Becca's Bunch Flower Garden Planting Activity For Kids | Wagtail Woods

There is no even one boring day with Becca. Wagtail Woods is where a little bird named Becca and her Bunch of friends Russell, Sylvia and Pedro live. Together they make Becca's Bunch and are always ready for adventures. The series currently airs on CBC Kids in Canada and Nick Jr. in US and already became favorites among preschool kids. Adorable characters, funny situations, games and challenges real kids face every day are seen on the screen. We have birds over 10 years, so Teddy learned a lot about them. When series first aired, he said that Becca is similar to our birds and even more adventurous!


Spring in Canada was long and cold, but this fact did not discourage us. Inspired by Becca's positive attitude and adventurous mood we were looking forward to special Becca’s Bunch planting activity. We received a really nice planting kit with character-inspired seeds - Becca’s Sweet Peas, Russell’s Marigolds, Pedro’s Forget Me Nots and Sylvia’s Sunflowers. It is going to be a nice flower garden in the future. Teddy planted each character seeds in Becca's Bunch branded cup. Since seeds were different in sizes, they required planting according to the size. Teddy learned that the bigger a seed, the deeper it should be planted into the soil, for example sunflower seeds are bigger than marigolds.


To make sure we know which cup used for seeds, there is a free on-line printable for everyone to use. It contains all the instructions how to plant Becca’s Bunch seeds and a cut-out per each cup. Teddy cut four circles and glued them to popsicle sticks to mark each cup.


And final step, Teddy watered all cups to make sure have enough moisture to grow. He was so excited about this planting project, that checked Becca's Bunch cups almost every hour to see if anything showed up there and started to grow. It did not last long and in a just over a week our seeds became beautiful plants. I think it was pure magic to watch how plants grow from seeds, little by little they become bigger and stronger.


We continue to watch how plants grow and looking forward to seeing beautiful flowers in our garden. I think Becca's Bunch would be very excited to learn that we built this garden inspired by Becca and her friends' adventures. Because of them kids become curious, learn something new, offer unique ideas and find creative solutions even to simple every day problems.

There is no need to plant the seeds we used for our planting project, it can be any flowers you or your kid likes. Planting and growing a garden are a fun activity for kids, the way be creative and watch how adventurous it can be. Bring a little bit of Wagtail Woods into your home and watch Becca’s Bunch episodes.

Read more ...

The Ultimate Droodles Compendium: The Absurdly Complete Collection of All the Classic Zany Creations Book | Father's Day Gift

Droodles are small silly drawings in a square box. Created by talented writer and comedian Roger Price, Droodles were very popular in 1950s and some of his creations are still used in media and printed publications. These drawings remind you senseless scribbles everyone makes on a paper when bored or waiting for something like doctor's appointment or a lame business meeting. Droodles are improved way to waste time as the creator noted.

The book The Ultimate Droodles Compendium: The Absurdly Complete Collection of All the Classic Zany Creations is a collection of Roger Price creations, all in one place. When we fist opened the book, it was pages with many square boxes with drawings even a little kid can draw. Everything looked simple until we started reading the captions, that's where the fun begins. We laughed so hard on two triangles or a tiny spot in the middle of the square box. Can you imagine that we had hysterical laughter (our bellies still hurt)  on an white square with black border? That was unbelievable. Those drawings in the book are so amusing.


The book also contains historical photos, Droodle- based adds, early scribblings, original Price's Droodles, annotations, essays,  and a brief history of Roger Price and Droodles.

Since Droodle are for EVERYBODY and does not require special artistic talent, there is a chapter in the book called Do-It -Yourself Droodling. There Roger Price offers basic 14 shapes to use and letters for witty titles. Teddy tried to use these shapes and came up with something ridiculously funny. Of course, you are not obliged to use these shapes, they are just for fun to use!


If you think the title does not perfectly fit the drawing you can create more and more alternate titles, often with absolute different meanings as we noticed in the book.

Funny thing, we want to go back to check book over and over again, and every time come out with smile and laughter after reading. I think this book is laughter contagious because when Teddy showed this book to our guests, they all read it with smile on their faces.

With Father's Day approaching The Ultimate Droodles Compendium: The Absurdly Complete Collection of All the Classic Zany Creations Book makes a nice gift! Available Amazon, this collection of hilarious dad jokes will definitely put smile on Father's face!

Read more ...

Charlie’s Colorforms City New Storytelling Series For Kids on Netflix To Ignite Creativity Through Imaginary Play | #CharliesColorformsCity

Charlie’s Colorforms City is new storytelling series for kids where main characters love creating stories. The series follow adventures of hilarious Charlie and his friends. They take kids on imaginative shape-filled trips with a colorful characters. Charlie created Colorforms City out of his imagination, so that he was able not only tell stories, but also put them in shapes and solve some problems.


We watched the series and Teddy was impressed how colorful they are, catching your attention right away. There are many adorable and cute characters in the stories kids would enjoy. For example, twins Violet and Red, Charlies best friends; funny Klunk, Charlie's pet, STAR, Dragon, Miss Weather and many more including The Silly Faces.

Charlie gets emotional a lot, he gets sad, excited, happy depending on situation. And when he does, he changes color. You can watch how he becomes green, blue or purple. And we find it is a great way to show and educate children about emotions, to tell them that it is fine to feel sad sometimes, it is fine to express their feelings if they are happy or disappointed. Charlie feels the same way and he knows how to cope with his feelings.


In each episode characters show great team work. Each of them has a unique approach to creativity leading their imaginative collaborations to something incredible. They face challenges with all their creativity and imagination and inspire kids to do the same, play with friends, imagine, create, solve and do it together!

Charlie’s built Colorforms City on Signature Black Background with the sticky magic of Colorforms - colorful shapes of different sizes. Charlie can peel, stick, scale, and animate his world to move our stories forward. From a madcap farce to make enough pancakes with a pancake machine to feed all his friends, to an epic quest to deliver his forgotten birthday party invitations in a rocket ship-submarine, the stories get better, sillier and more interesting with every stick.


Charlie’s Colorforms City series is inspired by Colorforms toy brand, their Stick & Peel sets first introduced back in 1950 gained a huge popularity and still ignite kid's imagination. Teddy had a chance to play with The Retro Original Colorforms Set. It is the same Charlie uses to tell his stories and express himself. Once Teddy opened Colorforms Set he got the whole line of stories to tell. The best thing you can peel and stick the shapes endlessly, so you always get new story to tell!
This series celebrates the opportunity for kids to share their stories, and gives them the tools to enrich their tales and make them even better. Check this all-new children's series on Netflix, there are 26 episodes to enjoy, each lasts only 11 minutes. And while watching get this amazing free Activity Kit to play!

Read more ...

How To Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World Is Now Available on Blu-Ray™/ DVD | #HowToTrainYourDragon

It is fun to have a dragon friend, you can fly together through white clouds in the sky and enjoy aerial views. To young Viking leader Hiccup and his dragon Toothless it became an everyday task. With other folks they are on the mission to save dragons and free them from captivity. While persuading a good cause, the place where Vikings live peacefully and freely with dragons cannot accept more creatures. Viking-Dragon kingdom habitats need to find bigger and better place to locate everyone.

What is a movie without a bad guy, here we got Grimmel the Grisly, a dragon hunter. He is smart, strong and dangerous. Grimmel the Grisly wants to kill all dragons, but for the moment his main target is alpha dragon Toothless. Grimmel does not go into straight fight with Toothless, instead he uses female alpha dragon Light Fury to disarm Toothless. When Hiccup realized that all dragons are in danger and he cannot risk his friends lives, he decides to leave their place and head north to find another place to live. He has in mind "Hidden World", mythical place no one ever seen but Hiccup's dad ensured that this paradise exists. There, at "Hidden World" dragons live freely. Where is it, who knows?

In a day of flying, Vikings realize that they cannot move all together to find the place. People and dragons need rest and sleep, and they cannot roam around without knowing exactly where they are heading to. So Hiccup and Astrid want to explore first before moving out. After looking for Toothless who tends to disappear all the time after meeting Light Fury, Hiccup and Astrid discover mythical "Hidden World" and notice that Light Fury and Toothless are already there and fly with other dragons. They fly to Viking's place and then to "Hidden World", back and forward.


Alpha dragons spend more time together and their friendship becomes stronger and better every day.  Using those ties,  Grimmel the Grisly kidnaps Light Fury and Toothless, to kill both. Now Hiccup feels useless, for many years he and his dragon were together, so what he can do without Toothless? Hiccup cannot fly, all dragons are gone after Toothless taken by Grimmel.

It is time for Hiccup to realize that he must use his own skills to free and protect his friends. While he and his team manage to fight Grimmel the Grisly and get all viking's dragons back safely, Hiccup's life cannot be the same as before. Toothless needs to go and live with other dragons and Hiccup needs to build his life by himself. When that moment of becoming a grown-up arrives,  Hiccup is no more a little boy with a dragon friend, he has to take serious decisions and take care of his Viking kingdom and his people.

The movie offers great animations, beautiful aerial views and stunning visual effects. We also liked Hiccup's, Astrid's and other characters costume designs, stylish and sleek.

How To Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World is available on 4K Ultra HD, Blu-Ray™, DVD, and On Demand May 21, 2019 from Universal Pictures Home Entertainment. The release includes great bonus features, from chronicles, alternate opening, shorts and more. Plus, to mark the film’s global 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray and DVD release, Universal has partnered with Facebook and Messenger to debut two exclusive adorable Night Lights (baby dragons) to train and an awe-inspiring in-store Augmented Reality (AR) experience. In pack, fans can unlock an exclusive code that reveals your very own Night Light that you can hatch, train, and send on adventures within the popular Dragon Pets Instant Game available on Facebook and Messenger.

Read more ...

The Real Life Adventures of Catherine "Cat" Calloway, The First Book by David Essel | #ChildrensBook

Being at school has never been an easy task. Besides learning there are lots of challenges every child faces every day. It is simple to lose your confidence when there is no friends and family to support you. The world of success and influence takes their dominance and it is easy to blend, give up and let your dreams disappear without a trace.

Have you ever had a feeling being unwanted, forgotten and insignificant? Then the book The Real Life Adventures of Catherine "Cat" Calloway, The First written by David Essel makes you think about where low self-confidence and low self-esteem come from. The main character of the story, Catherine CAT Callaway the First. She is a very popular kid in school, everyone likes her. One day during lunch time she decides not to join her friends but have her lunch with a girl who sits alone. That little girl is shy and seems does not have any friends at school. Ling Ling Lu is a new student and other kids find that girl different, weird and strange. She tried to make friends, but it is not easy for her.



Cat is an absolute opposite to Ling Ling Lu. She is confident, easily makes friends and loves to help. That particular day Cat decides to make a difference in another person's life. Catherine thinks that no one should eat lunch alone at school and makes one step forward to help Ling Ling Lu. She thinks that everyone must be treated with kindness and respect.

When you look at the whole picture, you do not think that everyone does something wrong. Kids, teachers and parents do not notice or try to ignore struggling little kid who tries to fit new school environment. But Cat sees that Ling Ling Lu has hard time and makes one little gesture to change the situation.

How often we see that another person needs help but just pass by and ignore. The book challenges the readers if they can do the same thing, step out, offer help and do not be just an ignorant passer-by.


We loved how the story turned out after Cat decides to join lunch time with Ling Ling Lu. Teddy said that it is such a positive book to read. He likes how Cat ignites with confidence other people so that they become better individuals to show their unique talents to others.

The Real Life Adventures of Catherine "Cat" Calloway, The First book has nice illustration throughout the book, there are also simple messages repeating multiple time to remember like  "Treat others with kindnesses and respect".

About the Author: 
David Essel is in reality just a big kid in an adult's body, who loves to write about good stuff and great people. His first book is titled: Phoenix Soul: One Man's Search for Love & Inner Peace. David is also a radio and television host, professional speaker, life coach and model. 

Read more ...

The LEGO® Movie 2: The Second Part Is Still Awesome Now Available on Blu-ray/DVD/Digital | #TheLEGOMovie2

Warner Bros. Home Entertainment provided me with a free copy of the Blu-Ray Combo I reviewed in this Blog Post. The opinions I share are my own.



It's time to find out what happened in The LEGO® Movie 2: The Second Part, because now it is available on 4K UHD Combo Pack, Blu-ray combo pack and DVD. If you missed the movie on the big screen as we did because we were busy with our assignments and competitions then we all can watch it in the comfort of our homes with popcorn, treats and, probably, build something new with LEGO bricks.

The Lego Movie 2 takes us to Bricksburg, the city where it all started. In five years this shiny and colorful place turned into the bleak and dull. Their threat - LEGO DUPLO invaders from outer space, which wreck everything cute, vivid, attractive and do it faster than it can be rebuilt. Most of the citizens changed, affected by constant fights and threats. No more romantic dreams, creative ideas and vibrant colors. Most of them, including Batman and Lucy, constantly expect the worst. Only Emmet remains true to himself, optimistic and full of creative projects to everyone's disappointment. He tries to impress Lucy by building nice family house for them, so they can live there together. But circumstances changed and evil LEGO creature, powerful and strong, invades to take the leaders.

The city is in chaos, Emmet needs to save Lucy and other folks from LEGO invaders. He travels across the Lego universe in his spaceship re-built from his house. On the way to saving his friends he meets Rex Dangervest who offers his help in saving kidnapped Bricksburg residents. Together they head to Queen Watevra Wa-Nabi Systar System where most of inhabitants are brainwashed with pop songs. And residents of Bricksburg are expected to follow them, everyone except Lucy who was able to escape. But others cannot resist Catchy Song and even Batman, claiming to stay forever bat-chelor, agrees to marry Queen Watevra Wa-Nabi.

The story, cities, invaders and LEGO universe is created by a boy and his sister, often Lego scenes switch to the real world, where Apocalypseburg is built by brother and the Systar System by a girl. Their interaction, conflicts and rivalry are reflected in LEGO universe.

The LEGO® Movie 2: The Second Part is filled with funny jokes, lots of them inspired by pop culture. There is a line-up of catchy songs like Everything is Awesome and Catchy Song, also the one at the end of the movie with closing credits is incredible. The Blu-ray combo pack includes Everything is Awesome sing along and other songs you can sing as many times as you wish. Plus the release also includes free admission for kids to LEGO Discovery Centres and Legoland Resorts.

Everything is still Awesome in The LEGO® Movie 2: The Second Part!

Read more ...

Learn the ABC with Sesame Street: Awesome Alphabet Collection on DVD | Shout! Factory

Learning the alphabet is important for preschool kids. It is like a gate to the world of reading. The best way to learn it is with friends you know. It's time for ABCs with Elmo and his Sesame Street buddies. They explore and show you every letter of the alphabet in new DVD release called Sesame Street: Awesome Alphabet Collection. It includes two hours of A to Z stories, songs, parodies, animated features, funny situations and more, everything dedicated to the alphabet letters.

Children will be excited to learn and sing their ABCs while watching Awesome Alphabet Collection. Each letter is presented as a compilation form different segments, for example it can start with a letter song, then an animated story and finished with a funny scene. That way kids learn the ABC from different angles and remember for sure what is associated with that particular letter.

The collection includes familiar songs like "The Beetles Perform Letter B" and "C is for Cookie", M is for "Monster Song". Sesame Street furry friends explore the alphabet with a lineup of celebrity guests. For example, Pharrell Williams belts it out for the letter B, Ricky Gervais tries singing a lullaby to a sleepy Elmo and Sia performs for letter S.


While most scenes in the collection are amazing and most of the songs are special and our favorites, only one song for P letter is very annoying, only one. Overall, we had fun experience watching the collection, I like that there are Sesame Street segments from different years.

The release also includes Elmo’s Amazing Alphabet Race bonus feature and ABC-themed printable activities. You can download them from here.

Awesome Alphabet Collection is being released during Sesame Street’s yearlong 50th anniversary celebration. The anniversary celebrates equality, respect, opportunity and joy!

Sesame Street: Awesome Alphabet Collection DVD is available for purchase on Amazon, Walmart, and other e-retailers. Plus we have a copy to give away for our readers. For your chance simply fill the Rafflecopter form below! The giveaway is open for US and Canadian residents & ends May 20, 2019!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Read more ...