Travelin' Tot Giveaway Part Two

“Live in the sunshine, swim the sea, drink the wild air.”
- Ralph Waldo Emerson

We're off to the outer banks for a family holiday in a cozy cottage with friends. Props to P for finding the affordable little gem...it even has a little observation deck on the roof for star gazing, so I may have to pack my trusty old telescope, if there's room in the trunk.

One thing I will certainly be bringing is the Life-tech compact binoculars by Brunton. These are super handy for impromptu star gazing and observing the local wildlife. They are solid yet light weight and portable. They can fit in your pocket and yet the optics are just as good as some of the larger models I've tried. Best of all, they are reasonably priced.

For Satch I packed the Echo Pocket Scope by Brunton. It's the coolest little monocular I've ever seen and surprisingly powerful. It's the perfect size for the kids to carry on nature walks. We plan to check out the local nature center as well as go look for those wild horses.

I made these summer constellation cans to amuse the wee folk in the eve. They'll be using them with a flash light to project the summer sky on the ceiling.

I've been planning some beachy crafts and activities for the wees, like sea weed prints, cyanotypes, fossil rocks with shells and clay, and beach bottles. (I will post photos of them when we return.) I put together two super simple kite building kits to be decorated with some sea life rubber stamps and highly coveted Sponge Bob stickers. I plan to do some kiddie science experiments like how salt makes things float and another regarding those little black specks in the sand so I packed some magnets.

I made this little family game for the car. I printed some tiny question cards to fit in a pocket sized candy tin that I had in my studio. Every 30 minutes, we'll pull a card from the deck and take turns answering the question. (This idea was given to me by my friend, Julie who found it somewhere on the web). And I have just enough time to make a couple of these sponge balls.

I should mention that in Satchel's car caddy, I keep a container of these learning links (I don't know why, but he loves them). I also keep a small set of Wikki Stix, a box of eBoo's Musical Friends lacing cards, some early reader "I Spy" books and a magnetic robot playset by Mudpuppy.

I've packed sea related story books and guides and eeBoo's Go Fish Game in case of rain. I packed the nets, funnels and a Zak mini colander to sift for creatures. I Tucked away some glow bracelets for night time crab searches and acquired a secret stash of Sponge Bob tattoos to last the entire week.

I've put together a little treat for our lambies. I've made some shadow puppets with which the grown-ups will be performing a shadow play of House for Hermit Crab. Of course, the kidlets will be playing with them post show. They are quite easy to make. You can draw the characters freehand, as I did, or trace them directly from the book and transfer them to black poster board. To do so you would need to trace the drawing using a white grease pencil then place it (white side down) onto the black poster board and go over your lines using a hard tip pencil or pen. Cut the drawings from the black poster board and use hot glue to attach sticks. Our show will be performed behind an illuminated white sheet. However, I photographed the puppets in front of blue tissue paper taped to the window because it looked purdy!

*I used poetic license on the lantern fish, and made it part Anglerfish, (because Satch loves that hanging light thingy), but sans the scary teeth.

Click to enlarge image!

As you already know, I'm big on packing a small trip related gifty or two. For our beach adventure, I chose the following:

These Juggling Scarves by Wizard of Math are colorful, light weight and easy for little ones to juggle. They float in air quite beautifully. Since they are so portable, it makes the perfect activity for rest stops and rainy days.

The Buddha Board Mini is a perfectly portable canvas for the travelin' tot. I've written about the larger version here. This 5 inch mini verson comes in 5 colors and folds right back up into its easel stand. It's small enough to take with you for some creative play at restaurants or rainy day destination play. All you need is water and imagination! The generous folks at Buddha Board will give you chance to win one of these awesome boards at the end of this post.

Splash Attack by Fundex is a clever little game that comes in a little fabric pouch for easy transport. Perfect for the family beach vacation, restaurants and rainy day play.

The adorable Piscari by HaPe Toys.

Piscari was designed to nurture the imagination as well as concentration. It is perfect to play at the beach, rest stops or on rainy days. The toy can be played with solo or in pairs. It is made of natural bamboo and is small enough to fit in your purse. It's a different spin on this fishing game that I made for Satch.

And since the Indigo Dreams cd was such a big hit during "the nap that dares not speak it's name", we thought we would try out Lori Lite's other guided relaxation cd, Ocean Dreams.

We LOVE Sun Print Paper by Lawrence Hall of Science to make some beautiful prints and a bit of tot science regarding the importance of sunscreen. The paper is very easy to work with and the kids love it! Here are some prints that Satch made.

The kind people at Lawrence Hall of Science is giving you a chance to win a pack of Sunprint coolness at the end of this post.


As you may have guessed, I fancy small things that I can carry in my bag and whip out when the need arises. I like the Fingerprinting Art Set for rainy day destination play. It's messy, yet washable fun and very Ed Emberley!!!

Satch is a bit too young to launch the Maple Seed Copter, but I figure his daddy can do the launching and Satch can do the chasing and catching to burn off some pent up energy from the ride. Designed to look like a real maple seed, it can soar up to 100 feet, then gently spins to earth like the real thing. There are some interesting seed facts printed on the package for fellow nature lovers.

A great toy for rest stops and outdoor destination play!

This Sea Animal Ball by Crocodile Creek is a must for the beach. The illustrations are beautiful and it's made of heavy gauge rubber so it is built to last and it won't blow away like classic beach balls.

It was time to get Satch an extra water bottle because we've been worried about losing the one we bought him over a year ago. We're not big on having "extra" of anything, but in this case it's good to have a backup. So we bought our nature boy this Animal Tracks Bottle also by Crocodile Creek. The bottle is stainless steel and BPA free! He's been diggin' animal tracks ever since the Track Lab program at our nature center.

There are not only wild horses roaming the beaches, but there are also deer. We will be bringing this deer call by Knight & Hale. It's easy to use, even for the wees, and certainly gets their attention. Hunters use them to lure the creatures near. Nature loving vegetarians like us, think the deer call is awesome for observing these beautiful creatures.

We've also packed this super cool gadget, the Audubon Bird Call to observe our feathered friends. These pocket sized beauties are handcrafted and sound like the real thing with just a simple twisting motion. It drove my cat nuts when I gave it a test run. They were created by Roger Eddy who has since passed away. His grandchildren have carried on the tradition of crafting the Audubon Bird Call in their attic workshop.

By the way, the Eddy family also manufactures the Soda Bottle Feeder.
They are perfect for recycling drink bottles into bird cafes and because they are made of zinc, they are built to last and the squirrels can't destroy them. I would like to add that we have a rather well endowed male squirrel who is on a mission to destroy our feeders...so well endowed, in fact, that my son has named him, "PLUMMY".

The extremely generous Eddy family has allowed me to host a giveaway! SIX mother rising readers will win this wonderful Audubon Bird Call and One lucky winner will win an awesome Soda Bottle Feeder.

Simply leave a comment on this post by midnight on Sunday September 6th:

• First Prize - Buddha Board Mini (1 winner)
• Second Prize - Sunprint Kit (1 winner)
• Third Prize - Soda Bottle Bird Feeder (1 winner)
• Fourth Prize - Audubon Bird Call (6 winners)

The winners will be chosen by random generator and announced on Tuesday September 8th. Good Luck and enjoy some Music From Sand...



The winners of last week's giveaway are posted here!