Name Your Tune: Personalized Music Made to Order Giveaway!

We are jammin' at our house!

Miss Anna Mae, our four year old star in the making, can't believe that there are songs out there just made for her. She is beside herself with pride and joy. All this exuberance is the result of receiving the "Name Your Tune" personalized CD full of music that babies, toddlers and kids love to hear and sing. They love this CD so much because there are 14 songs that incorporate their name into each song. I was worried it was going to be either really cheesy or the songs would have a strange robotic quality but Name Your Tune is all about great quality and uber cuteness. Our eight year old son, who I thought would be too old to appreciate it, was disappointed there wasn't a CD for him with his name as part of the music.

When you order the CD, Name Your Tune has you choose a title for the CD. We've been into the lives of fairies in our little home lately so I thought it would be really fun for this music to be made by a music fairy. So the title was: "Magical Music for Anna Mae made by your music fairy, Adalira". When the CD came in the mail and I read the title to our little fairy, her eyes lit up and she insisted we play it right then and there. Once the music started she was sold. She began talking about how lucky she was to have a fairy that would make music just for her! I've heard her many times during nap time and at bed time singing these songs to herself. Nothing is more precious than that.

The founders of Name Your Tune possible are have professional experience with education and music. This combination is the perfect storm for learning and development. They also are invested in giving back to their community which, as a licensed clinical social worker, always seals the deal with me. Co-Founder Eric Alper helped to establish a Fun fest, called "Hear Here" that raises money to assist hearing impaired kids get hearing aids. Name Your Tune proudly donates a portion from their CD sales to support Hear Here.

The cost of the CD is $20 which may seem a little pricey but if you take into account what you'd spend on a gift, I think, hits the mark. Plus, it's a personalized gift which is difficult to find at that price level. All in all, it's a fabulously fun way to interact with you child even when the CD isn't playing. We've found ourselves singing them to Anna and Gavin (switching names out) when we feel like bursting into song...uh, which is kinda frequently around our house.

So...do you want one? Are you curious? Well, Name that Tune has generously offered to provide one reader their own personalized copy of the Name Your Tune CD. All you have to do is go to their website and come back leaving a comment about their products that I haven't mentioned in this post. They've got some great personalized products for sale! So go on! Take a look, you won't be disappointed.

Want additional entries in the giveaway? Here's what you can do (only available once the main entry has been completed):

• Follow me and/or subscribe by reader
• Follow me at "I'll tell you Later Betty" and/or subscribe by reader
• Follow me on Twitter and tweet about the giveaway (you can do this once daily). Post the link to your Tweet in the comments below.
  
• Follow Name Your Tune on Twitter
  
• Become a fan of Name Your Tune on Facebook
  

Leave a comment for each entry. Giveaway is open to anyone in North America and closes at midnight est on Monday, August 10, 2009. Winner will be chosen from Random.org, will be emailed and has 48 hours to respond or a new winner will be drawn. Thanks for entering! On your mark, get set....go!

Swing set Nirvana

Image by ClintJCL via Flickr

Back in the day, the swing set I had as a kid was like the picture you see here. This kind of swing set held all sorts of dangerous fun for children like myself who went unsupervised for hours by mothers watching soaps and smoking cigarettes (oh, those were the days, huh?). While they were, uhhh, busy, we were trying our best to get our swing set to tip over by swinging with a passion rarely witnessed by adults.

Well, Dad Blogs is having an amazing giveaway to bring the joy back to many a kid. No, they're not giving away a vintage metal swing set ready to tip over at any moment. Yeah, I'm kinda disappointed too. But what they are giving away is an amazing play set from Kid's Creations. Kid's Creations is giving away their most popular play set model (shipping included!!), the Three Ring Adventure, to one lucky contestant of The Big Spring Contest at Dad Blogs and Dad Blogs is throwing in a Canon PowerShot SD1100 so the lucky winner can capture the kids doing all those dangerous things we got away with "in the olden days" as my son, god bless him, says.



So this bad boy is called "The Three Ring Adventure". And I'm thinking if they had the Three Ring Adventure back when I was a kid maybe the strong desire to tip over massive metal structures would have been squelched by pure safe fun. Ahhh, probably not - it's in my blood.

And, if I'm honest with myself (which I try to avoid at all cost), my son is half mountain goat and my daughter is half monkey. No, dear readers, this is not the post to go into their paternity issues as curious as you may be...this is all about the giveaway. And this giveaway would be perfect for Mountain goat and Monkey to honor their heritage. Plus, Dad and Mom can sit in Adirondack chairs with beverages of our choice (wink wink) and watch them, remembering the times we were able to tip that puppy over and laugh at them that they can't (plus breathing a sigh of relief all at the same time).

So get on over to Dad Blogs and check out the giveaway. And while you're there check out the site itself. There is an amazing bunch of talented writers to check out and become a part of...heck, it's not even a boys' club - women can join too!

Here's to those summer days we pushed the limits of childhood, joy, and freedom. And may you find it again this Summer.

Be Green with Freepeats Giveaway

In my little house I have lots of baby and kid stuff taking up space. Space I could be using for more preschooler and kid stuff...groan. Then I discovered Freepeats and my frustration came to an end. This is a website that speaks to my inner green cheapskate because it's all about sharing what your little ones don't use anymore and getting things they do need. Angie Wynne, founder of the popular frugal parenting website, Baby Cheapskate, recently announced the expansion of Freepeats.org. This online forum allows parents to pass on gently-used baby, kid, and maternity items they've finished with and pick up similar items for free from other nearby parents.

Freepeats groups are up and running in 47 major U.S. cities with dozens more openings planned for 2009. I was happy to see that a major city close to my little town was represented. There are over 17,500 members now registered at Freepeats. Offerings have included bouncers, swings, cribs, infant formula, baby and toddler clothing, zoo tickets, diapers, strollers, high chairs, baby gyms, parenting books, toys, and more. It took little convincing that this was worth the minuscule one time membership of $4.95 for me to have the opportunity to acquire items I would have paid, over my kids' lifetime, thousands of dollars. Plus, I love finding a good home for my children's clothes, toys and equipment. I would rather give it to someone in need than get a few dollars for it at a yard sale or consignment shop where I have had to put in so much energy for so little.

Freepeats is growing by leaps and bounds. The site has been featured at Discovery.com's Planet Green website, Apartment Therapy.com, Nickelodeon's Parents Connect website, Green Deals Daily, and in the pages of Readers Digest, Parenting magazine, and several local publications. Here's your chance to participate to in a green movement that connects you to other families and if needed, provides you with things you need for your growing family plus let's you give back to other's all with a simple click.

Win it!

So how does this sound to you? Are you curious? Well, Freepeats would love to have you as a member and so would I if you live in my area (wink, wink). They have generously donated ten, yes, I said ten, free lifetime memberships. If this kind of eco-friendly and economic-friendly forum appeals to you then go to Freepeats and see if there is a group close to where you live. To get a chance to win one of ten lifetime memberships leave a comment by midnight est March 15, 2009 with the following info:

• The Freepeats group you'd like to join.
• One item you'd giveaway
• An e-mail where we can reach you if you win

For more chances to win choose one of the following ways to earn an extra entry or combine all three to get three extra entries!
(each extra entry needs a comment and way to contact you)

1. Follow my blog or subscribe to it
2. Twitter about it and follow me on Twitter.
   
3. Mention this giveaway on your blog with a link back here and to Freepeat. If you are not a blogger, forward this post to 2 of your friends and cc us on the email (laterbetty[@]gmail[dot]com)
   

A random winner will be selected on March 16, 2009 and notified by e-mail. Good luck!

PBS KIDS Island

Covert learning, I find, is always more effective for my reluctant reader than the obvious, "let's sit down and read a book" kind of learning. The effectiveness grows if there is the possibility of winning something...even a virtual "something". PBS KIDS Island offers free reading games and activities for children ages 2-5 years but I have found my 8 year old reluctant reader actively using it along with my 3 year old. New features will soon be added, including a Word of the Day and games for older children (ages 6-8). Until then, my little man seems to be satisfied in "helping" his little sister win lots of tickets. PBS KIDS Island gives children the tools to create an online island carnival one ride at a time by playing reading games with PBS KIDS® characters. There are eight different literacy-building levels:

• phonological awareness,
  
• letter recognition,
  
• letter sequencing,
  
• phonemic awareness,
  
• word families,
  
• phonics-decoding,
  
• text comprehension
  
• vocabulary

It isn’t easy for anyone to make sense of all this new information, parents or kids. But reading doesn’t – and shouldn’t – have to be an frightening process that turns off all but the most gifted students. With PBS KIDS Island, children are introduced to new skills in a playful, silly way, allowing them to learn at their own pace and remain interested. Hey, uh, that's how I like to learn too! Everything from the alphabet to phonemes can be fun. Honest. The 32 games hit on these different skills, each an important piece to reading successfully. As your child plays the games she is learning these skills in order of literacy development. As her skills develop she is given the opportunity to build more rides on the Island while secretly (shhh, don't tell them they're learning) gaining the skills she needs to become a great reader.

The games are fun in-and-of themselves, but a ticket and prize reward system is included to encourage kids to achieve even more. Kids earn tickets by completing games (multiple tickets for the first completion and one for each completion of the same game thereafter) and can trade in their tickets for prizes like virtual toys and coloring pages you can print. The prizes live in each kid's customizable treehouse, another feature to help children feel like their PBS KIDS Island is theirs.

But the best part is that parents can be a part of the child’s learning process, since all child accounts are in the adult's account. The site requires an email account and multiple kids can play under one email address. As the account holder, I can track my kids progress and do reading activities with them related to what they are learning on the Island. Oh, and did I mention that it’s free? Yeah, now that's my kind of bargain. And I don't even have to leave my house to buy some expensive reading program to help my kids learn to read; just the click of the mouse and I get one more notch on my super mommy belt.

Now, I'd like to hear from you! How do you make reading fun for your kids? What online resources do you use, if any? If you’ve used PBS KIDS Island, what did you – and your kids – think? Happy Reading!

Do you Cadoo?

My little guy recently celebrated his eighth birthday. He received lots of wonderful presents but one we've been addicted to is a great family game, Cranium's Cadoo. We've discovered that game playing is a great way to get an eight year old reluctant reader reading! Cadoo encourages reading in a fun filled way. Using their deluxe decoder goggles players get to read hidden answers which only they can read. Thus our reluctant reader has to sound out words on his own and refuses help! Who knew it would be Hasbro that would get our son interested in reading! It was the best use of our money yet!

Not only is it helping his reading but this game actively uses both the left and right hemispheres of the brain. This encourages kids of all ages (parents included) to develop not only analytical skills but creative skills as well, helping to create well rounded individuals. My son, the perfectionist, is usually not willing to try new things unless he can master it right away. However, with this game he was willing to take the chance in sculpting an object with clay just to win. So what we've discovered as parents is that Cranium games use competition in a positive way. My son's desire to win the game trumped his need to be perfect. This gave him the opportunity to try new things and discover hidden talents, all in a twenty minute game (and as parents we all know that's an ENORMOUS bonus!). Thanks Cranium!!

We'll definitely be investing in more Cranium games. The value it brings to our children is worth the cost plus we have a great time as a family. I'd love to hear what games you have found to be of value to your children. I'm always on the lookout for creative ways to encourage our children's abilities.