National Family Game Night on September 28 + Hasbro The Great Games Trade In Recycling Effort

Games

Win a Hasbro Scrabble Turbo Slam Game HERE

Now that fall is here and the summer's really over, it's that time of year again. Time to celebrate the third annual National Family Game Night this Wednesday, September 28. To mark this year's event Hasbro is encouraging families to get together for some friendly competition, quality time, and parent and child fun. There's even a program running to recycle your old board games. And, the company wants to know how your family plans to celebrate by posting pictures of your National Family Game Night celebrations of years past, as well as this year, on their Facebook page.

Image provided by Hasbro

Hasbro, a brand I grew up with as a Baby Boomer kid, figures prominently in my own children's lives too. We own many games from this company both those we have bought ourselves and others that I have received for review on MBE such as Scrabble Turbo Slam, Clue: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Edition, Sorry Revenge, and Pictureka. Hasbro also makes a variety of toys such as Play-Doh fun classic kid pastime that has been enjoyed for multiple generations.

 My son ready to play Clue: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Edition

iPhone Photo by Janis Brett Elspas, MommyBlogExpert.com

Other Fun Hasbro Stuff going on right now:

THE GREAT GAMES TRADE-IN

If you haven't already heard, Hasbro is hosting a wonderful promotion called The Great Games Trade-In where you can print out $83 in savings coupons (coupons expire 10/9/11) good toward new versions as well as classic Hasbro games. You can also do your part to go eco green, by printing out pre-paid shipping labels to send in your old games to Recyclebank at no cost to you. The recycling program ends 9/30/11, so hurry to participate now.

AND

FAMILY GAME NIGHT SHOW ON THE HUB

Watch the new season of the Family Game Night show on The Hub on Friday nights. When you tune in you'll to see families playing and acting out over-sized versions of your favorite Hasbro games at 7 p.m. ET.  Check your local listings to confirm air time.

You can also find out more about how you can get in on the fun of Family Game Night on the web on Facebook and Twitter.

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FTC Disclosure: I sometimes review Hasbro games on this blog. However, for this particular post, I did not receive any payment or other compensation. 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.  

Getting Ready for Some Kid Friendly Cooking Crafts & Activities for Rosh Hashanah

Celebrations

Every year I write about ways to celebrate with family and connect with your children for Rosh Hashanah. Coming up is a new post on fun ideas, activities, and crafts get children excited about the High Holidays which begin with Rosh Hashana, the Jewish New Year. This two day celebration, beginning on Wednesday, September 28th at sundown this year, ushers in the ten day period of self introspection that culminates with Yom Kippur arriving at sundown on Friday, October 7th 

 iPhone Photo by Janis Brett Elspas, MommyBlogExpert.com

Some of the best known symbols of this special time of year for the Jewish people include the shofar -- a ram horn which will be blown at Rosh Hashanah religious services worldwide -- and apples and honey to express wishes for a good and sweet new year. The ram's horn will be blown again at the end of the 25 hour Yom Kippur fast.

iPhone Photo by Janis Brett Elspas, MommyBlogExpert.com

Shanah Tovah to my Jewish Readers!

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FTC Disclosure: I did not receive any payment or other compensation in association with this 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.  

NEW Bing Deals Launches - 1st Service to Aggregate 200,000 Listings of Deal Sites in One Place

Technology

Today, before learning about the Bing Deals launch, I was going through the usual 500+ emails I receive daily and stopped to think. I never realized before how many notifications from different daily deals sites I receive every day. GroupOn, LivingSocial, Daily Candy, PopSugar Daily, Juice in the City, Amazon, and many others do have great daily deals. The problem is as a busy mom with kids and a career, who has the time to open and read that many deal alerts daily? That's not even to mention the dozens of other emails I get seven days a week from stores and online retailers with special sales, promotions and links to all kinds of coupons.

 Bing Deals Has Arrived, so Storm of Deal Sites is Clearing

iPhone Photo by Janis Brett Elspas, MommyBlogExpert.com

Apparently, misery loves company and I am not alone. In a recent survey, 87 percent of people said they'd increase use of daily deals if they could easily search deals that interested them all in one place. So what a relief it was to learn that -- thanks to Bing Deals which just launched yesterday -- from this day forward you and I don't have to let deals fatigue drive us away from bargains ever again.

Bing Deals -- with its one-stop shopping feature -- provides a central location to browse, find, and buy.  Now it easier than ever for us parents to save more money on all the things our families need or want while also saving a huge amount in time savings.  Bing does the sorting and filtering for you.

Reportedly, more money-saving features will roll out in the weeks ahead. Visit Bing.com/deals or check out the Bing Blog for more information.

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FTC Disclosure: I did not receive any payment or other compensation in association with this 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. 

FREE Museum Day Throughout the U.S. on September 24th Offers Parents & Kids Complimentary Tickets

Culture

My hubbie & girls on a visit to a South Dakota museum last summer
iPhone Photo by Janis Brett Elspas, MommyBlogExpert.com

Thanks to Free Museum Day under the auspices of Smithsonian Magazine, participating museums and other educational venues in many states across the country will offer free admission this Saturday, September 24.

General Guidelines:

• Only an official Museum Day ticket is eligible for free entry.
• One ticket per household or family, good for TWO people.
• A ticket will gain entry to only one of the participating museums, excluding parking and special events and exhibits.
• If museum reaches capacity, museum has right to limit the number of guests until space becomes available.

How to Get FREE Tickets 

Locate a venue close to you and obtain
the required official tickets for admission on
Smithsonian Magazine's Free Museum Day website page

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FTC Disclosure: I did not receive any payment or other compensation in association with this 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. 

Creative Ways to Have Fun, Fresh Air and Quality Time With Your Kids This Fall

Fall Family Fun

Now that fall is here, cooler late afternoons and evenings have already arrived in many areas of the U.S. What an ideal time it is to get outside with your family and kids of all ages. Fresh air is good for you, so is quality time together, fun, and exercise, right? There's so much you can do: jump in the leaves, grow cool season vegetables and much more. So what are you waiting for -- get outside and enjoy the crisp fall fresh air.

iPhone Photo by Janis Brett Elspas, MommyBlogExpert.com

On September 24, 2011, kids and families are invited to participate in the Nickelodeon 8th Annual Worldwide Day of Play to turn off the TV and play outside. Clorox 2® is a sponsor of this Nickelodeon initiative to get moms, dads and children to partake of an  overall healthier lifestyle that includes exercise and fresh air. 

You don't have to play football or other fall sports to enjoy time as a family during this time of year. Here are some light-hearted ways for parents to spend time outside with your kids for some Fall Family Fun.

Jump in a Pile of Leaves

For this fun activity, all you have to do is take turns raking together a huge pile of leaves in your yard.  Then, take turns jumping into the colorful stack. You can also have a leave fight, which is the same idea as a fight with water balloons in summer except that you throw piles of leaves at each other.

Take a Bike Ride Nature Tour

On the weekend or during daylight hours this is a good one for anyone that can ride a bicycle or tricycle. Everyone get your helmets on, get set, and cycle around the neighborhood. Change off naming something natural to look for that you have in your neighborhood but that you might have to do a little searching for. For example, be the first one to find a tree with red leaves, the first one to see a squirrel, the first one to gather five acorns, etc.

Alphabet Photographer

This is another activity perfect for enjoying fall outdoors. Get the kids to go on a photo safari with mom and/or dad looking for things to take pictures of natural and man-made objects in the shapes of different letters of the alphabet. A round stone could represent an "O," while a tree that has two branches coming out of the trunk might qualify for the letter "Y," and you might find a crack in the sidewalk that looks like an "N." You really have to keep your eyes open to find things that look like each letter and it's fun to make a scrapbook out of all the "letters" that you find to photograph.

Plant a Fall Garden

If you are lucky enough to live in a climate where the weather is now perfect to grow some cool weather vegetables, herbs, and flowers, get the shovels out and start turning the soil. Then, go to your local nursery or hardware store to buy some inexpensive seeds or pony packs of plans. Some fun things to cultivate together with your kids include produce such as lettuce, carrots, and some easy to grow herbs like mint and basil. It's fun caring for the garden as it grows and kids often are more amendable to eating what they have grown in their home plot themselves!

Hopefully these simple ideas that are inexpensive and don't require much special equipment inspire you. Fall is fun and meant to be enjoyed. So, I encourage all this blog's readers to take the Clorox2 Play 2Day Pledge at http://clorox2play2day.com and play outside with your kids!
 

FTC Disclosure:  I wrote this blog post while participating in the SocialMoms and Clorox2® blogging program, for a gift card worth $40. For more information on how you can participate, click here. 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.

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