Giveaway & Review: "Let's Ride the Rails!" Chuggington DVD [CLOSED]

On February 8th, Chuggington fans will be able to purchase the first Chuggington DVD ever.  This 62-minute long DVD titled "Let's Ride the Rails" by Anchor Bay Entertainment includes some of the favorite episodes aired on Playhouse Disney since the show debuted in October of 2010.

These episodes include the following:

"Clunky Wilson"

"Braking Brewster"

"Can't Catch Koko"

"Old Puffer Pete's Tour"

"Koko on Call"

"Hodge and the Magnet"

One thing I have always loved about this children's series is the strong theme of friendship and teamwork.  This DVD includes many examples of situations that preschoolers can apply to everyday social situations that come up that may require kindness, concern, and thoughtfulness.

Usually, when I review a children's DVD, I ask each of my children which part or parts were their favorite.  My children rarely have problems telling me what they loved and what they did not care for.  With this DVD, they insisted that they loved "all of it"!  I even tried to ask them again the following day and their response was the same.  It is safe to say that they are looking forward to future Chuggington DVDs from Anchor Bay Entertainment.

Currently, you can pre-order this DVD, which comes with bonus Chuggington printables and coloring pages, on Amazon.com, but remember to look for it where children's DVDs are sold starting February 8th, 2011.  To learn more about Chuggington and its cast of characters or to keep up to date on Chuggington news, visit Chuggington.com, Chuggington on Facebook, and Chuggington on Twitter.

Thank you to Anchor Bay Entertainment for providing a screener DVD for us to base this review upon and for providing a retail DVD for our contest prize.

What you can win:
One lucky reader will receive a copy of "Chuggington: Let's Ride the Rails" on DVD .

Limitations:
This giveaway is open to U.S. entries only. You do not need to be a blogger to enter, but you must have a valid email address and be age 18 years or older. If you enter anonymously and do not include a valid email address in your comment entries, I will not be able to notify you should you win this random drawing.

How to Gain Entries:

Visit Chuggington.com . Then leave a comment telling me who your favorite Chugger is. You MUST do this to be eligible to win this contest.

Extra Entries:

1)  For 5 extra entries, leave a relevant comment on one of my non-giveaway posts. Then leave FIVE separate comments with the name of the post on which you commented. You will earn 5 extra entries for each different non-contest post you comment on.


2)  For 5 extra entries, enter one of my other contests. Leave FIVE separate comments here telling me which contest you entered. You will earn 5 extra entries for each contest you enter.

3)  For 10 extra entries, join Chuggington.com to gain access to exclusive games, activities, video clips, and promos. Then come back here and leave TEN separate comments telling me you did.

4)  For 1 extra entry each, if you are a Friend of mine on Facebook and/or if you have "liked" the 3 Garnets & 2 Sapphires Facebook page, then leave a separate comment here telling me so with the link to your Facebook profile.

5)  For 1 extra entry each, follow Chuggington on Twitter and/or "Like" Chuggington on Facebook. Then leave a separate comment for each with the link to your Twitter or Facebook profile.


6)  Follow me on Twitter. Then leave a separate comment with the link to your Twitter profile.

7)  Tweet about this giveaway using the hashtag #Chuggington linking back to this post. Then come back here and leave the link to your tweet in a separate comment. You may do this once per day until the end of the contest.

8)  Subscribe to this blog's feed. Or you can follow me through Blogger or subscribe via email (widget is on sidebar). Then leave a separate comment telling me you did so.

9)  Subscribe to A Blog of Goodies' feed (the sister site to 3 Garnets & 2 Sapphires). Then leave a separate comment telling me you did so.

(All entries will be verified prior to awarding this prize.)


Random Drawing:

This contest will be closed on Monday, February 14th, 2011 at 11:59pm EST. A random number drawing will be held shortly after. The winner will be announced here and will be contact via email or through their blog. If the winner does not respond within 48 hours, a new number will be drawn.

Good luck in the drawing!

A Chuggington Party!

As a Chuggington Conductor, I was invited to throw a Chuggington party for our children and some of their preschool-aged friends. Since preschool had not started for the twins yet, we had to downgrade our party to a playdate. Hopefully next time we will have more than enough preschoolers to attend.

To help us with our event, we received a basket of goodies, containing conductor hats, coloring sheets, crayons, music CDs, a screener DVD, popcorn, and even a Chuggington logo Flip camcorder to make a music video. I bought some popcorn tubs for the DVD screening and made some goodie bags containing the following:

• Coloring Pages
• Crayons
• Chuggington Theme Song CDs
• Lollipop Whistles
• Daffy Taffy

If you would like your children to sit quietly and perfectly still, put in a Chuggington DVD and serve some popcorn . . .

After the children all filled up on carbs from the popcorn and juice boxes, it was time to dance! Our daughter always seems to be too dignified to let loose and dance, even when I do not have a camera in my hand. Luckily, the other children had a blast dancing to the "Chuggington Theme Song" . . .

After our guest left, the children could not wait to dig into their goodie bags. Yes, they were excited about the candy, but they also wanted to start on their Chuggington coloring pages right away. I was so impressed. The twins cannot remember all their ABC's, but they can remember the name of every Chuggington train.

This fall, you can catch Chuggington 7 days a week on Playhouse Disney at 6am EST and weekdays at 11:30am EST. You can also play fun free online Chuggington games with your children on UK.Chuggington.com and find free printable Chuggington coloring pages on Chuggington.com . Chuggington toys are currently available to order online, but be sure to look for them in your local stores in time for Holiday 2010.

As a Chuggington Conductor, I received supplies to help me throw a Chuggington party and to create a "Chuggington Theme Song" music video.

Celebrity Guest Stars Join Handy Manny on Playhouse Disney (7pm on 3/20)

On Saturday, March 20th Dale Earnhardt, Jr. and Lance Bass will be joining Handy Manny on prime time for the new special "Handy Manny Big Race". This feature has previously been seen on DVD only. Since we are all huge Handy Manny fans in our house and have two boys that are obsessed with anything to do with fast cars, I guess I know where we'll be this Saturday evening.

If you are not familiar with Handy Manny, he is the ultimate role model for preschoolers. He is always respectful and caring to others and is ready to lend a helping hand to those in need.

Look for "Handy Manny Big Race" this Saturday, March 20th at 7pm EST on Playhouse Disney!

Click on this link to view the trailer for "Handy Manny Big Race".

To learn more about this Playhouse Disney favorite, you can visit Handy Manny on Playhouse Disney's website and Handy Manny on Facebook. Also, check out Handy Manny's online game called "Manny's Pit Stop Shop" with your preschooler on PlayhouseDisney.com .

I wrote this review while participating in a blog campaign by Mom Central on behalf of Playhouse Disney. Mom Central sent me a gift card to thank me for taking the time to participate.

Review: Mickey Mouse Clubhouse "Minnie's Bow-tique" (DVD)

Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and all the DVDs stemming from this Playhouse Disney children's program have become a staple in our house. My youngest son, who just turned 3, is the biggest Mickey Mouse fan ever. In fact, he sleeps with a plush Mickey Mouse doll that he received for his birthday.

On February 9th, a new Mickey Mouse Clubhouse DVD will be hitting store shelves. This one is titled Minnie's Bow-tique and features the never-before-seen episode "Minnie's Pajama Party". Although the four episodes on this DVD have plot lines that revolve around Minnie, all four episodes did a very good job of keeping both my daughter and my sons engaged.

Here is a synopsis of each episode featured on this 96-minute DVD . . .

"Minnie's Pajama Party" is about a sleepover planned by Minnie for five of her friends. Good friends, a pajama dance, a bedtime story, and a little pajama party pie guaranteed a successful party. This episode teaches the viewer about the number six, including how to count to six and how to divide a circle into six equal pie pieces.

"Minnie's Bow-tique" tells the events of the Grand Opening of Minnie's new boutique. The viewer will be impressed by how many types of bows Minnie sells in her store, including unusual ones such as a mood bow, a grow bow, a disco bow, and a camera bow tie. This episode teaches the viewer how to sort by patterns and touches upon basic addition.

"Minnie's Bee Story" is about the Clubhouse gang's adventures during their search for their friend the bumblebee. This episode encourages the viewer to think about how more than one thing can make similar sounds, such as buzzing.

"Minnie's Picnic" tells the story of how Minnie planned a picnic for eleven of her friends, only things do not go as smoothly as she would have liked. This episode teaches the viewer how to count to twelve. It also touches on adding by fives and basic subtraction.

Between February 9th and April 6th, 2010, you can purchase this DVD with a bonus Minnie Mouse set of magnets and picture frame right inside the specially marked package. You should be able to find this DVD at the Disney Store and most places where Disney DVDs are sold.

Thank you to Click-Communications for providing us with a sample DVD to base this review upon and for providing a press release with information about this DVD and WDSHE.

Review: Disney Mickey Mouse's Magic Choo Choo Train Set

Look what Santa is bringing for our nearly 3yr old son Luke this year for Christmas! All our children love Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, but Luke especially. In fact, the theme for the twins' next birthday will be Mickey and Minnie.

To top it all off, we just watched the new Mickey Mouse Clubhouse DVD Mickey's Choo Choo Express, where the kids were able to see this train in action. Now they are more sure than ever that it was the right thing to do to write to Santa asking him to please bring Mickey's Magic Choo Choo for Luke this year.

What I thought about this Disney toy train made by Fisher Price:

1) I have to point out how parent-friendly the packaging is. There are two perforated openings on the box . . . one on the back and one on the bottom. These pop open to reveal the twist ties that need to be undone in order to remove the toy from the box. This was much better than trying to pull the inner box out while it is glued to the outer box or just trying to rip the cardboard packaging apart with my bear hands just to get to these twist ties.

(Click on any image to enlarge)

2) I like that there are not a lot of small parts to lose for this toy. This train set comes with the basics with no frills, which is perfect for a young child.

3) Another parent-friendly feature is the battery compartment. It is secured with only one screw and then the compartment pulls out like a drawer.

4) The on/off switch is very prominent so your child can find it easily. This will help your toddler or preschooler to be more independent and decreases the amount of battery-operated toys that are left on accidentally at my house.

5) This toy train works in two modes . . . Magic and Classic. In Magic Mode, the train uses the two straight tracks. As the train moves forward, it picks up one track and expels it from its mouth to lay the piece of track down in front of the train. This allows the train to drive onward using only two pieces of train tracks. Although the track does not get laid down quite right once in awhile, this function still has a pretty high coolness factor.

6) Although the train working in Magic Mode is cool, it actual goes very quickly. You need to have a large space where the train can drive itself in a straight line for awhile. It did not work well on our large train table because, even travelling diagonally, it only had enough space to lay down a piece of track three times and completed this in about 3 seconds.

7) What helps the train track pieces stay in place are the rubber treads underneath that grip a flat surface or carpeting very well.

8) The pieces of track are large and chunky, making them perfect for little hands. It is pretty cute that the connection for each track are shaped like Mickey Mouse's famous silhouette.

9) During Classic Mode, the train chugs along around the track with plenty of sound effects, such as the Choo Choo Song, the train whistle, and Mickey's voice as the conductor. I think once the novelty of the Magic Mode wears off, my son will enjoy playing with this Mickey Mouse train in Classic Mode the most.

Please take a minute to watch this train in action:

10) If you choose to use the train on top of a large train table like I did, you have to keep in mind that the train barely fits. You may have noticed in my video that the train made the track correct itself by moving inward a bit when the train touched the side of the table. Other than that, it works great if you have a table at least as large as ours.

11) One thing I would not mind seeing is some related toys. A coordinating train station playset with some other figures would allow for more imaginative play and would also allow more than one child to play.

If you are thinking about gifting this toy to a child for the upcoming holidays, you should be able to find this Mickey Mouse's Magic Choo Choo Train Set at the Disney Store and most places where Fisher Price toys are sold. If you can manage it, I think this toy would make a great gift paired with the Mickey's Choo Choo Express DVD.

Thank you to Disney Consumer Products for providing a toy sample for this review.

Review: Handy Manny "Motorcycle Adventure" (DVD)

Ever since Handy Manny first debuted on Playhouse Disney, my kindergartner has been a huge fan. Now his younger brother and sister are following in his footsteps. My oldest was especially excited to watch Handy Manny: Motorcycle Adventure on DVD because he had seen clips from it on the Disney Channel, but has never caught the movie in its entirety.

This 46-minute DVD actually hits store shelves today (Dec. 1st) and features the song "Rolling Down the Highway" by the Latin band Los Lobos. Since it includes a bonus episode "A Very Handy Holiday", this DVD would make a very suitable holiday gift.

What my family and I thought about this Handy Manny DVD:

1) The series Handy Manny has always been entertaining to my family, children and adults alike. In fact, my husband was talking to the television, saying things like "Use a magnet!" and "Turn it sideways!"

2) Handy Manny is one of the most down-to-earth animated characters on television. Some aspects of this movie that reinforced that feeling were seeing Manny as a child in his relative's home movies and watching Manny make a human error, such as forgetting to fill the tank in his motorcycle with gas before he left for his family reunion.

3) It was interesting to see Manny, who is always ready to lend a helping hand, needing to accept help himself during his motorcycle adventure.

4) The underlying theme of "Motorcycle Adventure" was to teach the viewer that people (and hammers) do not need to look alike to be a true family.

5) This DVD contains a special feature titled "A Very Handy Holiday", which you may have seen on the Disney Channel in the past. Well, this DVD offers something you cannot get on television, which is 3 different ways to watch this bonus feature. You can choose to watch it in Fast Play Mode, Adventure Play Mode 1 (your child answers questions about colors, shapes, and sizes with the TV remote), and Adventure Play Mode 2 (your child answers more difficult questions targeted at children ages 4 to 5).

Normally, I would say that 46 minutes seems short for a movie, but Disney packs so much adventure into those 46 minutes, that I was left very satisfied by the time the movie ended.

You should be able to find Handy Manny: Motorcycle Adventure at the Disney Store, Amazon.com, and other places where children's DVDs are sold.


Thank you to Click-Communication for providing us with a review product free of charge.