MumsTheWurdUnique finds for hip parents and cool kids

IF you’re anything like us (and I think we’re pretty typical with a little “hippy” on the side) your kids get new DVD’s every Christmas. It’s about the only time of year we buy them DVD’s. I’m sure by now they all know that the thin smaller rectangled package is a new movie. Save yourself some money and enter for this amazing giveaway!

We’re giving this bundle to FIVE winners!!

Give your child the ultimate Christmas gift with this collection of holiday favorites – Thomas & Friends: Ultimate Christmas, The Happy Elf, Santa Claus: The Movie and Eloise: Little Miss Christmas.

In Thomas & Friends: Ultimate Christmas, you’ll experience first hand the joy and magic the holiday season brings to Thomas and his friends.

Kids will love The Happy Elf, narrated by Harry Connick, Jr. It’s the fun-filled story of Eubie, the happy little elf out to save Christmas!

Santa Claus: The Movie is the delightful story of Santa’s greatest adventure of all – to save Christmas for the children of the world!

In Eloise: Little Miss Christmas, it’s almost Christmas Eve for Eloise, the Plaza’s most famous six-year old. Don’t miss the fun when she and her friends decide to put on a holiday show like no other!

Enter here and tell us if your children just know they’re getting the same thing every year 5 winners will be randomly drawn Monday November 24th and contacted via email.

This holiday give the gift of fun with Klutz activity books!

We are giving you the chance to win 5 titles from the Klutz library.

You can also get Free Shipping & a Free copy of their award winning Activity Book when you spend $50! (The activity book is called “The Only Coloring, Puzzle, Game, Dot-to Dot Activity Book You’ll Ever Need,” valued at $14.95 and will be added to your shopping cart once you hit $50 mark)

Click here to go to Klutz.com & take advantage of this exclusive offer! This holiday offer is only available for a limited time.

Enter here! A random winner will be drawn Monday November 24th and contacted via email! Good luck!

My almost 3 year old is getting to the age where she can understand boargames. This is so fun for us because we are a game-playing family. You know that family game night commercial? Yeah, that’s us, except ours is Friday night. We love playing with our kids and listening to their stories, there is just so much you can learn from listening. It’s always an added bonus when the games are educational.

Briarpatch’s strong legacy of stimulating children’s lives through fun and eco-friendly products has earned the company over 280 industry awards (and counting). Since its founding, the company’s cofounders applied environmentally conscious business practices in such innovative ways as using vegetable and soy-based inks and post consumer materials.

Awesome! Just knowing that Briapatch is a “green” company scored major brownie points in my book. What I also loved was that Thomas’ Great RAce is a game that teaches numbers and counting. So much better than sitting at a desk using worksheets. If your children are like me, they learn more from doing, than from being lectured, and this game is just perfect for hands on learning.

Win it! Enter here, and tell us if you have a scheduled family game night. Winner will be chosen randomly and contacted via email next Thursday (November 13th 2008).

Sugarplum Dreams is a very lovely online boutique offering everything you could think of for your little one. From Lotions and Potions to Baby and Children’s furniture they’re bound to be a boutique that you have bookmarked. At Sugarplum Dreams you’ll be able to outfit and decorate your baby and your nursery. But don’t stop there! Have older children? Sugarplum Dreams hasn’t left them out. There are tons of imagination building, educational and just plain fun toys!

Not only do they have an extremely wide selection of items for your baby, but they are all about building relationships. They Strive for excellent customer service and welcome all inquiries, from questions about your purchase to potty training, they want to be there to support you in your motherhood journey.

Don’t miss out! Right now through December 31st get 15% off all purchases $50 or more using the code: MUMS15.

When you have kids all you want to do is protect them. It’s not always easy within this techy-filled world we live in. Children by the age of 2 are learning how to play online. I’m always on the hunt for safe, child friendly websites.

Well, two amazing Mama’s have come up with a website that you can let your children play on without worry! That’s right parents, you can breathe freely when your kids are playing on the All Star Buddies website. There are seven different Buddies to choose from. Once you purchase a plush Buddy [$14.95], you’ll have the code to access the “Locker Room” where you sign in and customize their features such as eyes, eyebrows, nose and mouth, the possibilities are endless! Once they have their Buddy all ready to go, He/She can enter Varsity Heights where it’s game-playing galore. Your child can play games that rack up points, in which they can then buy virtual items for their Buddy. It’s not all games in Varsity Heights though, there are several brain challenging games because being an All-Star isn’t only about playing, it’s about learning too!

Mothers Caryn Burns and Cindy Prince created All Star Buddies from the two things they knew best, kids and sports. Each comes from different career backgrounds: Caryn, the buyer and merchandiser of a family-run pharmacy; and Cindy, a CSW specializing in counseling adolescents and families. Together, they combined their knowledge and enthusiasm to create All Star Buddies, a series of interactive based plush toys that teach kids real-life lessons and healthy living in a fun and imaginative way.

Win it! Enter here and tell us which Buddy is your favorite! Winner will be selected randomly, and contacted via email. Contest ends October 23rd at 10pm (CST).

Scholastic’s Storybook Treasures is a collection of DVDs that will make you feel slightly less guilty about using the TV for a babysitter. All kidding aside, these DVDs are the closest thing you’ll find to reading aloud. The narration is slow and steady and purposeful, which is very useful to try and coax kids into reading along if you happen to have the book that it is based upon. Luckily, the titles available in Scholastic’s Storybook Treasures series are all tried and true classics. In fact, the laid-back pacing of these adaptations reminds me of the old classroom filmstrips from my youth, the ones that required you to hang on every word until the beep told you to advance the frame. Such a difference from the frenetic style of today’s action-packed cartoons!

We recently received Make Way for Ducklings…and more delightful duck stories. Robert McCloskey’s sweet story of nesting ducks always makes me smile. And Jasper especially likes this DVD since “duck” is one of the words he can say understandably. Lucky for my little duck lover, this extra-long (76 minutes!) disc also features The Story of Ping, The Ugly Duckling, and Angus and the Ducks, as well as two stories that have non-duck birds in central roles.

If you have a dog lover, Harry the Dirty Dog…and more playful puppy stories may be more your style. There are six canine-centric tales on this 73 minute DVD. Roo loves the one about Harry trying to lose his new sweater from grandma.

The Storybook Treasures DVD I enjoyed most was Where the Wild Things Are…and 5 more stories. I have long been a Maurice Sendak fan and the title story is one of my all-time favorite childrens books. There is also an adaptation of In the Night Kitchen, and I am pleased to report that Mickey’s nethers are unretouched here. (I can’t believe that some libraries censor or remove this book for full frontal nudity… geez, it’s called a penis and half the world has ‘em, right?) The other fantastic thing about this collection is the inclusion of the Nutshell Library. I love reading these to Roo and Jasper, but I must admit that the Carole King versions pretty much blow me away. Duh. I vaguely remember these songs from my youth; they were part of the Really Rosie LP. I wish I still had that! 

WIN IT!

Where the Wild Things Are…and 5 more stories (four winners!)

Click HERE to enter and tell us which childhood literary classic you would like to see turned into a Scholastic Storybook Treasures DVD. Contest ends Saturday, October 18th at 10 PM CST. Winner will be chosen randomly and notified via email. Good Luck!!

I consider myself green.  Okay, maybe not green…more like sage.  But I try to do my part, like replacing all my old school light bulbs with the new compact fluorescent ones, recycling cans and bottles and I try to buy the big gear for my kids from resale shops and stuff.  I would like to do more but it can be very overwhelming to know where to begin.  That is where HappyGreenBaby can help!  HappyGreenBaby is an online baby boutique that selects only the best in eco-friendly and sustainably produced baby clothes and baby gear.  They handpick only those products that are organic, natural and that have a commitment to lessening impact on the environment.

You will find clothes (like the I’ll Save the World Tee pictured left), blankets, sippy cups, furniture and more from great companies like Boon, Baby Soy and Little Twig.  Still intimidated by all the choices out there?  Never fear for HappyGreenBaby can help there too with their handy Learning Center that contains tips and guides for everything from how to start using cloth diapers to how to throw an “all green” baby shower!  And to top all that off HappyGreenBaby is also committed to operating their business in a green, clean, eco-friendly way. Here are just a few of things they do to lessen the impact on the environment:

·  They are a member of 1% For The Planet, in which companies, like HappyGreenBaby pledge 1% of their total annual revenue to benefit environmental charities.

·  They reuse all of the boxes they receive merchandise in as shipping boxes for their customers (with the hope that the customers too, will reuse the boxes again).

·  They print everything on post-consumer recycled paper … and then they reuse that paper, too! You might find a recipe or letter from a “previous life” printed on the back of your packing slip.

Want to start living that Green Life that you have always wanted to?  Then shop HappyGreenBaby and know that you are not just buying quality for your children but that you are also helping to make a better planet for them too!

And to get you started HappyGreenBaby is giving away a $50 gift certificate to their store!

WIN IT!

$50 Gift Certificate

Click HERE to enter and tell us what  you would choose from HappyGreenBaby if you won. Contest ends Friday, September 26th at 10 PM CST. Winner will be chosen randomly and notified via email. Good Luck!!

It’s out on the shelves now and Tag! You’re it! It’s time to head out to your nearest LeapFrog product retailer and pick up this brand new, sensational reading tool…for the kids of the next generation.

I’m still amazed at how far technology has come even in the past five or so years. I sit and watch my toddler run this over-sized pen along a sentence in the accompanying book and it actually READS the story to her. She taps a word on a page and the pen SAYS the word. Pretty fantastic, in my opinion.

The Tag is quite easy to set up and use. Load the software onto your computer (disc included/Mac and PC compatible), connect the Tag to your computer via USB (cord provided) and follow a few simple instructions to load the books onto the pen-like reading device. The Ozzie and Mack book (our favorite) comes with your Tag. You can also connect the Tag to your computer and use it online at LeapFrog’s Learning Path.

“The Tag Reading System is the first handheld learn-to-read technology that interacts directly with real books. Audio for the stories, as well as the fun-filled games and activities spread throughout the pages, offers early readers an entirely new and captivating reading experience. By simply touching the Tag reader anywhere on any page of a Tag-enabled book, children can bring their favorite stories to life, easily skipping from page to page or book to book.“

So, we’re totally digging this new product and highly recommend picking one up for your kiddo or purchasing one as a gift for someone. The Tag retails around $50 dollars and can be found at most major retailers that carry LeapFrog products. Additional accessories for the reading system, like books, retail around $14/ea. There are quite a few books in the LeapFrog library to choose from right now. I can’t wait to pick up more!

WIN IT!

Of course, we’d love to give THREE of our loyal readers a LeapFrog Tag Reading System! Shucks, isn’t that swell?

TO ENTER:

Leave your entry comment on this post and let us know which of the books made especially for the Tag Reading System your child would love. Click HERE to browse the LeapFrog library.

This giveaway ends on Wednesday, July 9th. Three winners will be chosen randomly (not based on comment) and notified via email. After winner’s confirmations, we will update this post with the winner’s names. Bloggers and non-bloggers are welcome to enter.

Good luck!

PS: I highly recommend checking out the live Tag Demo by clicking HERE and scrolling down the left-side of the page to “Try the Tag Demo”.

My toddler, Hailey, using Tag on her new Tag Cars “Tractor Tipping” book:

I’ve always loved to read, and I’ve always wanted my children to develop a love for reading early. Noel has already begun to show a lot of interest in books, which is awesome.
Last summer, I told you about a set of DVDs that we received; Your Baby Can Read! Well, unfortunately we were not persistent with the DVDs (but Noel does recognize a few words thanks to this set, so I know with some gumption, we would have a little reader on our hands). Now, Your Baby Can Read! offers books to go along with each DVD. The great thing about these books is that the pages are water & TEAR proof (why don’t they do this with all kids books??)!! The Lift-a-Flap Books show a word, then the correlating object behind the flap. Within a couple days of having these and looking at them, Noel could pick out the right words when we’d ask him. I am convinced that these books and DVDs do work. We’re going to start over with the DVDs and see what happens.

Another book we received will help steer your child in the direction of green living early. My Bag and Me shows how even the littlest among us can help protect the Earth by doing something as simple as bringing your own bag to the grocery store. This book includes a pint-sized bag just for your child! Check out Penton Overseas for more great choices for kids.

Who doesn’t want their children to develop early literacy skills?

“Kutoka Interactive’s new edutainment software game, Mia Reading: The Bugaboo Bugs!. The DVD-ROM, for the PC and Mac, is an adventure targeted at children five to nine that focuses on literacy skills with lots of fun games and activities.

The software delivers exceptional quality and incredible graphics that are delivered in HD. Mia Reading is one of a very small number of completely original titles — not based on a movie, television show or licensed character, and it is one of a small number of educational software titles released each year.”

WIN IT!

Kutoka is giving away the Bugaboo Bugs to one lucky winner! Email “Bugaboo Contest” to mumsthewurd[at]gmail[dot]com for your chance to win. Winner will be randomly drawn on May 5th at 5 PM CST. Again, this software is geared toward children aged 5-9. To learn more about the various software available from Kutoka, visit their website! Good luck!