Welcome to the week sans giveaways! (I know, that’s not exciting for you. For me, however, it means I don’t need to moderate 6000 comments when I have regular internet access again.)

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Want to see some cute vintage cartoons from around the world? Then visit Bunny Ears!

Bunny Ears is a new Web TV station for young children aged 3+ that brings you an assortment of vintage and contemporary cartoons from all around the world.

Each cartoon is fairly short, about 5 minutes each, and are filled with simple animation and adorable stories! While there isn’t a huge selection up yet, they are planning to bring hundreds of cartoons, that are hard to find elsewhere, right to your computer screen!

Run out of Toronto, Ontario by mom Judy Blumstock, Bunny Ears is advertising free and free to watch. She founded it for her own daughter and now it’s available for everyone’s children.

While you may recognize some characters, such as Chapi and Chapo, there are many others that you and your children will quickly fall in love with!

I can’t help but to love Chapi and Chapo the most, but a close runner up is sweet little Bedtime Bear! Perfect for helping your preschooler with his or her bedtime routine!

Hop on over to Bunny Ears, cuddle up with your preschooler, and settle in for a sweet and funny story! -Gina

What child doesn’t like to build forts? None that I know, and as a mother and a teacher I know hundreds.

Parents, though, aren’t always huge fans of finding every sheet and blanket from their linen closet draped over the kitchen and living room furniture. Invest in a Fortamajig and you’ll never come home to an empty linen closet again.

The Fortamajig, created by The Happy Kid Company, is a far better alternative to sheets even if you are the mom that doesn’t mind re-washing and re-folding them repeatedly as-nauseum. It’s a fort, a tent, a drawing room for a tea-party, an art studio, a bug museum, a library or a barn. It’s whatever you want it to be. Limited only by your imagination, the genius easy to use (see?) Fortamajig is an 8×8 foot piece of ripstop nylon with slits, windows and 24 velcro loops sewn at strategic locations allowing children to build and re-build a variety of play structures using chairs, trees, stair rails or anything else you can dream up. Packaged in a tote with no pieces to break or lose - and is really the ultimate in portable, washable, storable and durable open-ended toys. We have used the Fortamajig with kids aged 2-72 and every one of them adored it.

The single layer Fortamajig retails for $70 and the double layer reversibles and the cool new Connectables retail for $90. Both can be ordered from their online shop.

Save 10% off your entire order through August 1, 2008 with the code opinion.

Guest review by TOP reader Sara

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As a parent, getting into a car accident with my child is something I never want to think about. However, the chance of it happening is very real. Did you know that in the event of an accident, paramedics almost always transport the child in their car seat to the hospital?Have you ever thought about what it would be like for your child if you were not with them or were not able to talk for him/her? Scary, huh? Well, Chicks and Cubs has a solution. They have put together a “Car Seat ID Kit” that attaches to your child’s car seat. It contains a card with all your child’s most important information including: Name, Address, Date of Birth, Weight, Height, Telephone Numbers, Allergies, Doctor, and a place for you to give authorization for your child to be treated in your absence. It also contains a space for a photo and thumb print for identification.

The “Car Seat ID Kit” was something so important and super-easy to assemble and use! It comes with a Ultra-Fine tip marker to fill the card out with all your child’s information, a self-laminating card, and velcro strips to fasten it to the seat. It literally took less than 5 minutes to get it from the package to the car seat. Such a simple task for something that could be of vital importance later.

Although I hadn’t given this very much thought beforehand, I realize now just how beneficial the “Car Seat ID Kit” could be! Just a paramedic being able to call your child by his/her name could be profoundly calming in a stressful and chaotic event of an accident…. And the information on the card has the potential of being life-saving! I believe that this is a product that every parent should invest in for their children. And at only $10.00, this is such an inexpensive way to protect your little one! Being a parent means being prepared…and not just for the good things!

Chicks and Cubs is a great “Mom-Owned” company that has been in business since 1999. They also offer other great Child Safety Products such as ID Bracelets, Shoe Labels, DNA/Fingerprint Kits, Allergy Stickers just to name a few. In addition to safety products, they offer a wide variety of other baby/child products including Slings, Baby Shoe Bronzing, Patty Cakes (handprint and footprint keepsakes), and Keepsake Boxes.

Guest review by TOP reader Kelly.

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We gave this Jumping Shapes toy to my son for Christmas and it is fun! It is impeccably made, sturdy enough to withstand tons of “exploration” by curious boys trying to figure out how it works.

Essentially, as a shape is placed in the slot, a lever pushes the corresponding frog “button” up. When the button is pushed, out pops the shape. The fun part is that if it is pushed fast you can “pop” the shapes into the air and try to catch them before they hit the ground.

If you are as adventurous as I, you might even let your little one whack it with a little wooden hammer. [I told you it was sturdy!]

The only complaint I have so far is that I don’t care much for the little frog pictures on the buttons and the splash of green across the top. In my opinion, they actually detract from the overall look of the toy. Otherwise it is quite attractive with smooth wood grain and dovetailed joints, spiced up by the cheerful colors of the shapes.

It retails for $20.00 at Island Treasure Toys - a Maine based, family run business specializing in natural and Waldorf inspired toys.

Review by Lisa, Contributing Opinionated Parent.

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WiggityBang launched their company in 2005 with the crazy, wacky new party game sensation that is Quelf. Their philosophy is that a sense of humor is the key that unlocks the universe. And their game is funny. Pee in your pants funny.

In 2007 they launched a children’s version of Quelf called FlapDoodle. FlapDoodle is a game of creative non-sense. There are three kinds of cards: FlapDoodle, Mr. Sourface, and Ms. Goody Gumdrops. Depending on your card, you might get to move your piece ahead because you have long hair, or because you’ve had macaroni and cheese today. You might have to do a crazy stunt, like do the back stroke on the floor until the timer runs out. Or sing. There are even very deep trivia questions such as: “How many gold teeth does the person to your right have?”

FlapDoodle is a wonderful party game for a birthday party or sleepover. It is also a lot of fun for family night. Laughter is the best medicine, and this brings a good, healthy dose.

FlapDoodle is a game for children ages 6 and up. You and 5 other players can fight it out over who gets to be the Super Ninja Monkey.

A guest review from T.O.P reader Kelly.

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I was lucky enough to pick up a set of these “twig” blocks on Etsy in time for Christmas. This set is amazing!

Unlike conventional building blocks, these can be pegged together to form anything your imagination can conjure up. It is a shape sorter, a block set, a balancing toy and a “counting pegs” set all in one! It entertained me as well as it did my children. That is always a great thing in a toy!

Hands down one of the greatest pre-school toys I’ve ever seen.

The unique design is being set up for mass-production come early spring so be on the lookout!

In the meantime you can contact the seller through his etsy site and see if he will make you a handmade set.

(Ed: The Etsy shop is sold out of this item so if anyone sees it anywhere else now or once it’s in mass production please let us know!)

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Send your guest reviews any time to theopinionatedparent@gmail.com.
We love hearing what you think!

Guest review by T.O.P. reader Kelly.

The airplane ride seems to be the bane of almost every parent’s existence. I’ve seen countless posts on parenting forums pleading for advice on what to bring and how to manage an airplane trip with young children. I have flown with my son six times since he was born, including four trips from the United Kingdom to the United States (varying from ten to twelve hours on a plane at a time). I have tried every combination of things and this product from A Toy Garden was my best discovery. The “On The Go Bag” fits an astounding number of toys in an amazingly small bag that fits quite easily into a purse or diaper bag. The toys amuse a variety of age ranges, recommended 2-8, but with my own 30 year-old self loving the Architect Blocks I’d say it should be left open ended. The bags include: “A set of wood Architect Blocks, a wooden Jacob’s ladder, a mini deck of cards, a mini set of crayons (you’ll find these in my purse at all times!), a super bouncy rubber ball, a collapsible drinking cup in fun shapes, a mini key chain level and mini keychain metal tape measure (for hours of entertainment), a mini set of soft clay in 5 colors, and a sheet of temporary butterfly tatoos. ” The big hits for us were the Jacob’s ladder… which has been played with for the past year and has held up quite well, the keychain tape measure… again played with for the past year and the blocks.

Because I loved the bag so much, I ordered another to have on hand for any new trip (the toys having migrated to various parts of the house since our first trip) and kept it in a closet. One day, our neighbors had a death in the family and had to leave immediately with their three young children for a seven hour car ride. I ran back to my house and grabbed the bag to hand off to the mom as she was pulling out of the driveway. When she got back she couldn’t stop talking about how much of a stress-reliever it was for her. With the tragedy on her mind and a car full of kids she was anticipating the trip to be terrible. Instead, every hour she would pass around another toy. It kept the children occupied and content, allowing her to concentrate on driving.

A Toy Garden is run by a WAHM, my preference for buying on the net. They give great customer service and are a pleasure to shop with.

Kelly is a WOHM from Bellevue, Nebraska. Her husband is SAHD who spends his days chasing their three year old and eleven month old boys, while rebuilding their recently acquired ‘65 VW Bus.

Thanks so much for sharing this great product with us, Kelly!

To submit your own guest review, simply email your text with links and any relevant images to theopinionatedparent@gmail.com with “guest review” in the subject line.

Guest review by T.O.P. reader Heather.

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I never felt a need for a baby sling until I was pregnant with baby #3. I knew I didn’t want to stop going out and doing all the fun stuff I took the boys to because I had my hands too full with a 3rd baby. So I looked at all the many choices and decided on buying a Hotsling. I shopped around and got one that was a little cheaper on a website I can’t remember now (it was a discontinued pattern but I liked the polka dots and its reversible). They’re also available from Amazon. It still seemed very pricey for a seemingly simple piece of fabric but it may have been the best baby item I’ve purchased. I love that its easy to put on and has no clips, snaps or adjustments to make (instead they come in sizes). It is so easy to fold up small and put in my bag. Jamie loved it as a newborn and at 13 months and 21 lbs she still goes in it happily. I bring it everywhere. If she gets tired of sitting in the shopping cart I put her in it while I grocery shop. I just took her blueberry picking in it and she loved being able to reach the berries from it. We both REALLY do love it! I would HIGHLY recommend one of these slings to anyone but especially moms with a 3rd baby. How else could I go to the playground and simultaneously push the 2 boys on the swings while holding the baby!

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Ed. Note:
Huge thanks to everyone who helped out during this crazy moving week with guest reviews. Keep ‘em coming and we’ll keep them on hand for “one of those days” that are happening way too often now. You know how it is, right? We’ll be back with more reviews & contests next week!

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