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Showing posts with label toys. Show all posts
Showing posts with label toys. Show all posts

Monday, November 16, 2009

Five Star Publications: Saving Animals Finger Puppets

*Disclosure: Mama Buzz, and reviewers, received these complimentary Five Star Publication Finger Puppets, for review purposes.


Melissa J's Thoughts:

Thanks to tiny little creatures that sit on my finger, compliments Five Star Publications, my daughter is being potty trained! These tiny creatures are the cutest ever, finger puppets. In the six days that we have had them, they have been put to use, multiple times a day. They have been used:
~ To help her sit quietly through a church service
~ To entertain her during a Bible study, home group.
~ As a toy during every day life.
~ As a way to get her to participate in conversation. She loves to talk to the little boy finger puppet and will talk longer and more profusely with that, than she will with me!
~ As a training tool for potty training. Given the above statement, we use the little boy finger puppet to get her on the potty and actually use it. It's our magic tool for potty training and I am forever grateful!
Photobucket
In our package we received the little boy puppet, the kangaroo, snake, mouse, and owl. Although the little boy is her favorite, my 2 year old daughter is enamored with all five of them. She can sit for a full half hour, placing them on my hands and giggling and responding as they all talk to her (in high, screechy voices of course) and then, it's her turn to wear them and talk to me with them!


If I had seen these finger puppets, I probably would have passed right by them and never bought them. What a loss that would have been! They are worth every penny that they cost and I guarantee your child will have endless hours of fun with them! Perhaps, they can even help you potty train!

Mel's Thoughts:
Five Star Publications sent us a little package that I never would have dreamed would be that entertaining for my kids, but Jaden took right up with them.  They sent us the Saving Animals Finger Puppets that go along with Samuel Lopez's Saving Animals book series.  They are so cute, and there are five of them.  There is a child, an owl (which Jaden wanted to try on first), a snake, a cat, and a mouse.


These finger puppets are very entertaining for my toddler, who got a kick out of the snake hissing at him from my fingers.  They fit snugly over my fingers, and they actually fit his little fingers pretty well, albeit a little loose.  They are handmade out of yarn (not sure if they are crocheted or knitted), but they also have great little detail for being made out of yarn.  Even the snake has a long, hissing tongue sticking out of his mouth.  The kangaroo and mouse have cute little ears.  I have to say the owl is my favorite, and I wish we had it last year when we were studying owls in science.:) 

I can see myself using these quite a bit in the future.  Melissa J. has mentioned using them with potty-training, and I would like to see how they work for us, as well, as we will be starting that here very soon.  They will also make great illustrations for some of the books we read.  Who knows?  Jacob could even use them to put on a puppet show for all of us, which I'm sure my dramatic, hilarious boy would love to do.  Another way I might use them is to distract Jaden's attention when it comes time for doctor appointments, shots, grocery shopping, etc. 

Priced at $12.95 on Five Star Publications, they are, in my opinion, a great addition to any child's library or toy shelves, or even to Mom's homeschooling supplies.   Here is a gift guide that Five Star sent:
Parents and teachers looking to inspire children to read more – and have more fun while doing it – get a hand with Five Star Finger Puppets. Handmade in the U.S. with soft, durable, hand-washable yarn, they are child safe with no removable parts and come in packages of five that include owl, snake, child, dog and cat characters. Retail: $12.95. www.fivestarpuppets.com.


Thursday, November 12, 2009

Green Toys, Inc.: Recycling Truck

Mel's Thoughts:

Jaden has a new sidekick; this sidekick showed up today on our front doorstep, via the UPS man.  He will not part with this sidekick, even to sleep.  This new sidekick is Green Toys' Recycling Truck

Green Toys is a company who specializes in making just that: green, earth-friendly toys, made out of recycled plastic and other environmentally-friendly materials.  They use mostly recycled plastic milk jugs.  Other factors that add in include being made locally in California, so resources aren't being used to ship them....and their packaging is as eco-friendly as possible, using as little packaging as possible.  Their toys also pass a number of tests for toy safety.


The truck itself is very durable and oh so cute!  I would never guess that it is made out of recycled milk jugs.  It is a bright green color, which automatically makes it attractive to the eye.  It has a movable, enclosed bed with slats in the side of it, so that the boys can slip the recyclables down into it.  It actually comes with little cardboard recyclables (little cardboard squares with pics of recyclables on them)....I think Jaden loved sticking them through the slats, taking them out, and doing it all over again, even more than the truck.  It really occupied his attention for a while.  The bed of the truck also has a door that opens up on the back, so that he can dump the contents out onto the floor.  The wheels are the big, chunky wheels, and there are no metal axles, as to make it more eco-friendly. 


This truck could not only be used as a wonderful toy for your children to play with, but you could use it to teach them about the importance of recycling and being as eco-friendly as possible, in order to take care of our home here on Earth.  It would be a great tool to start teaching what kinds of things you use every day that could be recycled.  Good habits start early on.....


I highly recommend Green Toys to any mother, who is looking for eco-friendly toys that make a great addition to any child's shelf, not to mention a wonderful addition underneath the Christmas tree this year (children 3+).  They have trucks, dish & cookware sets, jump ropes, tool sets, etc.  Priced at $21.19 on Amazon, I feel that this is a good price, especially compared to other, less "green" toys that are found on the store shelves.  Good, durable toys are hard to come by these days, without paying a pretty price for them.....so I definitely recommend Green Toys to any family.



Melissa J's Thoughts

 I have a girlie-girl. She loves her dress up clothes, purses, necklaces, and "make up". So I was surprised that she took to the recycling truck from Green Toys the way she did! I figured my daycare boy would love it (he does) but really thought my daughter would pass by it on her way to the girl toys. Not so!  She was fascinated with it! Even more so when I cut out the little recyclables for her. Oh my goodness, talk about endless entertainment, to put those recyclables in the truck over and over again, and then take them out! 

As a Mama, who is seeking to live an all-natural, green lifestyle, I was thrilled with this toy. We recycle daily in our house and I laughed as I threw away a milk jug yesterday, knowing I had just gotten a toy made out of milk jugs. Nothing like giving purpose to the task of recycling!  What an awesome idea too, that Green Toys has come up with. Not only are they using recycled products for their toys, in this case, they used the cardboard packaging for a few extras (the play recyclables were cut out of the cardboard surrounding the truck) and they are teaching recycling besides with this truck!  

The truck is exceptionally sturdy, which I had been wondering about. I guess I heard recycled milk jugs and pictured a toy that was as thin as a milk jug, but not so. This is some heavy duty material and is going to take the battering that daycare kids will be giving it over the years. The door is easy for little fingers to open and the kids enjoy the fact the wheels work so they can "drive" it along the ground. 

Would I recommend Green Toys products based on this truck? In a heartbeat.  While being eco-friendly they have not sacrificed on high quality toys in the process so they are a top-notch toy company in my book!



(Disclosure: We were provided with this product, free of charge, by Green Toys, in association with MamaBuzz.  Opinions expressed are solely that....our opinions.)
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