Unplug with The Manhattan Toy Company 'Imagine I Can' Notes N’ Stuff Activity Set

Thank you to The Manhattan Toy Company for providing a sample Imagine I Can toy for us to base this review upon and for providing a second product for our reader giveaway prize.  All opinions expressed are my own.

Keeping children entertained while out of the house is a hard thing to do sometimes. Manhattan Toy Company is always looking for innovative ways to foster children’s imaginations, so their Notes N’ Stuff set is a great way to keep your child entertained without the use of electronics. Manhattan Toy Company is dedicated to quality, safety, and creativity and that commitment shows in all their products.

The Notes N’ Stuff set contains a spiral notebook with wood cover, a pencil sharpener, 6 small colored pencils with a plastic holder, a pencil topper, an oversized paper clip, a magnetic clip, and 2 self-inking stamps, all stored in a sturdy tin case with handle. The “Stuff” is cute, well-made, and really fun.

My 7 year old son, Quinn, loves anything to do with art, and he’s loved this set since we first opened it. It has gone with us to church, doctor’s appointments, grandma’s house, the car, and more. He loves writing or drawing in the notebook and thinks the stamps and clips are adorable and fun. I love that this set gets him to practice writing, drawing, and using his imagination. He rarely asks to play video games when we are out now because he loves using his Notes N’ Stuff so much. As a parent, I love that it’s sturdy and sure to hold up and when the supplies are used up, as happens with art stuff, we can just refill the tin case and he can continue to use the clips with his new art and writing supplies.

Manhattan Toy Company has tons of products that are sure to delight any child. Notes N’ Stuff can be purchased on their website, www.manhattantoycompany.com for $20.

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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. A random drawing will be held shortly after the contest closing. The winner will be announced here and will be contacted via email. If the winner does not respond within 48 hours, a new winner will be drawn.

CP Toys Self-Contained "Take-Along Doll House"

A few years ago, we got this large tri-fold dollhouse that was perfect for 3 children.  Now that our oldest son is 8, he rarely plays with it, making it much more than we needed just for our 5 year old twins.  Space has also become an issue as our selection of toys has changed over the years.  We not only have to have space for the huge dollhouse, but also for the rooms of furniture that did not fit inside when we folded it up.  That is why this more compact and self-contained Take-Along Doll House, a CP Toys Exclusive,  is a much better fit for our current needs.

(Click any photo to enlarge)

There is very little set-up required before this dollhouse can be played with.  You only need to apply one small sheet of decals (rugs, light sconces, wall art, etc . . . ) and insert two AA-batteries.  Then the house is ready for your little one to decorate.

The dollhouse comes with a folded glossy cardboard floor.  This is the only part of this playset that does not store inside the dollhouse.  The floor we received is slightly different than the one pictured on CPToys.com.

This set comes with a man, a woman, a boy, a girl, and a dog plus five rooms of furniture.  Also included are a television to sit on top of the entertainment center, a potted plant in addition to the plant decals, a vanity with a mirror, a table and floor lamps, and more.  All pieces store inside the house, which latches shut securely.  The arched upstairs window also doubles as a carrying handle.

One of the neat little details this dollhouse offers include a working doorbell.  When the door bell is pushed, the outside lights on either side of the front door light up and you hear the sound of a doorbell and a dog barking just like a real dog would in response to someone at the front door.  It was also fun for our children to discover all the things that could open, such as the doors and bottom drawer of the armoire, the toilet lid, the refrigerator, the front and back doors, and more.

Our daughter's favorite thing to do is to arrange the rooms of furniture.  Our two sons' favorite thing to do is to destroy the rooms of furniture their sister took such care in setting up.  They all like to pretend that the boy and the girl are twins just like we have.  Another thing I found to be interesting is that our daughter decided to figure out which pair of slippers (pictured on the cardboard floor) belonged to which member of the family by matching up the size of their feet with the size of the shoes.

After many hours of imaginative play, I do suspect that the thin cardboard floor will not last forever.  Although I think it is not needed for this playset to be complete, I may go buy two dollhouse rugs to take its place.  Those could be easily rolled up and stored inside the house with the rest of the dollhouse furniture.

To learn more about the Take-Along Doll House and other kids' toys and playsets, visit CPToys.com.  This toy retails for $42.99 and is perfect for taking to a friend's or relative's house and for bringing along on your next family vacation.


Thank you to CP Toys for providing a complimentary product sample for us to base this review upon and for providing a second product for our contest prize.


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Good luck in the drawing!

Holiday 2010 Review: Olivia Basic Plush Doll & 2-in-1 Transforming Playset Dollhouse

All three of our children, two preschoolers and a 1st grader, very much enjoy the Olivia animated television show on Nick Jr. With most shows, there is always at least one child who protests when it comes on, but not with Olivia. There is never anything but delightful cheers for this program. That is why I knew our children would be thrilled to receive some Olivia-themed toys by Spin Master to play with so that I could report back to my readers about them.

We received two toys. One was a basic 8" plush Olivia in her signature red jumper and the other was the Olivia 2-in-1 Transforming Playset. Our 3-1/2 year old daughter immediately claimed the plush doll.

Everyone had to wait for me to unpackage the 2-in-1 Transforming Playset. It comes with all the pieces shown below. There really is no assembly aside from attaching the flagpole and the palm tree, both of which need to be removed before the playset can close back up again.

There was one sheet of decals to apply. Aside from the food which was to be applied to the plates, there were no instructions for where the other decals should go. So I used my imagination to decide where each sticker should be placed. My 6-1/2 year old son kept correcting me because I was not putting things exactly where they usually appear on the show. So perhaps if you purchase this toy for the holidays, it might be a fun activity for your child to assist you in the placement of the decals on Christmas morning.

I have to say that this playset is very well-designed. It is two compact portable playsets in one. One the front and the back of the house, there is a switch like the one pictured below. This allows the playset to open into Olivia's house on one side and a pirate ship on the other.

The first thing my children ask was if we can buy additional figures at the toy store, so it would have been great if there was at least one other figure of a character included in the set. Also, instead of having two pet decals, it would have been nice to have either the dog or the cat in a figure.

The plastic Olivia comes with a removable stand so that she can remain upright independently. Her removable dress is made of rubber. Although it was easy for my children to remove the dress, they needed assistance getting it back on.

(Click on any image to enlarge)

One of the reasons why I think this toys is so well thought out is because all the furniture and accessories fit right inside. The house can close up and your child can carry it by the attached handle. This is perfect for playdates, vacations, and visits to relative's houses.

The only improvement I can suggest is to make the palm tree out of plastic, rather than out of laminated cardboard. After attaching it twice to the built-in clip on the beach section, the cardboard was all worn and could no longer be inserted into the clip.

Although this toy is marked 4+, you really do have to watch the smaller items, such as the dinner plates and the lamp. They could easily be swallowed or lost.

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The plush Olivia, which is recommended for children ages 3 and up, was a huge hit with my daughter even though both our sons paid no attention to it. I think what she loved the most was that Olivia's dress was removable, so she could dress and undress her again and again. The other thing that fascinated my daughter was Olivia's dainty little feet. She loved making Olivia dance, as well as wiggling Olivia's long ears.

The Olivia Plush Dolls come in several different versions. To view these dolls, the Olivia 2-in-1 Transforming Playset, or other Olivia toys, visit ToysRUs.com .

Thank you to Spin Master for sending us sample toys free of charge to base this review upon. This article was written as part of a campaign for Team Mom.

Giveaway & Review: Caring Corners "Miss Butterfly Bliss Interactive Cottage" [CLOSED]

All three of my children are huge fans of the Caring Corners interactive dollhouse and camper from Learning Curve. Both are fun and easily allows more than one child to play. The only feature the dollhouse and camper are missing is portability.

Since our 3yr old twins will be staying with my sister and brother-in-law for a few days this summer, while I attend BlogHer with my husband and 6yr old son, we needed to plan how we can bring enough toys to keep them occupied during their stay without taking over my sister's house. The new Miss Butterfly Bliss Interactive Cottage was the perfect solution. This fold-out dollhouse is made of easy-to-care-for vinyl and doubles as a carrying case for all your Caring Corners dolls and accessories.

The front of the house is as charming as all the other Caring Corners characters. The backs and sides of the house are equally as charming. I love the way the vinyl handle has been fashioned to be a decorative part of the cottage's exterior.

Unlike the interactive dollhouse, the cottage only has three places where your child can trigger a light-up effect or sound.

On this toy, your child can push the butterfly on the front door to make the butterflies inside and out light up and to hear Miss Butterfly Bliss' song and greeting. Your child can also push the bin of gardening tools on the interior stoop to see the butterflies light up and hear a song about helping out. A fun surprise is that a another way to hear a song and see the butterflies twinkle is to pull on the garden hose.

The cottage is held together in several places by Velcro squares. When unfolded, it reveals six rooms . . . a bathroom, a bedroom, a nursery, an enclosed garden, a dining room, and a kitchen.

The dining room has a special surprise. The mirror on the wall flips down to create a tabletop that has four place settings. The table can also be removed altogether so that you can use one of the Caring Corners tables (which must be purchased separately) instead. The table can easily be reattached by matching up the Velcro squares.

Below are photos of the cottage set up with Caring Corners figures, furniture, and other accessories that must be purchased separately . . .

"The Nursery"

"The Garden"

"The Bedroom and Dining Room"

" The Bathroom and Kitchen"

There are two suggestions I have for this toy. The first is that I think it should come with at least one doll so that this toy can be purchased and be ready-to-play. Perhaps Learning Curve could offer one version that is the cottage alone and another version that comes with a mother/daughter doll pack?

The other suggestion I have is to add an extra Velcro tab along the back bottom of the cottage. The way it is now, if you store your small accessories, such as the little animal figures, inside the cottage, they are in danger of falling out because there is an opening all along that bottom edge at the rear of the cottage. The way it is, we need to put all our small accessories inside a small plastic storage container to prevent losing anything.

This is a wonderful toy to pick up for your children if you are going on vacation this year. It is the size of a small carry-on piece of luggage and would easily fit inside a full-size suitcase. It would be a great thing to have for those down-times when your family is in the hotel room or vacation house.

The Miss Butterfly Bliss Interactive Cottage retails for $29.99 and can be purchased at the Learning Curve Shop, Toys R Us, Amazon.com, and other major toy retailers.

Thank you to Learning Curve for sending us a sample cottage and doll packs free of charge to base this review upon.

What you can win:
One lucky reader will receive a Miss Butterfly Bliss Interactive Cottage (dolls, furniture, and accessories not included).

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:

Browse the selection of Caring Corners dolls, furniture, and accessories. Then leave a comment telling me the name of a specific product or products that you think would be fun to use with the Miss Butterfly Bliss Cottage. 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, blog about this contest linking back to this post AND LearningCurve.com . Then come back here and leave TEN separate comments with the link to your blog post.

4)

For 1 extra entry each, Friend me on Facebook and/or "Like" the 3 Garnets & 2 Sapphires Facebook page. Then leave a separate comment for each entry completed with the link to your Facebook profile.

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


Random Drawing:

This contest will be closed on Monday, June 28th, 2010 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!