Category: children

December 6, 2016

Creating Magical Christmas Memories with the Portable North Pole Magic Pass

For the last six years, our family has been creating Portable North Pole (PNP) Santa calls for our children. My Dad started this tradition with our eldest son and we have carried it on.

Portable North Pole (PNP) allows parents (or grandparents/aunts/uncles,etc) create a personalized video call for the special child in their life. They can personalize it with their name (which you can choose the right pronunciation of the name), their pictures, an achievement they made this year and what they have been asked to do this year. At the end of the video the child finds out whether they are on Santa’s naughty or nice list (not going to lie, my husband and I made joke ones for each other that the kids think are hilarious as Daddy is always on the naughty list!).

Each year the video calls are different with the most amazing attention to detail. The calls are engaging and Santa is animating and attentive. He really makes you feel part of the video call. Our youngest sits there listening to his video answering ‘yes Santa’, ‘I will try Santa’ and ‘okay Santa’. It is priceless and something we can’t wait for them to experience each year.

With the magic pass, you have access to all of the premium videos for an unlimited amount of video videos, a reaction recorder (this is for the mobile app), unlimited Santa calls, HD downloads of your videos and a story time video with Santa every week during the month of December. Right now you can save 20% on the PNP Magic Pass by visiting their website here.

I highly recommend downloading the app on your phone for the PNP. You can always watch the videos online but the app has so many extras that are perfect for parents and kids. There is a parent section (password protected!), where you can create the videos as well as email them. I used the app to create all my videos this year. There is also a call button on it that I have convinced my youngest and all his friends that it gives me a direct line to Santa when they are being bad. The second section is just for kids where they can playing a matching game, tree shaking game and watch their videos.

Make sure you follow Portable North Pole online to keep up with all things Christmas and Santa, you can follow them on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. Happy video calls!

Disclosure: I received a Magic Pass in order to facilitate this review. All opinions expressed are my own.

December 1, 2016

Tekno Newborn Technology Brings Pets to Life!

Tekno Newborn Brings Technology to Life!

My children love animals – the only downside? Mom is allergic to both dogs and cats (I know I am the kill joy in the family!). We have one hypoallergenic dog but my kids see their friend’s cats and just fall in love. I so wish we could bring home a kitten for them to play with but this is definitely not in the cards for us.

Tekno Newborn brings the fun of having a kitten and puppy into your home with their technology. Your child can play with their very own Tekno kitten or pup that comes in various colours (the pet itself is white with pink/blue/purple/teal/Dalmatian as the secondary colours and an exclusive all black puppy at Toys R Us). The pet fits into the palm of your hand and is light weight. The neatest part about the little pet is they are touch and voice sensitive. You can teach your little friend to beg, jump and even sing!

Our youngest fell in love with his teal kitten. He was petting her head, talking to her and was so excited to see her jump into his hand. I was a bit worried that she (we felt our new little kitten was a female and named her Captain) would not be able to take too much roughness from him. He dropped her on one of his first tries in getting her to jump. We were all a bit nervous, as I am sure many of you parents can understand, as her ear fell off. To our great relief it fit back on perfectly. It is almost like the makers knew that this was a possibility and designed the toy to handle what a small child may put it through. She has taken several jumps and falls and still comes right back ready to jump again (much to our great relief!).

The Tekno Newborns can be purchase at Toys R Us, Walmart, Canadian Tire, Loblaws and London Drugs. The toy will cost you about $24.99 and is recommended for children three years of age and older.

The Giveaway!

My Canadian readers can now enter to win their own Tekno Newborn friend via the Rafflecopter form below. Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Disclosure: I received a Tekno Newborn in order to facilitate this review. All opinions expressed are my own.

November 25, 2016

Laugh, Explore and Learn With the All New Teletubbies!

Laugh, Learn, Explore With the All New Teletubbies

Growing up as a child, I am sure many of you were able to watch the Teletubbies on television. It was on almost non stop in our home when I was growing up as all three of us children were huge fans (I loved Po!). The characters were silly and full of adventure, every show was unique and designed to encourage, motivate and get your child moving and having fun.

An all new modern Teletubbies has returned to Family Junior ( you can even watch the show online or on their app) and has been updated to include new graphics, state of the art technology and 3-D printing. The Teletubbies even have their own touch screen tummies and a cell phone! Talk about embracing the new technology – these characters are completely up to date with the current times (amazing that these characters made their debut in 1997 – it definitely does not feel like it was that long ago for me). The show airs weekdays on Family Junior at 9:00am and at 8:45am on weekdays.

The best part of the Teletubbies the developmental and learning skills that the show has to offer your child. It is so important that your child is not only watching a favourite show of theirs but that they are also learning and growing at the same time too. This show helps to build your child’s confidence, improve their emotional and physical skills while learning to embrace their true self. There is never no need to conform to societal norm when it comes to the Teletubbies. They welcome and accept you for who you are and this is a message that kids just don’t hear enough. It is so important for them to feel comfortable being who they are and who they want to be.

Just in time for the holidays, parents can not only welcome the Teletubbies on their television (or online if you are tech savvy) but they can also purchase plush products of their favourite friends to accompany their child at home. We welcomed a talking Po into our home and I have to admit that I couldn’t get enough of making him talk. It brought back so many great memories from my childhood. The dolls are soft with a firmer face but still make the perfect cuddle buddy for your child. I found my children love having large plush friends of their favourite characters, they bring them with them whenever they go out, when they go to bed and even to school show and tell.

Did you watch Teletubbies as a child? Who is your favourite character from the show?

Disclosure: I received a Po product to help facilitate this post. All opinions expressed are my own.

November 25, 2016

Make Bedtime Easier with Charley the Chameleon

Make Bedtime Easier wtih Charley the Chameleon

Both of my boys are awful sleepers. They hate bedtime (you mean we have to stop playing??!) and definitely don’t like falling asleep alone. We have worked hard over the last couple of years to get them transitioning to sleep on their own but we still struggle, especially with our free-spirited youngest.

Our youngest loves the comfort of having someone beside him while he falls asleep. It gives him security and comfort knowing we are there beside him. We also know we have to encourage him to fall asleep on his own. We have tried pillows and a giant teddy bear (literally bigger than three feet tall) to trick him into sleeping on his own. It has not worked!

Charley the Chameleon is a sweet, plush chameleon that helps children transition to bedtime while feeling secure and safe. Unlike the pillows and teddy bear that we had tried, Charley lights up and plays music for your child to help soothe and secure them. This really helps to battle those feelings of being alone and being scared of the dark. Charley the Chameleon, who is blue, has scales that light up in amber, blue and green. He also plays a rain forest tune (we thought it sounded kind of like Hawaiian music) and tropical tunes. He is about the size of a regular stuffed animal that a child would take to bed, about a foot long and half a foot wide. He is soft and cuddly, with no hard parts on his body (nothing worse than getting hit in the head in the middle of the night with a battery pack!).

Our youngest was playing with Charley long before he laid down for bed and when it was time for bed he didn’t fight us as he hopped into bed. We asked him to try out Charley for a bit to see if it would help him and if he got too scared we would come lay down with him. Charley the Chameleon really helped calm his fears of the dark and of being alone. The first couple of nights we still came back in to help him fall asleep but each night he was able to stay alone just a bit longer with Charley. This in itself was an amazing bonus for us! We usually spend either the whole night in bed with him or back and forth through out the night (and both of us are left feeling like zombies come the morning).

Charley from Cloud b is more than just a sleeping aid but a fun, cool companion that your child wont be afraid of carrying around during the day. His fun music and soothing lights help to draw your child away from thinking about being alone or the darkness in the room and instead focus on Charley (hey you may even find them talking to him!).

You can find Charley the Chameleon at many retailers across Canada just in time for the holidays and he will cost you roughly $39.99, which is an excellent price to pay for some sleep. Make sure to follow Cloud b on Twitter and Facebook for more awesome products and news.

Disclosure: I received the above mentioned product free of charge in order to facilitate this review. All opinions expressed are my own.

November 19, 2016

Utterly Amazing Dinosaur Book Review

Visit the amazing world of dinosaurs in the Utterly Amazing Dinosaur from DK Canada!

About Utterly Amazing Dinosaur

Packed with pop-ups, flaps, games, activities, and mind-blowing facts, Utterly Amazing Dinosaur explores the prehistoric world of dinosaurs, from the mighty T. rex to the armored Stegosaurus. See the different stages of how fossils are formed, and study the skeletons of different dinosaurs, and get up close to a Velociraptor with a special pop-up.

Learn about the dinosaurs that swam in the sea, stomped on land, or flew in the sky. Find out what different dinosaurs ate, from herbivore to carnivore to omnivore. The colorful illustrations clearly show the different types of dinosaurs, and the pronunciation guide teaches readers how to say those tricky dinosaur names.

From the biggest predators to the discovery of fossils, Utterly Amazing Dinosaur takes children back to an awe-inspiring era of history using innovate paper tricks to create fun and stunning effects.

Our Thoughts

Dinosaurs have a way of fascinating children and adults alike. They are majestic and beautiful in their own special way. They are powerful and fierce and yet gentle and kind. Movies have sparked the imagination of little ones and it is in books that they find the real good information that makes them want more. Utterly Amazing Dinosaur is an excellent book for children that not only provides information but fascinates and fosters a love of learning of these powerful creatures.

The book is large (roughly letter page sized) with a hard cover and the pages inside are also made up of a stiffer material (so much better for rougher little hands who get excited easily). The book is full of pop ups and flaps that your child can explore – my personal favourite pop up was the long necks (not just because they are my favourite dinosaur!). The hard material of the book helps to ensure the pop ups and flaps wont tear the first few times your little one plays with them because lets face it, kids get far to excite to open flaps and use a stronger force then necessary. The dinosaur facts were age appropriate but still gave enough information to keep us adults interested and it felt natural reading it aloud to our child and easy to make dramatic or silly to help engage our son in the book more. The illustrations are bright and bold that helps to draws you into the story.

Utterly Amazing Dinosaur will be a perfect addition under the Christmas tree this year. I am a firm believer of giving gifts that inspire and educate – Utterly Amazing Dinosaur does this and more. This book will definitely be a hit among the Dinosaur fans in your home. You can purchase a copy of this book here.

Rating: 5/5

Disclosure: I received a copy of this book in order to facilitate this review, all opinions expressed are my own.