Think Outside the Basket and Win With Hasbro!

Saturday, April 09, 2011

Now that spring is here and Easter is around the corner, it's time to start thinking outside the basket. What kinds of activities do you do with your children to explore their creativity and celebrate the return of spring? As a child, I often recall wanting desperately to decorate eggs during this time of year. And while I have yet to do so with my own children, we recently had fun testing out other ways to decorate our own 'eggs' using Play-Doh, courtesy of Hasbro.

My kids absolutely love Play-Doh. The trail of tiny bits of Play-Doh that can be found throughout the house can attest to that. They love squishing it. They love cutting it. They love mixing it. But most of all, they love being creative with it. Yes, they are definitely their mother's children. So when Hasbro sent over a box full of the stuff, I couldn't help but get inspired to create something using all the wonderful spring colours. The first thing I thought of making was an Easter egg. I used about half of the Play-Doh that can be found in one of their Spring Characters, which contains about 53 grams of Play-Doh, to make the shape of an egg. I knew I was going to let it dry so I smoothed it out to make sure there weren't any cracks in it. Then I applied some pressure so as to slightly flatten the bottom. That way, it won't roll around and it could be later used as a paperweight. Then, my daughter and I proceeded to decorate our eggs using the different colours. While mine never quite made it to the drying stage thanks to my little guy, my daughter's egg managed to escape his wrath and has dried quite well.

Another easy craft my daughter and I enjoy is creating magnets using Play-Doh cut-outs. The Spring Characters have a stamp on the bottom, one is a carrot, the other a chick. They are tiny and cute so we cut some out and left them to dry. Once dry, I used markers to add some details and used double-sided tape to adhere a piece of magnet. I always keep magnets for just such a purpose, most of them I find in the mail as promotional material for businesses. I never throw them out because they can easily be cut to size and I use them a lot to make my flashcards and word cards magnetic. The magnet I used here was taken from the back of last year's magnetic calendar. I really like how the blue chick turned out. With that one in particular, I let the Play-Doh dry out a bit before breaking off the excess portion. Since it had already hardened somewhat, it kept its shape and details.

My daughter loves making Play-Doh magnets and I think they would make a great little gift idea attached to a card or something. So we decided to make some more, this time cutting out a basic flat egg shape by hand. If you plan on drying it, you will need to make sure that all the details are carefully secured with pressure. Otherwise, they could fall off once they are dry.

Hasbro Wheel Pals and Spring Eggs Baskets

Hasbro also has some really cute and inexpensive gift ideas such as their Play-Doh Spring Eggs Basket where each egg contains Play-Doh in the same colour as its shell. You can also find them in packs of 4 or 12. And for the little ones, they will enjoy playing with the Playskool Wheel Paks Spring Friends.

During Easter, I often dread the Easter Egg hunt simply because I would rather my children didn't stuff their face with chocolates. I usually make the sacrifice of eating some of their loot because, as a concerned mother, I wouldn't want them to risk getting any cavities or anything like that. Aren't I a good mother? Instead, I would prefer hunting for Play-Doh eggs. They are much lower in calories, I would presume.

In any case, my kids will be enjoying the fun in building and rebuilding their very own Mr. Potato Head Spud Bunny. They come in pink and blue, and they even sport their own bunny slippers! Hmm, I wonder what my kids thought of them...

One reader will win their own Think Outside the Basket with Hasbro Prize Pack consisting of:

2 Spring Characters Play-Doh Packs
2 Spring Eggs Play-Doh Packs
1 pack of Play-Doh Spring Eggs, 12 count
2 Preskool Wheel Paks Spring Friends
2 Mr. Potato Head Spud Bunnies

For you first entry, which is mandatory, visit Hasbro.ca and browse their catalogue. Leave a comment on this post with the name of your favourite Hasbro product along with a way to contact you if you win.

For additional entries, you may choose to do any or all of the following:

Add the Think Outside the Basket button to your website or blog. (Worth 3 entries! Leave three separate comments.)

Add my regular blog button to your website or blog for one entry. Copy code is located on my sidebar.
Become a follower of Toronto Teacher Mom using Google Friend Connect.
Like the Toronto Teacher Mom Facebook fan page.
Subscribe to this blog by email or in a reader.
Become a follower of Toronto Teacher Mom on Twitter and tweet about this giveaway. Tweet daily for additional entries. Feel free to use the following tweet:

Win a "Think Outside the Basket with Hasbro" prize pack! @TeacherMomOfTwo http://ht.ly/4wC6Z

Contest ends April 22 at 10pm EST. Open to Canadian residents only. Winner will be selected using Random.org and must reply to the notification email within 3 days or a new winner will be drawn.

Disclosure: I received samples of the products listed above for the purpose of this review. I was not compensated in any other way. The thoughts and views expressed in this review are strictly my own honest opinions.