Family Travel Gear Giveaway Winner!

TJ and Amy!

"I could also really use the Car entertainment organizer!"

Congratulations!

Remeber today is the LAST DAY that Family Travel Gear is giving 10% off your entire order (exclumding shipping) to Organic Mamas Blog readers! (coupon code: big list 09)

Peace Love Play Pillows Giveaway Winner!

Joyful Girl Naturals said...
"I would like the Chenille Car Seat Pillow for Babies and Toddlers - Surf Buggie. Super cool!"

Congrats!! Please contact me by Thursday to redeem your prize!

For the rest of you today is the LAST day to get 40% off your order at Peace Love Play Pillows!!!! (coupon code: OMamablog40)

Addie Bugs Review + Discount + Giveaway

Addie Bugs is the place to go for decorating and celebrating special occasions throughout the year!

Jen, the creator of Addie Bugs, is a mother of two girls. Her children are her joy and creating is her outlet.

Jen sent me a Halloween banner that was extremely well made and SO darling!!!

You can display RE-USEABLE FABRIC BANNERS over windows in any room of your home, on fences, over doorways, on mantles....the possibilities are endless! Fabric Banners are fabulous accents for parties, birthdays, celebrations and holidays.

Here's just a few of Addie Bugs banners to use throughout the year!

Addie Bugs is offering 20% off your order for the next week!!! (coupon code:OMamablog20)

AND Addie Bugs is giving away a $20 gift certificate to one of you!!

To enter into this great giveaway: (only open to U.S. residents)

You must be a follower of this blog and visit Addie Bugs and leave a comment here telling me what special occasion you would love a re-usable banner for!

Additional entries:
(please leave a comment per additional entry telling me you did so)

1. Add my blog button to your blog/website (leave url)
2. Add my Sweety Baby button to your blog/website (leave url)
3. Subscribe via email to my blog.
4. Become a follower on twitter and tweet about this giveaway (leave username)
5. Blog about this giveaway (leave url)
6. Purchase something from Addie Bugs (5 extra entries, leave 5 additional comments telling me what you purchased)

The winner will be chosen at random Tuesday October 27th!

Family Travel Gear Review + Discount + Giveaway

It's family travel week on Organic Mamas Blog.

Right in time for the upcoming holidays!

The store I am reviewing today is a must-see!

Family Travel Gear has EVERYTHING you need for traveling easier with little one's...travel trays, organizers, games, even accessories for plane rides!

Family Travel Gear sent me a Snack and Play Travel Tray to try out on my daughter and I can honestly say it was a lifesaver!

How often are you tempted (while driving!) to reach back and get a toy your child was playing with just to keep them happy? I am all the time! But with this tray you don't have to! My daughter contently looked at her cards and played with her dolls for a long car ride!

With the Snack and Play Travel Tray there will be no leaning or twisting behind you at red lights to reach under a seat to grab a dropped item!

The Snack and Play Travel Tray allows kids to have a lap tray play area that keeps all their snacks, crafts, and toys in one place while you are going on an outing, taking a walk, visiting the zoo, etc.

Here's the breakdown of why this is a must-have for your child:

Padded rim keeps toys and snack on the travel tray

Strap buckles around car seat, stroller, or child

Foam insert collapses on impact

Two mesh side pockets

Sturdy nylon fabric

Dimensions: Tray area 10" x 15"; Side walls 2" deep

"Crash tested by a federally recognized laboratory. No concerns noted."

Now a reason for celebration....Family Travel Gear is giving 10% off your entire order (excluding shipping) to Organic Mamas Blog readers! coupon code: big list 09

Family Travel Gear is also giving away one Snack and Play Travel Tray to one of you!!!

To enter into this great giveaway: (only open to U.S. residents)

You must be a follower of this blog, visit Family Travel Gear and leave a comment here to tell me what other travel item would make your life easier!

Additional entries:

(please leave a comment per additional entry telling me you did so)
1. Add my blog button to your blog/website (leave url)
2. Add my Sweety Baby button to your blog/website (leave url)
3. Subscribe via email to my blog.
4. Become a follower on twitter and tweet about this giveaway (leave username)
5. Blog about this giveaway (leave url)
6. Purchase something from Family Travel Gear (5 extra entries, leave 5 additional comments telling me what you purchased)

The winner will be chosen at random Friday October 23rd!

The Sitting Room - Grand Opening!!

Okay so I really don't have time for another Etsy shop, but I just couldn't help myself!

So here it is!!!

I love decorating, so I thought I would create some decor of my own!

Right now The Sitting Room is offering Wall Art Canvases and Wool Felt Fabric Bowls!

And because I am so delighted you all follow my blog, I would love to offer you FREE SHIPPING off one item for the next week! Coupon code: OMamaFreeShip

Check it out!

The Sitting Room

Goose Grease Giveaway Winner...

is Noreen who said...

"Such a little ladybug is so sweet!"

Congrats!! Please contact me at jflborn@gmail.com by Friday!

Peace Love Play Pillows Review + (AMAZING!) Discount + Giveaway

This week I have two awesome reviews/giveaways focusing on traveling easier with little ones! I hope you will be as excited as I am about these two great products!

First off we have Peace Love Play Pillows from Etsy.

Peace Love Play Pillows offer Head Support Pillows for BABIES and TODDLERS, 3 months - 3 years, which are used to support the child's head while riding in the car seat. The purpose of the pillow is for the child to rest their chin on the front or side of the pillow which supports their head and prevents it from flopping awkwardly forward. They also work great when used on the child in the frontal carrier and stroller.

Ann-Marie from Peace Love Play Pillows sent me a pillow to try out with my daughter and I have to say it was a complete success! My daughter sits in a front forward facing car-seat in a non-reclined position so when she konks out her head goes straight into her chest. But with her new pillow once she fell asleep I slipped the pillow gently under her chin and voila! No neck-ache when she woke up! I also have to say that my daughter likes to wear the pillow around her neck at home, haha! I guess she has good taste :)

Here is a great neutral style for boys and girls.

Bubbles.

And of course Cherry Chic for your little princess.

And now for the fantastic news...Peace Love Play Pillows is giving you 40% off your order!! Is that amazing or what?!!!

And of course Peace Love Play Pillows is giving a pillow of choice away to one of you!!!

To enter into this great giveaway: (only open to U.S. residents)

You must be a follower of this blog, visit Peace Love Play Pillows and leave a comment here telling me what pillow you would choose and if you are lucky enough to have a child who loves being in the car :)

Additional entries:
(please leave a comment per additional entry telling me you did so)

1. Add my blog button to your blog/website (leave url)
2. Add my Sweety Baby button to your blog/website (leave url)
3. Subscribe via email to my blog.
4. Become a follower on twitter and tweet about this giveaway (leave username)
5. Blog about this giveaway (leave url)
6. Purchase something from Peace Love Play Pillows (5 extra entries, leave 5 additional comments telling me what you purchased)

The winner will be chosen at random Tuesday, October 20th!

Goose Grease Review + Discount + Giveaway

Goose Grease is a rare find on Etsy, in my opinion.

It was such a delight to stumble upon this shop and ooh and ahh over their items! Run by two very talented women, Michelle & Kelly, Goose Grease offers one of a kind games, wedding cake toppers, do-it-yourself kits and costume dolls that will delight your eyes.

Check out this Pirates vs. Pirates Checker set! I love it!

One of the items sent to me to test out was one of these tip tops. I honestly have to say that my daughter and I played and laughed over it for such a long time! My 18-month old would let out the best belly laugh every time the top would spin over on its head! It was so much fun to see her enjoying it so much AND to see the top dance on its head, it's simply amazing.

These are definitely going to be stocking stuffers this year....for any age!!

Along with that my daughter LOVED playing and kissing the dolls from Goose Grease, they were SO darling!






Goose Grease is generously offering a 10 % discount off each order (coupon code: OMamaBlog)


And there will be one costume doll of choice given away to one reader! (Good luck picking only one!!)



To enter into this great giveaway: (only open to U.S. residents)

You must be a follower of this blog and visit Goose Grease and leave a comment here telling me what you love and what person in your life would love a costume doll!

Additional entries:
(please leave a comment per additional entry telling me you did so)

1. Add my blog button to your blog/website (leave url)
2. Add my Sweety Baby button to your blog/website (leave url)
3. Subscribe via email to my blog.
4. Become a follower on twitter and tweet about this giveaway (leave username)
5. Blog about this giveaway (leave url)
6. Purchase something from Goose Grease (5 extra entries, leave 5 additional comments telling me what you purchased)

The winner will be chosen at random Tuesday, October 13th!

Creative Mind Boutique & Carriage Town Kids Giveaway Winners!!

The winner of the gift set from Creative Mind Boutique is...

Anonymous who said...
From the carriage Town Kids I loved the Funky Punk Posh Ponytail holders!

The winner of the Tooth Pillow is
jillykat07 who said...
Oh I LOVE the Beanie hats & crayon aprons! Sooooo, cute! Thanks,Jill

Please contact me by Thursday to receive your prize at jflborn@gmail.com

Congrats!!!

And to everyone else don't forget today is the LAST DAY for free shipping from Creative Mind Boutique and Carriage Town Kids!!

Montessori Quotes

Excerpt from "Montessori from the Start" by Lillard & Jessen

"What kind of tool then can we employ for the infant as a sensorial explorer with an absorbent mind? Clearly they must be concrete materials. Young children cannot use imagination or abstract thinking to learn about the world. Because they are not yet capable of abstract thought, they must know the concrete world first and thereby develop the tools that lead to abstract thought and the furthering of their own construction. Children need, then, concrete objects whose qualities they can absorb through their senses.
Most importantly, these materials must be of the real world. Because there is so much misunderstanding about fantasy in the young child's life, we repeat: everything that adults give to the young child for sensorial exploration should represent the real world. Young children's experiences with the real world become the basis for their imagination and creative thought in the elementary school years, when they no longer possess an absorbent mind but a reasoning mind. Sensations that give no knowledge of the world to young children are useless to them. Worse, they can give false information and therefore be harmful. Young children have hurt themselves, as well as other children, by jumping from windows, hitting with objects, choking other children, and even shooting at others with guns, because in their television cartoons and videos, they had seen these actions resulting repeatedly in none of the consequences of the real world."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"There is a reason novelty occupies a baby, and all too often we ignore it and use novelty to keep babies busy so that they are not unhappy and bothering us. Babies seek novelty to learn something previously not known by them about their world; as such it is a key characteristic and has a purpose. Too often, adults are completely thoughtless in what they give to infants, as if "any old thing" would do. If we want to give our babies an optimal environment, we need to think through the purpose of all that we give them."

Montessori Activities - Bottles & Tops + Matching Shapes

Hope everyone is having a great Thursday! I am glad to finally see some sunshine after a couple rainy days!

I have two activities to share today. The first one consists of bottles/tops that can no doubt be found around your house. Using different shapes and sizes would maximize the activity.

Bottle & Tops Directions:
Put the bottles & tops in front of your child, slowly place each top on it's corresponding bottle and screw on. Your child may want to take over. If the child is still too young to accomplish screwing each lid on securely it's still a great activity for matching and understanding different sizes.

My daughter enjoys stacking the bottles after she is done and even seeing if some fit inside others. Let your child explore as they want, of course if the child starts using the bottles in inappropriate ways just put the activity away for another time.

When finished have the child put them back on a tray and put back in the place where they belong.
The next activity is a matching activity. I have a die cutter which I used to cut out different shapes in a variety of sizes. If you don't have this, any craft store will most likely carry foam shapes in an assortment of sizes.

Matching Directions:

Lay one of each shape out on a table. I started with four shapes and gradually added to it according to my daughter's ability. Have the corresponding shapes laid out randomly underneath. Slowly put each shape underneath (or on top of) the corresponding shape. Your child may take over as he/she wants. Use a minimal amount of words.




Matching Sizes Directions:

Do the same as above but add different sizes of each shape for increased difficulty. I started with a small, medium and large star. I then added other small, medium & large shapes according to my daughters ability. Below my daughter is seen matching hearts, stars and flowers.


What I love about Montessori activities is the simplicity of them. It's not complicated or ground-breaking material but simple, straight forward excercises to challenge our children.

I am always looking for new activities to do with my child, so if you have any suggestions please share!