and infused with pure fragrance, ScentSicles are a
no-mess, no-flame, simple way to make artificial holiday greenery smell real!
They are perfect for Secret Santas or hostess gifts.
SO, as bummed as I am for the no-real-tree (and my inner hippie is screaming!!!) I do like that the ScentSicles are bringing a little Holly Jolly back into my house this year.

ScentSicles come in four sets: ScentSicles
ScentSticks, Cinnamon Spice – 6pc
Description: http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=clotoluc-20&l=as2&o=1&a=B005VGEQOO&camp=217145&creative=399373 ScentSicles,
Fresh Cut Spruce – 6pc
Description: http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=clotoluc-20&l=as2&o=1&a=B005VFMSYA&camp=217145&creative=399373 ScentSicles,
Fresh Cut

Buy them! ScentSicles are available seasonally at
Walmart, Bed Bath and Beyond, Michaels, Cracker Barrel, Office Depot,
Frontgate catalogs, AAFES, Meijer, Hallmark and select Home Depot stores nationwide,
as well as year round at ScentSicles.com
and Amazon.com.
Or you can Win them!
The fresh smelling EnviroScent’s peeps have generously offered one lucky duck the same two Fresh-Cut Spruce and Cinnamon Stick ScentSicles that I tried out.

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Leave me your email so I can contact you if you win.

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[Read more…]

Super Mario 3D Land Party & Game Review

We were recently invited to a wonderful event in Times Square in New York City to celebrate the release of the new 3DS game Super Mario 3D Land. This party included a full real life recreation of a few staples from the game, including Piranha flowers, bouncy blocks, question bricks, and even a slide. The best part was the jumpy blocks played the Mario jumping sound, and one of the Piranha flowers spit at you, while you were behind a clear shield.

Before everyone had their chance to play in 3D Land there were some parkour performers dressed as Mario that flipped, jumped and flew around. It was very neat- and I love to watch this in person there is a certain level of excitement when watching someone hop around in ways that seem to stretch reality a bit.

If you were one of the lucky peeps, you also received a Tanooki tail and ears to complete your Mario experience. No, they did not let you float slower while jumping, but they did look really cool and would make a good travel pillow because they were so soft and the perfect size. There is a new product line for you Nintendo! Tanooki tail travel pillow- feel free to use that one (LOL).
There was also mushroom pizza available for the low price of a tweet with a #Hashtag. Didn’t have magic properties but sustenance.

Ok ready, set- PLAY! Here is everything you have to know if you are a Mario fan. This is a very good Mario game. Get it, you will not be disappointed, I promise you this.

Super Mario 3D Land for the Nintendo 3DS is the most recent Mario game in a long line of superb games. For every system Nintendo releases they also release at least one Mario game, this is the first one for the 3DS. In Mario Land you take on the role of Mario, our Italian hero in blue and red as he tries to save the princess from the clutches of Bowser, and his cohorts Boom Boom and Pom Pom.

The first level of 3D Land acts as an introduction to the first 3D platforming Mario game ever. I will admit, at first I was apprehensive on a 3D Mario game. Mario is best known for his side scrolling adventures jumping from turtle shell to block, shooting fireballs and swinging his tail along the way. Within that first level I fell for it. Great fun, the 3D is seamless and [Read more…]