Making learning Fun playing pretend School with Disney Junior #Ready4Preschool

Disclosure: This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone.

Summer has been flying by for us this year. I think its because my munchkin will be going full day now to school for the first time that naturally every precious moment is just zooming past us. This has been putting thoughts in my mind as to how ready he will be for school and if I will be ready to let him go. Over the years we have practiced his ABC's and his 123's but I worry about the challenges of this new year and I knew that the time was now to get in some extra school practice. I was determined to find activities to help my munchkin get ready for school and luckily I spotted a plenitude of Disney Junior Educational items in the School supply aisles in Walmart conveniently placed for our needs. 

It was just what we needed! Packaged were these neat sets with characters that we knew and loved such as Jake and the Never land Pirates and Disney Mickey Mouse Club house. Thats when the idea came to my mind that the best way to get ready for school would be through play! We would make our own pretend school and Learn and play as we got ready for this big new year!

There was plenty to choose from at Walmart from the Disney Junior back to School items for our Summer time play school. Here are some from what you can choose from as you get #Ready4preschool : 

Learning Easel Activity Center
Learning School House Activity 
Counting learning Activity
First Words Learning Activity 

Rhyming Learning Activity
Alphabet learning Activity
Numbers learning Activity
Colors & Shapes learning Activity 

I grabbed one of each bag set and off we were back home to get ready! 

In just a couple steps... Ta-da! Our own little School nook!

I set out the items from one of the sets and showed my Munchkin how to use them. They were clear and concise and easy to use. Each set came with waxy crayons to use that could be used on an included cleanable board to practice the activities on. They were bright and fun! 

These activities are more of a parent child work together kind of work. They have some writing, some sight words practice and sounding out and more depending on your own childs needs. They were easy start off points for further learning such as ball rhymes with___? And now spell those words and look for the picture that matches the word so you get an all around visual/text/writing connection. I appreciated this since each child learns differently and while my child may be more visual yours may be more vocal so we can all connect somewhere in the middle. 

And of course just like in school we mix work with fun and have different lessons and activities per day. So we did a short time at each station. We are major Dino fans here at home.

After a break... back to some learning with First words and Mickey Mouse. Did you check out my cuties Zebra drawing? If you look you can see that each one of those red/mickey circles is another word opportunity so this activity can be done multiple times and you still wont go through all the words! 

We then took some time to create some Art! Artistic Expression is very important! If you are curious my son said this is an ocean. Inside the ocean there are sharks and fish and squids and even a scuba diver. I love how its not just a drawing for him. He makes it into a story and hopefully soon he will be able to write these stories down and give them even more life. 

Next we had a little math time using the counters and again the connection between the visual number, written number and the counters enforces number learning. Short and sweet and can be moved around to do various times. 

Lastly we laid out all our blocks and set out to build a town for dinosaurs and cars to go through. As we built things we discussed the shapes we were using, the colors of the blocks and how many we were putting on top of each other to build a stairway or bridge and so on. You cant imagine how much fun you can have while incorporating learning into the playing. 

All in all each day can be a new learning adventure! Incorporate new activities {centers} and lessons and add on while making sure to not forget that your children are little and they have plenty of time to learn. While you want them to be smart you also don't want them to remember there childhood as one boring school lesson so approach each day with fun and plenty of play. That way from an early age your child will develop a love of learning that will only grow and flourish! 

In what ways are you incorporating learning into your summer? Have you checked out the Disney Junior back to school items? What is working for your little ones? Are you ready for the new school year? 

Relieving pain with #WellAtWalgreens Keeping my family Happy & Healthy

Disclosure: I am a member of the Collective Bias® Social Fabric® Community. This content has been compensated as part of a social shopper amplification for Collective Bias and its client. All health related suggestions and opinions expressed in this post are all my own #CollectiveBias

Last year my familys world got flipped upside down. My dad got really sick and all our lives got changed forever. Its been a rough ride but with faith and togetherness as a family we have gotten through it. Some of the big changes since then come with our at home necessities. Some people watch me go shopping at Walgreens and wonder whats with all the wellness products but they are all too necessary for our day to day life with relieving pain and keeping healthy. 

With a preschooler and a father with serious medical needs I am constantly needing something from the #WellAtWalgreens line. And I also need to have a go to at home care kit to keep up with our needs. A little pain reliever here and a couple bandages there need to be restocked and ready for our family. 

Typically we head out every couple of weeks and restock and add. I joke about it but sometimes it feels like I could run my own nurse station from home. 

Dont forget to sign up for a Walgreens balance Rewards member card. Its FREE! You get this cute card/key-chain mini card and you can either bring it in during check out or they can even look up your phone number and the points start stacking up and they sure help. 

Here is a typical kit with a mix for both my munchkin and my dad. 

Band aids, bandages, rolling tape and pain reliever. Neosporin, thermometer, and so much more! Its not easy but when you have great prices for good products it all works out especially when you know there commitment to aid our communities. 

Walgreens way to well commitment- starting February 1st of 2011 through December 2014, 1 cent from the purchase of every Walgreens brand health & wellness product, up to 3 million annually will support bringing preventative  wellness services to local communities through the Walgreens way to well commitment. 

What could possibly be better than a happy healthy family? 

Be sure to check out this video --> Moms Cool things at Walgreens {Walgreens brand Wellness Challenge} #CollectiveBias 

How do you keep your family Healthy and well? Especially if you have multiple ages to care over I would love some tips that worked for you. Have you checked out #WellAtWalgreens ? What are your favorite products from the #WellAtWalgreens line?

Happy Mommy On the Go with P3 #PortableProtein

I am a member of Collective Bias® Social Fabric® Community. This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper amplification for Collective Bias and its advertiser.  This story and all opinions are 100% my own.

This week has been a rough one. Being on Spring Break with the Munchkin has me on the go. Being busy between taking care of my dad and entertaining my kiddo while hes off from school I sometimes forget to eat right and my snacking might go in the opposite direction of healthy because of convenience.  I am so glad that I took a chance to try out a new product the P3 #portableprotein Packs, since they've quickly become my Go to Mommy snack. 

When at Walmart shopping I saw 3 of the 4 varieties of Oscar Mayer P3 #PortableProtein packs.  

The 4 varieties all have #MeatCheeseNuts and are: 

• Applewood Smoked Turkey Breast
• Applewood Smoked Ham
• Rotisserie Seasoned Chicken Breast
• Slow Roasted Turkey Breast

They looked yummy! Easy to carry on the go protein packs that I dont need to worry about making because I just take one out of the fridge and put it in my bag and im on my way to a new adventure! 

On any day I go from walking my kiddo to school to crafty me time and taking care of my dad to back to pick up munchkin from school then play dates and visits, park visits and even a little work out at the park while my kiddo plays right next to me. Yes, I am very lucky that at our local park there is free exercise equipment right next to a play area so we can both have fun and be healthy together. 

After a little walk and some exercising I just take out one of these #portableprotein packs from my bag (The p3 are suppose to be refrigerated but dont worry I always have a thermos bag inside my backpack to keep things cool) and nutritious snacking here I come! I was most excited to try out the Applewood Smoked ham and trust me it did not let me down. I am a major fan of almonds. Plus at only a $1 a pack you can't go wrong! 

Here's a close up of one of the packs. A Nutritious balance of Meat, cheese and nuts conveniently ready at a moments notice for you to take on the go. 

I like when adventures just pop up. And I need my snacking choices to be ready for adventure at a moments notice just like me. No more tired me on the go or bad food choices me. I have a quick snack and it leaves me feeling recharged and more productive for whats ahead. Especially with summer just right around the corner! That means zoo visits and theme parks and summer vacation and more and with P3 Portable protein packs and Im ready on the go! I hope to see you check them out at a local store near you. 

Which is your favorite snack pack or which one are you most excited for?