It’s when I see toys like Fisher-Price’s Cruise and Groove Ballapalooza that I wished we were having another baby, or that my girl could regress a bit! Since I know neither one of those is happening, I can at least enjoy knowing that one of you will be able to enjoy this super fun developmental toy with your baby.

Fisher-Price really grasped that babies and toddlers love to groove and bounce to the rhythm as soon as pumping beats are played near them. Acknowledging this, they created some cool and fast-paced new rhythms that are sure to captivate your little one and get him moving to the groove.

The chiquitos will also soon realize they are rewarded with the tunes every time they drop one of the eight balls down the slide. The size is perfect for babies that are already sitting and will motivate them to pull up to stand and drop the ball from the top. Crawlers will have a blast cruising through the swinging door to get into even more “ballapalooza” action.

Even though my girl is not within the age range of the Cruise and Groove Ballapalooza, she loved testing it out and spent quite some time playing with it for this video.

Enjoy and then scroll down for your chance to win your very own Cruise and Groove Ballapalooza, courtesy of our amigos at Fisher-Price!

The Giveaway!

One lucky winner will take one Fisher-Price Cruise and Groove Ballapalooza! Just leave us a comment telling us about your kid’s favorite Fisher-Price toy and why they love it so much. Then, eneter the Rafflecopter below.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

The toy comes with many parts to build lots of projects. It has six main project blueprints that Manny helps you go through step by step and it also comes with another big sheet with many more ideas of simple or complex projects to build which we have made many of already. One time we made a toolbox and he put some other tools in there and took it with him when we went out; so the projects he builds are other toys he can play with by themselves.

My son is always imitating Daddy if he is fixing something around the house so with this repair shop he invites Daddy to fix something with him, he loves to use the power saw and the power drill that come with it too, they really feel like they are drilling and sawing.

I love that it has music included and when the music comes he gets excited and dances with it. The only complaint I have is that there are not many Spanish words included as in other Handy Manny’s toys, but, as usual, when we play we speak in Spanish, so he says: “Mami, voy a arreglar esto con Handy Manny! Mami, voy a hacer un carrito!”

Find Manny’s Repair Shop in La Tiendita, powered by Amazon.

Today´s Find was reviewed by fabulous graphic designer + mamá Dariela and her adorable boy Adrián. You can keep up with them thru Nuestra Vida con Adrián and Folklore Eye.

A Giveaway!!

This giveaway is now closed.  Congratulations to the winner:  Liz (#60)!!

We’re giving away a Fix it Right Manny´s Repair shop (retail value $100) to one very lucky winner!  For a chance to win leave us a comment telling us who this toy is for and why he/she would love it.

That’s all you have to do to enter this giveaway.  If you want to up your chances at winning, then click here to learn how to get additional entries.

This giveaway ends Friday, September 25th, at midnight EST.

For the part that nobody likes, but we’ve gotta have, check out the Giveaway Rules.

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The Smart Projector was definitely the winner during a meetup I recently hosted for some of the kids from our bilingual playgroup to check out the toys and games Ingenio sent us to review.

At first, I had been a little worried about how it was going to turn out because none of the kids are older than 4 and even though this company’s toys are recommended for those 3 years and older and Vanessa had already played with some of them, she didn’t really do it the intended way, if that’s even possible to say about children and toys… I guess, though, that’s the whole idea behind Ingenio’s toys–something we’ve been mentioning all along–that they actually grow with your children.

The Smart Projector is another clever idea by the creators over at Ingenio and these are some of the reason why I liked it:

• it’s definitely sturdy, which means Vanessa can lug it around without worries that it will break apart in pieces
• the actual projection of the different animals and letters can be really intriguing for the kids, which means–at least in Vanessa’s case–it keeps her entertained longer than other toys
• variety of options for kids to trace: 24 animals (with their names in both English + Spanish) and the alphabet in lower and capital letters
• it’s ease of use. Not too many buttons and the disks go in and come out of their slots fairly easily. Anything that Vanessa can do on her own, gets a plus in my book!

Although my daughter only recently started showing an interest in drawing and coloring, if your kids like these activities already, I believe this toy will be a hit. Once again, they’ll be learning without even realizing it.

All of Ingenio´s bilingual toys are available via Amazon.  Of course, the best way to get them is via La Tiendita.

The Giveaway!

This giveaway is now closed. Congratulations to our winner: Amy B.!
Ingenio, the first educational bilingual toys and games brand in the U.S., has chosen you to be the first to get a chance to win every single one of their ten toys.  Today you can enter to win the Smart Projector, winner of the 2009 Preferred Choice Award by Creative Child Magazine, simply by leaving a comment telling us why you would like to win this.

That’s all you have to do to enter this giveaway.  If you want to up your chances at winning, then click here to learn how to get additional entries.

This giveaway ends tonight, Monday, August 31, at midnight EST.

Remember, we still have four more days of giveaways of Ingenio’s toys + games, so please come back tomorrow and the rest of the week!

{Make sure you’re subscribed to the SBFinds feed via email or RSS so that you can be notified of the giveaway of one Ingenio bilingual toy every day this week and of the many, many more finds to come.}

For the part that nobody likes, but we’ve gotta have, check out the Giveaway Rules.

When I heard about Ingenio, and the great bilingual toys and games they’ve created, I got extremely excited. You can probably imagine, then, just how much the excitement grew when this Spanglish mami witnessed her son putting Spanish words together.  No fuss, no saying “but mom” or “do I have to?”  Did I mention the words he was putting together where in Spanish?!?  And that he was having fun?!

Any company that helps a mamá make learning Spanish fun by making educational games like Spellable gets a G-R-E-A-T in my book.

Spellable is a new puzzle game created to help your child learn the alphabet, beginning sound words and spell three letter words in both English and Spanish. With its bright colored letters and fun picture cards it was an instant hit in our home.  My son is a proficient reader in English, but Spanish is still a work in progress for us.  Making it exciting to learn can be challenging.  With Spellable he was able to focus, look at the pictures and choose the correct letters to spell the words.  He was SO  happy when he spelled the words right that he soon started spelling more difficult words he found around the house.

What I love the most about Spellable is that it grows with your child, starting with the alphabet and working its way up to a reader.  Ingenio has it going on, specially with the very affordable price.  Go on, hurry to La Tiendita and get your Spanglish baby a new Spellable …. did I spell that right?

All of Ingenio´s bilingual toys are available via Amazon.  Of course, the best way to get them is via La Tiendita.

Today’s find, Spellable, was reviewed by Marcela Beatty, bilingual mom of a boy, a baby girl and two German Shepherds. Their cuteness is chronicled by Marcella on 8 Year Old & Babies.

The Giveaway!

This giveaway is now closed.  Congratulations to our winner:  Susan Smoaks!

Ingenio, the first educational bilingual toys and games brand in the U.S., has chosen you to be the first to get a chance to win every single one of their ten toys.  Today you can enter to win Spellable, winner of a Dr. Toy Best Vacation Product 2009 award, simply by leaving a comment telling us why you would like to win this.

That’s all you have to do to enter this giveaway.  If you want to up your chances at winning, then click here to learn how to get additional entries.

This giveaway ends tonight, Wednesday, August 26, at midnight EST.

For the part that nobody likes, but we’ve gotta have, check out the Giveaway Rules.

Hers is even cooler because it speaks…in TWO languages: English and Spanish.  OK, she can’t stream Pocoyó on Ingenio’s Mi Primer Notebook/My First Notebook, but she can certainly use her expanding imagination by freely hitting buttons that prompt a lovely española’s voice to teach her numbers, letters, colors and shapes in Spanish and, with a press of a button, in English.

Her new laptop is compact and perfect for her to carry around.  The first thing she did when I gave it to her was to place it on my desk, sit in front of it and madly press every single button she found, while hysterically laughing out loud (surely she’s not imitating me!?)

I wasted no time looking for a volume control–couldn’t find one–but was happy that the “screen” is really just a picture.  This is one electronic toy that will not over-stimulate my daughter visually with unnecessary flashing lights and videos. It will, however, interactively teach her basic pre-school concepts in the two languages she understands.

All of Ingenio´s bilingual toys are available via Amazon.  Of course, the best way to get them is via La Tiendita.

Our First Giveaway!

This giveaway is now closed.  Congratulations to our very first SBFinds winner:  Diana!

Ingenio, the first educational bilingual toys and games brand in the U.S., has chosen you to be the first to get a chance to win every single one of their ten toys.  Today you can enter to win Mi Primer Notebook, winner of the Top Toy of the Year 2009 Award from Creative Child Magazine, simply by visiting their website and leaving us a comment below telling us which of their bilingual toys you crave and why.

That’s all you have to do to enter this giveaway.  If you want to up your chances at winning, then click here to learn how to get additional entries.

This giveaway ends tonight, Monday, August 24, at midnight EST.

{Make sure you’re subscribed to the SBFinds feed via email or RSS so that you can be notified of the giveaway of one Ingenio bilingual toy every day this week and of the many, many more finds to come.}

For the part that nobody likes, but we’ve gotta have, check out the Giveaway Rules.