Mouse Ears Mom’s Christmas 2013 Toy Review and Giveaway

Lego Giveaway 001I had planned on starting this week with reviews on this Christmas’s top requested Disney themed toys.  However, my family and friends had so much fun at our Disney Lego duplo party this past weekend, I decided to share with you the party details and easy Lego themed treat tutorial first. Now having experienced 19 children playing with Lego duplo’s Disney-themed building bricks, I’d like to begin this week’s toy review by sharing my thoughts on these products.  As I mentioned earlier this week, Lego and House Party provided me with six of their newest sets, in exchange for hosting a Lego duplo themed House Party.  My reviews of these building sets are exclusively my opinions and do not reflect those of Lego duplo, House Party or anyone other than myself.  Having said that, on with my review.

Lego duplo currently offers three Disney Planes themed building sets, three Disney Junior Jake and the Never Land Pirates sets and five Disney Princess sets.  I was given all three Disney Planes and Jake sets for the children to play with during the party.  After observing the kids playing, here are my thoughts on each.

Disney’s Planes

lego set 005Lego duplo bricks are roughly double the size of  regular Lego bricks, making them harder to swallow and easier for little hands to work with- both awesome.   The Disney Planes Lego duplo building sets are made for children ages 2-5 and I believe can be enjoyed by Disney Plane enthusiasts beyond age 5, especially if they like to play with the toys once building is complete.   My favorite thing about all of the Planes sets is that the Plane character Legos come in solid body pieces and little ones only need to add the wheels. It’s fantastic because the planes do not fall apart easily. Each building set comes with a minimum of two characters and a Lego based setting for them to play in.  It’s nice that the “setting”, whether it’s the flight school, the air race or Chugs fuel station, is what your child will create with the bricks.  Therefore they’re using their motor skills and learning about colors and the finished product remains stable.  We love Legos in our house, but my six-year-old gets extremely frustrated when in the past he has spent a half hour building a set and then it falls apart easily and he can’t play with it.  I can’t say enough positive things about the Disney Plane Lego duplo sets.  He’s played with these Disney Planes sets for four days!    All three Plane sets have been great for both my 2-year-old and my six-year-old.  Both children are able to feel a sense of accomplishment in playing with these and I’d recommend them!

Disney Junior’s Jake and the Never Land Pirates

Lego Party 055Doesn’t every toddler and preschooler love Jake and the Never Land Pirates?  The smallest building set is 22 pieces and the largest set, Jake’s Pirate Ship Bucky at 56 pieces.  They’re perfect for the recommended age of 2 to 5 years of age.  Of course everyone’s favorite was Jake’s pirate ship.  The ship’s cannon shoots!  Each set comes with at least one character.  Jake’s Treasure Hunt includes Jake.  The Never Land Hideout, featuring a cool slide that my daughter loves and includes Izzie and Cubbby and the large Pirate Ship Bucky set includes Jake and Captain Hook.  If you have a Pirate fan in your house, I suggest getting the Ship.  The completed set is something that your child will play with over and over.  It stays together really well.  You’ll enjoy helping your little one put this building set together too!

Giveaway!

Everyone at the party enjoyed these sets so much.  I know you and your kids will too!  So Monday I went straight to Toys R Us, and purchased Jake’s Treasure Hunt for a Giveaway!  The set consists of 22 pieces, including Jake and his parrot friend, Skully.  My two-year-old daughter loves the boat that’s included.   Lego Jake attaches in the boat, so he stays where she wants him too.  She’s actually managed to fit four characters in the little boat!  If you’re a fan of Mouse Ears Mom on Facebook, or choose to become a fan today you’ll be able to enter the Giveaway!  To enter, just click on the Rafflecopter giveaway link below.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Disney Princess

ariel lego
This photo is a Lego dupo website photo.

 There are five Disney Princess Lego Duplo branded sets:  Cinderella’s Caste, Ariel’s Undersea Castle, Ariel’s Magical Boat Ride, Cinderella’s Carriage and Snow White’s Cottage.

Other than seeing these products on-line and in stores, I haven’t had the experience of having my children play with these sets.  I’m not going to review them because of that.  However, I can say my daughter has a couple of these sets on her list!  At the moment, one is sitting in my closet waiting for some pretty wrapping paper.

Stop by Lego duplo website for more photos and product descriptions.  http://duplo.lego.com/en-us/products

I hope this week’s reviews will help you get your shopping list ready for next week’s big shopping day!  In the meantime, enter to win one Jake and the Never Land Pirates Lego duplo set.  You’ll know on Thanksgiving Day if you’re the winner!

Just click here: a Rafflecopter giveaway

Lego Treat Pops

Lego Treat PopsDo your kids love Legos?

This past weekend I hosted a fun Disney Lego Duplo play date for 19 little Mousketeers and their parents.  It’s hard to say which Disney character themed Lego Duplo set was the favorite.  However, it’s easy for me to tell you what party treat was the favorite.  These colorful and sweet Lego themed pops disappeared from the snack table before the first hour was over!  If you’d like to throw your own Disney Lego play date, these treats couldn’t possibly be easier to make.

Rice KrispiesWalking through the grocery store the night before party I found Kellogg’s  snack size Rice Krispies Treats.  Since I was short on time and wanted to make a “Lego- Inspired” treat, they worked perfectly.  I purchased three boxes, a tub of white icing and a large package of M & M’s candies.  These treats were completed in record time and I’m pretty sure they were eaten in record time too. Simply complete steps 1,2 & 3 and you’re done!

  1. Unwrap the treats and insert a cookie pop stick in the bottom.
  2. Use food coloring to create several different colors and ice your bricks.
  3. Add six color coordinating M & M candies to each brick.

Lego Party 022Have you had the opportunity to see or play with Lego Duplo’s new building brick line which are themed Disney?  Tomorrow on the blog I’ll be sharing my review of Lego Duplo’s Jake and the Never Land Pirates line and Disney Planes.

Also, stop back for a giveaway announcement.  Let’s just say that today I went shopping!

If you missed yesterday’s post about our special Disney Lego themed party, you can find it here.

  http://www.mouseearsmom.com/2013/11/18/disney-lego-duplo-party/

 

Disney Lego Duplo Party

lego set 005Ready, Set, Play!

Yesterday I was thrilled to be able to host a Disney Lego Duplo party for the companies House Party and Lego.  Lego provided me with their newest Duplo lines, which happen to be Disney themed sets!  How exciting it was when a huge box arrived at our home just a little over a week ago.  I have to admit, my kids and I felt like it was Christmas.  Inside the box we found six Duplo sets, three of the sets were themed Disney Planes and three sets were themed Jake and the Neverland Pirates.  In exchange for the Legos, I had to throw a Disney Lego Duplo play date party for all of our friends to play with them.  Can you imagine?  Me, throw a Disney themed party?  Just give me a reason and bring on the yummy party treats and warm up the glue gun!

Today, I’m excited to share with you some photos of our Disney themed Lego Duplo play date.  Lego 001

Welcome Sign

House Party provided me with an 8.5″ x 11″ digital file to print out as a sign to welcome our guests.  Featuring Dusty and Jake, the sign was adorable, but the simple print needed to be spruced up a bit.  I taped the paper onto foam core and hot glued Lego Duplo bricks around the edges.  To hang the sign, I hot glued a red ribbon to the back of the foam core.

Lego Party 021

Snack Table

The little Disney Junior fans munched on Bucky’s cannon ball grapes, Izzie’s pixie dusted apple sauce pouches, Jake’s gold doubloon cookies and chocolates, Skully’s crackers and cheese, Jake and the Neverland Pirates fruit snacks and Lego Duplo themed rice treats.

Lego Party 025

Dusty’s Fuel Up Drink Station

I have to admit Dusty’s Fuel Up Drink Station signage was fun to make.  My two-year old and six-year-old helped me build the “Fuel” letters the night before the party.

Lego Party 047Play Time!

In addition to the six play sets, Disney sent us Jake’s latest movie to watch while the kids played, Jake and the Never Land Pirates Never Land Rescue.  I think from this photo you can tell the kids were entertained!  Lego Duplo bricks are specially designed for children ages 1 and a half to five years old.  Many of the toddlers and preschoolers invited to the party had older siblings, so when planning for the party I designated a separate room for the “big kids” to play with age appropriate Lego bricks.  As you can see from the photos, the big kids loved Lego Duplo bricks as much as the little kids!

Lego Party 042

One of the cool things that the moms discovered during the party was that older siblings very happily helped their younger siblings build the sets, with no adult help or fighting.  There were 19 children at the party and it was great to see them all play together so nicely.

Lego Party 061

The kids were so proud to show off their finished pieces.

Lego Party 060Once the sets were complete, they broke the bricks down and started creating again!

Lego Party 026From toddling around, to playing with bricks, to fashioning a crown, the littlest ones enjoyed the day too.

Party Favors

Lego Party 019

I was provided with 12 sticker sheets and 12 Lego Duplo Planes posters to hand out to the children at the party.  Unfortunately, that was not enough to give one to each child, so I decided to give the big kids the posters and the little kids stickers.  I also made each child between the ages of 1 and 5 years old a customized Lego Duplo brick set.  The small set consisted of enough bricks to make the child’s first initial of his or her name.

 

Lego Party

Before the party ended, I attempted to get a group shot of all our Disney Lego lovers.  Unfortunately, a few could not be persuaded to leave the Legos for a picture. I’m sure you understand their reasoning.

Thank you to Lego and House Party for a fantastic day of fun!

Tomorrow on the blog I’ll share a quick tutorial for Lego themed treats.  There wasn’t a single one left by the end of the party!

If you are considering purchasing these Duplo brick sets for Christmas, you should stop by again.  On Wednesday I’ll share my review of the Disney Planes and Jake and the Never Land Pirates Disney Duplo brick sets.

I hope everyone enjoys this special Monday.  If you’re visiting Disney today make sure you tell Mickey Mouse Happy Birthday!

 

Disney Inspired Craft: Winter Attire for Walt Disney World

scarf 014Are you planning a trip to The Walt Disney World Resort this  holiday season?

Be prepared some years you could be wearing shorts on Christmas morning and other years it can get quite chilly while watching Illuminations at Epcot or strolling through Downtown Disney.  I would recommend tucking a scarf into a corner of your suitcase before leaving home.  I don’t know about you, but I always feel like a scarf warms me up in a jiffy!

Once a month I am a contributor to The Disney Mom’s blog and today, I’m showing you how I sprinkled a bit of magic and turned an ordinary scarf into a Disney-ready scarf by showcasing my favorite park icon.  And I completed it in just five minutes!  Check out the tutorial over at The Disney Moms:  http://thedisneymoms.com/2013/11/13/dressing-for-the-holidays-at-walt-disney-world/

Where ever you may be reading this, thanks for stopping by and I hope you’re simply having a toasty warm day!

Mickey Mouse Turkey Paper Craft

Turkey Day Art ProjectIt’s Turkey Time!

My son enjoys using my craft punches and my daughter loves going through my ribbon scrap basket.  Last night, I thought we’d put those scraps and craft punches to use by creating this little turkey craft project.  Of course, we had to add a touch of Disney to our turkey!  If you like our Mickey Mouse feathered turkey and would like to make one with your kids too, here’s what you’ll need to make crafting this project super easy.

mickey punchSupplies:

Construction paper, a glue stick, 3/8 ” ribbon cut into 5″ strips, a Mickey Mouse craft punch, an office style single whole punch, a 1″ circle craft punch, a 2 1/2″ circle craft punch, and a 3″ circle craft punch.

Once you’ve gathered all of  your supplies, use your largest two circle craft punches to create the head and body.  Glue them together onto an oversized sheet of white construction paper.   Next, to create the eyes, use the 1″ circle craft punch for each eye and use the office style hole puncher to make the black centers for each eye.

Hannah birthday 075My little helper loved helping me with the ribbon.  Don’t we all love ribbon?

Hannah birthday 082Next you’ll glue your ribbon strips down and start Mickey Mouse craft punching.

Use two upside down Mickeys for Mr. Tom’s feet.  Then move on to adding the “Mickey Mouse feathers” by gluing each one down to the ribbon.

Lastly, add a little triangle-shaped nose to the middle of your turkey’s face and your done!    Once complete, allow the glue to dry.  If you’d like to use this as a dining mat for Thanksgiving, your local copy store can laminate it for you.  Remember, since this is a multiple layer paper project, use the heavier weighted plastic finish.  It may cost a touch more, but in the end your place mat will last longer.

I hope everyone is enjoying this season of Thanks.  Have you completed any Disney Thanksgiving day projects?  Please share them on my Facebook page.  I’m positive everyone will enjoy them!