Toys And Games | Table for Five

Have a Frugal Holiday with Family Dollar!

December 11, 2009 By Elizabeth

There’s a Family Dollar about half a mile from my house. I’ve run in for trash bags, batteries, packaged snacks, but I had never checked out the toy section until I got an email from one of my favorite PR firms asking if I knew about the toy deals at Family Dollar. Well, no, I didn’t! I found out that the day after Thanksgiving, Family Dollar published an open letter USA TODAY in which they called on the “Altruistic A-lister, Charitable Celebrity and Savvy Shopper Superstar” to save money and spread yuletide cheer to those in need by spending less on toys and gifts and donating more to their favorite charities this season. Family Dollar offers value and convenience by providing hundreds of $5 toy and gift options throughout the holiday season.

Many people are on a very tight budget this holiday season, but still want to give gifts to their loved ones. Kids love brand name toys by companies like Disney and Hot Wheels, and with $5.00 and $10.00 prices at Family Dollar, gift-givers can pick up brand name toys without breaking the bank. These are the most popular $5.00 toys available at Family Dollar:

Top $5 Toys

1. Hot Wheels 5-Pack
2. Hot wheels Classic Play set
3. Handy Manny Bowling Set
4. Tea Set 29 piece
5. Disney Plush
6. Baby Maggie 12″
7. Bakugan Booster Pack
8. Disney Dress like a Princess

The current Family Dollar ad, which is valid through Dec. 24, has hundreds of toys and gift items for $5.00 and LESS. While you are picking up toys, grab wrapping paper, scotch tape, bows, gift bags, adult and kid’s gloves, slippers, sweatshirts, dish towels, brand name deodorant, mouthwash, baking supplies, cereal….see what I mean? It’s one stop shopping!

But, back to toys-thanks to MS&L (the fabulous PR firm I mentioned earlier), I was sent some Family Dollar merchandise to check out. They sent a Hot Wheels 5-Pack, a Tea Set, and a Radio Control Monster Truck. Nathan had a friend over when I opened the package, and they pounced on the Hot Wheels and had them out of their box and were already playing with them in the time it took me to get the camera!

HotWheels

Kaitlyn LOVES the tea set, I keep finding pieces of it scattered throughout the house. When I ask her why, for example, there’s a tea cup in the back playroom, she always has a story about how a group of stuffed animals was having a party or something.

TeaSet

One thing to watch for is whether toys at Family Dollar need batteries. This Monster Truck takes batteries but didn’t come with them, we had some already. But that is one thing you will want to look for if you buy a toy that takes batteries.

MonsterTruck

MS&L is also sending me a Family Dollar gift card so that I can go check out the holiday deals for myself. Use the Family Dollar Store Locator to find a store near you and let Family Dollar help you have a Frugal Holiday!

Filed Under: Shopping Tagged With: $5.00 toys, Christmas and holiday season, Family Dollar, frugal gifts, toys and games

Eight Groovy Girls plus five Groovy Pets equals a whole lot of Grooviness

December 28, 2008 By Elizabeth

Are you familiar with Groovy Girls? They are a line of soft-bodied, yarn-haired, adorable dolls that are sold at Target as well as at bookstores and other retailers.Â Lia from Exponent P.R.Â sent Kaitlyn a collection of both the dolls and their Groovy Pets, in exchange for a mention here. Groovy Girls RSVP line of dolls and pets was developed by Manhattan Toy to provide a safe way for young girls to experience fun, fashion-filled doll play while promoting age-appropriate values and attitudes.The RSVP in the title stands for Respect, Self-Expression, Values, and Play.

Each doll or pet comes with a code that can be used to access special activities on the Groovy Girls RSVP Web site, www.groovygirls.com. There’s even a special place for moms, too, at moms.groovygirls.com! On the site you can dress your doll, customize her mod pod and attend online parties, all while accumulating points towards a doll donation for a girl in need.

It was extremely generous of Lia to send us eight dolls and five pets, and Kaitlyn is having fun playing with them:

groovy-girls-pets

Until I can find a place for them all to live in her room, the dolls and pets are hanging out in the box they came in, which conveniently has a handle for carrying.Â I like how the dolls have different colored streaks in their hair, and are fashionably dressed but also DRESSED-bellies and booties are covered,Â thank goodness.

The dolls come in two sizes- 13 inches high is the size of most of the dolls you see in the photo. If you look right in the middle of the photo, there’s a smaller Groovy Girl with copper colored hair, she’s smaller than the rest and has a small pet attached, that’s Libbi and Louie, Libbi is 8 inches high.

Each doll and pet come with a code that you enter at www.groovygirls.com. When you create an account, you only get one virtual girl for the site, but each additional code you enter gives you more points for unlocking clothes, accessories, furniture, and other fun things to do in the virtual groovy girl world. I can see girls ages, say, six and up really having fun playing with this website. I’ve been entering the codes from the dolls and the pets and I’m having fun playing on the site!

If you need a birthday gift or gift for another occasion for a little girl, and you want to give them a fun doll that teaches Respect, Self-Expression, Values, and having fun while Playing, I hope you’ll consider getting a Groovy Girl!

Filed Under: Holiday Gift Ideas, Shopping Tagged With: Doll, Girls, Groovy Girls, Groovy Pets, Manhattan, Shopping, toys and games

Giveaway-Win a smart-e-bear, dog, or kitty!

December 10, 2008 By Elizabeth

This giveaway is closed. Congratulations to the winner, Alisha from Izzy ‘N Emmy!

Combine an extremely cuddly stuffed animal with music, games, stories, and learning activities, and you have smart-e-bear, the brand new, super-hot-for-the-holidays, award winning, customizable stuffed animal! Smart-e-bear has won the NAPPA Gold award, was a Dr. Toy’s Best 10 Technology Toys and Best 100 Products, Top Kid Tech Gifts in Tom’s Guide, won a Greatest Products award from iParenting Media Awards, and was Featured Item in Toy Wishes holiday magazine! Intellitoys smart-e-bear is a joint venture with award-winning Kids Preferred. Together they created the newest software tucked in a very soft bear, dog and cat. These technology-friendly pals are simple to program and easy to customize. Parents need only connect, click and then hand over for cuddling. The toy comes with a beginning selection already downloaded, additional songs, stories and games can be purchased right on the site.

You simply plug in the included USB cable, download the smart-e-software to your desktop, then visit the smart-e-store to choose which songs, stories, games, and activities you want on your toy. Once you’ve made your choices, you click the Synch button, wait a few minutes, then hand over the loveable, huggable friend for play time. You can create multiple “playdates”, so you can have an “active” playlist with songs and activities like “Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes”, or you can have lullabies and gentle stories to lull your child to sleep at naptime. And get this- you choose your child’s name or nickname from a long list, and when you first turn it on, it greets your child by name! I was so thrilled to find “Kaitlyn” in the list, and you should have seen the look on her face when her smart-e-kitty said “Hi Kaitlyn, would you like to play?”

Easy to locate and push buttons are on the animals’ hands and feet, and they are each a different color. We played “Simon Says”, which involved pressing the “red hand” or the “blue foot”, although the whole “I didn’t say Simon Says” concept was over her head. The animals’ fur is super soft, too. Some talking stuffed animals have a hard core that makes them not too cuddly; the smart-e-animals have just a small power box (with volume control, YAY!) so they are wonderfully cuddly. I can see this being a toy she will reach for over and over. Here’s Kaitlyn listening to smart-e-kitty tell her the story of the Three Little Pigs:

The retail price for the smart-e-bear, dog, or kitty runs around $70.00, you can get one for FREE by winning my giveaway! woo hoo! Here’s how to enter:

WIN IT: For one entry, go to www.smartebear.com and click on Learn More to take a tour that explains the product. Peruse the Musical Artists, Games and Stories available, then come back and leave a comment with your real first name or blog alias, valid email address, and the answer to this question- which song, game, or story would you download if you win this giveaway?

EXTRA ENTRIES: Leave a separate comment for each thing you do or have already done:

1.Post this button on your blog and get one entry into every giveaway! Let me know in a comment so I can keep a list of everyone posting the button.

Copy and paste to link to me using this badge:

2. Link to http://table4five.net on your blogroll.

3. Use social media to spread the word about this giveaway, by posting the link to StumbleUpon, Digg, Kirtsy, Twitter, or posting it on a Forum. You must leave your username for that site in your comment so I can check. This is a great way for non bloggers to earn an extra entry! Links are at the end of the post.

4. For FIVE EXTRA ENTRIES, mention this giveaway on your blog with a link back to this post. Please include that it ends Monday, Dec. 15th at 09:00 AM ET.

Don’t forget to leave a comment telling me who you’ll give the game to if you win, good luck!