AirForce BlowGun

Foam dart guns are all the rage in our house right now. Thanks to AirForce BlowGun my girls have discovered a love for foam dart guns. The AirForce BlowGun is a super simple foam dart gun. Basically you stick a foam dart in the barrel of gun place your mouth on the mouth piece gently suck in and then blow out to launch the dart out of the barrel.  Its so simple even my 3 year old niece can shoot it. They sell for $24.95 on Amazon.com click HERE to find them. They also sell refill packs you get 50 darts for $9.95 click HERE for those. Click HERE for the AirForce BlowGun web site.




When our AirForce BlowGun arrived the girls were super excited and basically tore open the shipping box to see what had arrived. In side the actual box we found the BlowGun, a pair of safety goggles, and a pack of 10 foam darts. There is some minor assembly required but no tools are necessary. All you have to do is stick the mouth piece on the side of the gun I didn't even need directions to figure this part out. We did read the directions on the back of the box to see how to load the gun. One of the first things I noticed is that its made of a nice sturdy plastic its not a flimsy hunk of junk.

It took the girls who are 4 and 6 years old all of 2 min to figure out how to load and shoot the AirForce BlowGun. My 4 year old is a lefty and she does have some trouble shooting it but I hear a left handed model is in the works. They also offer a video on how to convert a right handed gun to a left handed gun. We may have to do this if the left handed models don't come out soon. I'm not sure how long I can handle the two girls arguing over this one gun. We definitely need a second one. Pop (aka grandpa) is even getting in on the fun and chasing the girls and Nana (aka grandma) around the house with it. You can also shoot baby marshmallows out of it.

The aim is surprisingly good for a toy.

I have no complaints about this toy. It works wonderfully there is really nothing to stop working on it. Since you use your own lung power to shoot it, you don't have to pump it up like some of the other foam dart guns. So in less your kid tosses it off the second story deck or pounds on it with something heavy this baby is going to last you the long haul. I do wish they sold them in two packs since its a lot more fun to play with a buddy.  One of the tips did come off one of the foam darts but I just glued it back on it was not a big deal and I am sure one of the girls probably pulled it off while they were arguing over who's turn it was. I have to admit everyone in our house is arguing over this thing. I have a feeling everyone is going to be putting these on there birthday and Christmas list this year. Check out this cool video from AirForce BlowGun.



Find them On FACEBOOK
Find them On Amazon

Disclaimer: We received a Free AirForce BlowGun to test out for this review. All opinions are my own or that of my family and children. We were not paid for this review.

Eitech Construction Set

I have two little girls who are builders they love putting things together and taking them apart. When I got the opportunity to work with Eitech on a review of one of there products. Eitech makes construction sets for kids. They have kits to build cars plains, dump trucks, tractors, buildings etc. You name it they probably have a construction set to build it. We received the Basic Helicopter Construction set. It is geared for ages 6 and up you can find it hear on there site http://eitechamerica.com/Basic/C47/Eitech_C47.html  sells for about $12 depending on where you order from. They have a wide selection for different age groups from as little as 4 years old to 8+. Prices vary depending on the item.  Hear are a few of the construction sets they offer.

The Eitech Construction Set we  received is for ages 6+ so mommy had to help with the assembly a little. My oldest is 5 and she is very handy with a screw driver. The kits come with everything you need to construct your kit. Ours included a little screw driver and a small wrench to tighten the screws and nuts.  The directions are simple pictures showing you in stages what to assemble next. For the Kit we received there are three pieces that you will have to bend a little the directions show you which ones to bend and how.  The parts were very easy to bend with just my fingers. It was simple to assemble took me about 10 minutes because I stopped to take pictures. It went together nicely and looks just like the picture on the box.  The main rotor and tail rotor even spin very cool in the girls opinion. It is a little smaller than I expected it fits in the palm of my hand. So I wouldn't leave it laying in the floor.

 I took it back apart again so that the Hot Rod princess could try constructing it. I had to help her some with figuring out what part to assemble next but she didn't have any trouble tightening the screws but she did need a little help getting the nuts started. It took her a bit longer to assemble it than it took me but she is only 5.  All in all its a great product that looks and feels like it will hold up as long as it doesn't get left in the floor for mom to steps on.

I think Eitech Construction sets would be a great gift for any little builder. We plan to get a few other models for the girls to construct. http://eitechamerica.com 







Disclosure: I received this product at no cost for review. All opinions are my own or what my kids thought of the product.

PinyPon Party

the girls waiting for the party

This weekend we hosted a PinyPon party. I had never even heard of PinyPon tell I got the invitation to host a PinyPon party. PinyPon are mini-dolls world that are designed for independent and modern girls, that love fashion clothes animals and nature. You can collect and create endless characters. PinyPon is a colorful collection of amazing interchangeable friends you can swap everything arms legs, dresses, hair styles, you can even swap there faces. I know its a great idea. They are designed for kids 4 and up this is because there are some small parts involved like purses etc that a small child could choke on. So please please be careful with these if you have little ones in the house.  There is also a PinyPon hotel, apartment, shopping mall, car, and a caravan. We received a caravan and several PinyPon figures for the kids to test out at the party.  

I love the PinyPon figures they look cute and the girls can change them around so they don't get board with them quite as easily. They are easy enough to change around that they can do it on there own. The caravan is super cute the top comes off and when you turn it over it makes a little boat complete with a slide. Inside the caravan the side lays down and has a little bath tub there is even a refrigerator and beds. It does come with a table and chairs and very small dishes be very careful with these some of them are as small as my finger nail and the spoons and forks were like the size of my stud earnings. I sucked a couple up with the vacuum after the party they have gotten lost in the carpet. Over all I love the caravan I was a little disappointed that the flip up window on the side of the caravan keeps coming off. There is also quite a bit of assembly with these you have to put a few things together and there are quite a few stickers that will need to be stuck on. The kids loved PinyPon they spent hours playing with them trading and changing parts and accessories. I cant believe how much fun they had with everything. PinyPon had defiantly on the Christmas list this year. Check out the pictures and see how much fun they had exploring and learning about PinyPon. You can see the PinyPon site http://www.pinypon.com/ you can find PinyPon at several different retailers including amazon and toys r us Prices range between $4.99 and $19.99. A fairly reasonable price for a toy that has so many different fashion options.  I can see a lot more PinyPon in the future Let the Collecting begin!

One of the fashion show certificates we gave out. the kids
had a lot of fun with the fashion show.

We also got to try out a new doll by the makers of PinyPon. Its the Nenuco New Born Makes bubbles doll. Its a cute little baby that drinks form its bottle wets in the potty and blows bubbles when you squeeze its hand. Its a great little baby that is designed for ages 4+. It can be found at several retailers kmart, amazon,toys r us. Hear is the Nenuco site so you can check out all the great Nenuco dolls that they offer. http://www.nenucofamosa.com
I liked the Nenuco baby doll because its got a potty for it to go in. Our other doll that goes potty did not have a potty and the diapers were expensive. Its got a cute face and I love all the chubby baby arms and legs.  The pacifier looks so much like the ones the girls had when they were baby's.  Its just a fun doll that little girls would love to care for.


Disclaimer:I would like to thank MommSelect and PinyPon for providing us with the free toys and supply's used in our PinyPon Party.

Melissa & Doug Terrific Twenty List and Giveaway

The holidays are just around the corner, so you know what that means….time for the Melissa & Doug “Terrific Twenty” list! This list compiles the “best of the best” holiday gifts for the 2012 holiday season, and we’re excited to share it here with you!

To celebrate, Melissa and Doug is having a “20 Days of Terrific Twenty” Giveaway on there Facebook page! Every day (starting TODAY, November 6) we’ll be giving away one item from our Terrific Twenty list to at least one of there lucky Facebook fans!

Go to the Melissa and Dough facebook page to enter to win. http://www.facebook.com/MelissaAndDoug

To make checking out the 2012 Terrific Twenty List you can click HERE to go directly to there website.

We love Melissa and Dough toys and they have so many wonderful quality items to choose from we can always find something for our girls. If you are have a special child in your life and want to find them something really great this year I encourage you to click HERE and check out the 2012 Terrific Twenty List.  

LeapFrog Touch Magic Rock n' Learn Party

We got an amazing opportunity this month  to Host a LeapFrog Touch Magic Rock n' Learn Party. 

First Up for the Party the Touch Magic Rockin' Guitar:

Little touches. Big learning.™
• Amp up the learning fun and create and perform music while building motor skills and confidence!
• Includes guitar, percussion and special effect sounds—even applause.
• Ten different learning songs let little musicians layer in sounds and create their own unique music.
• The Touch Magic Rockin' Guitar is appropriate for children ages 3+ years.
• Parents can connect to the online LeapFrog® Learning Path for customized learning insights and ideas to expand the learning.

The girls taking there turn at the party!

The Touch Magic Rockin' Guitar teaches: 

Music: Making and listening to music can increase a child's creativity as well as support language, math, and physical development.

Social play: As children get older, they interact more often with one another during play--making things, dramatizing, or playing games.

Motor Skills: Motor skills allow children to coordinate the muscles needed to pull, push, grasp, point, and write.

Price $24.99 and you can Click Hear to get it. 

The kids loved this little guitar its super easy to use touch the on button and it starts playing strum the guitar faster and the song play faster. Its got some cute songs on it that the kids already knew so they could sing along. They had a blast taking turns with it and seeing who could sing the song the fastest. It runs on 3AAA batteries they are included and so far we haven't had to change them. I love that its got volume control on the back Lo and HI. Hi is not as loud as I expected which is a good thing when the girls insist on playing it while I am trying to write this review.  It does not have raised strings the face of the guitar is completely smooth. No groves for gunk to get stuck in. Its simple enough that even the smaller kids enjoyed it. we did take off the strap for the little ones to be sure they did not get it tangled around there neck or other body part. It is very light weight so its perfect for little ones to rock out with.

Second UP in the Touch Magic Rock n' Learn Party is the Touch Magic Learning Bus. Hears what the product is about:

Little touches. Big learning.™
• Hop on board for fun with the alphabet, early vocabulary, motor skills and learning songs!
• Make a movement or touch a sensor to activate the bus and get the learning journey rolling.
• Switch between 3 modes: Learning, Letter Exploration and Music, which includes fun sing-along songs about the alphabet, motion and more.
• The Touch Magic Learning Bus is appropriate for children ages 2+ years.
• Parents can connect to the online LeapFrog® Learning Path for customized learning insights and ideas to expand the learning.

This is what it teaches:

Letter names and sounds: To read independently, children must understand the relationship between the sounds in spoken words and the letters that represent those sounds.

Early vocabulary: Children expand their listening vocabulary by matching pictures to words.

Music: Making and listening to music can increase a child's creativity as well as support language, math, and physical development.

Animals: Even very young children can begin to categorize animals by species, imitate their sounds and learn interesting facts about them.

Price $24.99 and you can click hear to get it.

The Smaller Kids loved this one. The music is great its got a lot of my favorite songs on it. Like the touch Magic Rock n' Learn guitar the face is completely smooth so no places for gunk to get trapped. It has both a High and Lo volume on it. Runs on 3AAA batteries and they are holding out quite well we haven't had to change them yet. The little ones seemed to like making there own music with the piano keys and  hearing the animal sounds. The Touch Magic Learning Bus is also very light weight so its easy to carry around the house.

All the Kids had a great time at the touch Magic Rock n' Learn Party Jamming to some tunes and Playing all the fun games they sent us. Great Job LeapFrog! Thanks for another fun product.


We received the materials for the Tough Magic Rock n' Learn Party free of charge as part of a Mom Select Party Hosting Package. The kids had a great time Thanks LeapFrog and Mom Select!!! 

LeapFrog Tag Human Body Discovery Pack #LeapFrogTag #spon

                                                      

Thank you to LeapFrog for sponsoring this review.  For more information about the LeapFrog Tag Human Body Discovery Pack, please click hear to visit their website #LeapFrogTag #spon
.

This week I was given the opportunity to Review a product by LeapFrog. The Tag Human Body Discovery Pack. Before I get to that part of the review I want to explaining what the Tag Reading system in-case you haven't discovered this great learning tool. Tag is a reading system that brings stories to life with sound effects, the voices of there favorite characters, and exciting activities. The Tag system has a library of 60+ books, maps and more. The Tag system is designed to help guide your child on a reading adventure.

The Tag Human body Discover Pack Its a 5 piece set that brings learning fun about the human body and nutrition facts. You use the tag reader to bring the human body chart to life. It teaches all the amazing things that make up the human body and how different parts of the body work together. Its got a two sided interactive chart and game board. It reinforces learning through 300+ responses and over 40 activities. With an interactive growth chart and interactive glow in the dark stickers the possibilities are endless. The Tag Human Body Discovery Pack sells for $19.99 and you can click hear to find it on the Leapfrog site. Don't forget that the tag reader is required to use the Human Body Discovery Pack.

I gave the Hot Rod Princess a quick demonstration of how the tag system worked. She picked it up very quick and was excited to start exploring. I had to pry her away from it to get her to come eat dinner. Its always great to see your kids get excited to learn something new. I was amazed at how much information she has picked up from the Tag Human Body Discovery Pack. She really loved the skeletal system, she has walked around for two days no feeling the bones in our hands, feet, arms and legs even naming a few. She surprised her POP when she informed him that the bones in his fingers were called phalanges and that muscles made her hand open and close. She has spent a lot of time with it each morning and is now asking for more Tag books. Snoopy gets a kick out of hearing it talk and loves to sit next to the Hot Rod Princess while she is working. She loves the wash your hands song its quite catchy and we have begun singing and danging to it when we wash our hands. The tooth brushing song is the Hot Rod Princesses favorite song she likes to play it while she is brushing her teeth at night. I have to admit its a fun song.

The Tag Human body Discovery Pack is helping me to teach the girls about the Human body and good nutrition. I have to admit I love interactive learning products and so do the girls. The two sided interactive chart is cool. You can touch everything on it to learn something new. We had a great time exploring the human body and I even re learned a few things I had forgotten.  We set up the interactive growth chart and the girls took turns marking there height on it. Since they both celebrated there birthdays this week we got try out the Birthday stickers. The stickers are interactive so when you touch the birthday sticker the Tag reader say's This marks your height on your birthday and cheers the girls got a kick out of it. The Hot Rod Princess now wants to loose her first tooth just so she can put the interactive tooth sticker on the growth chart. The Human Body Discovery Pack comes with some other interactive stickers that the girls have really enjoyed. We love that it talks to you so its great for a little independent learning time.  I like the games because they help to reinforce what they have learned. But the girls like them because they are fun. Me and The Hot Rod Princess have a lot of fun with the Making healthy choices game. We even make games of our own using the Interactive stickers to see who can get the most bones and muscles right.

Leapfrog's Got a video available so you can see the Tag Human Body Discovery Pack in Action check it out its very cool.
Tag Human Body:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2e9ROt7OplE



To shop for the Tag Human Body Discovery Pack Click Hear

Find LeapFrog on facebook Click Hear
Find LeapFrog on Twitter Click Hear






I was selected for this opportunity as a compensated member of Clever Girls Collective and received free product from LeapFrog to review. The content and opinions expressed here are all my own. #LeapFrogTag #spon

Chalk City Where SideWalk Chalk and Riding Toys Meet!

Chalk City® is a family of outdoor toys that combines two activities that boys and girls love—playing with sidewalk chalk and playing with riding toys. Kids of all ages can easily use the Road Maker®, Road Sign Stencils and Obstacle Course Stencils for hours of fun. The Chalk City® Road Maker® has won many awards, including The National Parenting Center Seal of Approval, Tillywig's Best Family Fun, Creative Child Magazine's Seal of Excellence and Parent's Choice Recommended. 

You can go to http://www.chalkcity.com to find a retailer near you. You can also find Chalk City Products on Amazon. Where you can get the full activity Kit for $39.99.

Now that the technical stuff is out of the Way the fun stuff. I got a little carried away with pictures on this one there was just so much fun to photograph.

 My Girls LOVE Chalk City. They have played with this for hours. Its super fun and allows there creativity to run free. For weeks now our drive way has been covered in Roads and signs. We even hit the local park where we made a huge road on the walking path complete with stop signs and turn markers.

Chalk City defiantly gives you your bang for your buck. For $39.99 you get the road maker, road sign stencils, and obstacle course stencils, and chalk. the road maker and the stencils all come in there own bright colored carry bag for easy transportation. The road maker makes evenly spaced lines the perfect width for your child's bike scooter sate board etc. it makes great curvy roads circles and turns. It folds up for compact storage. The road sign stencils give you all the basics road signs STOP, Turn Right, Turn Left, and Straight. the Obstacle course stencils include a pair feet for hopping, a Jumping jack stencil, and a spin right or left stencil. I found that the chalk fit well in all the stencil's but the toes on the pair of feet. the toes are just kind of small and the big size chalk doesn't fit in the holes real well after the tip of the chalk has wore down. Not a big deal for me we just added the toes in free hand. be prepared to have a lot of chalk on hand because once they start using chalk city they will always want a road to ride there bike on. The chalk city site even has activity ideas for you and your kids http://www.chalkcity.com/activities1.html


We had a blast with Chalk city It's perfect for summer time fun and it would make a great gift.
Find Chalk City http://www.chalkcity.com
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/ChalkCity
Twitter https://twitter.com/chalkcitytoys
Check Chalk City out on Youtube http://www.youtube.com/chalkcityfamily




Disclosure: I received these products at no cost for review. All opinions are my own or what my kids thought of the product.

Cloud B Twilight Ladybug

Today's Review is the Twilight Ladybug
by Cloud B product
 This is there site if you'd like to check them out. http://cloudb.stores.yahoo.net/ongo1.html#7353  It sells for about $29.95 but we got ours locally at a conservation center and i believe we paid $25.00 for it. They also have Twilight sea Turtle that is very cute also. We bought the Lady Bug for my daughter last year because I call her lady bug.

What it is and How it Works:
This is a cute lady bug that Lights Up to project a full night sky on the ceiling and walls of your child's room. You have three colored light options that will project different colored stars. You can select which color you like on the back side of its shell. You have the options of Blue, Green, or Red. My daughters like the blue the best but then again they pick blue for everything. The shell illuminates to give off a soft glow which is a great night light for mom. Its just bright enought for me to check if there covers are on with out waking them up. It has an automatic 45 minute shut off that is nice because it saves on batteries. It runs off three AAA batteries. They last quite a while for us and we use it every night at bed time and then some times during the night if i need to check on her. Batteries usually last us 6+months.  There is a flap you can open on the bottom to access the battery compartment it does require a small screw driver to open it.  The Lady bugs dimensions at 14in long 5.5 in tall so its a decent size Ladybug. The body is a soft plushie but it does have a hard shell so i wouldnt recomend sleeping with it in bed.We have the red shell and black body lady bug but they now have a pink and green lady bug that you can now choose from.

Things I liked about the Twilight LadyBug

• Night Sky projection
• Soft glowing shell
• 45min auto shut off  turns back on when you press the moon which is easy to feel in the dark.
• the batteries last quite a while for us I think this set is curently going on 7 months
• Its cute

Things I did no care for about the Twilight LadyBug

• The Red and black coloring on the Shell scraches my daughter droped it on the tile floor and now his shell is scratched up.
• I wish the stars rotated.
• Priced a little High

Over all Its a great product My daughter really Enjoys it. It gives her something to watch at night while she is trying to fall asleep and it allows me to be able to check on her with out disturbing her.

I hope you enjoyed my review of the Cloudb Twilight ladybug and will continue to follow my blog for more great product reviews.

Crayola Dry-Erase Activity Center

My First Review of the week is the Crayola Dry-Erase Activity Center ages 4+ years. It retails for $15.00 at walmart.Ours is the Blue one called Zany Play we chose it over the yellow one just because I like Blue. Hear are a couple photos one of it in action with my two year old and the other is just an over all photo that I did because what good momma doesn't try out the toy first and i wanted to draw something on it too.

 


 It includes:
1dry erase board
4 crayola Dry erase markers
8 zany activities
16 clings
1 eraser
1 clear cover sheet.

The dry erase board its self has a hard clear plastic top that you write on. It has an opening on one side that lets you slip different activity sheets under it so that they can be reused. You slip the activity sheet in the clear cover sheet and slid it in the activity center. The quality of the board seems fairly tough but i wouldn't recommend stomping on it or throwing it as the clear write on part would scratch. It has a place at the top to hold four dry erase markers and the little eraser that comes with it.

The Activity sheets are fun games and simple enough for my 4 year old to do. You can also go to the crayola website and they offer two sections with more printable activity sheets for free so that's a big plus in my book since my little ones get board doing the same ones over and over. You could also use any 8.5x 11 page that you can find. I love this because I can use most any pre-k work book pages over and over again so its saving me lots of money. I included the links to the crayola site and there printable pages.

http://www.crayola.com/free-coloring-pages/dry-erase-activity-center/

http://www.crayola.com/free-coloring-pages/zany-dry-erase-coloring-pages/

Now for the Crayola dry-erase Markers they are the only part of the product I am slightly disappointed in. They color nice and are bright but like the Crayola dry-erase crayons they are difficult to erase from the board. We prefer the expo brand dry-erase markers as they erase easier for my four and two year old. Also be aware that my daughter got the markers on her skirt and we can NOT get it to come out. So be aware of that potential problem.

the Eraser is a tad small for my two year old but it erases well and has a great storage spot at the top so it doesn't get lost in the bottom of our school and art tub.

Over all I would definitely recommend the Crayola Dry-Erase Activity center to other moms looking for a great reusable on the go toy for there pre-k or toddlers even my older nieces love it. this one Gets a Thumbs Up in our book.

I hope you enjoyed my review if you have any questions please feel free to ask.!