Back to School Twitter Party with Safari Ltd.

It's that time again! Back to school. Whether you're buying backpacks or curriculum, chances are those three words are a big deal to your family. So let's get together and chat, share tips, and celebrate with fun prizes from Safari Ltd! Keep reading to get all the details, RSVP, and find out about a way to win before the party even starts!

Pre-Tweet Giveaway!

Want to increase your chances of winning an awesome prize? You could win just by spreading the word! One winner will be chosen at random and announced in the party just for pre-tweeting! Pre-tweet the following any time before 9pm EST on August 27th and be entered to win a Safari Ltd. Toob of your choice.

Twitter Party! Come join @SafariLtd and @ChildhoodBeckon for a chat about #educationalplay and you could win #prizes! http://bit.ly/14YCh9d

Party Details:

• The Safari Ltd. Back to School Twitter Party will be 9-10pm EST on Tuesday, August 27th
• Follow #educationalplay
• Follow your hosts @SafariLtd and @ChildhoodBeckon
• Prizes are limited to residents of the US and Canada. 
• By participating, you are consenting to the use of your Twitter ID and responses for promotional purposes.
• Please RSVP below to let us know you'll be attending!

RSVP:

We can't wait to chat and hope to see you there!

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Field Guide Practice and a Giveaway with Safari Ltd!

Lately, my son has shown an interest in bird watching, and of course Safari Ltd. has a Toob for that! We've been having a lot of fun with the Backyard Bird Toob and I'm happy to share one of the ways we've been using these toys for educational play. And I have some exciting news! Safari Ltd. has generously offered to sponsor this post and giveaway and send one Backyard Birds Toob to one lucky winner! 

Field Guide Practice

One of the many ways we've played and learned with these toys has been to use them for field guide identification practice. It's a simple activity with a lot of educational value and all you need is the Backyard Birds Toob and a field guide for your region. 

I highly recommend the Stokes Beginner's Guide to Birds field guide for children and beginners because I've found that it is by far the easiest to use. Bird field guides are typically organized by taxonomy, which requires you to know the type of bird you are looking at before narrowing it down. In contrast, the Stokes Beginner's Guide to Birds field guide is organized by color. If you know the color of the bird you are looking for, it's easy to find! 

I gave R the backyard birds and his field guide and asked him to identify each one. The Safari Ltd. birds are very realistic looking so this was easy to do. He chose a bird, flipped to that color section, and then compared the bird in his hand to the bird in each picture.

He was able to find each bird in his field guide quite easily. After he identified each one, we read the information about that particular bird before continuing to the next. We learned about their habitats, nests, voices and even how to attract them. 

This simple activity really helps kids get familiar with how to use the field guide and what kind of information they can find. They'll be more comfortable using it all by themselves the next time they have a question about a bird in the field. 

The Giveaway

Safari Ltd. is giving you a chance to win a Backyard Birds Toob of your own! There are several ways to enter in the giveaway form below. You can enter with one or more of the options. It's up to you! This giveaway is open to the residents of the US and Canada only. By entering to win you are agreeing to my giveaway rules. Thank you so much for entering and good luck to everyone! 

a Rafflecopter giveaway
(Disclosure- This post contains affiliate links. If you'd like more information, you can read my disclosure policy here.)

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Safari Ltd. Summer Twitter Party Fun!

I always look forward to the Safari Ltd. Twitter parties, but I have to admit that I'm extra excited about this one! That's because this Twitter party is all about summer fun and learning. 

Do you have any tips for beating the heat? Ideas to keep kids learning in a playful way all summer long? We want to hear them! Pictures and links are welcome so feel free to have some ready to share at the party. Not only will we be sharing some great conversation, we'll also be awarding prizes! Get all of the details and RSVP below. 

Pre-Tweet Giveaway!

Want to increase your chances of winning an awesome prize? You could win just by spreading the word! One winner will be chosen at random and announced in the party just for pre-tweeting! Pre-tweet the following any time before 9pm EST on June 25th and be entered to win a Safari Ltd. Toob of your choice.

Twitter party! Come join @ChildhoodBeckon and @SafariLtd for a chat about #educationalplay and you could win #prizes! http://bit.ly/17YzuNf

The Party Details:

• The Safari Ltd. Summer Fun Twitter Party will be 9-10pm EST on Tuesday, June 25th
• Follow #educationalplay
• Follow your hosts @SafariLtd and @ChildhoodBeckon
• Prizes are limited to residents of the US and Canada. 
• By participating, you are consenting to the use of your Twitter ID and responses for promotional purposes.
• Please RSVP below to let us know you'll be attending!

RSVP:

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Memorial Day Twitter Party with Safari Ltd.

In honor of Memorial Day, Safari Ltd. and I will be hosting another Twitter party. We know that many of you will be spending the day with family and we respect that. We don't want anyone to miss out, so we'll be gathering to share ideas (and prizes) the following day.

How does your family celebrate Memorial Day? Do you have any patriotic and educational activity ideas? Pictures and links are welcome, so feel free to have some ready to share in the party. This is not a must though, and we'd be happy just to have you there!

The Party Details:

• The Safari Ltd. Memorial Day Twitter Party will be 9-10pm EST on Tuesday, May 28th
• Follow #educationalplay
• Follow your hosts @SafariLtd and @ChildhoodBeckon
• Prizes are limited to residents of the US and Canada. 
• By participating, you are consenting to the use of your Twitter ID and responses for promotional purposes.
• Please RSVP below to let us know you'll be attending!

RSVP:

We look forward to chatting and hope to see you there!

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Earth Day Twitter Party with Safari Ltd.

Come celebrate Earth Day with good conversation and prizes at another fun Twitter party sponsored by Safari Ltd.!

Safari Ltd. was originally inspired by an endangered species card game discovered by the founders Bernard and Rosemarie Ruble while visiting the Munich Zoo in Germany. Today, their daughter Ramona Pariente is the owner and CEO and her son, Alexander Pariente is the president. 

This family owned company's mission is to teach the importance of nature and it's conservation through the joy of play. 

You can read more about the organizations Safari Ltd. supports here and the ways they support ecologically sound business practices here. 

I can't wait to celebrate Earth Day with such an earth-conscious company! 

The Party Details:

• The Safari Ltd. Earth Day Twitter Party will be 9-10pm EST on Monday, April 22nd
• Follow #educationalplay
• Follow your hosts @SafariLtd and @ChildhoodBeckon
• Prizes are limited to residents of the US and Canada. 
• By participating, you are consenting to the use of your Twitter ID and responses for promotional purposes.
• Please RSVP below to let us know you'll be attending

RSVP:

More Ways to Connect:

You can also connect with Safari Ltd. on Facebook for fun pictures and promotions. Their current contest is in honor of Earth Day. You could win a Toob of your choice just by sending Safari Ltd. a picture of your family going green or doing something to help the planet! Click here for more details. 

You can also connect with Safari Ltd. on Pinterest! 

We hope to see you all on Earth Day! 

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Dino Twitter Party with Safari Ltd.

Do you and your kids love dinos? If so, you won't want to miss out on this super fun dino-themed Twitter party with Safari Ltd.! We'll be chatting, sharing some amazing activity ideas, and giving out prizes!  But don't worry if you can't attend this time around. You will also have an opportunity to win in a giveaway at the bottom of this post!

And Safari Ltd. knows a thing or two about dinosaurs! They have had a license agreement with Carnegie Museum of Natural History to produce scale-model dinosaurs for over 25 years! All of their replicas are intricately hand-painted and some of the Carnegie dinos take up to 20 different steps.

 The Party Details:

• The Safari Ltd. Dino Twitter Party will be from 9-10pm EST on Tuesday, April 9
• Follow #educationalplay
• Follow your hosts @SafariLtd and @ChildhoodBeckon
• By participating, you are consenting to the use of your Twitter ID and responses for promotional purposes. 
• Prizes are limited to the residents of the US and Canada.
• RSVP below to let us know you'll be attending.

RSVP:

The Giveaway:

Increase your chances of winning a prize whether you can attend or not! This giveaway is for your choice of one Safari Ltd. Dino TOOB or replica. To enter, just fill out the easy form below.

The only mandatory entry is to pick the prize you'd choose if you win and tell me in a comment on this blog post. You can see some of the many options you have to choose from by taking a look at the Safari Ltd. Dinosaurs Collection.

This giveaway is open to the residents of the US and Canada only. By entering to win you are agreeing to my giveaway rules. Thank you so much for entering and good luck to everyone!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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Safari Ltd. Valentine's Day Twitter Party

Great news!! Another Safari Ltd. Twitter party has been planned and this one promises to be a ton of fun! We will be chatting about Valentine's Day and giving out some fantastic prizes! 

Would you like a peek at the prizes up for grabs? Safari Ltd wants to make sure you get something you love! So visit the Safari Ltd website and take a look around at the TOOBS and replicas, because the prizes will be winner's choice! 

The Details: 

• The Safari Ltd Valentine's Day Twitter party will be from 9-10pm EST on Tuesday, Feb. 12th. 
• Follow #educationalplay
• Follow your hosts @ChildhoodBeckon and @SafariLtd
• By participating, you are consenting to the use of your Twitter ID and responses for promotional purposes.
• Prizes are limited to residents of the US and Canada. 
• RSVP below to let us know you'll be attending. 

RSVP:

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DIY Penguin Board Game

I have had the pleasure of guest posting again over at the Safari Ltd. blog and this time I'm sharing this super simple (and very fun!) DIY Penguin Board Game. You can really adapt this to focus on learning a variety of things, or you can play just for fun! 

Just click the link for more details and ways to play! 

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Arctic Sensory Bin

We recently created an arctic sensory bin to go along with our polar unit studies this month. We had a lot of fun creating the bin, and even more fun exploring in it. 

R is five (soon to be six!) and he still adores sensory bins. I love sensory bins because they are essentially open ended play prompts with lots of learning thrown in. 

You can see his delight at finding the arctic hare, that was cleverly camouflaged in the snow!

You can find the details about this arctic bin, as well as a few ideas for guided learning, over at the Safari Ltd. blog. 

And don't forget! You have an opportunity to win the Arctic TOOB and a few other fantastic prizes tonight (1/22/13) at the Safari Ltd. Winter Twitter party! The party starts at 9pm EST. Follow the hashtag #educationalplay and your hosts @ChildhoodBeckon and @SafariLtd. Can't wait to chat tonight!

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Safari Ltd. Winter Twitter Party

I am going to have the pleasure of co-hosting a Safari Ltd. Twitter party this next week! We'll be chatting about educational play, winter, boredom busters, and more. Safari Ltd. is generously giving away prizes throughout the party, so there will be several chances to win. It's sure to be a lot of fun!

The Details:

• The Safari Ltd. Twitter Party will be from 9-10 p.m. EST on Tuesday, Jan. 22.
• Follow hashtag #educationalplay
• Be sure to follow your hosts on Twitter- @ChildhoodBeckon and @SafariLtd
• Prizes are limited to US and Canada residents only. 
• RSVP below and let us know you want to join the fun! 

I'm really looking forward to seeing some familiar faces and meeting some new friends! Please come chat and share with us on Tuesday.

Are You New To Twitter Parties?

Twitter parties are fast paced fun and sometimes if a party is really jumping, it can be hard to keep up. You can attend a party on Twitter alone, but I've found that using TweetChat really helps me stay up to speed during parties. It's really easy to use. Just visit the Tweet Chat website, and allow the application to access your Twitter. Then enter in the hashtag you would like to follow (#educationalplay) and you can watch the party (and only the party!) in one window. It also takes care of adding the hashtag to each of your tweets for the party automatically! 

RSVP-

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10 Ways to Play with Safari Ltd. TOOBS {And Giveaway!}

It's no secret that my family loves the TOOBS and replicas from Safari Ltd. They truly have something for everyone and there are so many ways to play and learn. So I thought it would be fun to share 10 of my favorite ways to use these fantastic toys. Best of all, Safari Ltd has graciously offered to give away one TOOB to a Childhood Beckons reader! 

10 Ways to Play:

1. Use them as game pieces! I absolutely adore this idea from the Safari Ltd blog. I think it's genius and I know R will love the twist!

2. Play with them in a sensory bin. The Pleasantest Thing shares her pasta and puppies sensory play, but the combinations are really endless!

3. Play a matching game. Living Montessori Now posted about a dinosaur matching activity that kids are sure to love. (This link also contains several other dino-themed activities using TOOB toys.)

4. Practice colors and patterns. I love this idea from Crayon Freckles! This is such a fun and creative way to practice.

5. Learn about animal groups! This is another fantastic idea from the Safari Ltd. blog. Use their TOOB animals to learn about various animal groups. This would be a great sorting activity that you can really tailor to your child's age and skill level. Visit the link for more ideas!

6. Use them to reinforce and build upon a unit study. Carrots Are Orange has shared several ways she uses Safari Ltd TOOBS alongside a particular unit study. And since Safari Ltd has everything from sea life to dinos to civil war figures, you have a lot you can study!

7. Learn math. You can use the TOOB toys as math manipulatives! Count them, make patterns, use them to add and subtract. You can even measure them! 

8. Pretend Play!- Pretend play has many benefits, and Safari Ltd. has many options! 

9. Use them as party decor and activities! I found this example on the Safari Ltd. blog. 

10. Add them to play dough for some creative small world play fun! Or some out of this world fun!

The Giveaway:

This giveaway is winner's choice! The mandatory entry is to leave a comment stating which TOOB you would choose if you won. So please visit the Safari Ltd. website and take a look around! Want more ways to win? Just fill out the easy form below for several more entries! This giveaway is open to U.S. residents and by entering you are agreeing to my giveaway rules. Thanks so much for entering and good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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