Day 144: green christmas toy review - mama may i

Another Green Christmas Toy Review and GIVEAWAY coming at ya!

This one comes from Etsy seller Mama May I. Her stuff is adorable.  When the items first came in the mail I thought they looked wonderful but were so small and simple.  Surely this would not keep my girls entertained for long. I was wrong!

The first toy is one that is meant for Sam's age (maybe a little younger but not much) and older.  Colored Cups and Balls.

 
 
 
As you can see from the pictures the first toy is simple.  Little colorful wooden buckets with matching balls, a scoop and a little wooden bowl.  I set it all out on the floor for Sam with all the little balls in the wooden bowl.  Then I showed her how to use the scoop to pick up the balls and put each ball in the matching bucket.  Her eyes lit up!  Of course the chorus of "my turn! my turn! my turn!" quickly followed.  I handed over the scoop and off she went.  What I thought would be a piece of cake and she would get bored with quickly was actually a challenge for her and she enjoyed. She took her time focusing carefully on how to pick up the balls and then the actual pouring of them into the bucket took her some practice as well. 

It was so neat to watch her fail a few times, adjust how she was doing it, try again and then succeed.  Sam knows her colors pretty well so she did great with naming and matching the colors.  But it was AWESOME to see her count the little balls as she was dumping them out of each bucket back into the wooden bowl.  We are still working on counting (she gets excited sometimes and skips numbers!) so it was cool to watch her initiate the counting all on her own.

She also got inventive with them and realized that the buckets could be stacked!

 
Not a simple or limiting toy at all.  She played on and off with this set all afternoon and when her dad got home it was the first thing that she needed to show him.  She was so proud of how she knew how to pour them into the bowl and could match up the colors.  Toy #1 = BIG hit at our house!

The second toy was sent as a simple puzzle game for Avery (10 months old).  Bambino Bamboozles

 
 
 
You can see that it is two puzzle games, one is a wooden egg and egg cup, the other is a little peg person and a wooden bucket.  The idea is for her to work on putting each item into it's holder.  Love that these are natural wood and big enough that she can safely play with them without fear of choking.

Avery was very intrigued by the toys.  Sam and I showed her how to put the egg in the cup several times and then gave her the egg to try it out.  She tried several times and got close once. Her hand-eye coordination is still a little rough so she had trouble actually getting it in the right way but she seemed to love the challenge.  The little person was a bit harder for her to do but she tried and really liked the feel of all the toys in her hands. 

Sam of course asked if she could play with the egg and egg cup in her kitchen!  And the little person I was informed needed to sleep in the doll house tonight!  So cool that what is a puzzle for Avery can be an imagination toy for Sam.  Dual purpose toys are the best! Toy #2 = also a big hit!

I would recommend both of these toys as Christmas presents for your little ones this year!

Now to the fun part...do you want to WIN these?

Super simple and lots of ways to enter.

1. Leave me a comment telling me who you would give these to for Christmas if you won.

2. Like "Greening Sam and Avery" on Facebook and then come back here to let me know that you did.

3. Like "Mama May I" on Facebook and then come back here to let me know that you did.

4. Tweet, Facebook or blog about the giveaway and then come back here to let me know that you did (one time for each).

5. Visit the Mama May I shop and then comment to let me know another item you liked (only one time)!  

Wohoo! That is a lot of ways to enter.  I believe if you do EVERYTHING that would be seven entries!

The giveaway is starting tonight and will run until 12:00pm on Sunday, November 28th.  So get going and get your entries in!! 

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The Nitty Gritty!

You can find Mama May I on Etsy or on her own blog! So cool that she is a fellow blogger.  Also fun that you can get to know the mom behind the toys.

One of the things that I love about Mama May I is that the creator and owner, Jessica, is a stay at home mom.  She designs toys that she wants her child to play with.  So you know that all of her creations have been kid tested and mom approved.  Unlike most toys that we buy these days from big stores that are shipped from across the planet these toys were made by loving hands, created with her own child in mind and made because Jessica loves to create. An American made toy by a mom; what could be better than that!

 

Comments

[michelle]

These are SO AWESOME! OK -- I would give these to my kids (3.5 and 1), because frankly, it's hard to find excellent, natural gifts for them, especially for the baby.

Also, I liked Greening Sam and Avery and Mama May I on FB.

And if I ordered anything from Mama May I's site (which I probably will!), it would be the Family Box. Or maybe the Lily Doll. Or the two things you're giving away here if I don't win them. :)

[Dawn]

These toys would be great for my son!

[Dawn]

I like Greening Sam and Avery on Facebook.

[Dawn]

I liked Mama May I on FB.

[Dawn]

I gave props to your giveaway on my FB page.

[Dawn]

I like the Rainbow Fish Frolic (although I see it's out of stock.) :(

[Mandy]

Adorable! And I happen to know a little one who would love them. :D

[Mandy]

Aaaaand...I tweeted.

[sarah@theunwrapping]

i'd give them to my sweet baby, of course :)

[Tara A]

Beautiful! I would love to win these for my 2 year old for Christmas, we are trying to create a simple/waldorf inspired play space and these would be perfect.
Thanks