Posts Tagged ‘toddler’

Having recently written my thoughts on the Soft Peek-A-Boo Blocks baby toy, I’d now like to introduce you to yet another fun toy from the Bkids called the  Stack ‘n Link Pal.

This ring stacking toy is incredibly cute topped off with a clever monkey friend! It’s four brightly colored rings are very stimulating for babies. And the rings themselves have different textures and images that babies can explore.

A great feature that I’ve not seen in a stacker before is the fact that the rings can not only be stacked on top of each other but they can also easily be linked together on the small opened section included on each ring! I love toys that challenge children in more than one way. This makes the playability factor quite high!

This toy is all hands on and completely enhances gross motor skills, babies can learn colors, explore textures, notice differences in sizes, learn how to link things together, and bat the toy itself back and forth by the base.

My 10 month old baby boy hasn’t learned how to link the rings together yet but he sure likes to shake them to make a clanging sound when they are. He’s getting better at stacking and this toy has been a wonderful aid in learning for him.

The  Stack ‘n Link Pal itself is made out of a harder plastic so this toy doesn’t make for the best teether. And on occasion I found the the the middle piece and the base easily came apart during play. This makes for easy for cleaning but maybe not so much fun for a child that’s a little rough on things.  And in all truthfulness my son goes for the  Soft Peek-A-Boo Blocks a lot more often that this toy. Maybe he’ll like it more in a few months and maybe it’s just personal preference but both my kids are hugely into their blocks! I just wanted to put that out there.

If you are still doing your Holiday shopping for the children in your life I encourage you to check out the BKids website and look at all the other great toys that are offered.

Disclaimer: I was sent the above product mentioned for review. This review is 100% my opinion and has not been edited or reviewed by anyone. I was not compensated in any other way for this product review.

I’m a mother that  is looking out for the best interest of my family and the earth around me. Those who know me know that  I cloth diaper my baby, make my own organic baby food, and try to use as many natural products as possible in my household.

Lately, I’ve been going through a lot of my daughter’s baby toys  to see if they are worthy to be passed along to her baby brother. A lot of the items were gifts or picked up at rummage sells, I’m not even sure what some of them are made out of and it’s frightened me after some research to find that some of these toys have even been recalled for small parts  that came loose that have led to choking and some even had lead paint. All the reason to replace many of the toys with those that are all natural because these toys will go in the mouth of my 7 month old teething baby boy.

I have a few favorite eco-conscious toy company which include Green Toys which has a fantastic line of toys but I was looking for something softer for my son and there products are made of harder plastic. While searching, I came across  a company called Dandelion, Earth Friendly Goods of which I found to have a fantastic selection of  organic baby & children toys!

A classic toy that I’m sure every parents has purchased for their children is a shape sorter. You know, those square shaped toys that have many random shape to push in and take out. They are a great developmental game, encouraging exploration and tactics. My daughter had one but I wasn’t entirely happy with it. It was hard to open and it had semi sharp edges which could potentially hurt a child if it was fall on. I often wonder what the companies who made these were thinking. I was happy to see that Dandelion had an alternative to a regular run of the mill shape sorter and pleased that I was able to review one!

The organic cotton soft shape sorter from Dandelion is an awesome toy and a must have for any infant! The soft material that the sorter is made out of is organic cotton and the inside filling is made from corn! This toy is super soft and it entirely machine washable. I can vouch that after several washes, this toy holds shape fantastically!

My son adores this toy! He really likes all the different shapes which are circle, square, triangle, and star. Each shape is fun to shake, rattle, crinkle and squeeze. Each shape has it’s own different texture and pattern too being made from organic velour, waffle weave, terry and canvas.These are totally safe and won’t hurt tender gums that babies have when teething.

I adore everything about Organic Soft Shape Sorter by Dandelion including packaging the toy came in which is 100% recyclable and printed with vegetable inks. I highly recommend this safe and practical toy for babies ages 6 months and up. It would make a great gift for the special baby in your life!

You can purchase Dandelion Classic Organic Developmental Sorter for 23.44 right now on Amazon with free super saving shipping!

Get Connected with Dandelion for organic baby toys on their  store, website, blog, Facebook and Twitter!

**Be on the look out because I’ll be offering a giveaway of this product as well as a few others by Dandelion!

Disclaimer: I was sent the Organic Soft Shape Sorter by Dandelion for review. This review is 100% my opinion and has not been edited or reviewed by anyone. I was not compensated in any other way for this product review.

I’ve really enjoy being able to theme and decorate my son Owen’s nursery area in our home. I know some people totally with go decorating a space thinking it would cost too much money and consume much time but that’s not always the case. It can be really budget friendly by simply deciding upon a certain theme and only choosing to add a few things.

I love color so I worked around decorating my son’s area with items that are bright in cheerful. I mainly worked around the colors in my sons second hand but in fantastic condition crib bedding. The crib bedding features construction worker trucks and automobiles. I found a fantastic knobby coat/jacket hanger that had high flying toy airplanes that fit right in. So I had the crib bedding, a coat hanger, a neutral colored dresser with a few coordinating toys and books on top and to bring it all together, a wonderful piece of nursery/room art from Baby Sully’s Art!

I enjoyed working with Rachel the mom and creator behind Baby Sully’s Art! It was like she was reading my mind through the process and knew exaclty what I was looking for. The set of paintings she created for me fit my nursery theme perfectly! The brightly colored painted airplanes in a cloud filled sky featured intricate patterns that are ideal for a babies room as well as an older child! I really loved how  paint and fabric were incorporated together! And how she included my baby boys name “Owen” as sky writing from a plane! How cute and original is that?

I quite enjoyed getting to see the progress photos as the custom pieces were coming together! Rachel answered all my questions and kept me on tabs on how everything with the piece was going! Definitely high quality service, if you ask me! I would highly recommend her to everyone for all their nursery or children’s room art needs! Just take it from me when I say it’s truly amazing what something like a painting on the wall can really do for a room! It’s totally spirit lifting and I love that my son is as much of a fan of his room art as me as I often catch him staring up at it as he lay in his crib!

I enjoyed getting to know the Mama behind  Baby Sully’s Art with my Etsy meet and greet questions and hope you do too! It’s such an inspiration to meet someone with such passion behind their creations!

1.Why did you decide to start doing this on Etsy and how long have you been? I have always been a wannabe artist, but worked full-time in marketing and just did arts and crafts as a hobby. When I became pregnant, I immediately wanted to paint something for the nursery. I did a set of 3 safari paintings that matched the bedding and I had so much fun doing it! After I had Erin (aka baby Sully), I could not even think about leaving her in daycare all day while I went to a full-time job. So…I made the hard decision to stay at home and try to contribute a little bit of money to the family income by doing what I love (which is painting). I opened up my etsy shop shortly after Erin was born in late 2009.

2. What do you enjoy the most when creating your products?
I love doing custom work. It is such a great feeling when someone describes what they are looking for or shows me a picture of their bedding and I get completely inspired! Nothing makes me happier than a satisfied customer, especially when I create something completely new for them

3. Apart from creating things, what do you do?
I am a stay at home mom and I also work as a part-time ecommerce consultant for a small company. I LOVE soccer and everything you can do outdoors in Colorado. My husband and my daughter are the two most important things in my life.

4. What inspires you?
Almost everything inspires me! I can’t help but come up with new ideas when I’m shopping at Babies R Us or when I see a new print at the fabric store, but my main inspiration comes from my customers. They give me amazing ideas and I run with it!

5.In five years you’d like to be…?
I’d like to be a stay-at-home mommy with a succesful business. Basically, doing what I do now, but more kids and a slightly better ratio of hours worked to money earned I’m so lucky to have a husband who is supporting my dream!

Win!

Rachel is offering one of my readers a 50.00 gift certificate to her shop Baby Sully’s Art!

To Enter: Visit Baby Sully’s Art  and let me know your favorite piece as well as a piece you’d love to see offered or would love to have customized if you win!

Extra Entries:

1. Blog this giveaway, link back to this post. (3 extra)

2. Follow on Twitter @erinlowmaster & Tweet (daily entries available)

3. Post this giveaway on a Giveaway Linky/Site and let me know where!

4. Email a friend(s) about this giveaway. (Leave name of friend)

5. Subscribe to my blog by RSS or E-mail (Feed Burner) and let me know!

6. Add Baby Sully’s Art as a favorite shop on Etsy and let me know your Etsy name.

7. Share this on Facebook and let me know your Facebook name! (2 extra)

Giveaway running till 08/13/11 . Winners will be notified shortly afterward by email. Please respond within 48 hours or you forfeit your prize to another participant. USA and Canada only.

DISCLAIMER: My thoughts are mine own opinion and have not been altered by anyone else. I did not receive any compensation for hosting this giveaway or review other than the sample above mentioned.