Monthly Archives: August 2009

Two Classic Toys for Your Creative Toddler

Age 3-5, Age 5-7, New posts, Toys, Wooden Toys, , ,

Madelyn, 3 years old, is at the age when she appreciates toys that require some level of creativity. Because she is a little young, she can’t take complete advantage of the creative aspects of the toys, but she enjoys trying. For example, she enjoys putting pegs in the Lite-Brite but she can’t place the pegs exactly where need to be to make a picture yet.

A few toys classic creative toys that she play with are:

Lite Brite

Lite Bright

Lite-Brite is one of the toys that I actually remember playing with. I have memories of sitting the dark putting the little pegs in the Lite-Brite often making my own designs. Available in pink, blue, and other colors, boys and girls both love this classic toy which can create a few minutes of peaceful time for you, the mom. Lite-Brite is not recommended for children under 3.

Illuminate your imagination with the classic light-up picture maker is now available in a cool flat screen and in the classic box style. The fun, portable design easily fits on your lap or on a table – it’s cordless, so you can take it anywhere! Most, if not all styles comes with 200 pegs. A large storage compartment allows for easy clean-up, and an automatic shut-off conserves battery life.. now that’s more advanced than mine was about 30 years ago.

Alphabet Blocks

Alphabet Blocks

I know you remember playing with Alphabet Blocks. Did your parents leave you to play with alphabet blocks in the hallway or was that just my parents? Alphabet blocks provide hours of fun, creativity, and education. Unlike Lite-Brite (for safety reasons) your 3-4 year old can play with Alphabet Blocks alone, stacking and knocking them down, or you can play with the blocks with her for a more educational experience. Most alphabet blocks have letters, numbers, and pictures on them and are now non-toxic.

These wooden blocks are great for teaching letter and number recognition, and building creativity. The alphabet blocks pictured here are available in English, Spanish, French, other languages and even braille and are made with fair labor in the USA.

My new Frigidaire range.. yes it really helps save me time, especially when my 9 year old does the cooking!

Food and Drink, Frigidaire, New posts, , , , , ,

Frigidaire RangeSo I’ve been using my new Frigidaire appliances for about a month now and am LOVING all of them. Each of them has saved me time in one way or another and I am excited to tell you that my Frigidaire range has saved me more time than I imagined.. partly because of my 9 year old! The Frigidaire Range has passed the More Me-Time Gauranteed test.

Sebastian absolutely loves using our new Frigidaire range.

  • Did he cook before we got our new range? Uh, no.
  • Did he prepare food before we got our new range? Uh, no.
  • What gives?  Let’s see.. maybe it’s the Quick Boil feature?  The shiny stovetop surface? The 5 racks in the oven? The huge capacity? The 5 stovetop burners? I don’t know!?

So far, Sebastian has made pancakes (2 days in a row!), the kids all time favorite.. macaroni and cheese, and roasted potatoes.  Yes, Sebastian has used all of these features of our new Frigidaire Range.. as have I.  He doesn’t do all of the cooking after all.

Frigidaire appliances - Range

As I’m sure you are aware, timing dinner can be difficult. That’s when the Keep Warm setting comes in really handy.  OK, so maybe it’s not dinner timing so much as it is MY TIMING.  I can be pretty unorganized (I blame it on ADD) when it comes to preparing meals and will have one part of a meal done before another, so the Keep Warm setting is one of my favorites.  I can keep the food that I ‘accidentally’ finished first, warm while preparing and cooking the rest of the food.  My husband especially appreciates the Keep Warm setting as he won’t eat food that isn’t HOT!

A couple of other features Frigidaire Range features that moms will appreciate are:

· Fits-More™ Oven: A unique rack configuration creates more cooking space, so I can do more.
· Largest Range Capacity with Second Oven: Cook a large meal effortlessly with the double oven range. Offering the largest cooking capacity available so you can cook two meals, at different temperatures, at once.

I can even put magnets on my new Frigidaire ‘REAL Stainless Steel’ Range! I’m not sure when you’d want to do that, but I think that’s pretty cool.

icon-star Check out the entire line of NEW Frigidaire Gallery Appliances on the Frigidaire website here.

P.S. Follow me on Twitter to be kept up to date on me and my new Frigidaire appliances!  Exciting, huh?

More Frigidaire links to check out and how you can win Frigidaire appliances:

  • Frigidaire More Me-Time Guarantee
  • The Frigidaire DAILYDARE
  • Tell Frigidaire what 5 things you would do with an extra hour and you’re automatically entered for a chance to win a suite of NEW Frigidaire appliances!
  • Frigidaire on Facebook

Alicia Hagan, Editor

Win a Sleep Number® p5 Queen bed set from Select Comfort!

New posts, Relaxation, , , ,

Sleep Number bedSign up for the Must Sleep Fan Page for a chance to win a Sleep Number® p5 Queen bed set!

Entering the “You are what you sleep” contest is easy! All you have to do is become a “Must Sleep” Facebook Fan and enter the contest via the link on Must Sleep’s wall (or go to www.sleepnumber.com/sleep), and tell us why sleep is important to you! Has it been years since you’ve gotten a good night’s sleep? Whether its back pain, having a newborn, or stress, sleep deprivation happens to us all and the impact on your life is huge!  Be funny or be profound, but don’t put us to sleep!

The contest starts Monday, August 3 and entries will be submitted until August 22. Then come back to Facebook to vote on the top five finalists between August 27- September 3.The story with the most “likes” will win a Sleep Number p5 Queen bed set.
Good luck!

Alicia Hagan, Editor

Animal Fun Time iPhone app review + 5 readers will get a free copy!

Age 1-3, Age 3-5, Age 5-7, Educational Toys, Games, iphone, New posts, , , , , ,

Animal Fun Time iPhone appI’m having a blast trying out new iPhone apps and what’s even better is that I get to watch my kids enjoy them too! Yes, I try apps for organizing, apps for recipes, apps for travel, but apps for the kids are the most fun because my kids are involved and I love to see their reaction and desire to play or watch them over and over again.  My kids are on iPhone time limits.  I don’t recommend handing your iPhone over to your kids and letting them have at it for hours. I think about 10 minutes at a time is plenty.

Animal Fun Time (iTunes link), brought to us by people operating technology, provides interactive musical on-screen flashcards featuring the animals as the stars. Promoting interactive see, touch & recognition skills, with bright colors and great sound effects, it’s the perfect app for a busy toddler AND for a busy parent who needs a busy toddler!

So what is Animal Fun Time? It is an app that teaches toddlers ages 3+ animal recognition as well as hand-eye coordination.  There are 5 animals on the screen at a time and your child must ‘press’ on the correct animal to move to the next screen. Kids are awarded with realistic (if not real) animal sounds and enthusiastic praise when he/she presses on the correct animal.

Madelyn, 3 years old, has a great time with Animal Fun Time. She loves to hear the noise each animal makes when she chooses the correct animal. The game is randomized so the game is never the same and thus your kids won’t get bored with it. Oh, and don’t worry, there’s no need for instructions so you can count on handing your iPhone over to your toddler to play Animal Fun Time and she’ll be on her way to a super fun time!

GIVEAWAY!
Thanks to people operating technology, we are giving 5 lucky readers their own free copy of Animal Fun Time!
1 entry: Just leave a comment below telling me why you want to win Animal Fun Time and/or tell us a funny story about your child and your iPhone.  Did something crazy happen when your kid had your iPhone?  Let us know!
2 extra entries: Click the green ‘retweet’ button to share this post with your Twitter friends then leave a comment below with your Twitter ID.
Entries accepted until August 25th, 2009.

Alicia Hagan, Editor

[tweetmeme]

KidZui, the Internet for Kids + we are giving away 5 KidZui Memberships!

Age 3-5, Age 5-7, Age 7-10, Games, New posts, Online Fun for Kids, , , , ,

KidZui Internet browser for kidsKidZui is an Internet browser for kids that I recently installed on my laptop and my son’s laptop.  He totally LOVES KidZui.  He has access to his favorite games and virtual worlds like Club Penguin and is introduced to safe online games and educational websites that he might not have otherwise learned about and can even interact SAFELY with other KidZui members. No matter where a user is in KidZui, he/she can get back to the KidZui home screen, and lists of games, virtual worlds, educational sites, and more.  In other words, navigating KidZui is simple.

Great for kids ages 3-12, KidZui users (even non-members) can create their own Zui choosing a hairstyle, clothes, and even the shape of his eyes.  All of the options can make for a very interesting Zui!

KidZui is a stand alone Internet browser meaning that you do not have to have IE or Firefox open to access KidZui.

KidZui FEATURES FOR PARENTS:

  • Parent Account access
  • Find out what websites your child has been visiting
  • E-mailed reports of your kid’s online activity
  • Accounts include all the kids in your family – Sebastian and Madelyn have their own Zui’s
  • Unlimited history of your kid’s activity – MEMBERS ONLY
  • View your kid’s top interests by their online activity – MEMBERS ONLY
  • Block individual websites – MEMBERS ONLY

KidZui FEATURES FOR KIDS

  • Over a million pieces of content
  • Express your style & create your own Zui
  • Share your favorite content with friends
  • Join the community & make parent approved friends
  • Unlock over 100 new Zui clothes & accessories – MEMBERS ONLY
  • Create your own channel with your favorite content – MEMBERS ONLY
  • Unlock extra features by gaining levels – MEMBERS ONLY

GIVEAWAY!
We are giving 5 lucky readers a FREE KidZui Membership!
1 entry: Leave a comment below telling me why you want your own KidZui Membership and you are entered to win!
2 extra entries: Retweet this post using the green retweet button below then leave a comment below with your Twitter user name in the Twitter ID box so we know you ‘retweeted’ this post.  That’s it! [tweetmeme]