I have officially switched over to my new review/deals/giveaway blog: Half-Pint Handouts in order to keep consistency with both style and management. Please resubscribe over there and join me weekly for awesome giveaway round-ups!
Thanks for sticking with me this far. I'm looking forward to seeing where this all goes in the future.
Here's what this DVD is about: Sid wonders what he could possibly do on his day off from school. But when all of his friends come over for a play date, they quickly put their science minds together and decide to put on a show in the backyard! They each take turns rocking out as they sing their favorite science songs for a very appreciative audience of Mom, Dad, and Zeke!
There is a bonus episode included with the Sing Along special. You can find the whole thing for only $6.99 at Amazon. It is also being sold at Walmart, Kmart, Toys R Us as well as at the NCircle website.
This is a cute idea and a nice alternative to a lot of other shows aimed at the younger set. It may be just a tad below my family as my youngest daughter is now 7, but she still enjoyed watching it. I just asked her what she thought and she said, "I liked this movie because it had a lot of action. And singing. And science."
There you have it. But don't take our word for it. Watch a preview here:
It's 60 minutes of silly, sciencey, sing along fun. And at $6.99, it's a steal.
NCircle Entertainment is giving away one copy right now to one of you! Here's how to enter:
Simply leave any comment on this post. Do you have a favorite character from Sid the Science Kid? That's an automatic entry.
For a second entry, check out the They Are Learning website and let me know which coloring page you like best.
For a third entry, follow @NCircle on Twitter and tweet this: #Win the Sid the Science Kid "Sid's Sing Along" DVD via @NCircle and @MeganDunham right here: http://bit.ly/haO8Bn - Come back and leave an extra comment letting me know you did that.
For a forth entry, mention this contest on your facebook wall and include the link to this giveaway: http://bit.ly/haO8Bn. Come back and leave another comment for that one too.
For a sixth entry, subscribe to the blog, Half-Pint House Handouts or follow it via Google Friend Connect in the right sidebar of that blog. Note: This is a different blog than the one you are on right now. I'm in the process of switching my reviews and giveaways over there. Sorry for the temporary confusion! Come back and let me know that you did it!
Go back to my landing page for this week's giveaways and reviews. Choose one of my "review only" posts to leave a comment on and then come back saying you did that. Presto! A 7th entry!
The winner will be selected by Random.org. This contest will close on Friday, February 11. The winner will be notified that weekend and will need to respond within 48 hours or risk forfeiting the prize to the next in line. IMPORTANT: You must make sure your Blogger Profile has your email address available for me to contact you. If it is set to private or otherwise not visible, you will need to add it in with your comment. If I can't contact you, I will choose another winner. It's happened before.
Disclosure: We received the a copy of Sid's Sing Along DVD for the purpose of review. My 12yo didn't care for it so much. My 7yo did. That's to be expected, though, right? I keep a proper disclosure statement available right here.
We received this game back in December and I promptly wrapped it up and forgot all about the whole "oh yes, I need to review it" part of the deal. My bad.
Franchi$it is a board game that some call a modern-day cross between Monopoly and Trivial Pursuit. I'm not sure about the Trivial Pursuit aspect, but it does have a Monopoly type of feel to it.
Here's what Franchi$it has to say about itself:
The Game of Franchising Fortune lets you tap your “Inner Entrepreneur” as you wheel - n- deal 12 real life franchises in a thrilling race to defeat your opponents and become the most powerful franchise tycoon!
Which franchises will you choose to build your empire? Will you choose a Subway shop as your first franchise? Will you own the most units of Great Clips? Will you build the most valuable Sterling Optical portfolio? Your choices will reveal a side of you no one has ever seen before!
The game is designed for 2-6 players who are 10 and up. I played this game with my girls who are 10 and 12 and it was both fun and informative. It was also very long. We didn't make it through an entire round. The next time we play we'll look at the options for the short version that are included with the instructions.
Bottom line: If you are needing a fun way to teach economics to an older group of kids, this could just be the ticket. I probably wouldn't play it with anyone younger than 10 for sure.
Disclosure: We were given a copy of Franchi$it for the purpose of review. We were not asked to say anything positive about the game, but just to give our honest opinion. We've done that. You can see my proper disclosure statement here.
This past January, Big Idea Entertaiment repackaged three of their shows into one DVD. The Happy Together DVD combines stories on family, friendship and faith, all rolled into one big "happy together" package. Here's what's on the DVD: Sheerluck Holmes and the Golden Ruler takes you on a mysterious adventure with Sheerluck Holmes and his venerable sidekick Dr. Watson as they work together, their forensic fortitude can solve any crime.
The Grapes of Wrath... What do you get when a bunch of very cranky grapes make fun of Junior Asparagus? One sad asparagus and one big problem. Will Junior ever be able to forgive them?!
Esther The Girl Who Became Queen tells the story of a new queen. When Esther has the weight of the world on her shoulders and the fate of her people in her hands, can she find the courage to do what's right?! There are also some bonus silly songs included: Pants, Dance of the Cucumber, and Larry Sings the Blues.
Here's a preview:
It's the typical fun you've come to expect from the VeggieTales name. Here's a little bonus video of their "outtakes" - I thought this was so sweet:
You can also enter to win a copy right here! Here's how:
Simply leave any comment on this post. What's your all time favorite Silly Song? That's an automatic entry.
For a second entry, check out the Big Idea website and let me know which of their products you haven't noticed before.
For a third entry, follow @VeggieTales on Twitter and tweet this: #Win the new @VeggieTales collection "Happy Together" via @MeganDunham right here: http://bit.ly/haO8Bn - Come back and leave an extra comment letting me know you did that.
For a forth entry, mention this contest on your facebook wall and include the link to this giveaway: http://bit.ly/haO8Bn. Come back and leave another comment for that one too.
For a sixth entry, subscribe to the blog, Half-Pint House Handouts or follow it via Google Friend Connect in the right sidebar of that blog. Note: This is a different blog than the one you are on right now. I'm in the process of switching my reviews and giveaways over there. Sorry for the temporary confusion! Come back and let me know that you did it!
Go back to my landing page for this week's giveaways and reviews. Choose one of my "review only" posts to leave a comment on and then come back saying you did that. Presto! A 7th entry!
The winner will be selected by Random.org. This contest will close on Friday, February 11. The winner will be notified that weekend and will need to respond within 48 hours or risk forfeiting the prize to the next in line. IMPORTANT: You must make sure your Blogger Profile has your email address available for me to contact you. If it is set to private or otherwise not visible, you will need to add it in with your comment. If I can't contact you, I will choose another winner. It's happened before.
Disclosure: We received the a copy of Happy Together for the purpose of review. Confession: I trust VeggieTales so I didn't exactly sit down and watch this with my kids, but just heard them giggle from a distance. This is why I didn't realize it was actually a repackaged compilation until I sat down to post the review. Clue phone ringing! Hello? It's Megan... I keep a proper disclosure statement available right here.
Okay, I'm going to gush just a little bit here, so bear with me. I don't gush that often, so take notice. Just Jen has a good thing going on.
Just Jen is a t-shirt shop, but a t-shirt shop with pizazz. By pizazz, I mean they do rhinestone t-shirts. I'm not normally into rhinestones on my clothes, but they have options there that would suit just about any style. Check out these cute "Going to Be a Big Sister" shirts. I think this middle sister shirt is awesome. Who else thinks of the middle sister?
They do custom and personalized t-shirts and some of these are even done by hand. BY HAND. Wowza. I found that out because the shirt I ordered from them was one that they do by hand. I'm seriously amazed by that. It's really cute too, take a look:
It's the dragonfly t-shirt. I asked for it to be on a long sleeved brown shirt and I LOVE it.
It's very well made and seriously cute. And here's my true confession: The shirt got put in a regular load of wash along with everything else and I didn't realize it. When I pulled it out of the basket to fold it and realized which shirt it was I panicked and quickly examined it: all the crystals are still intact. Whew!
My only critique is one they already know about themselves, but is one that is hard for a consumer to know what to do about without seeing the shirts in person. The shirts run very small. I had to make a good guess on this one as I planned to give it to my soon-to-be 9yo for her birthday. But when I pulled it out of the package I knew it would better fit my 7yo, so it became hers. And she was thrilled.
Just know this when you place your order and place it for a shirt much bigger than you normally would. You can always contact them for help in figuring out the appropriate size as well.
Are you convinced? Just Jen is just awesome. And that's that. Now then, one of YOU is going to win a rhinestone t-shirt from Just Jen right now! Here's how to enter:
Open to US and Canada residents only. The winner will be selected by Random.org. This contest will close on Friday, February 11. The winner will be notified that weekend and will need to respond within 48 hours or risk forfeiting the prize to the next in line. IMPORTANT: You must make sure your Blogger Profile has your email address available for me to contact you. If it is set to private or otherwise not visible, you will need to add it in with your comment. If I can't contact you, I will choose another winner. It's happened before.
Disclosure: We received the shirt you see pictured above for the purpose of review. I'm not really sure what's up with the winter hat on my girlie's head other than she really does have her own unique sense of style. That style includes both a winter hat AND the Just Jen shirt you see here. She loves her new shirt. She really does. I keep a proper disclosure statement available right here.
Family Matters was a sponsor at the Relevant Conference I attended last October. While there, they gave me a copy of their new Kids Flag Page activity kit:
This is billed as the "operating manual that should have come with each of your kids...but didn't."
They also say this is a "fun way for moms and dads to interact with their kids and truly discover the heart of each child - who God created them to be."
We've been pretty interested in the whole personality typing thing ever since our days with the Navigators, so to have something that does a form of that with our kids is pretty cool. And this is different enough to make it really kid-friendly. More than just going through the stuff on your own and deciding what your child is, this activity bundle allows you to work the process through with your children individually - they tell YOU what makes them tick.
Watch what Tim Kimmel has to say about the program:
His heart for helping parents get to the the hearts of our kids really speaks to my heart. I've read his book, Grace-Based Parenting, and really appreciate his words of wisdom to parents.
My primary critique with the program is that it only allows for three kids. Part of the kit has a board game feel to it and part of it has a disposable sticker book type feel to it. If I could offer one suggestion it would be to make it usable for more than these three kids and to make it REUSEABLE so that every year or so we could go over the whole thing with each child again.
They do sell refills for it, but the kit itself is already price-heavy at $44.99. Don't get me wrong - I think this is a worthy resource and worth the initial investment, but I wouldn't want to spend any more than that buying refills or subscribing to the website to do the adult version. As there are 6 of us in our family and the kit supplied materials for 3, we just wrote the info down on pieces of scrap paper for the oldest three of us and let the younger three keep the colorful information cards. When it was all said and done, we were still able to use the program for all 6 of us, it was just a little trickier to manage because we had to cobble together our own method of scoring for the rest of us.
Now while Craig and I really could look at the main countries sheet and make a pretty good guess which countries each of our kids are "from" it was insightful to see which of the cards they themselves identified with and to see how that matched up (or sometimes didn't) with what we also thought about them.
If you are looking for a fun way to engage with your kids on a heart level and also begin identifying some personality characteristics, I highly recommend this activity from Family Matters. I really really do.
Now then, the good news! I am able to give away one of these sets just like the one I received. Here's how to enter:
Simply leave any comment on this post. What is it about this program that appeals to you? That's an automatic entry.
For a second entry, check out the Family Matters website and browse around a bit. Discover anything worthy of sharing?
For a third entry, follow @Family_Matters on Twitter and tweet this: #Win a Kids Flag Page personality assessment kit from @Family_Matters and @MeganDunham right here: http://bit.ly/haO8Bn - Come back and leave an extra comment letting me know you did that.
For a forth entry, mention this contest on your facebook wall and include the link to this giveaway: http://bit.ly/haO8Bn. Come back and leave another comment for that one too.
For a sixth entry, subscribe to the blog, Half-Pint House Handouts or follow it via Google Friend Connect in the right sidebar of that blog. Note: This is a different blog than the one you are on right now. I'm in the process of switching my reviews and giveaways over there. Sorry for the temporary confusion! Come back and let me know that you did it!
Go back to my landing page for this week's giveaways and reviews. Choose one of my "review only" posts to leave a comment on and then come back saying you did that. Presto! A 7th entry!
Open to US residents only. The winner will be selected by Random.org. This contest will close on Friday, February 11. The winner will be notified that weekend and will need to respond within 48 hours or risk forfeiting the prize to the next in line. IMPORTANT: You must make sure your Blogger Profile has your email address available for me to contact you. If it is set to private or otherwise not visible, you will need to add it in with your comment. If I can't contact you, I will choose another winner. It's happened before.
Disclosure: We were given our own Kids Flag Page to do with our own family. I can not blame the number of people in my family who are in Control Country on Family Matters. Nope. Nor can I blame that the member who is in Perfectionist Country likes to wage war on the Control Country people from time to time. Ahem. Perhaps Family Matters could come up with a virtual counseling course for families to go through after they make their discoveries from using this game. I keep a proper disclosure statement available right here.
Okay, my gentlemen readers my want to skip this one, but for the mamas of tween girls out there, you may be interested in this. It's the Dot Girl First Period Kit. This is normally the kind of thing I don't really talk about much on my blog because some things are private and should stay so. But I really like this idea of having a preparatory kit to give a girl before she has her first period. I think it's a good idea and thought some of you might also think so.
The concept was developed by two sisters, Kathy Pickus and Terri Goodwin. Their goal is that every girl has a positive first period experience. As such, they put together this kit of information and supplies that makes it easy for a girl to figure some things out on the front end.
<soapbox> Please note: Handing your daughter this kit, while a great idea, does not excuse you from being her primary source of information. I still believe it is our job as their moms to be proactive in starting these conversations with them. Don't wait until they ask you - they might never ask you. You have to initiate with them. </soapbox>
It includes a well done answer book for common questions girls have before this experience happens to them. It also includes five feminine pads, five disposal bags, and a reusable gel heating pad. It's all packaged in a nice pink case that would be unobtrusive in a backpack or other larger bag.
The kit sells for $19.99. I'm also giving one away right now. Here's how to enter:
Simply leave any comment on this post. Are you comfortable talking about this with your daughter? That's an automatic entry.
For a second entry, check out Dot Girl and learn something about them you didn't know already. Come back and let me know what you found out.
For a third entry, follow @DotGirlMoms on Twitter and tweet this: #Win a special kit for your tween daughter via @DotGirlMoms and @MeganDunham right here: http://bit.ly/haO8Bn- Come back and leave an extra comment letting me know you did that.
For a forth entry, mention this contest on your facebook wall and include the link to this giveaway: http://bit.ly/haO8Bn. Come back and leave another comment for that one too.
For a fifth entry, "like" Dot Girl on Facebook and mention you entered this contest on their wall, including this link to the giveaway: http://bit.ly/haO8BnCome back and let me know you did that.
For a sixth entry, subscribe to the blog, Half-Pint House Handouts or follow it via Google Friend Connect in the right sidebar of that blog. Note: This is a different blog than the one you are on right now. I'm in the process of switching my reviews and giveaways over there. Sorry for the temporary confusion! Come back and let me know that you did it!
Go back to my landing page for this week's giveaways and reviews. Choose one of my "review only" posts to leave a comment on and then come back saying you did that. Presto! A 7th entry!
Congrats to:
Congrats! I'm contacting you now!
Open to US residents only. The winner will be selected by Random.org. This contest will close on Friday, February 11. The winner will be notified that weekend and will need to respond within 48 hours or risk forfeiting the prize to the next in line. IMPORTANT: You must make sure your Blogger Profile has your email address available for me to contact you. If it is set to private or otherwise not visible, you will need to add it in with your comment. If I can't contact you, I will choose another winner. It's happened before.
I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commissions 16 CFR, Part 255 Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising. Tomoson Product review & giveawayDisclosure.
is a recent release of NCircle Entertainment. 
DVD combines stories on family, friendship and faith, all rolled into one big "happy together" package. Here's what's on the DVD:
, and really appreciate his words of wisdom to parents.
The Kids Flag Page includes:
