hot wheels

These 6 Gifts from Mattel are Holiday #ListToppers this Christmas-Giveaway #PlayAdvocate

November 19, 2015 by Kathryn 210 Comments

The holidays are quickly approaching and if you’ve started the search for that perfect gift for your little one, Mattel Canada has you covered with must-have gifts that are sure to be List Toppers! From toddler to tween, there’s something new for everyone on your Christmas list! Check out these six amazing recommendations for holiday gift giving.

Fisher-Price® Bright Beats Dance & Move BeatBo
Ages 9M + | $49.99 | Available at Walmart, Toys “R” Us® and Amazon®

Imagine if you were learning to talk and you had this bouncing, bubbly character to help. For kids nine months and older, Beatbo will jam out to tunes while teaching kids about letters, numbers, counting, music and more. He’ll take baby’s first words and remix them into a party hit! Learning to talk has never been this exciting.

Barbie® 2015 Holiday Doll
Ages 3Y+ | $44.99 | Available at Walmart, Toys “R” Us® and Amazon®

As you’re welcoming the holidays this year, what better gift than someone who embraces the season whole heartedly? Barbie®, dressed in her elegant garnet-coloured gown, is ready for the party. An annual attendee, Holiday Barbie® has been attending December parties for more than 25 years. A dress with silver snow flakes and red cascading ruffles makes 2015 Holiday Barbie® a must for the occasion. The 2015 edition of the Holiday Barbie® Doll will also make a great addition to anyone’s collection. [Read more…]

Have Fun Indoors All Winter Long with Tips from Hot Wheels-Giveaway #PlayAdvocate

September 27, 2015 by Kathryn 114 Comments

Right now Saskatchewan is enjoying some gorgeous, unseasonable warmth and I couldn’t be happier about it. But I know that before long we’ll be spending more time indoors than out. Generally, that means my boys are playing and creating a little less as well since their space is more limited. But this year, I’ve got tips to help my boys keep building, moving and creating all winter long! These four tips from Hot Wheels will ensure a busy winter of fun.

Clear Some Space.

Your little ones will be used to having lots of space to run around, so the move inside may be a little bit of a shock to the system! Make sure you have a little area for them to play and create, even if it’s just reorganising their room so there’s a bit more floor space. [Read more…]

Keep Kids Learning this Summer with Hot Wheels FUNdamentals #PlayAdvocates

June 30, 2015 by Kathryn 19 Comments

With school out and my boys home every day, there’s plenty of playtime filling our hours right now! And while I don’t mind leaving my boys to their own creative devices for the majority of their summer vacation, I do still want them to have some intellectual stimulation as well. Zackary challenges his mind quite regularly with educational games and nightly reading, but finding fun learning activities for Benjamin is a little bit harder. Luckily, one of my boys’ very favourite brands, Hot Wheels, has come to the rescue!

My oldest son was a huge Hot Wheels collector when he was younger and at one point, he knew the name of every single one of his almost 200 Hot Wheels cars. (I didn’t even realize they had names until he asked me one day what the car’s name was and I found it printed on the bottom!) And while Benjamin wasn’t quite as obsessive about Hot Wheels as his brother, he also spent many happy hours playing with the tracks and racing the cars.

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Find the Perfect Gift for Kids of All Ages on the Mattel Holiday Toys Website

November 25, 2014 by Kathryn 112 Comments

If there’s one company that immediately springs to mind when it comes to holiday shopping for kids, it’s Mattel. Boys, girls, toddlers and tweens can all find a favourite toy among Mattel’s incredible collection. In fact, my oldest son once went through a Hot Wheels phase that lasted for years and even had me hunting down exclusive vintage Hot Wheels cars for him. And my youngest has been a fan of the cheeky and cheerful Thomas & Friends series since he was a toddler.

This year, to help make your Christmas shopping easier, Mattel has put together the mattelholiday.ca website full of all the year’s hottest gifts for kids aged 1-12. Featuring products from Barbie, Hot Wheels, Monster High, Fisher-Price and many more, finding the perfect gift for your child has never been easier!

Mattel has also identified the Top 10 Toys of the holiday season and to let me see what made them such a great choice, I was given the chance to choose four of them to check out. I decided on the 2014 Holiday Barbie Doll, the Thomas & Friends TrackMaster Avalanche Escape Set, the Barbie Glam Camper and the Hot Wheels Super Loop Chase Race. [Read more…]

Build the Ultimate #HWTrackBuilder Track for a Chance to Win the Ultimate Hot Wheels Party-Giveaway

June 24, 2014 by Kathryn 153 Comments

When my oldest son was just a toddler, he fell in love with Hot Wheels cars. In fact, his very first group birthday party was a Hot Wheels party and as soon as he learned how to talk, he used to tell people that he was going to be a race car driver when he grew up. Now that he’s older, he’s outgrown his obsession a bit, but he still loves his Hot Wheels! So he was pretty excited when Hot Wheels Canada recently gave us the chance to take part in the Hot Wheels Track Builder Challenge.

I initially planned to let Zackary and his friends build a massive Hot Wheels track at his birthday party but unfortunately the tracks didn’t arrive in time, so instead we used some of our leftover party goodies, set out some new snacks and had a track-building challenge with my boys and their cousins a week later. The Hot Wheels Track Builder 5-Lane Tower Starter Set was by far the highlight of the track that the children put together. Being able to launch five different cars at once had Benjamin playing with this track for over an hour even once the rest of the kids were done building!

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Let Kids Build and Race with New Mega Bloks Hot Wheels Turbo Tubes

March 14, 2014 by Kathryn 51 Comments

If there are two things that my boys absolutely love, it’s building sets and cars. My oldest son’s love of Hot Wheels is something that almost consumed our house at one point, and while he’s moved on and expanded his interests a bit since those early, car-obsessed years, we still have a huge collection of cars and tracks filling the house.

And as soon as Zackary got a little older, building sets became his next great passion. From complex multi-piece sets to simple collections of one or two miniature characters, he would happily spend hours either building the sets according to the instructions or reinventing them to create his own devices. [Read more…]

Let Your Child Create Customized Cars with the Hot Wheels Car Maker-Giveaway

December 16, 2013 by Kathryn 120 Comments

Hot Wheels cars have been a hit in our household since my oldest son received his first one from Santa in his Christmas stocking when he was just one year old. Since then, he became a passionate collector and there was a time when he was able to tell me not just the name, but also the origin of every single one of his collection of more than 200 Hot Wheels.

Since then, the collection spiralled out of control as my youngest son reached the age of being able to play with the cars as well. The boys love having races and adventures with their Hot Wheels, but this year Mattel is making Hot Wheels even more exciting by letting children create their very own cars!

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Let Your Child Build an Adventure with New Mega Bloks Building Sets-Giveaway

September 16, 2013 by Kathryn 110 Comments

My oldest son Zackary has always loved building with blocks and over the years, he’s developed from building huge towers with large Mega Bloks to putting together intricate sets of favourite characters. What I love about building sets is that they don’t just give kids a chance to build a fun model. The characters and models are also good for hours and hours of imaginative play once the building is complete!

Recently Mega Bloks Canada sent me three of its newest building sets to review. When I was younger, the only Mega Bloks available were the larger First Builders variety perfect for toddlers just learning to build or kids with larger-than-life dreams for their creation. But the company has changed a lot since then and now it has a variety of sets appropriate for all ages! My boys were so excited to see the Mega Bloks Fire Truck Finn First Builders set with the original building blocks I remembered from my own childhood and the Hot Wheels and Skylanders Giants Mega Bloks sets featuring small blocks perfect for older children!

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