Boysterous Toy Giveaway

What is the difference between a doll and an action figure? In vast generalizations, dolls are cute and cuddly, while action figures are hard, plastic and typically violent.  In most families, boys may play with as many action figures as they like, but will garner strange looks for preferring dolls.

I was surprised by a recent study that reported that young children, both boys and girls prefer dolls and doll-like toys over many other alternative toys.  The study praised playing with dolls for stimulating the imagination and providing a world for children to practice social skills. I even thought about how this study applied to my own young son and how he already prefers toys with faces over those without. 

So for dozens of reasons, there ought to be “doll-like” toys for boys. If a toy is too much like a girly-girl doll, my husband will  not be happy.  If the toy is too violent, I won’t be happy.  What’s a parent to do?

Enter Manhattan Toy’s Boysterous line, which just might be the answer to these parental concerns.  The Boysterous toys are a line of sports themed characters in what I’d call a “hybrid action-figure.”  They lack that hard plastic exterior.  Instead they are made from soft yet durable fabric.  They have an interior frame, making them bendable for posing in sports moves.  Their magnetic feet help them connect with their sports equipment accessories.  Each figure stands about 8 inches tall, making them a great size for their target 3-6 year old audience. 

Check out this video to see the boysterous toys in action. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X9qfNDkzQ7w&tracker=False)

In all, there are 5 figures. 
We tried  Slope Shredding Sean--a Snowboarder,  and Golie Gavin--a Soccer player.   


We also got to try the zippable Boysterous Extreme Sports Zone.  I love the sturdy construction.  Designed with many sports field options, this multi-functional storage case/play set provides a flat or curved surface to suit the needs of the character.  I love how the case gives children a forum to start their imagination.  However, I am most in love with storage capacity of the case.  It easily holds our two dolls and accessories, so hopefully those extra pieces aren’t misplaced or left on the floor.

I love the toys as is.  However, the librarian/ teacher in me would love to see a simple storybook line to promote reading for boys as well.  Again, that's the librarian in me.

How can you get your hands on one of these great toys?

Buy It: Action Figures retail for $18 and the Extreme Sports Zone case retails for $30
Purchase these and other great Manhattan Toys from their website www.manhattantoy.com or from a Specialty Store near you.
As a special bonus, Kat's Adventure Book readers can earn Free Shipping on all orders through May 3rd.  just enter the promo code: BLOG040811

Win It:  If you’d like to win your very own Slope Shreddin Sean, enter my giveaway contest by leaving comments below.  Be sure to include your email address in each entry.  Be sure to enter extra entries as separate comments.

Mandatory Entry:

            Visit Manhattan Toys website and comment here on any other toy they make that you would like to have.  Remember to leave your email address.

Extra Entries: comment below after completing any of the following tasks

            Follow Manhattan Toys on Twitter

            Like Manhattan Toys on Facebook –thank them for the giveaway on Kat's Adventure Book

            Follow Kats Adventures via GFC

            Follow kats_adventures on twitter leave your twitter name in your comment

            Tweet about this giveaway including @manhattantoy and @Kats_adventures(up to 4 times per day, 1 hour between tweets)—leave the URL for your tweet.

            Place my button on your blog—comment with the URL of where you’ve placed it.

            Vote for me on picket fences (once daily)

           

Giveaway  open to residents of the continental US and Canada. Giveaway ends April 19 at 12:00 a.m. EST.  Winner will be chosen at random via random.org.  Winner will be contacted via email and must respond within 48 hours. Product will be mailed directly by the company.

I was supplied the above mentioned products by the describe company/ PR representative.  I was not compensated in any other way for this review.  The opinions are entirely my own.

Ultimate Blog Party

Hi--

Kat from Kat's Adventures here.  I started this blog a few years back.  Back then we lived in Savannah and my husband's job had us driving all over the state of Georgia.  I wrote this blog to help chart all of the fun adventures we had.   While I was expecting, this became the place to showcase my crafty-goodness.

This past year has been crazy, but we moved back home, I have a new job and we have a little peanut.  He's 7 months old and is just the cutest thing ever--I'm pretty partial though. 
So although we don't go on road trip adventures as much as we used to, we do have lots of adventures.  Peanut keeps growing and amazing us.  I keep doing crafty things, like sewing things for peanut and working on a quilt that will take forever to complete.  We're not the "greenest" family in town, but we cloth diaper and I make all of peanut's foods.  I'm looking forward to summer and putting in a garden.

This is my first time participating in a blog party, so I hope I'm doing this correctly.  I look forward to the opportunity to connect with so many other blog parents out there.  Please feel free to leave comments.
Thanks,

Kat

My little comedian

Last night, despite overshooting bedtime by at least an hour, peanut wasn't too convince it was bed time. Needless to say parents weren't in complete agreement with his decision.  It took a long bit of rocking and shushing to change his mind. After listening to his wailing calm to moans, after calmly explaining that he was tired, after going through the litany of whispered what he had done today and what he could do tomorrow when he awoke, I thought we finally had a winner. Peanut was drifting, drifting off to sleep. His eyes had closed and he seemed relaxed. 
Then my little comedian drowsily pulled out his pacifier as I whispered "What do you want to tell mama?"  With perfect comedic timing, peanut let out a loud  raspberry. His eyes then popped open, and we were back to our bed time struggles anew.  At least we got a good laugh about it.

Adventures in Real Food: Part 2

Now pushing 7 months, peanut has gone beyond his first foods.  He's also becoming more particular in his likes and dislikes.  He has a strong preference for fruits.  He really doesn't care for cereals at all any more.  I think this is because it's so bland and he recieved some with every meal for awhile there.  He'll tolerate cereal in the morning, but will throw a fit if you serve it with dinner or more than once a day. 
Since last food post, he's tried butternut and acorn squash.  I like thes because they're easy to cook and puree up very smoothly with just a little extra formula.  The acorn squash worked out exceptionally well, and is relatively thick for homemade squash baby foods.
Peanut has also had carrots, but they were his first strongly disliked food.  He now eats them, but usually makes a face for the first bite.  We learned a valuable lesson durring his first days of carrots--they go through him quickle.  We reguallarly combine his carrots with squash for "squarrots" which he likes better.
Another combo he likes--"guaccabeans" and "quaccapeas."  We tried avaccado since it is a very easy "instant" fresh baby food that I don't have to cook or run through the food processor.  He really didn't care for avacado by itself, as it has so little flavor on it's own. However, if you blend it with another green vegatable, you really have something.  It makes the homemade greenbeans a little bit smoother. I was surprised to discover that the remaining avacado can be frozen in an ice cube tray like our other homemade baby foods and doesn't brown up too bad.  It did begin to look a little discolored after being in the freezer for a few weeks, so I wouldn't recommend doing a large batch in advance.
On to the fruit.  As mentioned, there isn't a fruit he won't eat.  Apples were probably his first fruit.  We picked a bushel in the fall, and made homemade applesauce with no sugar or additives. 
He also eats bannanas--another great no-fuss baby food.  He wasn't crazy about them at first, I think because of the semi-slimmy texture.  However, if you add a little formula to cut the slime, he is less likely to object.  He also likes bannanas blended with other fruits or with cinamon.
His next fruit was slightly tropical--mango.  Wow, does he love mango.  I'm not a huge mango eater myself, but I figured it would blend up smoothly and it does.  He'd eat a whole meal of mango if you let him.
Most recently, we've blended fresh strawberries into an awesome purree.  We all also love blended bluberries. When combined it's a challenge to see who can eat more of them first.  Although they are delicious, the berry purees are also really messy--especially the bluberries.  We find mixing them with cereal or more solid fruits like bananas helps contain the mess.
  

Not so little "Little Man"

Weighing in at an impressive 16 pounds 11 and a half ounces and measuring 28 and 1/4  inches--my little man is officially not so little anymore. He isn't this super light little bundle anymore, but rather stretches across my lap. He's eating much more and has started fruits.
Peanut's also a lot more mobile.  He can roll in either direction at will--though cries when he lands on his tummy and is too tired to flip back to his back.  Not yet crawling and not really showing to much inclination to do so, he is a master scooter.  He army crawls and kicks off with his legs.  In a span of a few minutes he went from under his baby gym to the side wall of the room.
 I think he's pretty amazing, but I'm pretty partial.  It is sometimes frustrating how often he is compared to his cousins.  One is two weeks and one is six months older. When speaking with other mom's and all of their bragging, it seems like a contest of one upping.  I know we're all proud of our babies, but there is a tactful way and some not so tactful ways. It sometimes feel like there is a competition about who's kid has the most teeth, weighs the most, has the largest head circumference... I love my peanut for who he is, period.  He's special for who he is, without comparing him to any other babies out there.