Lipstick to Crayons » Games

Must-have New Toy for Preschooler — Mickey Mote!

lipsticktocrayons — Tue, 16 Nov 2010 22:43:59 +0000

Don’t you just love it when your child interacts with something she is watching on television. It makes you feel good about letting her watch T.V. when you hear her counting with Mickey or singing with Minnie or learning her ABC’s with Big Bird or conjugating verbs in Spanish with Dora.

Well, the new Mickey Mote, which Walt Disney studios home entertainment released on store shelves yesterday, is a kid-friendly remote that lets kids interact with their favorite Disney DVDs (it works with all Disney preschool dvd’s that include discovery mode — that’s the interactive watch and play mode on the DVD that offers different levels). there are lots of titles available with this feature, including two new ones that also debuted yesterday: Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and Handy Manny Big Construction Job.

So, I’ll tell you why I like this fun preschool toy, but first watch it in action:

So here’s why I like it:

Setup is easy and the instructions are given right on the screen. You’ll need to find your current DVD remote to use during setup — likely among your child’s toys. I’m hoping that will happen less now that she has her own.]

The Mickey Mote is a shaped like Mickey’s ears and it’s bright red, so it looks fun.

There are only 4 buttons on the Mickey Mote — a star, circle, triangle and square. So, it’s not too complicated for your young preschooler to operate. (I wish MY AT&T Uverse remote only had four buttons!!!)

As I said, the Mickey Mote works with any Disney Preschool DVD that includes Discovery Mode™, and once it’s setuup, you select the Discovery Mode feature on the menu screen and within minutes, your child will be easily responding to questions, throughout the story. Discovery Mode features include two levels of play, which provides more challenging questions as the child grows. I think Level 2 is a little difficult for a 3-year-old, but Level 1 was perfect for my kiddo. As the DVD plays, the child is asked questions and she can push one of the buttons for her answer. Then she gets an immediate response.

Once families have purchased a Disney Preschool DVD that comes packaged with the Mickey Mote, they can continue to build their Disney Preschool libraries as the Mickey Mote works in compatibility with any Discovery Mode enhanced DVD. For example, kids can immediately use the remote with any of the following titles:

Mickey Mouse Clubhouse: Road Rally
Mickey Mouse Clubhouse: Mickey’s Adventures in Wonderland
Mickey Mouse Clubhouse: Mickey’s Choo Choo
Mickey Mouse Clubhouse: Minnie’s Bow-Tique
Handy Manny: Manny’s Motorcycle Adventure
Handy Manny: Manny’s Big Race
Little Einsteins: Fire Truck Blast Off
My Friends Tigger & Pooh: Super Duper Super Sleuths
My Friends Tigger & Pooh: Bedtime With Pooh

Note: Discovery Mode can also be played using any DVD remote control.

The two new videos are awesome and retail on Amazon for about $26.99 including the Mickey Mote!

Mickey Mouse Clubhouse: Numbers Roundup features more than 100 minutes of content with five exciting, numbers-themed adventures. Mickey Mouse Clubhouse is the #1 program on Playhouse Disney as well as the #1 series with children between the ages of two and five years. Bonus features include a never-before-seen (until 1/1/11) bonus episode as well as the Discovery Mode feature.

Handy Manny: Big Construction Job is a fun-filled, full-length adventure that takes Manny out of Sheet Rock Hills and to a new construction project out of town! Introducing new tools, new songs and a never-before-seen episode, Handy Manny stars Wilmer Valderrama (TV’s “That 70’s Show”) as the voice of Manny. It is a top 5 television series with preschoolers 2-5, and is an Emmy®-nominated show, set in a multicultural, multi-generational community and follows a curriculum that models problem solving and the importance of community.

So, my recommendation: If you’ve got a toddler or preschooler, this is a for-sure purchase on the holiday gift list.

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Children’s Products (Toy) Award Winners & Giveaway

lipsticktocrayons — Tue, 02 Nov 2010 21:52:21 +0000

The National Parenting Publications Awards (NAPPA) has announced the winners of its 2010 Children’s Products Competition. After evaluating hundreds of outstanding submissions, NAPPA’sexpert judges and family testers selected 83 products to receive the esteemed NAPPA Gold Award and 122 products for NAPPA Honors.

And if you want to win one of the award winners — the Ground Force Drifter — go here. The contest ends Nov. 19.

Among the 2010 NAPPA winning products are:

Kinect for Xbox 360—Microsoft, $149.99; Xbox.com; ages 6 and up

In this video gaming experience, you don’t have to hold any controller! With a special motion capture sensor that sits in front of your television, Kinect for Xbox 360 puts all players at the center of gameplay. Kid testers LOVED it!

MobiGo Touch Learning System—VTech, $59.99; VTechKids.com; ages 3 and up

“Edu-gaming” at its finest! A touch screen and slide-out keyboard on this portable, handheld gaming console system are accompanied by clear voice and excellent video quality. Insert cartridge to play and learn about numbers, letters, music, problem solving, and more. Additional games can be downloaded.

Beautiful Oops!—by Barney Saltzberg; Workman Publishing, 2010; $11.95; Workman.com; ages 3 to 103

Readers and listeners alike learn that there are life lessons for all of us in every “oops!” of a mistake. The author/illustrator creates a multi-media experience by showing—even more than telling—how to use our imagination to turn life’s little glitches and blips, spills and smudges, drips and smears into something positive and, in this case, a surprisingly beautiful and whimsical piece of art.

Ground Force Drifter—Razor USA, LLC, $299.99; Razor.com; ages 8 and up

This steel-framed, rechargeable battery-operated go-kart lets kids zip through the neighborhood at speeds of up to 12 mph. Thumb tab acceleration and a rear-wheel hand brake put control in the palm of kids’ hands; torque and tires give the power and precision for spin-outs, fishtails and 360s.

Minotaurus—LEGO Systems Inc, $24.99; LEGO.com; ages 7 and up

In this first game collection by Lego, players build their own game board using Lego pieces. They then strategize how to get their heroes through the labyrinth to the temple, without confronting the Minotaur. Limitless changing of the “game-scape” makes for super creative and imaginative play.

For a complete list of all 205 winners, including a printable shopping list, visit www.NAPPAawards.com. The new NAPPA website allows visitors to easily navigate by product category—toys, games, books, DVDs, music, software, and storytelling—and sort by age group. Quick lists including Best Values, Top Picks, Family Fun, and Rising Stars are also provided. To make holiday shopping even easier for busy parents, the site now provides an Amazon.com shopping cart.

About NAPPA

For 20 years the National Parenting Publications Awards (NAPPA) has been the go-to resource for the best products for families. NAPPA’s team of independent expert judges, along with family and child testers, select the most innovative and enduring products as NAPPA Gold and Honors winners in two annual competitions, Children’s Products and Parenting Resources. Far more than a seal of approval, a NAPPA award signifies that a product has been rigorously evaluated against stringent criteria and stands out among hundreds of other products from around the world. For more information, visit www.NAPPAawards.com.

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7-Eleven Prize Pack Giveaway Plus Facebook Gifts for Farmville, Mafia Wars & YoVille

lipsticktocrayons — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 01:15:34 +0000

7-Eleven has Zynga fever. The people who brought you FarmVille, Mafia Wars and YoVille have joined up with your favorite convenience store to bring you exclusive in-game gifts not found anywhere else.

More than 230 million people play these games via Facebook, Yahoo and the iPhone. If you’re among them, then you’ll be excited to learn that you can earn in-game gifts by simply purchasing specially marked 7-Eleven foods and beverages, and then entering the code at www.buyearnplay.com. You can get Neapolitan cows, combat helmets, candy stands … and lots more.

And to help get you even more excited about their partnership with Zynga, 7-Eleven is offering 10 of my readers the chance to a win prize packs filled with Zynga collectors cups, a t-shirt, and a stash of coupons for Free 7-Eleven products such as Slurpees, Big Gulps, Big Bites, Taquitos, and Iced Coffee. Each prize pack is worth at least $50. To win, enter the contest below.

Giveaway Guidelines

To enter the contest, you must “like” 7-Eleven on Facebook. You can do so by clicking here. This is a mandatory first entry. Once you do that, leave comment below telling me you did so. After completing this mandatory first entry method, you can gain additional entries by doing any or all of the following (but be sure to leave a separate comment for each thing you do):

Subscribe to this blog.
Blog about this contest
Tweet this giveaway on Twitter
Favorite Lipstick to Crayons on Technorati
Stumble this post
Add Lipstick to Crayons to your blogroll or my button to your sidebar
Become a fan of Lipstick to Crayons on Facebook.
Post a link to this contest on your Facebook page.

This giveaway closes at 11:59 p.m. Central time June 18, 2010. Be sure to include a valid email address with each of your entries. Winners will be randomly chosen via random.org and will be notified via email and announced on this post.

If any winner does not claim the prize by June 21, 2010, he/she will forfeit the prize to an alternate winner who will be drawn at random.

USA residents only.

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Squiggle Review & Giveaway – CLOSED

lipsticktocrayons — Wed, 24 Mar 2010 17:49:50 +0000

My two older kids loved to scribble and then draw when thy were younger, and it was a way to keep them occupied in the car. Now, my toddler is starting to have an interest in “dawing,” and I can’t wait until she is big enough to enjoy a Squiggle Pad.

What is a squiggle? Well — a squiggle is a a random line. It can be squiggly, wiggly, wavy or just wacky! It’s simply the start of something. A squiggly line may blossom into a beautiful flower, speed off into the shape of a race car or simply form a funny face. It’s up to you and your imagination to transform it into something . . . maybe a work of art!

And RandomLine.com has taken the concept of “squiggles” and turned them into mind-exercising games and activity pads that encourage children and adults to be creative. Their Award-Winning products are known as the SQUIGGLE Series, and they adorable, portable-sized fun for kids to take in the car, to doctor or orthodontist appointments, or anytime when quiet play would be preferable.

Squiggle pads come lots of of varieties — educational (alphabet, colors and shapes) and drawing pads with different themes such as fashion or barnyard, etc. The pads are suggested for ages 4 and up. You can buy them at many retailers and specialty toy stores, and they would make great little gifts to put in an Easter Basket. But one lucky Lipstick to Crayons reader can win a Squiggle Pad of his/her choice for free by entering the contest below:

Giveaway Guidelines

To win, visit Randomline.com then come back here and tell me in the comment section below your squiggle pad. This entry method is required.

Receive additional entries by doing any/all of the following, but be sure to leave a separate comment for each thing you do:

Blog about this contest
Subscribe to my mailing list/RSS feed
Tweet this giveaway on Twitter
Favorite Lipstick to Crayons on Technorati
Stumble this post
Add Lipstick to Crayons to your blogroll or my button to your sidebar
Become a fan of Lipstick to Crayons on Facebook.

This giveaway closes at 11:59 p.m. Central time April 5, 2010. Be sure to include a valid email address with each of your entries. Winner will be randomly chosen via random.org and will be notified via email and announced on this post.

If winner does not claim prize by April 7, 2010, he/she will forfeit the prize to alternate winner who will be drawn at random.

U.S. residents only please.

THIS GIVEAWAY IS CLOSED. Congratulations to Leanna, comment #19.

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Last-minute Shopping Deals

lipsticktocrayons — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 13:25:02 +0000

If you’re a last-minute Lou or Louise, several merchants say you can still shop online and get delivery by Christmas, and there are some great deals to be had.

Walmart says if you order online by Sunday, Dec. 20, you can do “site to store” shipping and get it at the store by Dec. 24, or standard shipping gets the package to your home by Dec. 24. Ordering on Dec. 21 means you need to do 2-3 day shipping, which gets it to you by Dec. 24. And you can even wait until Dec. 22 and do 1-day shipping to get it by Dec. 24.

Check out these deals:

Sony Cyber-shot DSC-S930 Silver 10 MP Digital Camera with 3x Optical Zoom, Bonus Case Included, 2.4″ LCD, Image Stabilization, Face Detection for $89 and just 97-cent shipping to your home!

Apple iPod nano 8GB, Blue, 5th Gen (Newest model) for $133.99.

Step2 Deluxe Canyon Road Train and Track Table for $83.

High School Musical CD Board Game
from Cookies Kids for $12.99.

Monopoly-Simpson’s Electronic Version Board Game
from Cookie’s Kids for $23.99.

Amazing Allysen Interactive Doll
from Cookie’s Kids for $39.99.

Happy Shopping!

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Nintendo DS Petz Nursery Game

lipsticktocrayons — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 20:40:08 +0000

The Nintendo DS game “Petz Nursery” is a “sure to please” gift idea for any Nintendo DS gamer who loves animals. Still, I’d say that because of the “nurturing” aspect of this game — which involves caring for and bonding with a variety of adorable newborn animals from dogs and cats to polar bears and tigers – it is likely to be a DS game loved more by the “softer sex.”

Players of Petz Nursery get to work through giving their petz milk, keeping them clean and helping them grow while also building relationships with the animals and influencing their personality. Progressing in the game involves unlocking more exotic baby animals.

The game certainly demonstrates to kids that caring for an animal involves playtime and responsibility time.

The game works with other DS games such as Petz Dog Talent Show, and it is rated E for everyone. It might be a little tricky for a younger play to learn to use at first, but with some help from Mom or Dad, the game promises to please even the youngest DS players in the family.

Petz Nursery and other new Petz® games, including Petz Hamsterz Superstarz, launched as part of Petz Sharing and Caring Month with the ASPCA and famous pop band Honor Society. Kids and their parents can go to the Petz Cause House on ubiworld.com to play a variety of Petz mini-games and earn “pointz” to show their support for the ASPCA in protecting animals. And, to further support teaching kids about responsible pet care, Ubisoft’s Petz will donate funds directly to the ASPCA.

You can buy Petz Nursery here for $27.99.

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BEST, BEST Toddler Toy This Year

lipsticktocrayons — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 17:38:08 +0000

If I were “king of the world” and got to give an away for top toy for toddlers this year, it would be the Tag Junior from LeapFrog, hands down.

Leapfrog has long been a leader in creating educational but FUN toys, and now they’ve gone and created one that even a two-year-old can enjoy. The Tag system makes it fun for toddlers to connect words with pictures and other thoughts. By pressing the Tag Junior Book Pal onto the pages of specially designed books, the words and pictures come to life.

The Tag Jr. is easy for a toddler to use because all she has to do is touch the book pal (which fits perfectly in a toddlers chubby little hand) anywhere on the page and she will be rewarded with a response. Each Tag Jr. book has a theme and focuses on a skill.

The Tag Jr. system is geared toward young preschoolers ages 2-4. Leapfrog
also lets you create an account at LeapFrog’s Learning Path site where you can track your child’s learning progress online and download and print free activities to compliment your child’s Tag Jr. books.

LeapFrog toys are always fun-forward and engaging with educational benefits and skill-building fundamentals that last well beyond the holiday season. In other words, they’re invaluable.

Upsides:

Easy for a toddler to use
Great learning tool
Encourages reading
Portable – great toy for road trips and hotel stays
Reasonably priced

Downside:

The process of downloading the audio from the Leapfrog site to your Tag Jr. Book Pal was a little tricky for me, but there is lots of online support on the site.

You can buy the Tag Junior here for $24.99 and it comes with a book. You can buy extra books here and here.

Also from Leapfrog is the Text & Learn. Tech-savvy preschoolers on your shopping list can imitate Mom and Dad (Big Sister in our house) with this durable, just-for-kids learning PDA. Games focus on letter recognition, shape matching, and QWERTY keyboard skills, allowing preschoolers to exchange text messages with Scout, check Scout’s planner, and explore in a pretend browser mode. You can buy it here for $21.99.

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Grandparent Handbook Giveaway

lipsticktocrayons — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 19:06:13 +0000

If you know a grandparent or expectant grandparent who’d love to have a handy book for making that job even more fun, then you should enter this giveaway.

“The Grandparents Handbook” by Elizabeth LaBan offers modern grandparents a variety of fun pastimes and educational projects to share with their grandchildren. The book also provides a refresher chapter on various baby-related tasks such as changing a diaper, swaddling a newborn, and giving kids a bath. Plus it includes some advice on respecting your children’s decisions on how they raise their children. (The full book title is “The Grandparents Handbook: Activities, Tips, How-Tos, and All-Around Fun.”)

The book is divided into four sections:

Bringing Up Baby: A Grandparent’s Refresher Course
Indoor and Outdoor Fun and Games
Crafts and Cooking
Sharing and Exploring the World Together

The Grandparents Handbook features such activities as:

• How to Baby—and Kid—Proof Your Home (page 30)
• How to Handle Toddler Tantrums (page 50)
• Holding a Backyard Olympics (page 60)
• Planting a Fairy and Goblin Garden (page 85)
• Creating Your Own Ice Cream Cake (page 107)
• Making Homemade Pickles (page 109)
• Planning a Special Meal Together (page 178)
• Creating Your Family Tree (page 180)
• And much more!

With dozens of interactive projects and featuring whimsical illustrations, this book will lead grandparents down surprising paths of discovery as they teach the youngest generation about family, friendship, and the world around them. It is the perfect gift for modern grandparents and grandparents-to-be!

The book retails here for about $12 but one lucky Lipstick to Crayons reader can win the book for free by entering the contest below. (Don’t count on this contest to deliver the book to the winner by Christmas — it’s not happening.

Giveaway Guidelines:

Tell me in the comment section below why you want to win The Grandparents Handbook.

Receive additional entries by doing any/all of the following, but be sure to leave a separate comment for each thing you do:

Blog about this contest
Subscribe to my mailing list/RSS feed
Tweet this giveaway on Twitter (you can tweet daily if you want, but make sure you leave a comment each time you do).
Favorite Lipstick to Crayons on Technorati
Stumble this post
Add Lipstick to Crayons to your blogroll or my button to your sidebar
Become a fan of Lipstick to Crayons on Facebook

This giveaway closes at 11:59 p.m. Central time Dec. 22. Be sure to include a valid email address with each of your entries. Contest open to United States residents only. Winner will be randomly chosen via random.org and will be notified via email and announced on this post.

If winner does not claim prize by Dec. 26, 2009, he/she will forfeit the prize to an alternate winner.

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Playskool Helmet Heroes Toy Giveaway

lipsticktocrayons — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 04:31:34 +0000

By the time your child is five, 90 percent of his brain patterns are already formed. So learning while young is very important.

Playskool recently launched a “More Than Play” campaign, which is an educational initiative to share how play lays down important foundational skills needed for advanced learning like reading, writing, mathematics, critical problem solving, and conceptual thinking, to name just a handful.

You can learn more about child development facts and the benefits surrounding the skills associated to different Playskool toys at the Playskool More Than Play Web site. And the More Than Play campaign has developed several videos demonstrating the toys and their play benefits. Here is one for Helmet Heroes, which is the toy I’m giving away below:

You can buy Playskool Helmet Heroes here. , but one lucky Lipstick to Crayons reader can win one for free by entering the contest below.

Giveaway Guidelines:

Tell me in the comment section below why you want to win Playskool Helmet Heroes and what you think your kids have learned from their toys.

Receive additional entries by doing any/all of the following, but be sure to leave a separate comment for each thing you do:

Blog about this contest
Subscribe to my mailing list/RSS feed
Tweet this giveaway on Twitter (you can tweet daily if you want, but make sure you leave a comment each time you do).
Favorite Lipstick to Crayons on Technorati
Stumble this post
Add Lipstick to Crayons to your blogroll or my button to your sidebar
Become a fan of Lipstick to Crayons on Facebook

This giveaway closes at 11:59 p.m. Central time Dec. 16. Be sure to include a valid email address with each of your entries. Contest open to United States residents only. Winner will be randomly chosen via random.org and will be notified via email and announced on this post.

If winner does not claim prize by Dec. 18, 2009, he/she will forfeit the prize to an alternate winner.

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Why Do Kids Stick Their Tongues Out?

Wii Game Giveaway for Birthday Parties

lipsticktocrayons — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 04:00:37 +0000

Did you know that $6.5 billion is spent annually on children’s birthday parties and the average “out-of-home” party costs $350? But if you’re among the 58 percent of parents that hosted their last birthday party at home, you know the planning can be a real bear, to say nothing of the work of entertaining a bunch of kids in your house.

Fortunately, 2K Play has developed a Wii game to help Moms and Dads create an affordable birthday party at home. It’s not necessary to have huge parties to celebrate the kids’ birthdays, complete with clowns, helium-filled balloons and other expensive fun and games. And it’s not wise in today’s economy, either. With the help of Birthday Party Bash, parents don’t have to take out a second mortgage to have a successful party for their kids.

Birthday Party Bash is a complete party in a box for under $40. The game also comes with 12 invitations, a party planning guide and coupons from Duncan Hines. Best of all, there are 20 modern and traditional games that up to 12 players can play, like Hot Potato, Piñata Blast, Present Frenzy, Sack Race, and Musical Chairs, so the game can serve as the entertainment for the entire duration of the party. Before the party, you can even have your child pick his or her party theme from 10 virtual theme rooms, like Glamour, Pirates, or Music, and use that as a blueprint for party planning. They even have a karaoke version of the Happy Birthday song!

You can buy Birthday Party Bash here but one lucky Lipstick to Crayons reader can win the game for free by entering the contest below.

Giveaway Guidelines:

Tell me in the comment section below why you want to win Birthday Party Bash.

Receive additional entries by doing any/all of the following, but be sure to leave a separate comment for each thing you do:

Blog about this contest
Subscribe to my mailing list/RSS feed
Tweet this giveaway on Twitter (you can tweet daily if you want, but make sure you leave a comment each time you do).
Favorite Lipstick to Crayons on Technorati
Stumble this post
Add Lipstick to Crayons to your blogroll or my button to your sidebar
Become a fan of Lipstick to Crayons on Facebook

This giveaway closes at 11:59 p.m. Central time Dec. 18. Be sure to include a valid email address with each of your entries. Contest open to United States residents only. Winner will be randomly chosen via random.org and will be notified via email and announced on this post.

If winner does not claim prize by Dec. 21, 2009, he/she will forfeit the prize to an alternate winner.

This contest is closed. Congratulations to Jennifer, comment #63.