BOO! Halloween treats for the kids or YOUNG at heart

Ghost cupcakes from cookies and cups

Monsters on a Stick from Little Nummies

Mummy Dogs and Monster Jaws (both above) from Our Best Bites

Psst... How do you fill your treat bags?

Happy Birthday Umi ~Save 15%~

e-z bat by Monkey Business Sports

~Giveaway is now closed~
We have a winner!

Congrats : 

"Swing it like THIS."

"NO!" 

"Like this"

:SWING:

:SWOOSH:

Ay Yi Yi!

Sound familiar?

Ever try to teach a little one how to hold and SWING a bat? It can be frustrating and definitely time consuming. 

You have to find the ball.

Throw the ball.

STOP

Run over and show them how to swing.

Where to swing...

Pick up the ball again.

Mom, Dad...

Meet E-Z Bat!

With the E-Z Bat young ball players experience the wow factor of hitting a home run everytime! Just load up the E-Z Ball and E-Z Stopper and give it a swing!

The E-Z bat teaches the kiddos how to swing. You just pop the ball forms on the bat and let them SWING, SWING and SWING some more. They will have the perfect form in no time flat. Once they have the hang of "swinging" then you can focus on the actual "hitting" part.

Comes with 2 E-Z Balls, 1 E-Z Stopper, and 1 E-Z Bat.

Ages 3 and up

Retail price: $15.99

For more information visit www.monkeybusinesssports.com.

~Giveaway~

Would you like to win an E-Z bat or something just as equally awesome from Monkey Business Sports?

Here's what you need to do:

Visit  Monkey Business Sports and browse through their products.

Come back here and let me know which one is your favorite. MANDATORY

~Extra entries~

Follow My Trendy Tykes via Google Friend Connect *publicly (1 entry)

Subscribe to My Trendy Tykes via email (1 entry)

Post about this giveaway on twitter. Just be sure to RT @lindatweetsalot

Subscribe to my Youtube channel and leave a comment on any one of the videos (2 entries)

This giveaway will end on Saturday, September 18th.

The winner will be able to choose from the following products: E-Z Bat, FoamStrike Switchblade or FoamStrike Pocket Shot.

You can also find Monkey Business Sports on Facebook and Youtube.


We were supplied with one E-Z bat to be used with this feature review. We were NOT compensated in any other form. The opinions above are entirely my own.

Heavenly Hair Kit ~Make your own shampoo~

Do you have a little hair stylist in the family? Oh, we do! She likes to get a hold of my hair and tangle err I mean brush my hair until it's beautiful. She's also started "washing" her own hair. 

Uhh....let's just say she needs a little help on her "technique". 

(Less soap and more water, if ya know what I mean.)

But at least she's trying.

When we received the Heavenly Hair Kit in the mail I just knew that she would enjoy creating her own spa right here in the house.

A little about the kit: 

In this kit, you'll find everything you need to become an expert stylist. You'll make your own shampoo and conditioner, which will keep your locks shiny, silky, bouncy and healthy–you'll be the envy of all your friends. You'll also learn some really cool science that explains why your hair looks the way it does–how it grows, what makes it curly or straight, why it's a certain color, and more. Plus we have great tips from the pros on how to choose the perfect cut and style for your face and hair type.

Includes shampoo base, conditioner base, thickener, pink dye and fragrance, hair wrap, mixing bowl, mixing spoon, brush, activity guide.

We made the shampoo and conditioner with no problem. It was fairly simple. The kids really enjoyed it too.

Yes, even BROTHER came along for the fun.

My favorite part was the science experiments in the instructional booklet.

The fun doesn't just stop with the shampoo. The kids are also encouraged to complete scientific experiments. We have already tried a couple of them.

*You can see a little of our FUN in the video below . . .

Buy:  The Heavenly Hair Kit (by GiddyUp.com) can be purchased at select Kohl's, Toys R Us, Michaels, Wal-Mart and Target stores.

For more information visit www.giddyup.com.

Retail price: $19.99

For ages 8 and up.

Special thanks to Team Mom for this review opp. We were sent ONE Heavenly Hair Kit to be used with this feature post. We were NOT compensated in any other way. The above opinions are my own.

Let's make a Squinkies necklace!!

Check out the squinkies jewelry tutorial over at Treasures for Tots.

I told y'all these things were going to be popular!

Do you have another creative use for Squinkies? Add your link below.

Mama Likes

patchwork skirts!

This one's from MayBee Clothing on etsy.

Shabby Chic inspired headbands

from shabbylanebaby on etsy

Retro Tube Socks

 

from Hank & JoJo

Give children a competitive edge through early exposure to sign language

One of the keys to surviving in a tilted economic system in which opportunities to achieve a decent standard of living will be limited is versatility – and the ability to communicate articulately in a variety of ways with the widest possible audience. This includes bilingual ability as well as the ability to communicate in non-verbal ways for the benefit of the disabled – primarily the deaf.  

At the same time, a growing shortage of qualified interpreters fluent in American Sign Language has led to more career opportunities – and if current trends continue, it's likely that skilled ASL interpreters will have little problem securing lucrative employment in a society where such a commodity is destined to be in short supply. 

Signing Before They Can Speak 

A great deal of research has clearly demonstrated that the early years – ages 2 to five – are the best time to educate children in different modes of communication and language. This goes beyond the spoken word (though it is an optimal time for children to learn a second language); many young children have an aptitude for signing as well.  

This is not as odd as you may think. As you know, many indigenous peoples around the world, including American Indian nations, have used sign language for centuries to facilitate communication with other tribes with whom they do not share a language. Some paleontologists and anthropologists theorize that Neanderthals – who apparently lacked the vocal mechanism to produce many spoken words – depended a great deal upon hand gestures to communicate.

In fact, recent research suggests that sign language is innate. An article published in the Boulder Daily Camera in 2003 presented strong evidence that babies as young as six months old communicate with their hands:  

            "...by 6 to 7 months, babies can remember a sign. At eight months, children

            can begin to imitate gestures and sign single words. By 24 months, children

            can sign compound words and full sentences. They say sign language reduces

            frustration in young children by giving them a means to express themselves

            before they know how to talk." (Glarion, 2003) 

The author also cites study funded by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development demonstrating that young children who are taught sign language at an early age actually develop better verbal skills as they get older. The ability to sign has also helped parents in communicating with autistic children; one parent reports that "using sign language allowed her to communicate with her [autistic] son and minimized his frustration...[he now] has an advanced vocabulary and excels in math, spelling and music" (Glarion, 2003). 

The Best Time To Start 

Not only does early childhood education in signing give pre-verbal youngsters a way to communicate, it can also strengthen the parent-child bond – in addition to giving children a solid foundation for learning a skill that will serve them well in the future. The evidence suggests that the best time to start learning ASL is before a child can even walk – and the implications for facilitating the parent-child relationship are amazing. 

Co-written by Emily Patterson and Kathleen Thomas 

Emily and Kathleen are Communications Coordinators for the Zionsville educational child care facility, a member of the AdvancED® accredited family of Primrose Schools (located in 16 states throughout the U.S.) and part of the network of Indiana educational child care preschools delivering progressive, early childhood, Balanced Learning® curriculum.