Wooden Toys...GIVEAWAY!

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Today, we have an awesome giveaway! It's sponsored by CSN Stores. They have a number of great websites, like their Mailboxes site. However, today's giveaway is from CSNBaby and is a prize package of wooden toys! Here they are:



























If you would like to win, there will be ways to enter at the end of the post. But first, why wooden toys?


These days, when plastic toys (complete with batteries, music, and flashing lights) are the most common playthings, wooden toys have taken a back seat. But wooden toys used to be the only type of toys children had. With all the new options (which, with their bright colors, look so appealing in the store and on TV), why would we want to go back to wood?


Wooden toys have MANY great benefits.


They are SAFE.
With many plastic toys coming out of China and new scares everyday about BPA and other chemicals being found in toys, or lead being found in paint or dyes, it's hard to know what is really safe to play with. American (or Canadian or European) made wooden toys are safe, and are generally not painted, or are painted with lead-free paint. Buying from small, local manufacturers supports small business and ensures you know exactly what is in the toys you're buying.


They LAST.
So many plastic toys are flimsy. Throw them down the stairs once or step on them (as children do from time to time) and they're broken and have to be thrown out. Wooden toys are very durable and will last through being mistreated. They can be passed down from child to child and even down generations. They'll still look just as nice as they ever did, requiring little more than a fresh coat of paint, if that.


They foster CREATIVITY.
Many of the plastic toys have one function. There are a thousand plastic dolls out there: some eat, some wet, some are "sick," some are for dress-up, etc. There are toys that play a song if a button is pressed. But once this function has been thoroughly investigated, the toy is useless and typically tossed aside. Wooden toys, however, don't have just one use. In fact, they don't "do" anything. They require children to play their own games and use their imagination to play. A single doll can be any number of different things! A kitchen set or a rocking horse can be many different things, too. A rocking horse could be "just a horse," or it could be a cowboy's trusty mate, a police officer's way to get around, or not a horse at all -- perhaps a zebra or something foreign! Children today need a chance to have their imagination stimulated.


They help ATTENTION SPAN.
When a toy fosters creativity, children play with it longer. They rehearse their lives and come up with elaborate games to play with the toys. Children who are constantly surrounded by beeping, flashing, single-function toys will go rapidly from toy to toy as they become bored. If this is constant their attention spans will be short because they are used to getting bored with things quickly. (TV has also been blamed for causing this.)


There are other great articles about wooden toys:
Benefits of Wooden Toys
Safe and Natural Wooden Toys


Now, how can you enter to win the wooden toys above?


1. Leave a comment below (with your name, not anonymous) about why you would like to win the toys and/or why you think wooden toys are good


2. Visit CSN Baby and tell me what other wooden toys you think your family would enjoy (future giveaway...?)


3. Subscribe to me via RSS or email (or tell me that you already do).


4. Follow me on Twitter.


5. Tweet about this giveaway.


6. Email this giveaway to 5 friends, or post about it on Facebook.


Please leave each entry in a SEPARATE comment. So if you do 1, 2, and 4, you must three different comments! I will use Random.org to generate a number and then whichever comment that is (numbered from first received to last) will be the winner! There are 6 possible entries!


The giveaway closes at 12 AM EST on Tuesday, February 23rd. I will announce the winner at 8 PM Wednesday, February 24th. The winner needs to contact me via email by Friday, February 26th with his/her full name and mailing address to claim the prize.

Thanks, and good luck!!



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