Relaxing, Homely Stay at Viamede Resort

We enjoyed a relaxing stay at the Viamede Resort in Kawartha Lakes, while enjoying a variety of activities. The staff at the front desk were friendly and welcoming; we got a run down of all the activities available at the resort when we signed in. 

Books for Young Readers

Cozy Classics written by Jack and Holman Wang are meant for babies and toddlers. Cozy Classics tells the story line of English literature classic novels such as Pride and Prejudice and Moby Dick using simple words. Children can grasp the basics of the story line by looking at the 12 pictures and reading the 12 words in these board books.

Tech tips for #BacktoSchool

With Back to School Season it is always wonderful to know some useful tech tips. These tips from journalist Marc Saltzman will help students make the most out of their school year.

Vote for Our #LoveYourWood Convertible Gaming Storage Cart and Win

We are very excited to be part of the Rust-Oleum and Varathane #LoveYourWood Challenge. For this challenge, we were provided with a gift card to purchase our choice of wood and any other material we needed for the project. Our surprise package included a Varathane Top Coat, a Varathane Wood Stain, glass pebbles, cabinet door handle, hook, wire, and rope.

Win a set of Eyewitness Books

Eyewitness books are a wealth of knowledge. These books are must have in every library at home and in schools. My children enjoy looking through and learning from these fabulous books from DK. Eyewitness Human Body shows everything we need to know about the body from the smallest cell to the systems that keep us alive. It also has information about how, when and who started researching about different parts of the human body. These educational books gives details with images on how everything works.

The Search for Canada's Next MONOPOLY Champion is On

One of my favourite board games is MONOPOLY. I remember playing it for hours as a child with my siblings and friends, and still enjoy playing it with my children. This year MONOPOLY brand is celebrating its 80th anniversary. This family favourite gaming brand played by more than 1 billion people in 114 countries. The new MONOPOLY 80th Anniversary Edition game features a retro-style game board and vintage-inspired tokens iconic to each decade of MONOPOLY game history. If you love the game and want to be a contestant for the upcoming 2015 MONOPOLY Canadian Championship tournament that will take place in Toronto, Ontario from May 1st-2nd, 2015 then take the quiz.

TELUS encourages Canadians to enter Holiday Mode

This is the season for holiday parties, family dinners, and catching up with friends. But it’s pretty hard to catch up when everyone is glued to their phones. In fact, a TELUS survey this year found that Canadians are twice as likely to be on their phones around family and friends (82.6 per cent) than they are when at work (40.6 per cent).

Get Creative This Holiday With Crayola

My daughter and I enjoyed using the Crayola Beadola Charm Maker kit to make fun, detailed beads. The kit includes 3 1/4 lb air drying clay bags in grey, pink, and purple, 25 gems, and four bead plates with twenty four bead designs such as hearts, stars and more for us to make imprints on the clay beads. 

Win a copy of Big Book of Kids' Birthday Cakes

It doesn't matter how old we get, our birthdays remain to be a special day. For a child celebrating their birthday with a beautifully structured cake with something they like on it such as dinosaurs or castles will make their day even more special. Although my family and I don't do big birthday celebrations, each year for my children's birthday I enjoy making a cake with their favourite character or liking that tends to change each year. 

Win This Awesome Squashed Game And Squash Your Opponents

Squash your opponents right out of the game with this 3D game that adds a whole new dimension to board games. It is lots of fun trying to squash the pawns of your opponent and making a choice to loose some of your own pawns during this process. 

Hasbro Toys For Everyone

We had a chance to go to a Hasbro preview event this summer to check out all the new toys that were coming out this fall just in time for the holidays. My children enjoyed testing the cool toys for a long time. Here is list of the new and upcoming Hasbro toys and games for everyone in the family.

Fun Activities We Do To Relax At Home

I long to spend quality time with my children at the end of the day, especially after school started in September. We have been quite busy this summer so like me, my children prefer to stay home and read a book or do other fun things indoors these days. To relax and revitalize we do many things like...

InnoTab® 3 Opens a World of Learning

The InnoTab® 3 by VTech opens a world of learning. There is a wealth of age-appropriate educational games, apps and more that expands our children's minds, creativity and learning. 

Both my 4 and 8 year old enjoy using the 180° 2 megapixel rotating camera and video recorder to capture images and videos. They like using the WonderCam with over 55 photo effects, funny faces and frames to create fun images with the pictures they took. 

Disney Junior Dream Cruise Contest

My children are fans of Disney Pixar Toy Story, so they were excited when they got a chance to build their own RC and the Pizza Planet Delivery Shuttle in July. Toy Story 2 will premiere on Disney Junior, Saturday August 10th at 6pm EST. 

Lots of Fun We Had a Around the Theme of Despicable Me

Since Despicable Me 2 started playing in the theatres July 3rd, it has been about minions and Gru in our home. We enjoy playing Operation and Monopoly Hasbro board games with the Despicable Me theme. We went to Home Depot and my children enjoyed making the cute Lucy's car, while wearing the minion hard hat, a badge/pin and apron. 

Family Time with Memorable Board Games & Win your own

I think sometimes we spend a little too much time as a family watching movies and shows especially on Netflix :) than playing a friendly interactive game.  Sometimes with hectic schedules we forget to spend quality time playing with each other.
The upcoming family day weekend reminds me that we need to make it a routine to sit around our family room and play interactive board games. This will allow us to reconnect, reenergize relationships and create memories.  Hasbro has a broad collection of over 60 timeless games that the whole family can enjoy.

JENGA Boom Game is similar to the classic JENGA game and is aimed for everyone over the age of 6 years.  We need to delicately pull the blocks out of the stack without knocking it down. With this JENGA Boom, we have to move fast because the detonator is pulled before we take our turn, and this is like a timer.  In order to win we have to get our block out before the time runs out and the stack "explodes."  This game includes 36 JENGA hardwood blocks, toy detonator, stacking sleeve and instructions and can be played alone or with more players.  

 

Some people might be offended by the violent aspect of the game i.e. it being called a "detonator" etc., if we keep aside this "opinion" then it is a fun game for the family to play and try to remove the block before it all comes down.  My children enjoyed laughing when the blocks came down before we got a chance to carefully remove the block.  We will be practicing this more during the long weekend :)

The CLUE The Classic Mystery Game is for everyone over 8 years and is played with 2 to 6 players.  This game includes Mansion Game board, 1 Yellow Murder Envelope, 1 Detective Notepad, 6 Character tokens, 21 Black CLUEDO cards, 13 Red Bonus cards, 6 Weapon tokens, 2 Dice and Game Guide.

We have to be detectives and crack the case of who killed the millionaire Samuel Black by questioning everything to unravel the mystery and finding clues; Who did it? Where? etc. The person who solves the murder first wins.  This is a fun twist on the classic mystery game and features new characters and a two-player version.  I haven't played the classic before so this game is new to me.

The ZYNGA Draw Something Game is for everyone over 8 years.  There is no need to be an artist to win this fun-filled Draw Something game.  While one player draws, everyone else shouts out their guesses at what they're drawing.  Whoever guesses the word earns coins along with the drawer, and the harder the word, the more coins you earn.  To win, the person has to have 15 coins.  We really enjoyed this game and I think it does test our artistic skills :) and imagination so people can guess correctly.  This game includes 4 draw stations, 180 cards, 4 crayons, 4 pads of paper, 4 coin tracker clips and game guide.  My children enjoy playing this game on the iPad so it was nice to have something physical to play with instead.

I remember spending lots of time playing board games with my brothers and friends when I was little.   Sometimes I feel my children are missing making these memories because of all the technology that surrounds us.  Hope we will all get to play some fun board games and reconnect with our families during this weekend and then make it more of a regular routine to create lasting memories.

Giveaway:
To help you get started and have your own family time playing board games, enter this giveaway below through the rafflecopter below and win the ZYNG Draw Something Game.  This giveaway is open to everyone in Canada and ends on March 15th. 
Update: The winner is Sam
a Rafflecopter giveaway

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