Stuff Parents Need

Easing the chaos in the nest, one find at a time.

Sorting Game for Preschoolers: Attribute Apples Review and GIVEAWAY!!!

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There’s a new game we have in our home, and Darah asks me to play it with her every single day. It’s called Attribute Apples, and it is available at the online store I love and have highlighted several times before, Learning Resources.

The game is designed for kids ages 3-8, and it is basically a bucket full of 27 different apples with different attributes (3 different sizes, 3 different colors, 3 different physical characteristics such as having a worm, having a leaf, or having a stem).

The purpose of the game is to work on classification skills, and my child really loves the challenge. It keeps her engaged for a long time, and she does a lot of good critical thinking every time she plays.

The bucket comes with a removable divider so that you can put your apples in 3 different sections in the bucket. Darah loves to use the bucket to sort her apples, and as soon as she finishes, she dumps them out and starts over!

Her very favorite apples to find are the ones with the worms in them. While she is hunting for those, she ends up sorting out the ones with leaves and the ones with stems in the process.

Once your child masters color, size and characteristics, there are also other, more advanced things you can do with attribute apples so that the fun can continue. One example is to use the apples to make patterns. This is too advanced for my child at this point, but over time we’ll be able to use the apples for this purpose.

This product is very simple, but is getting played with VERY frequently. I think it is well-designed and really captures the attention of little ones. I highly recommend it! It retails for $21.99.

Win it!: One lucky Stuff Parents Need reader will win Attribute Apples!

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Be sure to enter my other current giveaways, found on the sidebar of my page.

Disclosure: I received a complimentary product for review purposes. All thoughts and opinions expressed here are strictly my own.

$200 Amazon Gift Card GIVEAWAY!!!

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A brand new giveaway is now open for all our valued readers! Get a chance to win a $200 Amazon Gift Card. Only one lucky winner will be chosen on August 15, 2012.

This event would not become possible without the participation of these amazing co-hosts: I Heart Giveaways, Zoes Printable Coupons, My Charmed Mom, Keeping It Simple, Pinay Jade, Fashion In The Forest, Richly Middle Class, Go Momma Coupons, Celebrate Woman Today and More from Mom!

This giveaway is open worldwide. There are daily entries so keep on visiting this post to earn the bonuses for more chances of winning. Good luck.

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Carter’s Shopping Spree! $200 Gift Card GIVEAWAY!!!

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Welcome to the Carter’s Watch the Wear giveaway brought to you by Blog it Forward Media.

Carter’s Watch the Wear was started by Henry Wood Carter. Under the name H.W. Carter & Sons (1890), Carter’s Overalls were sold and were very popular. The company expanded to market boy’s overalls, as well as railroad overalls, painter pants, coats, jumpers and shirts, eventually putting everything under the simple trademark “Carter’s”. They quickly evolved into a company that you see now. They specialize in clothing for newborns, infants and toddlers. and Guess what? Their collection is entirely affordable for the family.

Well, Carter’s Watch the Wear has paired up with the bloggers of Blog it Forward to offer one lucky winner a $200 gift card to their website! That’s right, you can enter for a chance to win $200 worth of clothes for your little one. Just fill out the form below to enter.
You can sign up for Carter’s Watch the Wear e-mails! Do you want to be an affiliate? You can check out the details and sign up.

Just use the simple form below to enter! This giveaway is open to US and Canada. Must be 18+ to enter. Giveaway closes on July 31 at 11:59pm est. Only one person per household/IP address may enter. You only need to enter the giveaway on one of our blogs. Good luck!

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How to Make Iced Coffee at Home

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I am absolutely bonkers about iced coffee. BONKERS, I tell you! I happily drink it all year, but in the summer months, there’s just nothing better.

I usually make my own iced coffee at home to save some money, but my final product is always a bit too watery. The reason is because I lack the patience to let my coffee cool down to room temperature before adding ice to it. When I smell that delicious coffee smell, I start salivating like Pavlov’s dog and want my coffee NOW.

Do you have the same problem?

Godiva has just added a line of coffees that are great for iced coffee, in particular. They provide instructions on how to make iced coffee, and let me tell you, they have perfected the art and now I know how to make delicious iced coffee FAST without having it get all watered down!

How to Make Iced Coffee at Home:

1. Measure out 1/2 cup of Godiva coffee (and yeah, you are going to want to make sure it is Godiva, because if you use their flavors, you are in for one heck of a treat!). Put it into your coffee maker.

2. Measure out 2 1/2 cups of water and add to coffee maker. Turn your coffee maker on.

When I was making my first batch of coffee, at this point I was like, “Woah! That’s some seriously concentrated coffee…hope this isn’t gross!” But I pressed on.

3. When you coffee is brewed, turn off your coffee maker. Add 2 1/2 cups of ice directly to your coffee pot. Stir with a spoon until all the ice melts. (I also added sugar to my coffee at this point so that it would dissolve easily).

See the genius of this? This not only cools down your coffee, but it also gets it to the proper concentration.

4. Pour your coffee over a glass filled with ice and enjoy.

how to make iced coffee

And enjoy I most certainly did. I brewed White Chocolate Coconut and it was out of this world! I’ve also been enjoying the Berry Creme Brulee. Words fail me when trying to describe its awesomeness. You just need to get some and experience it for yourself!

Both of these flavors are outstanding and I would highly recommend them for your iced coffee. But you can also use this same brewing method for any flavor of Godiva coffee. Chocolate Truffle will be the flavor I go for once I use all of my other flavors. And at the rate I’m going, it won’t be long!

Buy it!: You can purchase Godiva coffee at a store near you (here’s the store locator). It can also be purchased on Amazon.com! The retail price for a 12 ounce bag is $9.99.

Edit: this giveaway is now closed. 

Win it!: One lucky Stuff Parents Need reader is going to win a gift bag (pictured above) filled with treats from Godiva!

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Be sure to enter my other current giveaways, found on the sidebar of my page.

Disclosure: I received complimentary products for review purposes. All thoughts and opinions expressed here are strictly my own. This post contains an affiliate link. 

Who Wants a Kindle Fire? Sit Tight…Giveaway Coming Up!

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You may have noticed that big group giveaways are all the rage on blogs these days. They make sense…bigger prizes for contestants and more followers for bloggers. That’s win-win!

With that said, I try not to overload you with them, especially since participating in them often requires a post advertising the upcoming giveaway in addition to the actual giveaway post. My critera for joining a group giveaway is if it is something that I would be totally thrilled to win, myself.

And I would be totally thrilled to win a Kindle Fire, so this giveaway made the cut!

Bay Area Mommy is celebrating her 1st year anniversary on July 27th, and is giving away a Kindle Fire AND a Diamond Candle! There will be 2 winners.

Giveaway Dates: July 25 – August 15
Signup Fee for participating bloggers: FREE for 1st link,
$3 for each additional link
Open worldwide. If the winner is not from the US, he/she will get the cash equivalent.

Get signup details here

 If you decide to sign up as a blogger, please list Stuff Parents Need as your referral!

 

Magic Tap Review: Self-Service Straight From the Fridge

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As a parent, do you sometimes feel like a short order cook? Tim and I certainly do! We limit the number of options Darah has at meal time, but we do give her a few options for her food, as well as her drink.

For a beverage, she has a choice between juice, milk and water. We try to make sure she has at least one of each throughout the day. Sometimes she’ll request two different beverages at the same time during a meal. Admittedly this is my fault because once, about 2 months ago, she saw me with a glass of tea and a glass of water. As soon as she realized that it was possible to have more than one drink at a time, she made a mental note and NEVER FORGOT.

Darah isn’t quite old enough to be able to get the gallon of milk out of the fridge to pour it herself. But with the Magic Tap, she can still get her own milk, which is cool because it helps her be more self-sufficient.

magic tap

The Magic Tap is a handy dandy little device that you add to a container of milk, water, juice or similar beverage and it creates a dispenser that is similar to what you’d see at a fast food soda stand. It is battery operated and very adaptable. It has a universal lid that fits most beverage containers. I also like that the drink comes out quickly. Before I received it, I feared that it would be really slow; this is not the case at all!

I will say that I found the cleaning steps to be a bit cumbersome. This is a device for people who want to shave a few seconds of work off their day, so we value anything that is quick, including clean up. But other than that, I really do like this product and will continue using it. My favorite thing about it is that it gives Darah a way to practice caring for herself, and it empowers her because if she is ever thirsty, she can solve that problem on her own without having to wait for an adult to help her.

It is important to note that this is not recommended for soda, just so all you fizzy drink lovers don’t see this as a way to actually have one of those soda stands in your house!

Buy it!: The Magic Tap is available online for $19.99 plus shipping and handling.

Win it!: One lucky Stuff Parents Need reader will win a Magic Tap!

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Be sure to enter my other current giveaways, found on the sidebar of my page.

Disclosure: I received a complimentary product for review purposes. All thoughts and opinions expressed here are strictly my own. 

 

Lamaze Infant Development Toys Review and GIVEAWAY!!!

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Lamaze toys hold a very special place in my heart. We actually used a purple hippo Lamaze toy to help us announce our pregnancy with Darah.

We put the hippo, which we had picked up a a garage sale (it still looked in impeccable condition) and placed it out with our stockings on Christmas morning at my parents’ house. Our stockings are usually overflowing, so it isn’t usual for presents to be displayed all around them. I put the hippo in between my mom and dad’s stocking and put the ultrasound picture we had underneath it.

They actually didn’t figure out what was going on due to the baby toy, alone. My dad actually thought it was a toy for his dog! Ha! But the picture underneath helped them figure it out really quickly. That hippo is part of such a special memory.

It also became a toy for Darah, and is now a toy for Layah. And it is STILL in excellent shape. Lamaze toys, in my experience, really hold up well so they can be used by several different babies before they are ready to be retired.

Lamaze is a company that has partnered with child development experts to create toys that truly engage babies at developmentally appropriate levels. All of their packaging has color-coded age grades to make it easy for you to select the right products for your child’s changing needs.

Today I want to introduce a few of their products that were actually all featured on this What to Expect When You’re Expecting movie poster!

First up, meet Stretch the Giraffe. This fantastic toy has a lot of features that will engage your babies for months! The bright, colorful fabrics tend to attract attention, as do the ribbons, the clacking rings and the squeaks and crinkle sounds that are made when playing with the giraffe. Darah had a previous incarnation of this toy and she loved it. I know Layah will love her giraffe, too! Stretch retails for $14.99.

Next up, meet Hula Girl Travel Toy. She is meant to ride along on a stroller or carrier, and she moves right along with them! I love all the textures on this toy; it will be a big hit when Layah starts to grab things! It retails for $16.99.

Finally we have Octivity Time. This cute octopus is intended for babies 6 months and up, and has a mirror, a spinning starfish, clinky rings and other great features and textures for baby play. It retails for $19.99.

Win it!: One lucky Stuff Parents Need reader will win the 3 toys I reviewed in this post! Woo hoo!

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Be sure to enter my other current giveaways, found on the sidebar of my page.

Disclosure: I received complimentary products for review purposes. All thoughts and opinions expressed here are strictly my own. 

Get Your Home Improvement On! $100 Lowe’s Gift Card GIVEAWAY!!

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In celebration of the launch of Sassy Media, a blogging resource community that I have joined and already totally love, I’m pleased to present a giveaway for $100 to Lowe’s! Canadian residents can also enter this giveaway, and one Canadian winner will be selected to win a $100 Ikea gift card.

The giveaway runs until July 24th. I could seriously use that gift card to Lowe’s, and I bet you could, too! Good luck to all!!!

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On the Rocks: Sparq Stones Review and GIVEAWAY!!!

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So here’s the thing: I LOVE LOVE LOVE iced coffee. I usually make it at home to save a bit of money, and I’m usually so impatient to try it that I try to add all my ice to the drink before it has sufficiently cooled down.

The result is watered down coffee. Which is something I DON’T love love love.

I’ve been trying something really fun and different to keep my cold drinks cold but not watery. I’m putting stones in my drinks. And especially in Darah’s drinks.

Yeah, stones. You know…rocks.

Confused by my randomness? Afraid I’ve gone off my rocker? That’s entirely possible, but it has nothing to do with cooling down beverages with stones.

Check out Sparq Stones. Now, these are actually designed to be used with whiskey. Which I’m fresh out of (no, not because I drank it all this morning, silly). But some of you out there might like to throw back an occasional whiskey Mad Man-style, and it is my understanding that whiskey is a drink best served cold (just like revenge!). But watered down whiskey is kind of gross.

Throw a few of these super cool stones in the drink, and problem solved!

I will say that these are not the solution for my iced coffee drinks, as I like to consume Big Gulp sizes in one sitting. The stones don’t get as cold as ice, and so they are ideal for smaller amounts of liquid.

That’s what makes them really fun for toddlers! Maybe it’s odd to serve a child water in a whiskey glass with whiskey stones, but I darn sure do it, and she loves it! 🙂

Also, if you like your coffee hot, these stones can be heated up to help keep your java nice and toasty! Pretty cool, huh?

Sparq Whiskey/Coffee Stones can be purchased here for $19.50

Win it!: One lucky Stuff Parents Need reader will win a set of 9 Sparq Whiskey/Coffee Stones!
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Be sure to enter my other current giveaways, found on the sidebar of my page.

Disclosure: I received complimentary products for review purposes. All thoughts and opinions expressed here are strictly my own.