way to encourage chores to be done around the house to earn a little extra money to feed this cute piggy bank!

The Schylling Rubber Piggy Bank is available from multiple retailers on Amazon.com all for under $15!

learning! The planets from this solar system don’t have to be hung seperately, they can be hung in a three dimensional model! The set includes a 4-1/8" dia sun, 2-3/4" Jupiter, 2" Saturn with removable rings, 15/16" Uranus and Neptune, 13/16" Earth and Venus, and 11/16" Mars, Mercury and Pluto, all with rings at the top to hang them. This set is recommended for children from 6yrs to 10yrs; however, since it’s going to be hung from the ceiling there is no harm in using it in a younger (or older) child’s room as long as it is secured well!

You can pick up your Glow-in-the-Dark solar system from Amazon.com or any of the other merchants that sell this product via Amazon (you will find Amazon to be the cheapest with free shipping!)

individual states on the map. The felt pieces come in two drawstring storage bags to keep them safe. The map itself can be hung on the wall of any room or it can simply be stretched out on the floor for quiet play in any room of the house. The Geosafari map is recommended for children in Kindergarten and up and weights 6lbs (shipping weight).

The GeoSafari Map of the USA is slightly more difficult to find in retail stores since retail stores tend to push the electronic globes and maps more often; however, you can find this one in various retail stores, most will sell this one for $199.99 but Amazon has it on sale currently for $129.99!

that was applicable to real life, make it something that was not only fun but something that taught routine as well as healthy habits and an interest in sports like activity. The Matchmaster HeadToHead games does this remarkably well by allowing children to take their soccer players through training games, rigorous schedules and rest time to make their players better in their soccer skills. The importance behind the Matchmaster games is that while they appear as a simple electronic game that can be taken just about anywhere, they also serve as beginner day planners for children teaching them the importance of scheduling tasks, practicing skills and most importantly resting adequately in order to be able to perform optimally. All of these great skills are taught through children selecting schedules, meals and activities for their handheld players and seeing the results when they make good choices. The game itself is centered around soccer and developing a soccer player in to a better player in order to succeed while subconsciously teaching children a healthier way to live, which we all know can be an impossible task in this day and age. The Matchmaster games are also interactive games in that they can connect to other Matchmaster games via Infrared technology so children can play against each other by challenging their player - hence why two of these are being given away to one winner! The Matchmaster games are recommended for children ages 8-15.

The MatchMaster electronic games are being sold only at Walmart and for $19.96 each, they are not yet carried online via Walmart; however, you should be able to find them at your local store.

I also have one set of two Matchmaster games to give away! This set of two HeadToHead Matchmaster games is going to be given away to one lucky winner on August 6th! For this contest I am asking all of you to come up with one great toy idea - not big name toys, something you think is great and would recommend to other parents - and I will review them on a daily basis (so the sooner you get yours in the better your chance of getting a review and having more comments). I will review the toys as the recommendations come in - toys that are not appropriate or that have had zero effort put in to picking them will not be reviewed. The winner of the MatchMaster games set (two games) will be the toy recommendation that had the most comments - this includes ONE comment per person so you can’t have someone comment on your toy five times but you can recommend that your friends come by and comment on your toy to get you extra comments! As always comments need some substance to them, three words and repetitive comments aren’t going to cut it.

With all that said, have at it guys! Good luck and I look forward to seeing all the great toys you guys have to recommend! If any clarification of the contest or contest rules is needed just comment right here and I will answer so everyone can see!

idea if you are looking for a project that you and your child can work on together over a period of time. With the tunnel feature you just slide the unbreakable tunnel pieces in to the sides of the two antworks sections you wish to join together and watch your ants travel through on their way to discovery! The ants for this one are sold seperately, unfortunately you can’t just go and catch your own because your colony needs a queen to survive but the habitat does come with the information to send off for your ants! Ants are a great way to teach your child about how other animals live and how their societies work. Being able to watch how ant colony’s designate work and establish their own societies is simply amazing and something every child should experience!

Antworks habitats are sold in many places; however the tunnel vision sets are relatively new so you may have a slightly harder time finding them. If you can’t find one near you, you can order yours from Amazon for just under $25.