Twitter Prizes! (Day 18 of 30)

I've been really into twitter parties recently, so I've kept a log of what I've won. Figured I'd share it with my readers. Twitter parties are such a wonderful way to try exciting new products you may not have the opportunity (or even interest) to try in the first place. I've been introduced to so many new things that I would definitely purchase in the future!

One Coconut Water (3 cases)

Organic Valley for a year ($520 value) Dozen smoothies from HAPPYFAMILY

Almond Butter Prize Package

$25 Macy’s Gift Card

$25 Target Gift Card

Basket #1 from Creativity4Kids

Barney Butter–12 small packets (through Facebook)

$10 Starbucks Gift Card

Two Madame Alexander Dolls

Beach Safety Kit from VCA

Peace Love Mom shirt

Starbucks giftcard

Organic dog ear wipes

1 lb of jellybeans

Playskool heroes prize package

12 pints of Ben & Jerry’s

Green chat prize

Fine Cooking prize – Grilling magazine

Disney Princess castle and Ariel doll

Best Pals grand prize

Udderly smooth basket

Kim & Scott’s Pretzel coupon

$85 shopping spree to All Locally Made

2011-2012 Planner in Chocolate

Pair of Squeaker Shoes

Imagine Toys product for review

Prize #5 from The Tender Filet

HAPPYBABY shirt and water bottle

Cheese Club Kit – Bertolli® Tasting Certificate, Bottle Bertolli® Extra Virgin Olive Oil, Monthly shipment of artisanal cheeses for three months

50 business cards

Case of Beanitos

Thermos Lunch Kit

SparkParks Playground Prize pack

Melissa & Doug Farm train set & freight train

Leapfrog Let’s Go To School DVD

Weleda Mother/Baby Kit

$100 from Simply OJ

One month supply of Best Oats

A lot of my friends have asked about Twitter Parties since I began participating in them. Here's a brief overview of what they are all about.  But basically, if you want to figure twitter out, you just need to register and start tweeting! It's definitely a trial/error process to figure out how it all works.

Next step for me: find a way to host my own twitter party!  

Review of the Big Toy Book

I contacted the generous people at The Big Toy Book to see if they could donate a toy to Abi's Place (the nonprofit where I work) that I could review for my blog. They responded by sending me the Baby Genius All in One Musical Band, which contains two shakers, a flute, 2 drum sticks, and a tambourine - all within a drum!

This super-cute instrument set is great for all young children, but is especially effective with children who have disabilities. When teaching our children, all of whom have moderate to severe developmental delays, it's often difficult to find toys that are motivating and interesting to them. Most of the toys that do interest them stimulate or calm specific sensory needs. That's what is so great about instruments - most of our children love music, and instruments allow them to make their own music. How does that help the teachers and children? Well, we can teach so many great skills using instruments as the teaching tools. Here are a few:
1. Following one-step directions: bang the drum, blow the flute, shake the tambourine
2. Imitation: the teacher taps the drumstick on the drum and the child imitates that action
3. Communication: for our children, communication usually begins when children are motivated to use their words to ask for things that they want - so they can learn to request music through words, sign language, or pictures

These instruments are so cute, with a child-friendly animal theme. Here's Ryan playing with one of the instruments during our interactive circle time:

Thanks to The Big Toy Book for allowing us to review one of your awesome products! The kids love their new instruments. The Big Toy Book also carries many other toys for children of all ages, including eco-friendly toys, bath toys, board games, baby dolls, action figures, and more!   They also have a great blog with guest bloggers addressing a variety of topics. Additionally, they host regularly-scheduled Twitter parties with really awesome giveaways. This week's Twitter party features Toy Story 3!