A Mama Stork Knows: 04/23/10

Started in 1964, Guidecraft is an award winning company that has over 580 educational toys and furnishings. The company’s mission is to create beautifully crafted wooden products that allow children to use their minds and imagination while having fun.

Guidecraft guarantees the quality and workmanship of all their products, and are about complete customer satisfaction. They also design and test their products to meet or exceed mandatory safety standards set forth by the Consumer Product Safety Commission and the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008 to insure the safety of children playing with their products.

I recently had the opportunity to review six toys from Guidecraft.

I plan to write six separate reviews for my readers, and today I am going to share with you my review of the first toy, Puppy Pull Along. This toy is recommended for ages one and up. This pull toy is pretty straightforward, making it very easy for young children to play with.

I received the toy packaged in a nice box so it wasn’t damaged when it arrived. There was no assembling required at all with the toy, so you take it out of the box and it’s ready for children as is.

The toy comes with a long string (which is nicely tied up when it arrives as to avoid tangles) for

pulling.

The wheels have rubber on them to make it easier to pull on different surfaces. I remember when I was a child, our pull toys didn’t have this and it would constantly tip over. Well, as my daughter at 6 months isn’t quite ready to pull this around herself, I pulled the puppy all around my home myself. It did great on both carpet and wood flooring! I really like this added feature to the toy.

The head wiggles back and forth when you pull the puppy. I thought this was so cute! The wiggling makes it more life-like for children. The ears are also moveable as well as soft. The ears don’t move automatically when you pull it like the head, but they move when you play with them and even a bit when you’re pulling just from being moved.

Overall, the quality of the toy is really good. The paint is bright and colorful, sure to be loved by children (and adults too). It’s made of hard wood, so it’s really durable when children start to play rough. I did notice there was a tinge of black discoloration on one of the wheels, and it was a little dusty. The color isn’t very noticeable, nor was the dust, but since they were there, I wanted to let my readers know. I just lightly dusted the toy before testing it out further.

Other than those little things, I think the toy is great. I really love the colors used and the durability of the Puppy best. I know my daughter is a bit young for it yet, but I’m excited for her to try it out in just a short time.

I would highly recommend checking out their website and catalog to see some of the great educational toys they have for your child today! You can purchase the toys directly from the Guidecraft website. For more reviews, Guidecraft also has a blog where you can find many other reviews from people just like me.

If you like what you’ve read about the Puppy Pull Along, and think this toy would be great for your child, Guidecraft has kindly offered one of my readers a free Puppy Pull Along!

Main Entry – To be eligible to win the Puppy Pull Along, you must go to the Guidecraft website and return here telling me what product your child absolutely must have (other than the toy being given away). There are so many, I assure you, you’ll find something your child would love. That’s it. Leave that in a comment along with your email so I may contact you if you’re the winner.

Extra Entries – These entries are not mandatory, but are for those readers that wish to increase the chances of them winning the Puppy Pull Along. You must do the Main Entry first before these extra entries to be eligible to win. Remember to leave a separate comment for any and all entries and to leave an email address so I can contact you.

1. Follow my blog publicly via Google Connect (over on the right side bar). You must follow publicly in order for this to count. Current followers just have to write that you already follow me. (2 entries, leave two separate comments for this one) Please let me know what email and name you are following under.

2. Follow Guidecraft on twitter; please leave your twitter name

3. Fan Guidecraft on facebook; please leave your facebook name in the comment

4. Follow the Guidecraft Blog, please let me know what email and name your are following under

5. Follow me on twitter and tweet about this giveaway. Please leave a URL where I can check that you tweeted. This can be done once a day to earn many extra entries. Leave a URL for every tweet please. Copy and paste the following tweet:
"Enter to #win a beautiful pull toy from @Guidecraft over at @Inthknowgivawys http://bit.ly/a4G4o4 #giveaway"

6. Blog about this giveaway. Please leave a direct URL to the blog entry. (2 entries, leave two separate comments)

Giveaway is open to entrants in the U.S. only, and ends on April 23, 2010 at 11:59pm EST. A comment number will be drawn at random from random.org. Winner will be contacted by email and have 48 hours to respond. If I don't hear back, another winner will be selected.

I was provided with this product free of charge by the highlighted company and/or its PR agency in order to test the product first hand and to provide you with my personal opinion on it. The opinions I have provided are mine and mine alone. I am in no way required to write a positive review and my review was not influenced in any way by monetary means. Please investigate before any and all purchases as I am not liable nor responsible for any losses or damages you may incur. Please read my Terms of Use before entering this contest.