Have a Magical Weekend with Disney's Mickey and the Roadster Racers #DisneyJunior

Typically by this time of year we've all been hit with a bit of cabin fever but it seems with the unseasonably warm temperatures lately, we'd be foolish to stay home with the little ones. Disney's Mickey and the Roadster Racers  in theaters by popular demand this Saturday, January 14th at select theaters nationwide.

Disney Junior at the Movies –   Plan for a day filled with family fun that should not be missed while celebrating Mickey's Birthday when this new animated series makes it's way to the BIG screen. You can sing and dance along with all your Disney Junior favorites, so grab the wheel and join the fun!

12 Tips From Girl Scouts of the USA and Disney Channel's "Elena of Avalor to Inspire Girls to Lead

If you watched this year's Olympics in Rio, then you've witnessed a diverse and amazing group of athletic women fulfill their dreams by showing great teamwork, leadership and determination to succeed. I hope that little girls all around the world are inspired by Monica Puig  for winning the first gold medal for Puerto Rico & 19 year old African American, 5x gold medal winning gymnast - Simone Biles.  And let's not forget the first woman to wear a hijab while competing in the Olympic games like Muslim fencer Ibtihaj Muhammad. These young women have proven that despite their differences if you're a go-getter that's willing to be a leader and dreams big, anything  can be accomplished. 

Girl Scouts of the USA (GSUSA) and Disney Channel are teaming up to inspire girls and their families to practice leadership. The collaboration brings GSUSA’s focus on leading like a G.I.R.L. (Go-getter, Innovator, Risk-taker, Leader)^TM, the Girl Scout way, and Disney Channel’s recently launched animated television series Elena of Avalor into action with the debut of The Elena of Avalor Leadership Guide by Girl Scouts and Disney Channel. Available in English and Spanish beginning today, the Guide showcases leadership activities and conversations parents and caregivers can engage their preschool through fifth-grade girls in to boost their everyday leadership skills and prepare them to create the future they imagine.

7 Weeks of Summer Camp At Home: Around the World

With summer vacation well underway whether you've been traveling or staying close to home with the kids it's so important to avoid summer brain drain by showing our children that learning can be fun beyond the classroom. This year I've teamed up with some fantastic parenting bloggers to bring you 7 weeks of themed activities and more to engage in with your little monsters while school is out. We are wrapping up our themed posts with a focus on "Around the World" and in light of what's going on in the news I think learning about the differences among races and cultures is perfect timing! As a former educator in elementary and preschool classrooms this made me miss teaching and was really fun to put together.

 I hope you all enjoy!

Must Haves for Lil' Monsters: Crayola Paint Maker Review and Giveaway (3 Crayola Paint Makers + $50 Visa Giftcard) #MustHavesforLilMonsters

Disclosure: The Crayola product, gift card, information, and additional gift pack have been provided by Crayola. The opinions expressed are 100% honest and my own, no other compensation was received.

When searching for gifts I usually have the hardest time deciding on what type of product to purchase and get so caught up in the idea of what's trending for lil' monsters vs. what the kid's parent would appreciate the child receiving. More times than not when I ask a parent what should I purchase, they request getting board games or puzzles, books and supplies for arts and crafts. With the weather changing and more time being spent indoors, I think arts and crafts activities like painting are the perfect way for children to pass away the time by allowing them to express themselves creatively. 

Recently my boys got the chance to try out the Crayola Paint Maker and just loved making their own colors and how simple it was. Their cousin in Arizona was born on Christmas day and so we're sending her a package to celebrate and we thought it would be fun to paint stencil designed shapes in various colors. Personalized gifting always seems like a sweet touch and both the kids that help to create it and the person receiving it feel extra special.

Steps:

After pouring the white base paint into the pot, you would tear the required number of (primary colors: red, blue, yellow) strips to put into the paint pot to make the colors liked best.

Then you would place the small pot of paint onto mixer and stir it up to make your color, just make sure to put the perforated strips as far inside the white base paint so that the color dissolves .

            

Benefits

• Allows kids to be in control of their creative experiences while

also sparking their imagination

• Enables kids to make a REAL Crayola product in the colors they

want to create with

• New paint strip technology and washable paint base

• Fun, easy process

Features

• Create customized washable paint colors

• New color strip paint technology reduces mess

• Built in storage

• Includes:

• 1 Paint Maker base unit

• (1) 2.5 oz bottle of paint base

• (10) 6” x 9” sheets of white paper

• 75 Paint Strips

• 15 Paint pots

• 15 paint pot labels

• 1 Coloring Mixing Guide

• 1 Paint Brush

• 1 Instruction Sheet

Age: 8+

SRP: 24.99

The boys then grabbed some stencils and their inner lil' artists got to work while they painted birthday decorations and used crayola broadline pastel markers to stencil in a message.

Using the Crayola Paint Maker is really simple and relatively mess free! I must say the coolest part for the boys, was naming their paint color : Elmo red, Graper purple, Sonic blue and Kermit green.

Because we loved it so much we want our readers to enjoy a little paint maker fun in the new year, so we're choosing 4 winners & offering to giveaway:

(3) Crayola Paint Makers and (1) $50 Visa Gift Card 
to anyone 18+ years and lives in the continental U.S.. Closes 12/31/14

First Step: leave a comment down below: What would you name 2 of your paint colors? and then enter the Rafflecopter for additional Entries.


a Rafflecopter giveaway

Help Children's Claritin and KaBoom Bring Innovative Playspaces to Communties in Need! #Vote4Playspaces #Sponsor

Parents! Vote Now to Help Kids Have More Fun – One Playspace at a Time

As parents, we spend a lot of time discovering creative ways to nurture our children’s curiosity. Luckily, being outdoors provides the perfect landscape, fueling young imaginations and creating endless possibilities for exploration, discovery and creativity. Children’s Claritin hopes to inspire parents to create innovative play spaces in their backyards, and communities.

Children’s Claritin also believes in the benefits of outdoor activity for children, and wants to help children get the most out of every day! They’re teaming up with KaBOOM!, a national non-profit, to help bring innovative playspaces to communities in need and you can help! By voting, you can help them pick the four community organizations that will receive Imagination Playground™. What’s Imagination Playground™? See imagination at play – watch last year’s winner enjoying Imagination Playground™.

Be sure to visit ClaritinVoteforPlayspaces.com where you can place your vote and gather playspace inspirations for creating your own backyard playspace.  

While visiting the Children’s Claritin & KaBOOM! Facebook page, you can also:

·         Learn more about the twelve organizations you can vote for receiving Imagination Playground™

·         Download coupon offers

·         Locate a playspace near you

Vote now and help us pick the four community organizations that will receive Imagination Playground™. You can vote one time per day through 9/26/14. Click here for voting rules.

Disclosure: As a member of the Children’s Claritin Mom Crew, I receive product samples and promotional items to share and use as I see fit. No monetary compensation has taken place and any opinions expressed by me are honest and reflect my actual experience.

Snowy Day fun with Citrus Lane

I'd always been curious about the various gift subscriptions that are out there for kids, so when a friend had asked what she should gift Tristan for the holidays, I requested a subscription to Citrus Lane. What parent doesn't appreciate, monthly hand picked, age appropriate products for their children, delivered right to their door? Each month a box is sent, tailored to your child's age group from some of the most well trusted brands like: Plan Toys, Weleda, Aden + Anais and Skip Hop. Items chosen for each age group vary from toys and games that are engaging or encourage pretend play, to arts and crafts, snacks, lunch bags and more! My son Tristan didn't know he was getting a special package and when he opened his preschool 3-4yr old January14 box he was super excited. 

With all the snow we've been getting and cabin fever setting in, the items that were in the January14 box were perfect for my 3yr. old.

The Zig Zag Zebra coloring book from Barefoot Books {$4.19} is perfect for age 3-7 and will keep your lil' monster busy while encouraging creativity. Tristan is at that great stage where he wants to pull every book of the shelf to read, and grabs his crayons to color & draw and is then thrilled to show us his newest masterpiece. This book isn't just for coloring though, it helps kids with shape recognition, line drawing and reading through simple activities and it's perfect to take on subway rides, and while in the waiting room.

Duo Tip Washable Markers from Faber-Castel {$4.99} were also included which are recommended for ages 4+ but they are pretty easy to use, so kids even younger could use. I love that the markers are double sided with a wide and thin tip and the best feature is that they are made from food-grade vegetable dye, making it easy to remove them from clothes, or in our case a small spot on the couch.

We haven't had the chance to use the Upset Tummy & Nausea Relief from Mommy's Bliss {$9.99} but I'm a huge fan of products that use safe, all natural ingredients. There are single dose packets included that are free from gluten, dairy soy and sugar & will help ease indigestion and nausea.

Out of all the items included Tristan's favorite by far was the Fruit Set from Plan Toys {This set is exclusive to Citrus lane, follow link for similar 3 items priced at $7.99 but doesn't include knife, so let's round to $10}. On the weekends you can find Tristan in his toy kitchen playing restaurant with his older brother and serving up dishes inspired by watching his daddy in the kitchen {nope, this mom doesn't cook, but I can make a kitchen spotless}. This fruit set includes 3 different fruits and a knife that are all made from recycled rubberwood. Tristan loved that he could slice his fruit to make a salad and when he's all done they stick back together with Velcro and can be put back in their drawstring bag.

 

I was very satisfied with our first box and we've been eagerly checking to see if we have any new packages waiting for us. With everything estimated to be a total of $30 if purchased separately and not including shipping I find the subscription to be worth it and I enjoy the surprise of opening the box with my lil' monster. I am curious as to how varied the boxes are in the same age group from month to month, as I read some reviews in which parents said they got duplicate or very simialir products later on. Ultimately I think this monthly subscription is a great deal,  a 3 month subscription is $24 and a 6 month subscription is $21 making them worthy options and if interested in a yearly subscription the price is only $19. I'll be sure to show you guys what's in our February box. 

Are you currently subscribing to Citrus Lane, are you and your lil' monster enjoying your monthly surprise? Would you recommend any other monthly subscriptions, please do tell!

*This is not a sponsored post, the opinions expressed are 100% solely mine. I received no compensation.