When Land of Nod contacted me about the possibility of hosting a review and giveaway at first I was elated (yay! free stuff, we love free stuff!). But then I became somewhat hesitant. I don't want to become one of those blogs that is always hawking other people's stuff and saying things along the lines of - "today we drank yummy Minute Maid juice with our breakfast (so nutritious, I wouldn't drink any other kind) then we packed up our safe, wonderful Odyssey mini-van so we could stay for free at the Ramada, which was seriously the best hotel ever." On the other hand, I work hard at blog and if companies want to give me free stuff (especially stuff that appeals to my readers) I'm okay with that. All of this is just to say that I promised myself that when it came to reviewing the "I'm Not Bored Anymore" jar I would be honest. If we hated it, well, then we hated it.
Luckily, the jar was a HUGE HIT. F actually called it "the coolest thing I've ever done" (seriously? even better than Disney? why do I even try?). The jar's magic apparently stems from the fact that it lets kids create on their own terms. Nobody is telling them what to do, yet at the same time they're being provided with all the "tools" that kids love - a whole jar full of confetti, googly eyes, glitter, pipe cleaners, pom poms, funky scissors, wood knobs, beads, foam shapes, felt letters, brightly-colored paper plates (these were a huge hit), etc. Even T had a blast "I like it mommy, I like it" (the jar is recommended for kids 6 and over but T scoffs as such age restrictions).
We now take out the jar every few days, as it has become our solution to those after-school BLAHs. And I really enjoy seeing the -sometimes odd - stuff my kids come up with - F decided to make her own "I spy" letter picture (I hate to be a downer, but the letters were pretty easy to spy), P created all these beautiful drawings with glitter details, and T lined up balls and pom poms in little rows. On the downside, the jar comes with glue and glitter-glue but we quickly ran out, so I'd make sure to have some extra around (extra scissors and scotch tape also proved helpful).
Anyways, if you'd like to buy one, they're available here for $29 (Land of Nod also sells a "junior" version for $24.95). Or if you'd like to WIN one, please either (1) "like" me on facebook then leave a message on my wall saying whatever you want to say (maybe write "i want to win!"?) OR (2) post a comment to this post stating your favorite rainy day activity. The giveaway ends one week from today on November 22nd. All entries must have a United States address for shipping.
HAVE A GREAT TUESDAY EVERYONE!
THIS GIVEAWAY IS NOW OFFICIALLY CLOSED! CONGRATULATIONS TO CATHI FOR WINNING THE JAR!!!
OMG. We have wanted this jar for a LONG time. Our favorite rainy day activities as of late have included marbling with shaving cream, printmaking and puddle jumping!
ReplyDeleteThis is soooo coool. I love process oriented art projects. Pick me, pick me!!!
ReplyDeleteThis looks great! Our favorite rainy day activity is fort making in the living room
ReplyDeleteWOW, coolest jar ever! We usually like to hit a museum or indoor gym on a rainy day, but the art jar would be a perfect reason to stay home instead.
ReplyDeleteWe live in the Pacific Northwest, so pretty much every activity is a rainy day activity, but recently we have enjoyed having tea parties with pretty cookies and herbal tea. By the way, I got the "Raising Freethinkers" book from the library and I love, love, love it! I am so thrilled to have found that book, thanks again for the recommendation.
ReplyDeleteLove your blog, Darcy ;) We were neighbors with Julia and Tracy, so we like to see both the fun photos and the good ideas. Of course, we're in the snowy day activity season (sigh!). The jar o' fun is a fabulous idea. We often craft, play doh, or build enormous towers, railways.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing your ideas!
This looks like a ton of fun and perfect for my 2 year old this winter ;)
ReplyDeleteThis looks like so much fun! We love to draw and color on cold or rainy days... this would help us step up the creativity ;)
ReplyDeletei've been eying this at land of nod. i think my kids would love it! rainy days are for baking, snuggling and art around here.
ReplyDeleteour favorite rainy day activity includes reading old favorites and playing every game imaginable...and then some!
ReplyDeleteOur favorite rainy day activity is picking an art project out of the "activity" jar (filled with colorful slips of paper with fun things to do written on them)!
ReplyDeleteOur favorite rainy day activity is usually going OUT somewhere, like to a museum or Target (egad). So some fun, stay-at-home activities would be very welcome. Yay art jar!
ReplyDeleteI'm sure my kids would love this!
ReplyDeleteFavorite rainy day activity... hmm... probably hitting a nature center -- Hidden Oaks in Annandale is our favorite.
Our favorite rainy day activity is playing with play-doh!
ReplyDeletedgoodridge84@yahoo.com
I was thinking of getting that bored jar for my son for his birthday so thank you for posting this! you are so creative and fun. I love the blog! I liked you facebook and am a follower on pinterest now too so I'm excited to see your other projects. I would love it if you visited my blog if you have time. take care!
ReplyDeletekathryn
www.thedragonsfairytail.blogspot.com
We would love to win this! It looks like so much fun!
ReplyDeletekathleendunn29@yahoo.com