HAVE KIDS, WILL TRAVEL special event: I've been featuring a selection of special travel-related items for review that should make your next family vacation even more enjoyable! Today's giveaway is of a fun, kid-friendly suitcase that I've had my eye on for awhile.

Melissa & Doug are promoting fun and happy family travel for this upcoming holiday weekend. To celebrate they're offering my readers a chance to win one of TWO Trunki kids suitcases in the winner's choice of color, along with a saddlebag, tote bag, and 3 packs of decorative stickers — a $76 value!

The contest closes July 8, so enter soon!




I love the look of the Trunki suitcases and have long wanted one for travel with Mikko. You can see from the picture that they're fun colors and the perfect size for kids to pack their own belongings.

But the kicker is that kids can ride on them. You can pull the suitcase along the normal way (as a suitcase on wheels), or you can have your kidlet sit on it and pull both along behind you. No more dragging a tired toddler through an airport — or chasing a wired one! As someone whose families live across the country, I think this suitcase is a brilliant invention for family travel with the toddler through preschool crowd.

SafetyTat temporary tattoos is offering TWO of my readers a giveaway of a sample pack of the SafetyTat Quick Stick Write-On! temporary tattoos (the packet to the left in the picture below).



I was intrigued by the benefits SafetyTat tattoos provides when traveling or attending a busy place with your child. The SafetyTat Quick Stick Write-On! tattoos are a temporary sticker-like tattoo on which you can write your phone number. It can be easily applied to your children's arm or hand, and it will stay on for up to 2 weeks — that way, if your children get separated from you (heaven forfend), they don't have to remember or be able to say their phone number; it will be printed right there to be seen by a helpful adult.

I envision these being a safety measure for pre-verbal children, or children and others with special needs who might have difficulty recalling or conveying a phone number. You could also write a message about allergies or medical conditions. I'd love to have one of these SafetyTats on Mikko as we were going through an airport, sightseeing in a busy city, or visiting a theme park, children's museum, zoo, or similar crowded attraction. They would be an extra layer of protection before sending your child off on a field trip or camping excursion. It could even make things less stressful during a day of errands or shopping, particularly if you have a child who loves to run off.

This giveaway is now closed. View the winners here, and get a new coupon code! Thank you all for entering!

This is a joint giveaway with Hobo Mama Reviews and Natural Parents Network. You may enter at one site only. Please find the section marked "Win it!" for the mandatory main entry and optional bonus entries.

HAVE KIDS, WILL TRAVEL special event: Through our most recent cross-country trips, I've been featuring a selection of special travel-related items for review that should make your next family vacation even more enjoyable! Today's review and giveaway is of an innovative safety-oriented product.

SafetyTat temporary tattoos is offering TWO of my readers a giveaway of a sample pack of the SafetyTat Quick Stick Write-On! temporary tattoos (the packet to the left in the above picture).

SafetyTat contacted me to do a review, and I was intrigued by their product, and the benefits it would have when traveling or attending a busy place with your child. SafetyTat offers temporary tattoos with your phone number that can be easily applied to your children's arm or hand — that way, if your children get separated from you (heaven forfend), they don't have to remember or be able to say their phone number; it will be printed right there to be seen by a helpful adult.

I envision these being a safety measure for pre-verbal children, or children and others with special needs who might have difficulty recalling or conveying a phone number. You could also use one of the tattoos with a message about allergies or medical conditions. I'd love to have one of these SafetyTats on Mikko as we were going through an airport, sightseeing in a busy city, or visiting a theme park, children's museum, zoo, or similar crowded attraction. They would be an extra layer of protection before sending your child off on a field trip or camping excursion. It could even make things less stressful during a day of errands or shopping, particularly if you have a child who loves to run off.

HAVE KIDS, WILL TRAVEL special event: I am featuring a few special travel items for review that I was able to use on my trip with my three-year-old son and eight-year-old niece this summer and another trip with my family in the fall. Enjoy these fabulous family travel products!

One of the worst parts of traveling with kids by plane is lugging the car seat through the airport. Am I right?

When I saw the CARES Child Aviation Restraint System from Kids Fly Safe, I just knew I had to give it a try. The company graciously agreed to give me a harness for review, so I was able to use it with three-year-old Mikko on our flights, both to the East Coast and Midwest, this summer and fall.

Why is CARES better than a car seat for airplane travel?

CARES is a special harness that's been tested and approved the FAA as being safety-equivalent to using a car seat in an airplane for children age 1 and older who weigh between 22 and 44 pounds and are no more than 40 inches tall. CARES has also been certified in the UK, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Switzerland, and Oman. See the FAQ for specific airlines that have authorized the use of CARES.

This giveaway is now closed. View the winner here! Thank you all so much for entering!

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This is a joint giveaway with Hobo Mama Reviews and Natural Parents Network. You may enter at one site only. Please find the section marked "Win it!" for the mandatory main entry and optional bonus entries.

WILL TRAVEL special event: I am featuring a few special travel items for review and giveaway that I was able to use on my trip with my three-year-old son and eight-year-old niece this summer. If you win, you'll have your items in time for December holiday travel or Christmas gifts!

Grow Smart Games is offering my readers a giveaway of winner's choice of either a set of My Pocket Games or an I Spy Sensory Stick!

Grow Smart Games is a wonderful Etsy shop that exclusively features these two fun and entertaining, hand-crafted toys. The games promote learning, help children strengthen skills, and provide opportunities for interacting with others. Grow Smart Games believes that simple, old-fashioned games are still the best!

If you choose the I SPY SENSORY STICK (picture below), you'll receive a fun toy made of approximately 9" of clear heavy tubing, sealed at the ends and filled with Polybead pellets and 20 hidden items. As your child turns and shakes the tube, different hidden items emerge from between the pellets. A laminated list of hidden items is attached by ribbon. The I Spy Sensory Stick is recommended particularly for younger children and toddlers though can be enjoyed by children of all ages.

This giveaway is now closed. View the winner here! Thank you all so much for entering!

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This is a joint giveaway with Hobo Mama Reviews and Natural Parents Network. You may enter at one site only. Please find the section marked "Win it!" for the mandatory main entry and optional bonus entries.

WILL TRAVEL special event: I am featuring a few special travel items for review and giveaway that I was able to use on my trip with my three-year-old son and eight-year-old niece this summer. Any of these items would make a fabulous Christmas gift or be ideal for holiday travel!

Glitterful Felt Stories is offering my readers a giveaway of a travel flannel board and felt story of the winner's choice!

Glitterful Felt Stories features incredible hand-crafted felt boards and story characters that are sure to spark your child's imagination. If you remember Flannelgraph stories from childhood Sunday school classes (anyone?), this is similar in concept but in a child-usable size and child-oriented themes, generally from children's literature or songs. The felt characters stick to the flannel board and can be rearranged at will. Felt boards make a wonderful tool to keep children engaged and happy during a long wait — such as on a trip, in a waiting room, or at a restaurant. They also make storytelling fun, because it brings the characters to life, letting you or your children "act out" the story in a tactile and visually satisfying way.

This giveaway is now closed. View the winner here! Thank you all so much for entering!

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This is a joint giveaway with Hobo Mama Reviews and Natural Parents Network. You may enter at one site only. Please find the section marked "Win it!" for the mandatory main entry and optional bonus entries.

UPDATE: Contest has been opened up worldwide by the seller due to the strong enthusiasm! Yippee! A big thank you to Brooke for your support!

WILL TRAVEL special event: I am featuring a few special travel items for review and giveaway that I was able to use on my trip with my three-year-old son and eight-year-old niece this summer. If you win, you'll have your items in time for December holiday travel or Christmas gifts!

Giggle Junction is offering my readers a giveaway of an I Spy Bag! Giggle Junction is a fabulous Etsy shop that exclusively features hand-crafted I Spy Bags, a quiet, self-contained educational toy.

I had seen Giggle Junction's I Spy Bags and thought they were beautiful and intriguing, so I was so glad the owner agreed to let me bring one along on our trip to the beach this summer. It ended up being a really rainy vacation, so good thing we had clever entertainment like this!

Giggle Junction's spy bags are like a small pillow that's actually a toy. They're made with soft flannel with a cute design on the front and a coordinating flannel back. The bags are secured inside then turned and top-stitched for added durability. There are 30 miniature objects hidden among the non-toxic plastic pellets that you can see through the spy window.

They're just the right size for kids to hold and shift the pellets around until the hidden objects in the spy window reveal themselves. Kids can just enjoy what they discover, or they can try to search out the photographed objects on the back of the attached card that reveal what to look for.