iPhone & iPad Kid and Mom Apps GIVEAWAY Dr Seuss Rudolph Red-Nosed Reindeer & More from Oceanhouse Media

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I Loved Dr. Seuss Books as a Child, So Did All Our Children

Photo by Janis Brett Elspas, MommyBlogExpert.com

17 Prizes Will Be Given Away

for Kids and Moms 

Oceanhouse Media creates iPhone and iPad apps that uplift, educate and inspire kids and adults and are based on such children's classics as Dr. Seuss and family friendly titles from Hay House and Chronicle Books.

For this giveaway MommyBlogExpert has partnered with Oceanhouse to award a variety of kid-friendly and mom-friendly apps to 17 lucky readers of this blog post. Just leave a comment below to enter for a chance to win one.  Contest ends December 26 at midnite PST.

Holiday Apps for Kids Prizes

• How the Grinch Stole Christmas! (1 Winner)
• Tacky’s Christmas (1 Winner)
• The Berenstain Bears’ Christmas Tree (1 Winner)
• One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish (2 Winners)
• Hop on Pop (2 Winners)
• Dr. Seuss’s ABC (2 Winners)
• Dr. Seuss Camera – The Grinch Edition (2 Winners)
• Rudolph Camera (2 Winners)

Apps for the Moms for New Years Prizes

• Playground Pump The Workout (2 Winners)
• 101 Ways to Transform Your Life – by Dr. Wayne Dyer (2 Winners)

ENTER this Giveaway NOW by leaving one or more comments below this post.

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In ADDITION to doing any or all of the extra entries above, you can earn one extra entry each time you copy, paste, and Tweet the message below exactly (Tweets are unlimited).  Don't forget to return to leave another comment on MommyBlogExpert with the direct link right after each Tweet so you'll receive entries for all your RTs.

Holiday iPhone + iPad Apps GIVEAWAY Dr Seuss Rudolph Reindeer http://tinyurl.com/25ngvwq #xmas #kids #contest RT 2 #WIN

Contest ends December 26 at midnite PST.  Limit of one prize per person.

About Oceanhouse Media
Oceanhouse Media is a publisher of mobile apps that uplift, educate and inspire. The company is a significant player in the iPhone, iPad and Android space with an offering of over 135 apps, numerous bestsellers and proprietary technology. Licensing relationships are in place with Dr. Seuss Enterprises, Hay House Publishers and others.

FTC Disclosure: Oceanhouse Media is providing all the prizes for this giveaway being hosted on MommyBlogExpert. However, I did not receive payment or any other compensation associated with this particular post. See complete FTC Disclosure information that appears at the bottom of MommyBlogExpert's main page and at the bottom of every individual post on this blog, including this one.

2 Games That Bring Family Together for the Holidays: Do Tell & Count Your Blessings

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Chief Do Tell Game Tester - My son, who was interviewed for this story

Photo by Janis Brett Elspas, MommyBlogExpert.com

With all the electronic and Internet-based entertainment children of all ages are now playing, it's easy as a parent to forget that there are still some really good games out there that don't involve some sort of technology.

Moms and dads, do not despair.  There is some really good news on the family gaming front, and it is decidedly very untech.    

Two recently invented G-rated jewels in the game world, Do Tell® and Chicken Soup for the Soul ™ - Count Your Blessings ™, are now bringing parents and kids back together for some quality time and fun.  

My family and I tried both of these games over the Thanksgiving holiday.  Based on that experience these are well worth sharing with family members seeking to reconnect communication between multiple generations not only during the entire holiday season but also year round.

Both of these family-centric games

• Incorporate colorful playing pieces and simple instructions
• Provide fun and entertainment without the use of technology
• Encourage conversation between family members, especially parents and kids
• Stimulate social, emotional, and intellectual faculties of young and old
• Create an opportunity to learn about others, including your own family
• Engage minds with activities that will bridge multiple generations
• Produce quality time together that evolves into memories to last a life time 

The Testing & Creative Team Behind Do Tell
Photo from DoTellTheGame.com

Do Tell for Families, www.DoTellTheGame.com - Ages 8+, 2-8 Players, $29.95

From DoTell Enterprises, the game Do Tell family edition debuted in 2009 and is the brain child of relationship expert Kathy Jacobson.  The original Do Tell adult version, which was the basis for Do Tell for Families, was a team effort developed with major contributions from both personal and professional communities who participated in testing and playing over a period of 5 years.  

It has a simple premise for which this game was designed: to enhance family communication and understanding.  The board and playing pieces are beautifully designed with every color of the rainbow which gets everyone off to a cheery start from the moment the box is opened.   To play this children and their relatives each choose from four equally vibrant types of cards:  Do Cards, Tell Cards, Risk Cards, and Wild Cards.  

The barrel of fun really begins rolling when each player does or tells things about themselves prompted by thoughtful, sometimes very deep questions on the cards.

• Sample Do Card:  "Be your mother (or father) first thing in the morning."
• Sample Tell Card:  "What would you change about yourself if you could?  How and why would you change it?" or "If you had more time in a day, what would you do with it?  Why?

With questions like these to draw from and the amazing answers you get, it's no wonder that our 13 year-old son enjoyed this beyond measure.   He said, "I loved Do Tell because you really get to know your own family and find out stuff about them that you never knew before."  With comments like that about this product, it is very clear to why this game recently snared the Kidlutions Preferred Product Award.   Do Tell is available for purchase from Amazon or by calling the manufacturer direct at 888-424-4430.

Chicken Soup for the Soul ™ - Count Your Blessings ™, www.FamilyGamesAmerica.com - Ages 11+, 2 or more Players, $24.98

It's a widely accepted belief among experts that the #1 way to happiness is to count your blessings -- which this game will likely teach you to do.  As it says on the manufacturer's website, "This is the game with an attitude for gratitude."

No, it's not the Lone Ranger - It's my son grinning ear to ear wearing Count Your Blessings' Bright Side Glasses
Photo by Janis Brett Elspas, MommyBlogExpert.com

Perfect for families, especially with tweens and teens and their infamous 'tudes,  the object of Count Your Blessings is to be the first player to flip all 4 tokens from "Stressed to Blessed," "Tired to Inspired," "Frazzled to Dazzled," and "Mad to Glad" just by looking on the positive side of things.

What's different about this game is that there is no playing board.  Instead, players take turns with the sun spinner to determine which of the five card stacks they pick from in each round.  The card titles include "Attitude for Gratitude," "Count Your Blessings," "Thank Tank," "Soul Food," and my 13 year-old son's favorite, "Look on the Bright Side."  The later card, BTW, involves answering a question AND getting to put on the double sunburst cardboard sunglasses which is a real conversation starter with the sullen set between the ages of 11 and 17.

Sample Questions on Cards, Sometimes With Different Options for Kids and Parents

• Attitude of Gratitude - "You've got a terrible cold but it's exam time and school and you still have to be there.  Name a silver lining that's nothing to sneeze at."
• Thank Tank - "You'd really like your kids to learn responsibility about money but you're not in the greatest financial position either.  Let the other players suggest ways that 'earning can be learning' for everybody."
• Soul Food - "Opportunity of Hard Knocks.   Which all-time famous band was told by their record company, We don't like your sound and guitar music is on the way out?" The answer: The Beatles
• Count Your Blessings - "Name 3 things you are grateful for about the country or city you live in."
• Look on the Bright Side - "OMG, your job/school just announced that they are going from free dress to uniforms.  Name 3 reasons that 'ad-dress' why this could be a good thing."

As I said above, you also get to put on the bright side glasses whenever you pick the "Look on the Bright Side" card.  If that doesn't get your grouchy, grumbling teen smiling and getting him off his iPod or cell phone for some family fun, I doubt anything will.

Chicken Soup for the Soul - Count Your Blessings is available from www.ToysGamesPuzzles.com and select retailers.

With choices like these two games, why not give them both a try?


Does your family do any games together that aren't high tech? If so, please share your bonding experiences by leaving a comment below.

FTC Disclosure:  I disclose that I have received the products mentioned to facilitate this review.  However, I did not receive payment or other compensation associated with this particular post.   See complete FTC Disclosure information that appears at the bottom of MommyBlogExpert's main page and at the bottom of every individual post on this blog, including this one.

My Best Experience of Giving a Holiday Gift

Teens

Learning from A Bad Teen Shopping Experience

Giving holiday gifts can be dicey if you don't know your audience. This is true, for sure, especially if you are buying gifts for teenagers during the holiday season or other special occasions throughout the year.

MBE partnered with the SWAGG App for this story

I found that out myself at Hanukkah this year when I bought my girls(triplets, age 13) several outfits online that were non-returnable. Long story short is that these rather discriminating teenagers HATED what I chose for them even though I was sure they were going to be thrilled.

Now they're refusing to wearanythingI bought them without their pre-approval. So I've decided to lighten up and give these unworn clothing items away. I'm also going to be giving all four of our kids (all teens) gift cards from now on instead.

Now let me tell you about my best gift giving experience: it's what I've learned from this fiasco I've just told you about.  The take away is that when you want to give a gift that they'll love, you probably shouldn't guess what your teenagers will like.

As anyone with teens knows, this fickle bunch of adolescents likes and dislikes vary hour to hour. I have already bought my girls each gift cards to Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf and they are thrilled -- so this later experience has turned out to be the BEST shopping tactic I've ever tried.  But to even the score, I still need to get gift cards for both my boys too.

With all the gift cards I'll now be buying as gifts and well as all the ones I have laying around, it's lucky there's a new app called SWAGG.This just launched app lets you shop smarter and in my case (saner and happier too) using your mobile phone. With this you can easily buy, send or swap gifts and organize all those so-yesterday plastic gift cards you might have in your purse, junk drawer, dresser, and who knows where else.

To use this new little wonder of a shopping tool all you do is bring your mobile hand-held with you to the store and show the Swagg info on your phone to the sales clerk at checkout. You can use this online, too. Without a question this is a great way to get all those bulky cards into a neat digital file that goes everywhere with you.

I know I have a horde of plastic gift credits myself -- here, there, and every where -- that I'm going to upload to my iPhone as soon as I can find them.  And, since I still have a lot of shopping to do between now and January I'd better find them quick and enter them all into SWAGG so I can finishing making all my planned purchases.

This app is a breeze to learn even for tech-challenged moms like me if you watch their Demo Video before you dive into the handy life saver of an application which really helped me get up and running in a few minutes. If you are a tech genius (most kids under 40 these days are) you can just start using this without any ramp up time at all.

I know I'm going to be in gift card heaven with SWAGG always standing by like a good friend to get me through the holiday buying season. If you'd like to streamline your life and make it less stressful, you might want to give this a try too.

FTC Disclosure: I was selected for this sponsorship by the Clever Girls Collective, which endorses Blog With Integrity, as I do. See complete FTC Disclosure information that appears at the bottom of MommyBlogExpert's main page and at the bottom of every individual post on this blog, including this one.