Build-A-Bear Workshop's Huggable Heroes Rewards Children Who Give Back

It is that time of year again . . . time to nominate a child you know for the Build-A-Bear Huggable Heroes scholarship! The main requirement is the child you nominate must have given back somehow to his or her own community or to another community worldwide.

Ten children will be selected to each receive $7500 in an educational scholarship plus $2500 to go to the 501(c)(3) charity of the winner's choice. Each winner will also be invited to St. Louis for a 2-day, 1-night stay, where they will be honored for their achievements in community service.

To qualify, the child must be between the ages of 8 and 18. Anyone age 8 and up can nominate another child or themselves. You can either download and print a Huggable Heroes nomination form or pick one up at your local Build-A-Bear Workshop store location. You can also submit your Huggable Heroes nomination online.

The 2009 Huggable Heroes

All nominations must be received by February 26th, 2010. Please visit the Huggable Heroes website to read the official contest rules.

Thank you to Build-A-Bear Workshop for providing the information to help me with this article. I did not receive compensation for sharing this information with my readers.

Review: Twist 'n Write Ergonomic Pencils

If you've been reading my blog during the past two months, then you know that I've been working with my 5yr old son to prepare him for kindergarten in the fall. One of the things he is doing is practicing writing in a journal. Sometimes his printing is beautiful . . . neat and uniform. Other times, it's different sizes and unsteady. So what could be causing the difference (other than a 5yr old's attention span)?

One thing that could be the source of the problem is which writing utensil he is holding. I noticed that he does much better with certain pens or markers over others. Depending on the shape and thickness of the pens and pencils, he tends to hold some too low, which is awkward, or he holds some too high, which gives him less control. So when I heard about the new ergonomic pencils from PenAgain, I wondered if they could help bring consistency to my son's handwriting.

What I thought about these Twist 'n Write pencils:

1) Based on both my son's and my experience with trying these pencils, they do fit in the hand of an adult as well as a 5yr old child. I thought it felt very natural to hold this wishbone-shaped pencil. My son also said that he found them very comfortable to grip. I am not certain how well they would fit an extra large adult hand though.

2) Once your fingers are in place, the pencil does not slip at all. You do not have to worry about holding it too high or too low, or even losing your grip on it.

3) Despite their unique shape, I like that these are standard No. 2 pencils.

4) There are two built in erasers . . . one on each side. My son really put them to the test and they did their job well.

5) Needless to say, the 4 translucent and glittery colors that come in each multi-pack are fun for kids. My son wanted to switch pencil colors even though they all wrote with the same result.

6) The pencil tips are retractable when not in use. You can do so just by twisting the bottom of the pencil.

7) I think these pencils would be perfect if PenAgain could figure out how to make them refillable.

In the end, I do think that these Twist 'n Write pencils gave my son more control. He did an excellent job writing his name with consistently-sized letters in a straight line on unlined paper. He even had more control as he was drawing with these pencils as well.

If you think you'd like to try Twist 'n Write pencils, you can find them online at Baumgarten, Amazon.com, Office Max, Office Depot, Staples, CVS, and other retailers where office products are sold.


Thank you to PenAgain for providing a review product for us free of charge.

Review: Bella Sara Royalty Trading Cards

Bella Sara has brought the enjoyment of trading cards for young girls into modern times by adding the magic of a free online fantasy world. What little girl has not pretended to be a royal princess dressed in an ornate gown living in a beautiful castle? This new Royalty card series was introduced earlier this month and my daughter was lucky enough to receive two packs to review. We did not find the sought after Sara card, but she did not mind.

What I thought about Bella Sara as a parent:

1) I like that this children's online game is not interactive. Since Bella Sara targets girls as young as 5yrs old, it is much safer than interactive online roll playing games. This coupled with the parental controls offered on the website allows parents peace of mind.

2) I think the artwork is well done, although I think a small fraction of the illustrations are a little on the dark side for younger children.

3) I think the positive messages on the cards are a good concept for older girls, but will be lost on the younger ones.

4) I definitely like that the Bella Sara Royalty Card Packs come with stickers and tattoos rather than gum.

5) In this new series of cards, Bella Sara offers one code to redeem for multiple virtual prizes on a Ticket Card rather than one code per prize. This makes redeeming prizes a much quicker and simpler process.

6) I always am looking for sites with child-friendly activities, such as puzzles and free printables and Bella Sara offers both of those and more.



What my 2.5yr old daughter thought about these girls trading cards:

1) Even though she is too young to participate in the virtual game, my daughter was delighted with her Bella Sara cards. I think the beauty of the illustrations made them magical for her.



2) This was my daughter's first experience with temporary tattoos. She did extremely well sitting still during the applications and was very pleased with the results.

3) My daughter treasures her cards and is extremely gentle with them. In fact she carries them around the house proudly in her mini pink backpack.

To learn more about the Bella Sara game, you can take a virtual tour on BellaSara.com .

If you'd like to track down Bella Sara trading cards, you can find them locally at most toy stores, department stores, and book stores.

Thank you to Bella Sara and Team Mom for this opportunity.

Giveaway: Children's Books & Tote Bag Summer Reading Prize Pack [CLOSED]

School is officially out, at least it is for my 5yr old son. So it's time to start thinking about how to keep our children occupied this summer. Trips to the water park and family vacations are fun, but they are also very costly. Trips to the library are free, fun, and educational!

Tim Shanahan, author of Macmillan/McGraw-Hill’s bestselling Treasures Reading Program for grades K-6, has offered some great summer reading tips to parents. Out of the 10 tips he offers, these are the ones that have really proven to work for my 5yr old son:

Read Together! Summer usually allows families to spend more time together. This is a great opportunity to read more with your kids to help keep their skills fresh. Children learn a lot when you read to them. Even if your child can read by himself, take turns reading to each other, and be sure to talk about what you are reading. Ask questions, answer questions and explore the ideas together.

Ask Questions. Even if you are not reading the same books they are, talk to your children about what they are reading. Ask them questions such as what happened in the story or what might happen next, who is their favorite character, or who is the villain. This builds summarization and recall skills, and your interest helps increase their interest.

Mix it up. Don’t just focus on storybooks. Kids often prefer to read about fact rather than fiction, including books and articles about the environment, animals, current events, sports, and other topics. Talk to them about what they like and help them find reading materials that match those interests.

And here are a couple of Tim's summer reading tips that I am anxious to try out:

Plan an Outcome Activity. Whether you are reading to your children or they are reading themselves, plan an outcome event or activity based on the reading. For instance, if the book has been made into a movie, watch the DVD together after reading the book. Book reading can lead to picnics, museum visits, ballgames or even family vacations.

Write Letters to Your Children. Writing to your kids is a great opportunity to remind them of experiences that they had when they were younger or to tell them about the lives of older people in the family, like their grandparents. Kids love getting letters and you can even encourage them to write back, helping them practice their writing skills.

Please take a moment to meet our Summer Reading sponsors:

"Treasures is a research based, comprehensive Reading Language Arts program for grades K-6 that gives educators the resources they need to help all students succeed. High quality literature coupled with explicit instruction and ample practice ensures that students grow as life-long readers and writers."

"Envirosax® reusable shopping bags are spreading the eco-friendly message with style! Chic, inexpensive and compact, Envirosax® environmentally friendly shopping bags carry the message of re-use to a world ready to embrace a brighter ecological future."

What you can win:
ONE lucky reader will win BOTH prize #1 and prize #2!

Prize #1: An age-specific series of 3 books from the Treasures Program (The books pictured below are only examples of what the winner will receive. The selection of books sent from the publisher will depend on the child's age and on availability.)

Prize #2: One reusable kids tote bag from Envirosax (Winner's choice)

These bags are perfectly sized for toting books to and from the library and also for carrying your books, towel, and swimsuit to the beach or the local swimming pool.

• - Bag dimensions (unrolled) 17.70” x 15.75”
• - Weight capacity 40 lbs
• - Bag dimensions (rolled up) 4” x 1.5”
• - Bag weight 1.3 oz

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:
Leave a comment with at least one tip you'd like to share about how to get children to read more during the summer. You must do this to be eligible to win this contest.

Extra Entries:

1) For an extra entry, take a look at the Envirosax Kids Series. Then leave a comment telling me which kids tote bag you would choose if you won this contest.

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) Add this blog to your Technorati Favorites. Then leave a separate comment telling me you did so and under what username. Add to Technorati Favorites

4) For 10 extra entries, blog about this contest linking back to this post AND to the Treasures Reading Program AND to Envirosax.com . Then come back here and leave TEN separate comments with the link to your blog post.

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

6) Tweet about this giveaway 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.

7) 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.

8) Add my button or blog link to your blog's sidebar. Then leave a separate comment with the link to your blog.

9) Add my "Graco Twin Stroller" giveaway button to your blog's sidebar. Then leave a separate comment with the link to your blog.

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

Random Drawing:
This contest will be closed on Monday, June 22nd, 2009 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!

12 Build-a-Bear Workshop Scholarships

There are just over two weeks left for you to submit an application to nominate a child between the ages of 7 and 18 to be one of the 12 winners of the Build-a-Bear Huggable Heroes awards for outstanding community service by a child. Each of the 12 children will be given a $7500 educational scholarship plus $2500 to donate to the 501(c)(3) charity of their choice. For the complete details, please visit the Build-a-Bear Workshop website.

The deadline to enter online is February 27th, 2009 11:59pm EST. If you are mailing your entry, it must be postmarked by that date. Official Rules