Backyard Safari Outfitters

Meghan Says

Getting Dylan to spend time outside amongst nature and three dimensional people instead of inside with his beloved Wii and his “friends” Mario and Luigi can be a bit of a challenge. It’s so bad I’ve even considered getting him Vitamin D supplements.

Okay, so that’s not entirely true. Yet.

BUT, it does take some cajoling, and sometimes some downright threatening to get him to put down the Wiimote and head into the great outdoors.

So I’m happy to come across anything that might make this job easier for me.

Apparently, the lovely people at Team Mom must have known about my predicament, because they were kind enough to send us a few samples of some Backyard Safari Outfitters gear to try out!

The boys, including my 3, 6 and 9 year old nephews, were excited to rip open the packaging and head outside to see what they could discover.

Being boys, their favorite thing to do was use the Bug Vacuum to suck up any and all tiny creatures that would fit in it.  It worked great for smaller bugs and flying instecy things, but to their dismay (but not mine) it wasn’t powerful or big enough to suck up any of the many lizards that inhabit our backyard.

We actually used to have the Day and Night Bug Habitat which we LOVED and was big enough to hold the lizards that Daddy was quick enough to catch. Unfortunately, it was ruined when the dog managed to knock it off a ledge. Thankfully, there were no inhabitants in it at the time.  But if we still had it, it would have been a perfect home for the  creatures the boys caught with the vacuum.

The periscope (yes, like on a submarine) was a close second, as it allowed them to gain a few extra feet to check out the world around them.  Their grandparents backyard has a few tiers, so the boys were able to use it to check out the plants and bugs that would normally have been out of their line of sight, which they thought was pretty cool It apparently works underwater, but we haven’t been able to try it out yet.

We’re not big into dress up, so the Safari Vest was kind of a flop, even though Dylan thought it was neat that it “looked like that guys on TV.” I’m thinking he meant Steve Irwin, but I’m not 100% sure!  That aside, there are a ton of other products offered within the Backyard Safari Outfitters line and I can honestly say that I’m pretty sure the boys would love most of them.  Heck, they even look like they’d be fun for ME!

Hopefully having access to cool toys that encourage outdoor activity will be my ticket to getting Dylan away from Super Mario and into the great outdoors!

Only time will tell, but I’m pretty hopeful!

*Disclosure: These products were received free of charge for review.  However, the thoughts and opinions expressed are my own.

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MythBusters Science Kit

Meghan Says

I’ve been having email issues, so I didn’t even KNOW I was expecting a review item from Team Mom recently.  Dylan was THRILLED when the “brown truck” pulled up outside with something for him!  Finally!  And my husband was thrilled it wasn’t another delivery from Target.com or Ann Taylor Loft.  But that’s another story for another time.

Anyway, as avid MythBusters watchers, I was stoked to see that it was something related to that show.  We watch it all the time around here.  But we were disheartened to see that the age range for the MythBusters Science Kit was 9+ years.  Dylan is only 4 1/2, even if he THINKS he’s 12.

But then I thought of my nephew, who IS 9 (ish) and I figured we could all play with the “Weird World of Water” kit when we were at my Mother-in-Law’s last week.

Of course, things didn’t quite work out as planned when they didn’t show up that day.  Dylan was SO EXCITED to do the “water rocket” that we figured it would be easier to only do PART of the kit than it would be to tell him he’d have to wait.  He’s a bit on the dramatic side, and after being so good about waiting ALL DAY we couldn’t bring ourselves to tell him that he couldn’t do it at all.

SO, we mixed vinegar (apple cider, because that was all my MIL had!) and baking soda  and launched a rocket!  Onto the roof!  Whoops!

So then we got out the ladder and my husband climbed up onto the roof and retrieved the rocket, which was in pretty good shape, considering.

The patio was another story, as it was kind of covered in apple cider vinegar.  But OH WELL.  Nothing a little hose down wouldn’t fix.

We launched the rocket again, which was a bit of a catastrophe due to user error (fyi:  Adding MORE vinegar and baking soda than is recommended is NOT a good idea! AND, make sure you don’t get distracted when mixing the vinegar and baking soda and try to put the rocket upside down.  Because that reaction happens pretty damn quickly and you just *might* almost take out your two year old.  Not that I would know.)

We were forced to call it a night when we ran out of vinegar.  But the rocket was still in pretty good shape, so we took it home and used it a few more times the next day.  Until it was completely obliterated in one exceptionally violent landing.

All in all, even though we ONLY used the Water kit for the rocket, we really enjoyed it.  Dylan thought that launching a rocket was “AWESOME!” and it even made him a bit more accepting of the fact that a REAL rocket was launched by our house  a few days later.  Which is a big deal given his history.

All in all, I wish we’d taken the time to try out the other activities, like making a tornado in the provided soda bottles (I loved doing that as a kid).  But, even though we “only” made a water rocket, I still would have been happy if we’d paid the $19.99 for it.  My only complaint is that it only comes with enough supplies to make ONE rocket.  There are two bottles in the package, so having enough fins and noses for two rockets would have been awesome.

If you have an older kid you need a gift for, I’d definitely recommend it.  And if you have a younger kid whose smile you’d want to see, I would also recommend it!

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