Infants and Children

Head Chefs Children’s Cooking Utensils-Review and Giveaway

December 15, 2010 by Kathryn 389 Comments

Holiday Gift for Young Cooks

I love spending time in the kitchen with my sons. It’s so much fun for me to see my oldest boy stirring a bowl of cake batter, and even the baby often tries to stick a wooden spoon into whatever I happen to be making. But when children work in the kitchen, safety has to come first and so high-quality, child-friendly cooking utensils are a must.

That’s where the Head Chefs from Fiesta Products comes in. This innovative collection features completely unique and functional silicone cooking tools for children. The utensils look like humorous cartoons that are sure to delight children, since the handles are shaped like flexible bodies with the top of the tool creating the head. I couldn’t help but laugh when I pulled out a Head Chefs spoon and saw the total effect, and my son was just as thrilled as I was!

I received the Head Chefs Stirring Spoon, Icing Spreader Knife and Child’s Bowl to review. The spoon and knife both have some great features for both parents and children. The arms and legs of the characters are bendable, which means the utensils are loads of fun for kids. And the feet of the characters are small suction cups so kids can stick the utensil on the counter upright and avoid a mess!

The actual spoon and knife were both solid silicone (as opposed to the soft silicone body-shaped handles) and very durable. Zackary first used the knife to slice mushrooms for me for a pasta sauce and I was very impressed with how well the knife cut through the food. Finding a knife that will properly cut food without a risk of cutting skin is no easy task, but the Head Chefs knife did the job perfectly.

When the mushrooms were chopped, Zackary grabbed the spoon and helped me carefully stir the sauce. The arms and legs on the spoon actually made it easier for him to keep a good grip on the handle, and he had a great time making supper with me. Most of our cookware is stainless steel, but we do have a few nonstick pots and pans, so I was glad that the utensils wouldn’t scratch the surface. And the spoon is also just the right size for mixing up a bowl of cookie dough!

The Child’s Bowl featured flat blue soft silicone feet on the side, and they gave the bowl incredible stability. When I saw how nice and sturdy this bowl was, I immediately claimed it for anything runny or messy either of my sons might be eating. The chances of tipping over this bowl are incredibly slim; it would take some real work to slop anything out of it. So from now on, if we’re going to be eating soup, cereal or anything else that could easily spill, it automatically gets served in the Head Chefs bowl!

Head Chefs products would make a great gift for any aspiring young chef, and the full product line will let children master all of the basic kitchen tasks, from peeling vegetables to whisking eggs. I am blown away by the effectiveness of these children’s kitchen tools and there is nothing I like better than seeing Zackary pull them out and climb up into a chair beside me to help cook. For kitchen utensils that really work while still being really fun, check out Head Chefs today!

Buy It: To purchase any of the great Head Chefs cooking utensils, shop online now

Win It: One lucky reader is going to win a Head Chefs Measuring Spoon and Spatula from Fiesta Products

To Enter (mandatory): Visit the Head Chefs website and tell me about something you liked or something you learned there

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Giveaway ends 11:59 pm CST on January 7, 2011. Open to US and Canada

Disclaimer: The product/s mentioned above have been provided free of charge by the manufacturer or PR firm for the purposes of this review. Opinions expressed belong to Mommy Kat and Kids and are NOT influenced in any way. Please view full Terms of Use and Policies

Wild Dill Eco-Friendly Toys-Review and Giveaway

December 11, 2010 by Kathryn 244 Comments

Holiday Gift for the Eco-Friendly Child

Eco-friendly products can be very expensive, so when it comes to green purchases, I am a definite bargain hunter. I want the eco-friendly benefits, but I don’t want to have to pay an arm and a leg to get them! At Christmas, when most families’ incomes are stretched to the maximum, finding a store with both earth-consciousness and great prices can be a dream come true.

Wild Dill offers just that. This amazing eco-friendly boutique offers a huge assortment of clothing, bedding and toys for babies, toddlers and older children at incredibly reasonable prices. I was thrilled when I was given a chance to review one of the toys Wild Dill carries for myself.

I received the Sprig Toys Baja Scout to review. This innovative and inexpensive toy is made of Sprigwood, a revolutionary and completely safe wood and recycled plastic composite. The sturdy little car contained a somewhat abstract driver with a helmet. The helmet had a small light on the front and I was amazed when I learned that I could light up the driver’s hat by pressing down on the back of the vehicle. Even better, the process involved no batteries!

Zackary and Benjamin both loved the Sprig Toys Baja Scout. Initially, Zackary played with it more than Benjamin. He drove it around the kitchen and living room like a speed demon and periodically stopped to press down on the back of the vehicle as fast as he could to see how brightly he could light up the driver’s hat. After a few weeks of playing, Benjamin stepped in and claimed the Baja Scout for himself after discovering that the vehicle’s white roll-cage bars were perfect for his little fingers to grasp when he wanted to push a vehicle around with his brother.

The Sprig Toys Baja Scout has stood up to incredible punishment and it still looks like new. It has been dropped, kicked, stepped on, thrown and banged into walls. Yet it boasts such durability that it doesn’t have a single chip in its surface to mar its appearance, and because the Sprigwood itself is colored instead of the toy being painted, even if it does eventually get chipped or dented the spot will be completely unnoticeable!

Wild Dill also carries toys for babies, organic cotton and wool plush toys, natural art supplies, wooden toys and a huge variety of comfortable and fashionable clothing and bedding. Doing your Christmas shopping will be a breeze thanks to the wide variety of toys and clothes at great prices. For easy eco-friendly gift giving, Wild Dill is your one-stop online shop for any of the children on your Christmas list. Why not check the store out for yourself?

Buy It: Wild Dill is very generously offering Mommy Kat and Kids readers 15% off their orders! Use coupon code 15off

Win It: One very lucky reader is going to win a $25 gift certificate from Wild Dill

To Enter (mandatory): Visit Wild Dill and tell me how you would spend your winnings

Bonus Entries:
· Like Mommy Kat and Kids on Facebook (bonus good luck karma for recommending the site to your friends!)
· Blog about this giveaway with a link to this post
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· Grab the Holiday Gift Guide 2010 button
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Giveaway ends 11:59 pm CST on December 31, 2010. Open to US and Canada

Hasbro Tonka Bounce Back Racer-Review

November 18, 2010 by Kathryn 2 Comments

Holiday Gift for Boys and Girls

My four-year-old son has an obsession with vehicles. He loves them all, from race cars to semi trucks to mini vans. If it has a motor and a steering wheel, chances are good that he thinks it’s the greatest thing known to mankind. Needless to say, he was introduced to remote control vehicles at a very young age.

I have found that there are generally two kinds of remote control vehicles. There are the very simplistic designs designed to be a child’s first remote controlled toy. They generally feature soft rubber bodies and controllers with two buttons. One moves the vehicle forward and the other spins the vehicle in a circle. The other feature of these “primary” remote control vehicles is their speed. Every one I have ever seen is incredibly slow.

The other category, of course, is the “adult” remote control vehicle. These range in size from a few inches to several feet and have fully functional remote controls that can turn the vehicle in any direction. They have great speed, varying degrees of durability and lots of sharp and pointy edges that make them unsuitable for young children and for indoor use.

We have a few of both styles of remote control vehicles in our household, but what I really wanted was something that combined the best of both worlds into one fantastic vehicle that Zackary would find thrilling and I would find safe. Then, the newly redesigned Hasbro Tonka Bounce Back Racer came along and fulfilled my dream.

The Tonka Bounce Back Racer is an incredibly innovative remote control vehicle that features the easy-to-use two-button controller so that preschoolers can operate it simply. It also offers the exhilarating speed that makes adult remote controlled vehicles so thrilling. One button directs the vehicle forward, while the other, rather than spinning the vehicle in a circle, directs it backwards with a slight arc to enable turning. But the Bounce Back Racer’s innovations don’t stop there!

This futuristic-looking remote control vehicle features soft, oversized tires so that when Zackary races the car around the house, my walls and furniture are left unmarred. But the best part is, when Zackary directs the vehicle into a wall or other object, the Tonka Bounce Back Racer climbs up the wall, flips over and keeps on going!

To Zackary, this remote control vehicle was a dream come true. He loved the controller’s large, easy to push buttons and was so energized by the vehicle’s speed, especially since he was using it in the house! I explained to him that this was a special toy and since it had nice, soft tires I didn’t mind if he bonked it into things.

He drove the Tonka Bounce Back Racer around the house for a bit before he chanced to drive it up to the wall. When it flipped over and headed off again, he was floored. “It flipped right over, Mom!” he exclaimed to me. “Watch! Watch what it does!”

Of course, once he had discovered the Tonka Bounce Back Racer’s most unique and entertaining feature, he couldn’t help but try it out again and again. My husband was quick to join in the fun, and soon determined that the vehicle would also flip over in the middle of the floor if the speed was high enough and he quickly changed directions. The two of them spent hours happily racing the toy around the house, unsuccessfully trying to get it stuck. The flipping feature meant that even the tightest corner was easily maneuverable.

Thanks to the large damage-preventing tires of the vehicle, I was able to watch my husband and son’s antics with a smile. The combination of features for both parents and children really proved to me what a well-thought-out design this was. The only downside to the vehicle is that the slightly high-pitched whirring it makes can get a little tiring at times. But the joy in my son’s eyes makes the noise easy to tolerate and if I find myself feeling overstressed, I just put on a pair of headphones and listen to some music while he plays.

The redesigned Tonka Bounce Back Racer features an exciting new color scheme that Zackary immediately likened to a “super-fast race car” and two radio frequencies so that siblings or parents and their children can race around the house together. There’s no question that we’ll be getting another Bounce Back Racer when our baby is old enough to control it, and from the gleam in my husband’s eye when he “test-drives” the Tonka Bounce Back Racer we may be purchasing one even sooner than that!

The Tonka Bounce Back Racer would be the perfect gift for any child and thanks to the consideration it shows to a house’s furnishings, parents will love it too. If you have a child that has a need for speed and a yearning for adventure, you’ll definitely want to put the Tonka Bounce Back Racer on your Christmas list this year. Check it out today!

Buy It: To purchase the Hasbro Tonka Bounce Back Racer, check the website for a retailer near you