GIFT IDEA FOR KIDS | Care for Our World Play Set

Over the Thanksgiving break, Ella and I found ourselves on several occasions crafting and doing puzzles together. As we were setting up this "Care for Our World Play Set" I realized I hadn't ever shared this on the blog and what better time than now - as you are searching for fun gifts for the holidays.

As an brand ambassador for Live Inspired aka Compendium, when I received this item last year, along with some other special treats they sent me, I was in love with it immediately. Without trying to sound like a commercial, I have to say I was really impressed with the high quality of this "punch-out the pieces and assemble" interactive play set and even more than that I was drawn in by the pretty colors and the overall design. The play set comes with over 2 dozen animals, birds, insects, frogs, trees, bushes, a little boy and girl and a coordinating book. The box it all comes in is also a sturdy storage box to neatly tuck in the punch out cards and pieces and there's room for the book too when you are done.

The more Ella and I have continued to play with it, the more impressed I am. As a designer, I really appreciate the small details that most people might overlook. These pieces are double-sided but even more than that, the double-sided images are not the exactly the same. For instance, when you look at the front of the panda bear shown in the background of the picture above, you see it's face and you'll notice it's holding a leaf. 

However, when you flip the panda over, instead of seeing the same image on the backside, you instead are actually looking at the "BACK" of the panda, which has a little grasshopper sitting on the panda's shoulder. (Ella's pointing to it in the photo above). All of the pieces are like that! I LOVE that. It would've been just as easy to create this play set using the same exact image on both sides. The fact that the artist/designer went above and beyond is something I really, really appreciate. 

I love that you can attach the butterflies, birds and other animals to the trees and bushes. (Or even attach them to the animals like Ella did to the bear. (see photo above).

Again, as Ella and I continue to get this out and play with it, I've begun to recognize the sheer brilliance of this clever "toy".  Not only does it provide the obvious - imaginative play; Kids are also using eye-hand coordination when assembling the pieces and then the play set actually becomes a PUZZLE when the kids take the pieces apart and put them back into their cards during clean up.

We haven't even talked about the important message the book helps teach children:
"…inspire children to care for the earth they call home: a timely reminder of the responsibility every generation shares to nurture and respect life in all its many forms." Pretty awesome, right?

I'm all about giving my kids "toys" that are fun AND educational.
It's one of the reasons I love Chick-Fil-A so much but that's another blog post! Ha!

So if you share my passion for giving high-quality educational gifts, this one is a must!
You can purchase the Care For Our World Book all on it's own or you can get the Care For Our World Play Set which includes the book. I highly recommend the play set - for sure!

Being a Live Inspired Brand Ambassador has afforded me with the opportunity to fall more deeply in love with the products I've been in love with for years now! And to keep up with the beautiful new things they continue to add to the Live Inspired Website.  I hope you can see beyond the "ad-like specifics" of the products I share sometimes and see my heart in the photographs and details instead! *wink*

KEEPiNG iT REAL
This will be one of those things I will stash away for my "grandchildren" - yes I said grandkids.
I'm sure I'm decades away from being a grandmother, (that's what I'm telling myself), but I've been tucking away my favorite toys the girls have loved on and outgrown for some time now. Toys I feel are or will be classics that might be hard to find when my babies start having their own babies. Is that weird that I do that?