Monday, November 29, 2010

Holiday Gift Picks & Ginormous Giveaway!

Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens;
Bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens;
Brown paper packages tied up with strings;
These are a few of my favorite things.

- Oscar Hammerstein II & Richard Rodgers

It is hard for me to put into words just how grateful I am for the opportunity to try out some of the most creative and imaginative kiddie coolness on the planet or how honored I am to give away such gems on behalf of the generous souls who help nurture the playful spirit of childhood. It is my thrill to present to you these tried and true faves from Satch and I. We are certain they will bring your family much joy this holiday season! (Giveaway items are marked with a * )

Think-ets: Ingenious, creative, imaginative are the three words that best describe this game. Contained in a pocket sized tin (or pouch depending on the set you choose), this is highly portable, major fun. I actually keep it in my bag so we can play it anywhere. I brought it out in the waiting room during S's OT appointment, and it produced much laughter from the children as well as their parents. Inside the tin is a handful of interesting trinkets. The game can be played a multitude of ways and with various age groups. Our favorite is the "Story Telling Game". Ages 8+

eeBoo's United States Bingo: We are HUGE fans of eeBoo! eeBoo is well known for their beautiful, educational and high quality products. The gorgeous art is commissioned from beloved children's book illustrators. It should come as no surprise that many of their award winning products are sold in museum stores.

Their United States Bingo Game is a such a fun way for kids to learn about our country's states, industry and landmarks. Terrific for home or classrooms. *The generous people at eeBoo are allowing me to giveaway this awesome game to one lucky winner!

eeBoo also makes a wide variety of beautifully illustrated classic memory matching games that are a pure pleasure to play with. We have our favorites, as I'm sure you will too.

*Thanks to the generous peeps at eeBoo, you will have a chance to win their new Wildlife Memory Game!

eeBoo, we love you so!

Meta-Forms by FoxMind is an award winning game of reasoning and logic. The visual clues are intuitive and easy for young children to understand, yet it's challenging enough to entice adults. It can be played alone or with groups. In short, we LOVE it and highly recommend it! Ages 5 +

Family Funtime's Dinner Games: Terrific fun for family meal time. There are 51 game prompts in the form of recipe cards, neatly stored in a nifty tin. A wonderful way to add a bit of playfulness to your holiday dinner. Handy for restaurants and rest stop meals during the family vacation. We especially love the game "What's Missing"! Ages 3+

For kids who love to help cook, you should check out these cool tools by Kinderkitchen.

The Dog knives are designed to cut soft food, not fingers. The ears and the tail help keep your child's paws centered on the handle. We had the good fortune to test-drive these puppies and our son had a terrific time helping with meal prep.

Kinderkitchen is a division of Kuhn Rikon, Switzerland's leading manufacturer of cookware and cook's tools for over 70 years.

What's Gnu? by Think Fun: Played like their classic, Zingo, this game is a great way for early readers to practice spelling, and word recognition. There's this cool, soothing aspect to the sliding "letter-getter" that adds a little sensory touch to game as well. There are two levels of play. Ages 5+

Another great gift for early readers are the new Sight Words BOB books from Scholastic! I had the honor of interviewing this Mother-Father-Daughter team last Fall, when I discovered a set of their books at our library book sale. My son LOVES them!

*The Maslens, Kertells, & the generous folks at Scholastic are allowing me to giveaway a set of Sight Words Kindergarten and Sight Words First Grade!

Drum City by Thea Guidone has become one of my son's favorite bedtime stories. The rhythmic text and whimsical illustrations are delightful. I particularly love the bits of collaged text peaking out from beneath the images. Satch loves the expressions on the kids' faces as they march through the city banging their drums.

The book would make a lovely gift paired with a small drum like the one we have by Remo. The drum has a nice sound and is extremely sturdy. We bought ours when S was just a year old.


For the creative family or for families who would like to tap into their imaginations, I highly recommend MoMA's Make Art Mistakes! It's a sketchbook filled with fun, imaginative prompts & inspiring quotes to get the creative juices flowing - FEARLESSLY! Our favorite page, "Draw a shape then color OUTSIDE the lines"! This book is great for a family art night, yucky weather days, or to toss in the backseat for road trips.

And for the big people in your life, you should consider giving a copy of Patti Digh's latest treasure, "Creative is a Verb: If You're Alive, You're Creative".

If you wish to live your life as a work of art, this book will feed your creative fire!

I am honored to announce that my art appears on 156 and 187. *The generous peeps as Global Pequot Press is allowing me to giveaway a copy of this gem to one lucky reader!

For music lovers, you MUST grab a copy of Brandon Campbell's new cd, "Ten from the Galley"! I can tell you first hand how addictive Brandon's gypsy jazz stylin's are...our respective families once shared a pond side cabin in Squam, NH so the mama-bears could attend an art-retreat. Every time I think about our adventures there - watching the neon sunrise paint the pond pink - standing motionless in the loon kissed evening air watching bats arabesque (so close I could touch them) making me feel as though I was flying with them, the art, the friendships, the laughter....when I think back at that time our families spent together, Brandon's music swirls around in my head like my own personal soundtrack, and let me tell you...that's mighty nice. Brandon's music stirs me in many ways. At times I want to grab a partner and bust out my Lindy moves. Sometimes, it makes me want to light candles and just melt into the night. It's haunting - it's hot - it's hip! *Brandon is allowing me to give away a copy of his new cd to one lucky reader, how cool is that?

 For the art lovers in your life, check out the work of Pixie Campbell! Pixie is one of my dear friends and yes...her hubby is Brandon. They are a talented, dynamic duo! Pixie is Native American of the Choctaw tribe. Drawing from her knowledge of animal totems, her beautiful and soulful work is both a reflection of her heritage and her love for the spiritual aspects of life. *Pixie would like to give away a fine art print to one luck commenter!

Once more, It is a great pleasure to share with you a few of our favorite things. It is an honor to introduce you to the extraordinary and generous people who create them. May this holiday season bless you with fun, laughter, creativity and a big imagination!

To win one of these 6 items listed above...
  1. *eeBoo United States Bingo
  2. * eeBoo Wildlife Memory
  3. *BOB Books
  4. *Creative is a Verb
  5. *Ten from the Galley cd
  6. *Fine Art Print by Pixie Campbell
simply share with me a favorite holiday moment.

You MUST specify which item you're wishin' for....

Also include an email so that I may contact you if you win. Comments must be posted by midnight on Friday December 3rd. The winners will be picked by random generator and announced on Monday December 6th!

Good luck and good tidings to you where ever you are...
Wendy

Labels: , ,

Bookmark and Share
posted by Wendy at 5:08 AM

24 Comments:

Blogger CLAUDIA said...

We'd love Make Art Mistakes or Creative is a verb. Thanks for sharing all these great finds!

Claudia

8:36 AM  
Blogger Wendy said...

This comment has been removed by the author.

8:51 AM  
Blogger Daisy said...

I would love to win the bob books!
Daisyext1991@yahoo.com

10:40 AM  
Blogger Mihaela { Best Toys 4 Toddlers } said...

We would love Bob books :) I have 3 year old daughter so it's kind of age appropriate ;) I love her excitement when it comes to decorate a Christmas tree. Looking forward to this year's decoration :)))

My mail is: besttoddlertoys@yahoo.com

11:29 AM  
Anonymous pixie said...

I can think of scads of people whom I'd love to give Creative is a Verb to! And I'm mad about eeboo, as well, so the Bingo looks marvy.

One of my favorite holiday memories is Miles second Christmas when we lived in our little stone cottage in the mountains. I made applesauce muffins and we gave him one of those bouncy rubber Rody horses. He was jumping up and down on it, crumbs falling out of his mouth, going nuts on Christmas morning. That moment, along with so many others since then, stand as a reminder about how crazy and fun the holidays are with children. One of the things you can't foresee until you have the opportunity to share Christmas morning with a babe.

Thank you, love...I would be happy to give away a print from my shop to one of your commenters as well. Sing Up the Stars, as pictured here, might be a good one. Or one could make their own choice.

xo and jingle,
p

11:43 AM  
Blogger Momma Resendez said...

Downtown parade of lights is a tradition of ours! Love the bob books!

1:41 PM  
Blogger Emily said...

My kids and I back holiday cookies together every year and then share them with our friends and neighbors. Spending time with them in the warm, yummy smelling kitchen is my favorite part of December.

We'd love to win either the eeBoo Bingo or the BOB books.

Thanks for the opportunity to win!
Emily
emily DOT delaney AT gmail DOT com

3:00 PM  
Anonymous Elizabeth S said...

My daughter would love the eeboo bingo. My email is tigershark1981 (at) hotmail (dot) com

My favorite holiday moment would be my wedding. My husband and I got married on the 26th and it is a very bittersweet memory as my mother was terminally ill and passed away two weeks later.

3:03 PM  
Blogger BrunoDogg2 said...

I would love to win the What's Gnu? by Think Fun or the eeBoo's Bingo for my son!
My favorite holiday moment is putting up the Christmas tree with my son's ages 2 and 4!
My email is BrunoDogg2@hotmail.com

4:06 PM  
Blogger r0xjo0 said...

We'd LOVE the BOB books! I've been eyeballing these for possible stocking stuffers!!

We love going and looking at Christmas lights every year. We make a big ordeal of it and it's so much fun. We play christmas music, get hot chocolate...it's just a great holiday tradition!

My email is: trent_david@att.net

5:39 PM  
Blogger Unknown said...

My favorite Holiday moment is when the kids wake up all sleepy and sweet then realize that it's finally time to open presents - they wake up the rest of the house so sweetly = it's amazing!

mellisasrock at yahoo dot com

10:35 AM  
Blogger Shana said...

I have to say decorating the tree is a favorite with my 5 year old and I love digging through the box of ornaments and remembering when one of the kids made one and thinking of the past 15 years of holiday memories with our family. A warm fire is lovely too! You have such great suggestion for books that I'd be thrilled to read "Drum City" to Maia. Thanks for the generosity :)
shana

shanamb2@uwm.edu

12:20 PM  
Blogger Unknown said...

My favorite Christmas moment is when we're all decorating sugar cookies together. There comes a point when everyone gets tired of trying to make them look how they "should" and we start getting creative - using different colors, adding interestin items (like an arrow through a snoman's head), etc. We always end up covered in icing and laughing!
I guess that, since we like to spend time together, the Family Fun Time Dinner Games would be my pick. It was hard to decide! I want every one of those items!!!

ohmiss14(at)yahoo.com

1:32 PM  
Blogger Kaye said...

My favorite memory changes each year. As the kids grow and get older, I get so excited by their excitement and anticipation over Christmas morning. I haven't had so much fun in years before the kids were born.

I would choose the Wildlife memory game.

Thanks!

3:04 PM  
Blogger Amy V. said...

My fave holiday moment is when each of my children were just old enough to understand unwrapping presents! Even the boxes were exciting!

I'd pick the BOB Books.

4:44 PM  
Blogger Liza767 said...

when my hubby sprayed the yard with fake snow :)

8:20 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

My favorite holiday tradition is making sugar cookies with my kids. We make a whole day out of it, I just love seeing their smiling faces as they decorate cookies!

7:11 PM  
Blogger Anne said...

I'd love creative is a verb. A favorite holiday moment of mine is the Christmas my daughter was 2. It was the first time she was old enough to understand and anticipate Christmas, and the look on her face when she came downstairs and saw what Santa brought is something I'll always remember.
Anne
ajolly1456 at gmail dot com

7:03 AM  
Blogger Cheryn said...

a favorite holiday moment from my own childhood is when my lovely parents felt they were so funny to place heads of cabbage with faces drawn on them in place of cabbage patch kids (the real ones were waiting on the side after they got their giggle...nice)
and in more recent years now with my own little ones, it has to be the entertainment of last year's holiday with my brother-in-law MCing the evening on our karaoke machine, giving a play by play of each present being opened, reactions, and just about anything else that was going on. we all had a blast.

wishin' for pixie's artwork, as much as all of the other generous giveaways would be awesome for the kiddos, her work hanging on our wall would be be an amazing presence that we could all appreciate. :)
thanks for the sharing of such great ideas as always.

8:59 AM  
Blogger KatyAnne said...

My favorite holiday moment is the wonder in my children's eyes the first time we lit the menorah.

I'm wishin for #1 state bingo! Thank you

10:42 PM  
Blogger shelbers434 said...

im wishing for the bobs books sight words or wildlife matching cards for my toddler
snugles4433@Hotmail.com
shelby

2:07 AM  
Blogger BNM said...

Every christmas morning all my brothers and sisters go to our parents house and my dad makes a huge breakfast with biscuits and his homemade chocolate sauce. Its my fave memory now and growing up!!!

Id like to have the states bingo :)

6:51 AM  
Blogger asl said...

My favorite moment is always after all the food and presents, just the adults sitting around at my parents house talking and hanging out. i would love to give the United States Bingo as a gift this year. audreyshay at yahoo dot com

11:24 AM  
Blogger makeetis said...

A favorite Holiday moment for me would of been the first time my daughters helped me with the goodies we bake. They were trying so hard not to be messy and I saw it and wanted them to have fun so I started a flour fight..We had so much fun and the girls will always remember that just like I will.
I would like the eeBoo Wildlife Memory game or the Fine Art Print by Pixie Campbell. Both are top picks for me. Thanks for the chance.
brewerchickey78@yahoo.com

1:49 PM  

Post a Comment

<< Home