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Bella Sara
It took me a good year to jump on the Webkinz bandwagon. I thought that stuffed animals were fine as is. Why did they need to have codes and online persona's? I begrudgingly logged my daughter in one day and then found myself logging in for her while she was at school to "get her some extra Kinz Cash. Yeah right. I liked playing the games.
Bella Sara takes the online persona thing to a different level. With music that sounds like something you would hear while getting a massage and beautiful imagery throughout the site, Bella Sara is a little girls' dream.
We were given a couple packs of trading cards and each card has a different horse or horse-like character on it. Once logged into the Bella Sara site, you plug in the code numbers from each trading card and you're off.
Like Webkinz, Bella Sara allows you to customize your own cottages. You also have to take care of your horses by filling up their water, feeding them apples, oats, and bottles if they're babies. You also have to brush your horse and clean out their stables with the handy Bella Sara tools that are provided.
There is something about feeding an internet horse an apple because my daughter and I spent a good hour taking care of her horses tonight. There are also inspiration messages throughout, encouraging you to be kind to friends, etc. There are plenty of messages on there that are worthwhile and important for young girls.
For the new Bella Sara participant, there are helpful tips on each page that help you figure out what to do and where to go. There's a boutique to buy things for your cottage and there are also plenty of fun and addicting games to play.
If you have a young daughter who happens to love horses or unicorns, you'll want to pick up a pack of these trading cards and get her started. Bella Sara trading cards are available at Walmart, Kmart, Target, Toys R Us, etc. One pack of cards sells for about $3.99. There are also other products available, including games for Nintendo. Who knew? We've come a long way from the Garbage Pail kids of my day, huh?
My only criticism is that certain areas of the website could be more clear, the cottage for example. It took us several tries to make it into one of our actual cottage rooms. If Bella Sara could make the general areas of the site as user-friendly as the horse stable area, I'd be even happier.
For being a pleasant place to visit online with a daughter and for putting out there a product that actually addresses kindness and consideration between people, BBM gives Bella Sara. . .
Aqua Doodle & KidKleen Bath Blizzard
I have seen the Aqua Doodle toys in stores and on TV for quite a while now. I figured that it would be another one of those toys that just ends up on the pile of "played with twice" toys. I was wrong.
The Aqua Doodle toy is a wonderful thing. Filled up with only water, the Aqua Doodle does just that, doodles with water. My girls have spent hours sprawled out on their bellies drawing and ocassionally fighting over the Aqua Doodle pen. They then discovered that they could just get their hands wet in the sink and make hand prints. They were hooked. This toy is as cool as it looks online, requires no clean-up other than a place to let the doodle mat dry, and provides endless hours of fun. It truly is fantastic.
My only criticism of the Aqua Doodle is that I really wish it came with more than one pen. The mat is big enough to accomodate a few little artists, so I would really like to see at least two pens come in the pack. That is my only negative. It really is a cool toy.
We were also the lucky recipients of a KidKleen Bath Blizzard. Follow the simple directions, add a cap full of their bubbles and some warm water and turn on. My, my, my, talk about a jacuzzi for kids. The Bath Blizzard runs for a good 15 minutes and fills up the tub with perfect clear fun bubbles.
If you have kids with sensitive skin, there’s no reason to worry. I have the most sensitive girls on the planet and there was not a single problem. The bubble solution has been Dermatologist approved so there’s no need for concern. All you need to do is follow directions and turn on the fun.
These two toys have been the absolute best fun for the girls in a long time. For that reason, but taking into consideration that we would have really liked another Aqua Doodle pen, BBM gives the Aqua Doodle and the KidKleen Bath Blizzard. . .
And the Winner is. . .
I lost all track of time and forgot to do the drawing on Monday. However, this morning, Lil C picked the winning folded up post-it note from all the entries and the winner of the Sesame Street K’Nex set is:
Nurse Betty Boop!
Congratulations! Please email me with your address asap!
Thanks to everyone for entering and keep checking back. There will be more contests coming!
Sesame Street K’Nex
There is nothing like building your very own Sesame Street character. Nothing. While Big I gave up Sesame Street years ago, Lil C has continued to enjoy Elmo as well as Ernie and Bert. Now she has little miniature versions of them to play with.
K’Nex has created a whole new line of Sesame Street toys where children can create and recreate Sesame Street characters. Plus, children can create their very own by mixing Bert and Ernie up to create a brand new character. In addition to the pieces for creating the characters, there are additional pieces and instructions on how to create bugs, butterflies and other Wali-like characters.
Once Ernie and Bert are put together, there’s not a little one on the planet that is going to want to take them apart to put them away. Case in point: Ernie and Bert have been sitting at the foot of Lil C’s bed for weeks now.
Each set comes complete with detailed and easy to follow instructions for completing your character assembly. The pieces are large enough for little hands to maneuver and the pieces fit together without much pressure needed. The toy is really perfect for the suggested age group of 2-5 year olds and retails for $21.99 (Sets will vary in price. See website for details).
If you have a K’Nex fan in the house and especially if you have Sesame Street fans, you won’t want to miss this new line of very fun toys. The only potentially negative about these sets is that I wish they had just a couple more pieces so you didn’t have to disassemble one of the characters in order to make new creations. However, you can always buy another set to add to the variety.
If you’re a reader of this blog, you don’t have to worry about buying a set on your own, because in cooperation with K’Nex and Childs Play PR, we are offering a Sesame Street K’Nex playset to one lucky comment-leaving reader. All you have to do is leave a comment in the section below. Drawings will take place in one week and the winner’s name will be passed directly along to the company for direct shipment.
If you’re not the lucky winner, you can buy a set here in The BBM Review store!
For being a fun toy all around, BBM gives K’Nex Sesame Street sets:
Noodleboro Learning to Listen Pizza Palace Game
My son has a habit of answering me when he’s not really listening. He somehow hears what I ask, answers one of the options I have provided, then promptly freaks out when I hand him the milk he said he wanted, or the tortilla chips, or the shoes, etc. I kind of thought this behavior wouldn’t start occurring until he was at least an adolescent. Not so.
Hasbro has created series of games set to address the listening issue, as well as other issues that challenge children. Thank you!!!! The Learning to Listen Pizza Palace game is a blast! My son was excited to sort out the pieces and begin playing. The game includes the parts of the game, as well as a book and a CD to enhance play. My son loved the pizza boxes and silly toppings. While he did stray a bit from the directions (instead of placing the pizza order, we had a full-blown delivery service), he followed the concept of listening in order to get the correct pizza toppings on the pizza. I thought it was exciting to see where his imagination went after starting to play the game. And frankly, I didn’t think he was listening to my pizza order, but he was and did a great job baking my pizza and delivering it in 30 minutes or less!
There are two other versions of the games…Learning to Share and Learning About Manners. This game was such a hit in our house, I will definitely be seeking out the Learning about Manners game. Boy do we need help with that! You can actually enter to win one of 200 games that Hasbro is giving away. And if you don’t win it there, you can get this game in stores already.
Add this game to your holiday shopping list! I give this game a:
Getting Rave Reviews
BlogHer Review
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