THIS GIVEAWAY WAS FOR THE NOVEMBER 2010 SHOW AND IS NOW CLOSED
Where are my Yo Gabba Gabba mamas and daddies out there? The Yo Gabba Gabba! Live! There’s A Party In My City! tour is coming to Colorado on November 7th, 2010 at the 1stBank Center in Broomfield – and the show is sold out! Fear not, Brobee lovers. Who’s got two thumbs and a Family 4-Pack of tickets for you to see the show for free? THIS GUY! I’ll draw a winner on Halloween, so you still have lots of time to get entries in. Just leave a comment on this post.
Fresh off a triumphant sold-out tour debut, a headlining performance at The White House, a critically-acclaimed, chart-topping album, and an appearance at Coachella that garnered rave reviews from spectators and media alike, DJ Lance Rock and the cast of YO GABBA GABBA! are heading back on the road with YO GABBA GABBA! LIVE!: THERE’S A PARTY IN MY CITY! to play to enthusiastic fans on a 60-city tour across North America. Today’s hottest live show for families will make stops at top theaters, arenas and amphitheaters throughout North America, starting August 27 in Bethel, NY and ending in Dallas, TX on December 12.
Guess what we did today? Broke out the MOON DOUGH! It’s been sitting here on my desk for WEEKS now, and my review is way late. My apologies to Team Mom, who was kind enough to provide my family with this awesome Moon Dough Barn set for review – I have had the damndest time finding a chance to sit down with my kids to try it out. How hard is it to sit down and play? I mean, come on? But, yeah. School started, and everything just went to hell for me. Now that my littlest twins are in school, I have FIVE KIDS doing homework every night. The days just FLY by. But somehow, everything came together today, and here is my review!
First of all, you should check out the Moon Dough website. They have a commercial that loads right on the main page, showcasing this amazing, magical molding dough that never dries out. Don’t those kids look like they’re having a blast? I took a video of my own, so you can see what it’s like for the reals. This stuff is awesome – and actually, kind of weird – but it’s soooooo messy. I was trying to figure out something to compare it to, so I could describe to you what it’s like. It’s sort of food-like, in a way. It’s super duper light, like styrofoam. And have you ever pulled out the leftover mashed potatoes the day after Thanksgiving, and they’re all cold from the fridge? And you get a big spoonful and it sort of makes a sound as it separates from the spoon and plops onto your plate? That’s the consistency. And it’s crumbly, like the instant scrambled eggs you get in jail at a cheap buffet. It’s bizarre stuff, but it’s fun to play with. All my kids loved feeling it in their hands. Here you can see my husband explaining to all the kids (plus the neighbor kids) how to use the farm set. Essentially, you feed it some of this weird Moon Dough stuff, turn a crank, and out pops a farm animal. How weird is that?
My kids had a lot of fun with this stuff. It’s one of those things, though, that is designed (in my opinion) for families with just one or two kids. It’s super hard for a group of kids to share a toy like this as you could probably figure out from my video! I suspect that even 2 kids would struggle with it, because while one kid gets to do the AWESOME FUN THING, which is extruding little animals with a crank, and the other kid has to sit there and do the somewhat boring thing, which is molding Moon Dough into fences and hay bales. Turning funky molding compound into farm animals seems to be a one man job, y’know? But still – my kids liked it. Here are a few pictures to show just how much fun they had!
Lexi, the spokesmodel, showing off our product: MOON DOUGH.
Daddy reads the instructions:
Looks like scrambled eggs, huh? Not for long, though – my kids had all those colors mixed up together in no time.
Look at those fabulous fences!
Pablo really enjoyed the feel of Moon Dough – I can see it being a fabulous sensory tool for kids on the spectrum.
Lexi the spokesmodel again, showing off our collection of farm animals and hay bales!
Yeah, it’s hard to get them all to smile for a picture.
Our whole group, having fun with the Moon Dough:
Moon Dough comes in a very sturdy box. I’m hoping I can shove everything back into it, but so far, I can’t get the plastic grass to snap back off of the barn. If I can make that happen tomorrow and store this away on a shelf in its original box, I’ll be extra impressed with Moon Dough. If I end up throwing the whole thing in a Target bag and having to throw away that nice sturdy box, I’m going to be extra annoyed with Moon Dough. I’ll let you know how that part turns out.
So. To summarize? I would not have bought this for my kids in a million years, only because I’m one of those, “Oh, HELL no!” moms who doesn’t embrace crumbly, messy toys. I was a little disappointed that it was soooo crumbly and messy – this stuff got EVERYWHERE. I wonder what my neighbor thought when I sent her children home with blue hands. I don’t know that I’d recommend this, although the whole set is pretty cheap – under $20, for sure. You can buy individual containers of the Moon Dough – perhaps invest in one of those, if you want to see what it’s like, before buying a whole playset.
Disclaimer: Team Mom provided this Moon Dough playset to my family for review. I was not compensated in any way for this review, beyond receiving this product.
You know what I love? Getting to try out new and exciting toys. Actually, my KIDS like it even more than I do! Having two sets of twins in the house means we go through a lot of toys, and I’m always eager to check out new and exciting stuff. Recently, we were asked to review the Amusement Park Playset from Pop On Pals.
Pop On Pals is a whole new world of “Popabilities” from Spin Master. With endless mix n’ match fun, little ones can be anything they want to be. A fireman can become a musician, a princess becomes a baker, a puppy becomes a ballerina – Pop On Pals encourage imaginative play and help develop fine motor skills. Pop On Pals (ages 2-4) is a world of fun pals, pets, vehicles and playsets. Pals are perfectly sized for small hands to play with and the signature “pop” sound adds to the fun!
Other Pop On Pals packs and playsets include:
Pop On Pals Pet Pack
Pop On Pals Pal Pack
Pop On Pals Ring Deluxe Ring Pack
Pop On Pals 2 n’ 1 Vehicle Set
Pop On Pals is available at Toys “R” Us, Target, Kmart, Sears, and more!
Okay, here’s where I get to tell you what a MEAN MOM I am. My kids saw me take this toy out of the packing box and they went NUTS over it. We just returned from a family vacation which included LOTS of roller coaster riding, and they were pretty stoked to see the wee little roller coaster. They were completely ready to rip it out of the package, until I told them that, alas, they were TOO OLD for this toy. Tomorrow, my kids start school – I’ll have a pair of 2nd graders and a pair of Kindergarteners. They’re pretty much BEYOND the 2 – 4 age group for this toy. They were NOT PLEASED by this news.
However, we do have a darling little baby cousin who was the perfect age for Pop On Pals! Meet my newest little toy reviewer!
Her birthday was last weekend, so the timing could not have been more perfect. She got a cool new toy, and I got to see firsthand what happens when you hand it over to a rambunctious toddler. (She’s checking out her new Barbie purse in this picture, but only because I didn’t manage to pull out my camera during the twenty minutes she spent spinning that ferris wheel!)
Here are my thoughts about Pop On Pals. It’s a very cute toy. It makes a lot of noise that will grow weary after awhile for tired mamas, but that’s the way it goes when you have little ones. This particular playset comes with ONE figure, even though there are lots and lots of spots to place a Pop On Pal. You can purchase additional “pals” separately, but I really feel like it should come with AT LEAST a couple in each set! You should check out the Pop On Pals website – with your kids, probably – it’s fun and interactive, and you can see exactly how each playset works. It’s pretty neat.
The Pop On Pals Amusement Park Playset retails for $34.99. I received it via Team Mom for review purposes, and was not compensated for this review.
I recently learned about a fun little contest – 8th Continent Soymilk is asking kids to draw and submit their own sun-inspired artwork, to go along with their newly unveiled carton design. Kids ages 5 and up can submit their artwork to the 8th Continent website, or even use the drawing tool right on the website. (Fun! My kids LOVE stuff like this.) One hundred winners will each receive $1,000 in art supplies for their school art programs, and the winning designs could be featured on 8th Continent soymilk cartons this fall.
More details about the contest, from their press release:
Children five years and older can submit their own sun-inspired artwork at www.8thcontinent.com
Entries can also be created online through an interactive drawing tool at www.8thcontinent.com
Contest participants can submit one artwork entry per day through 11:59 pm EST on June 12, 2010
All design submissions will be featured on www.8thcontinent.com in an online gallery where the public can vote for their favorite work of art
The number of public votes in the online gallery will determine 50 contest winners and a panel of judges selected by Stremicks Heritage Food will determine an additional 50 winners
The 100 winners will each be recognized with $1,000 in art supplies for their school art programs – for a grand total of $100,000!
Winning designs may also be featured on 8th Continent soymilk cartons beginning this fall!
Here’s some stuff you probably didn’t know: 8th Continent soymilk is made from soybeans grown in here in the U.S. (My oldest daughter has lots of extended family out in central Illinois, growing vast amounts of soybeans – wonder if any of them make their way to 8th Continent?) 8th Continent soymilk is an excellent source of calcium, and is the only American Heart Association-certified soymilk containing less than 3 grams of fat. It’s available in four different varieties: complete, regular, light, and fat free – and it’s lactose free, vegan, and Kosher.
And, it tastes good! Know how I know? 8th Continent was kind enough to hook me up with a prize pack, which contained a coupon for me to try it myself, along with yummy cereal and darling melamine bowls (my kids are fighting over them right now – two bowls don’t go very far in a family of seven!) In addition to the breakfast items, the prize pack also contained some art supplies so my kids could enter their sun drawings in the contest. And, because they’re cool, they’re giving me a second prize pack to award to one LaLaGirl reader. Could be you! Yes, could be. In order to win, just leave a comment on this very entry. You can get a bonus entry by LIKING me on Facebook. But you already do like me, right? Right? One winner will be drawn on Monday, May 24, 2010.
LaLaGirl is the mother of a teenager and two young sets of twins. She's happily married, loves living in Colorado, and writes almost daily about married life, raising multiples, and parenting a child with autism.
Interested in having your product reviewed here? Let's talk.
You know what I love? Getting to try out new and exciting toys. Actually, my KIDS like it even more than I do! Having two sets of twins in the house means we go through a lot of toys, and I’m always eager to check out new and exciting stuff. Recently, we were asked to review the Amusement Park Playset from 
LaLaGirl is the mother of a teenager and two young sets of twins. She's happily married, loves living in Colorado, and writes almost daily about married life, raising multiples, and parenting a child with autism.
Interested in having your product reviewed here? Let's talk.
