Mother’s Day Special from Kiwi Crate
Last month I had the pleasure of reviewing Kiwi Crate – a monthly subscription box that is full of fun games and crafts for kids (although my friend Mary and I had just as much fun playing with it as the children did.) You can see my entire review of the Kiwi Crate here.
We loved it so much that we actually signed up for the monthly subscription, and had a blast making our own recycled paper and stamped gift bags with this months crate. Midge gets SO excited when she sees that little green package in the mailbox.
I wanted to share with you a special promo code that will let you save 25% on your first Kiwi Crate box, plus an additional $5 to spend in the shop! I highly recommend these boxes for anyone with children, or for a gift to someone you love. Code expires 5/12/
And just so show how much fun we had -
Enjoy!
The Gift of Creativity – Kiwi Crate
This week I had the opportunity to review one of the best products for both parents and kids on the market. As a crazy busy work at home mom juggling two businesses, the idea of getting to do fun crafts with my kids always sounds good…. but the actual follow through to doing them is a bit of a different story. First its finding something to do, usually with the help of Pinterest, then driving to the craft store, hunting all of the supplies down, bringing them home, laying them out.. and nine times out of ten get frustrated because our craft ends up a hot mess. When I got an email asking me to review Kiwi Crate – a complete “crate” full of crafts and activities that is delivered straight to your door – I knew I had found a winner.
Kiwi Crate was built out of a passion for hands-on fun that encourages creativity and curiosity in children. I had a deep appreciation for these projects, but often found that my greatest intentions fell short. It was tough to find the time to come up with engaging hands-on activities, let alone get the materials. Kiwi Crate was created to fulfill that wish and to celebrate kids’ natural creativity and curiosity. We want to make it fun, easy, and delightful to spend time building, exploring and creating together. Since its inception, the Kiwi Crate team has grown. We’ve added creative parents who dream up the projects, valued experts who review them, and a community of kid testers who keeps us on our toes and ensures the projects are fun and engaging.
The Kiwi Crate arrived last week, and I kept it a secret until my friend Mary came over after lunch to just spend the afternoon hanging out, and the four of us girls spent the afternoon “crafting” at my dining room table.
Now, I know these crafts are for kids – but Mary and I had just as much fun as the girls did. We received the “Secret Agent Kit” which had a “disguise” kit and “periscope kit,” as well as Midge’s favorite part – the Secret Message Set. Mary and The Teen got to work on the periscope while Midge and I put together our disguises. The periscope was hysterical and there have been a few times since Saturday that I have seen it sneak around the corner to “spy” on me.
The Secret Message Set was the highlight of the Kiwi Crate though, and Midge and I have had so much fun writing each other “secret” messages that only she and I can see. The Secret Message Set comes with a special “invisible ink” pen that has a special light on the end to make your secret messages show.
I loved how everything was included in the Kiwi Crate – all the way down to the kid safe scissors and glue stick. And I loved how even with as busy as I am, it was easy to just break out the box and have everything we needed to spend a couple hours just PLAYING. Check out their Sample Crates to get a peek at some of their past crates.
You can check out Kiwi Crate and order a Single Crate for yourself, or even send as a gift. I love the idea of “gifting” this as I am always looking for something fun and unique to give as gifts – I hate when kids get duplicate stuff, don’t you?- so I am going to start sending these for Birthdays and Holidays instead of just shopping the department stores. It is a total win-win.
There is even an option to subscribe and get a Kiwi Crate shipped to your door every single month – full of fun stuff to play with! Midge’s birthday is next week, and I haven’t told her yet… but I have signed her up for a year’s subscription already. It’s a gift we are both going to get to enjoy.
PS - Also, check out the Kiwi Crate Facebook Page to enter to win a Dream Crafting Room, valued at $750!
New “Wow Wow Wubbzy” Apps For Kids
Last week Midge came home from school early not feeling well. No, I realize I am incredibly fortunate to be able to work from home… but I still must WORK while I am at home, so I needed something to keep her busy for just an hour while I wrapped up a few phone calls. I didnt want to just plop her in front of the tv so I decided to let her play with my iPad so she could “work” alongside me. I set her up with the new Wow Wow Wubbzy app – Wubbzy Loves You and she sat quietly while I completed all of my work. I was happy that she was happy, and playing with something educational and fun – not just zoning out to the television. And since Wow Wow Wubbzy has been a favorite of ours for a long time, she enjoyed getting to hang out with some of her favorite characters from the show on the iPad.
Wubbzy Loves You is a cute, interactive app that helps your kids with recognizing sight words and numbers as well as problem solving and critical thinking skills. The app has three reading modes – “Read and Play” which lets you or your child read as you go, “Read to Me” which will narrate the story to your child, and “Just a Book” which reads just like a normal story book. The first two modes include hundreds of places to “tap” on the screen to interact with the story. “Just a Book” is great for reading before bed as it is quiet and relaxing. The story was cute too -
Wubbzy and his friends can’t wait to celebrate Friendship Day by exchanging friendship lovey love cards and attending the annual Friendship Day Parade. But when the postman catches a yucky, icky cold, Friendship Day may not happen! It’s up to Wubbzy and Daizy to deliver the heaping piles of friendship cards to a kooky collection of Wuzzleburg residents. Can they make all of their deliveries before the big parade? Join Wubbzy and Daizy on their journey to spread friendship and love on this very special day!
Midge really enjoyed playing the app and “working” with me… so much so that she asked if she could play with my iPad the moment she got off the bus from school. I call that a win.
You can check out all of the Wow Wow Wubbzy apps – Like the brand new Wubbzy’s Awesome Adventure – from Cupcake Digital’s website and download their games on your iPhone, iPad, Android, and Nook Color!
Disclaimer: I received this app for free for the purchase of this review. All opinions are my own.
Greenie Tots Make Mealtime Healthy
I do not consider myself especially “green” but we are all making the conscious choice to Eat Clean here at the Moscato household. When I received information about Greenie Tots – a South Florida based company that makes delicious, frozen meals for kids that are completely meatless, but mimic the look of real meat so even the pickiest of eaters won’t know a thing – I just HAD to check it out!
All Greenie Tots meals are made from minimally processed, all-natural ingredients to maximize the flavor and nutritional value. Additionally, the meals 100% meatless and contain no hormones, pesticides, or high-fructose corn syrup. The Greenie Tots vegetarian meal line includes:
- Cauliflower Rice with Chik’n
- Pasta & Spinach Marinara with Meat-Style Grounds
- Mac & Cheese with Peas
- Chik’n, Cheese & Spinach Quesadillas with Mixed Vegetables
- Cheeseburger Quesadillas with Sweet Potato Fries
Midge and I tested out the Chik’n, Cheese and Spinach Quesadillas with veggies and the Cheeseburger Quesadillas with sweet potato fries. Now, if you know me, you know I am crazy weird about meat and can not eat anything that resembles looking like it use to have a heartbeat. I am not a vegetarian, but I can’t handle any kind of “processed” meat. So I have to admit… I was apprehensive. In my mind the only thing worse than processed meat is imitation processed meat.
I cooked both meals one day after Midge got home from school and was “starving” so we could taste them both and compare. The Chik’n ones were pretty good – the consistency was a little off for me but flavor was good. The veggies were still a little bit crunchy which is how I like them. Most frozen meals the veggies are all mushy – these were really good. We liked the veggies more than the Chik’n Quesadillas.
The Cheesburger Quesadillas however…. were AWESOME. Seriously, I want to buy more for ME to eat. The Meatless Quesadillas had just enough spice to give it a kick, and I honestly would not have known they were “meatless” if I had not read it because it looked just like ground hamburger meat. (I didnt tell Midge anything – she just gobbled them up!)
Greenie Tots is the first company to provide meatless soy-free frozen entrees that mimic the look and taste of meat for kids of all ages. The company was founded in 2009 by husband and wife team Jamie and Jilea Hemmings when their oldest son was diagnosed with autism. They wanted to make sure he was eating meals that were delicious, nutritious and had the best quality ingredients. Not able to find what they were looking for from existing offerings, they headed to their kitchen to create their own meals. Those meals are now available to the public through the Greenie Tots website and in select Whole Foods Markets and Giant Eagle stores throughout the country. Each Greenie Tots meal is 100% vegetarian, relying on a delicious soy-free protein meat substitute, and contains no hormones, pesticides, or high-fructose corn syrup. The frozen meals can be microwaved or baked and ready to eat in as little as 5 minutes.
Check out their website – www.GreenieTots.com for information on all of their meals, to order, and also for other healthy recipes and activities for kids!
How do you help your kids eat healthy?
Disclaimer: I received two meals for the purpose of this review. No compensation was received. All opinions are 100% my own.
