Dinosaur play & explore sensory bin from HGUSA.

 

Sensory bins & tables have become quite popular over the last few years as they are a great hands-on learning experience. If you are looking to start using a sensory bin with your child, but don't know where to start then Horizon Group USA has you covered. They sell three different pre-assembled sensory bins that come with everything you need to get started on your sensory journey. The three themes are Seal Life, Dino Galaxy & Unicorn. 

My kids and I were recently sent the Dino Galaxy Sensor Bin in our partnership box & it is a pretty neat bin. The storage container for it is a lot larger than I had expected it to be, it measures 14.5 x 9.75 x 3.25 with a lid that locks shut to keep everything inside. 

The sensory bin comes with green smiley sand, garden pebbles, a paint brush, a foam volcano, a shovel, a roller, toy trees and dinosaur figurines of course. The only thing I would change about the contents is having double the amount of sand in it as it isn't really enough to cover the half of the bin like it is supposed to. Younger children tend to like to play with sensory bins, but this was fun for my nine year old too because we all love the play sand from HGUSA. 

Each kit sells for $14.99 on Amazon, you can buy just one or collect all three. After your child is done playing with it simply lock the lid on & keep it stored until later. The slimey sand can get a little dried out over time if left out so I suggest keeping it stored in a sealed storage container or baggie.

Disclaimer-  Horizon Group USA provided me with the products mentioned above for the review + giveaway free of charge no other compensation was provided. However, no product compensation will influence the outcome of any review. My honest opinions are used in all reviews, they are solely my own & they may vary from others. My reviews are posted for readers in order to provide an informed decision before purchase. 

Not Another Rubber Ducky (Spooky Toobers) Review!

 

Rubber ducky you're the one, you make bath time lots of fun. Does anyone else have the sesame street song pop into their head when they think about rubber ducks? Do you also think that rubber ducks are just for kids? There are plenty of adults who collect rubber ducks, there are so many different variations of how they look, it is fun seeing them all. Well now there is a new bath time toy line that celebrates those who like the slightly spookier yet cute supernatural creatures. I want to introduce all of you to a fun brand called Not Another Rubber Ducky that sells floating bath toys that look like various well known supernatural creatures, they are called Spooky Toobers. This is a fun line for kids and adults alike.

How cute & fun do these creatures look floating around on little inflatable tubes? At the moment they have four different creatures to choose from, you can purchase Frankie, Drac, Wolfie or Mummy for $14.99 each. Each toy is free of phthalate, BPA + lead and each one is sealed with a bit of weight inside to keep them floating upright. They are great for the bathtub or in the pool. These cute monsters were designed and created by Johnathan Paine, whose name you may even recognize. He is a digital character sculpture, character modeler & now toymaker - some of his work has been shown in The Incredibles, Ratatouille and UP.  Along with this collection of devilishly cute toys he also has an Etsy shop where he sells cards & prints of some of his creature artwork. I will cover his Etsy shop and some of his work on another post.

My kids love these Spooky Toobers, they might not be at the age where they play with bath toys anymore however they are looking forward to having these on their shelf with their other collectable figures. Each character is unique & show cases both designs and personalities that fit each character such as Wolfie who can be seen howling while floating around on his tube. 

Their little feet sticking over the side of the inflatables are adorable, they all seem so relaxed, enjoying the water. It makes you want to get in a floatie and float around the pool too! My favorite out of the four is a two way tie between Wolfie & Drac and my kids can't decide which is their favorite either due to all of them being pretty awesome. I like that there is no hole in the bottom like typical rubber ducks have, thus preventing any water from getting trapped within which makes it to where it will not grow mold inside. They are perfectly balanced, they can be pushed across the tub or pool, they can be spun and twirled and will still stay floating upright. 

Do you have a favorite out of the four? 

Disclaimer- Not Another Rubber Ducky provided the product above for the review free of charge no other compensation was provided. However, no product compensation will influence the outcome of any review. My honest opinions are used in all reviews, they are solely my own & they may vary from others. My reviews are posted for readers in order to provide an informed decision before purchase.

Shore Buddies Giveaway + Review.

Did you know that plastic water bottles can be recycled and turned into stuffed animals? No? Neither did I. I recently came across a brand called Shore Buddies that is working towards their goal of reducing the amount of plastic waste that ends up in the ocean and helping education adults and children of the impact plastic has on the Earth. Every stuffed animal they make is made from six water bottles, I've seen a short clip before of how plastic is broken down to create a type of yarn out of it (you should look up a video of it) the whole thing is pretty interesting and crazy to watch. 

Not only are they helping directly keep plastics out of the ocean by turning them into adorable Shore Buddies, they also take a $1 from every sale and use it towards educational campaigns and animal rescue organizations who help animals affected by plastics in their natural habitat. 

I was recently sent one of their Shore Buddies, I received an adorable blue whale named Emma. If you were to hand me this stuffed animal and ask me what it is made out of, I would have never guessed plastic bottles. Emma is just as soft and squishy as a stuffed animal made out of fabric materials, my kids were shocked as well when I told them about the brand. Emma is so round and lovable, the blue dye used in the yarn is quite lovely.

If you push on the belly of Emma it will play a sound recording of a real whale. The sounds were recorded by a professional marine biologist scientist to make it even more authentic. My daughter would like to be a marine biologist when she is older, so she really enjoyed getting this whale and being able to play the whale sounds. You can purchase Emma for $19.95.

Not everyone is a fan of whales so they also sell four other ocean/beach related stuffed animals - Stephen Seagull, Finn the Dolphin, Shelly the Sea Turtle and Sammy the seal plus they have key chain versions of each one for $9.99. 

While looking at stuffed animals for you or your little one, also check out their reusable straws which help keep millions of straws out of the landfills and oceans. They also offer free coloring pages for kids, there should be a pop up when you first enter the site where you can put in your email and have them send you the coloring pages digitally. 

Prize Alert: One lucky winner is going to win their own Emma the whale. 

This is open World Wide! Please remember if you DO NOT leave a comment on this blog post as your mandatory entry into the giveaway then all of your entries will be void. Doing the Daily entries will increase your chance of winning. Winners have 72 hours to respond to the notification email! 

This giveaway ends on 03/05/2021

Giveaway entry question: Leave a comment telling me which of their other Shore Buddies you love!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Disclaimer-  Shore Buddies has provided the products mentioned above for the review + the prize for a giveaway free of charge no other compensation was provided. However, no product compensation will influence the outcome of any review. My honest opinions are used in all reviews, they are solely my own & they may vary from others. My reviews are posted for readers in order to provide an informed decision before purchase.