Summer May Be Ending But The Sand Play Doesn't Need to! GIVEAWAY 9/20

***Disclosure: I received complimentary products to facilitate my review. No other compensation was received and all opinions are 100% honest and have not been influenced in any way.***

I am so sad that summer is coming to a close. Kyle, my 13 year old, just started 8th grade this past Monday, and we're getting back into a normal routine. No more visits to the water parks, most of the riverfront festivals are just a memory, and pretty soon, it will get chilly here in Ohio. Wait. Who am I kidding. Chilly? No. Let's just say it gets bone-chillingly frigid!

But we do have plenty of nice weather in the autumn months, particularly during the day time. And my toddlers aren't ready to give up their favorite summer activities just yet. Since we have a great sandbox, I decided it was fitting to break out some awesome sand toys from HABA and let Sophie and Xander bake me a cake, as fast as they can.

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HABA has some really fun sand toys to choose from, including this Sun Bistro Pat-a-Cake Bake Set that is sure to please any budding chefs out there. I personally love to cook from scratch, and my little ones love helping and observing. So naturally, they wanted to make a sand cake of their own!

The Sun Bistro Pat-a-Cake Bake Set includes everything children need to make delicious desserts. It has a measuring cup, a mixing bowl and whisk, a pie tin and mold, and even little decorative fruit slices that will leave realistic imprints in the sand to complete the look!

Our Review of the Sun Bistro Pat-a-Cake Bake Set :

Okay. Before I get into our experience with the Pat-a-Cake Bake Set, I have to share a terrifying but true experience. I went out to our sandbox over the weekend to make sure there was still plenty of sand left to play in. It seems that a squirrel or raccoon chewed a hole into the lid, which allowed some creepy crawlies to make themselves at home.

So I opened the lid. and found a slew of bugs, tons of spiderwebs, and not one....not two...but THREE black widow spiders. Now I wasn't even aware that they existed here in North-Eastern Ohio, but I am 100% sure that's exactly what they were. Red hourglass and all. Eeek! Needless to say, I totally freaked out, dumped the sand, and hosed out the sandbox. Of course we had to go get a few new bags of sand as well. The kids weren't too thrilled that they had to wait, but better safe than sorry, if you ask me!

Finally, with new sand in a freshly cleaned and disinfected sand box, Sophie and Xander were able to enjoy their HABA sand toys! We went out this afternoon after the rain stopped, and they had a blast mixing and whisking to their hearts' content!

They even designated certain tasks. Xander measured and poured the sand into the mixing bowl, and Sophie mixed it up with the whisk.

Then it came time to assemble their cake. They had fun filling the pie tin with sand and using the fruit slices to stamp impressions into the top.

Obviously, these impressions would have shown up better in wet sand, but Xander was absolutely adamant that he did not want any water going into his new clean sand. And anyone who knows my 2 year old son is well aware of the fact that his tantrums are epic, and just might require the use of Holy Water. So I didn't push the issue and let them play, sans water.

Overall, Sophie and Xander love their HABA Sun Bistro Pat-a-Cake Bake Set. They both love cooking activities, and incorporating sand into their play has been a huge hit! They have now requested cup cake pans for the sand, a roasting pan, and a pizza set. (I have created a monster!) Luckily, HABA offers tons and tons of sand toys, so I am sure I can find other products to supplement this set so my kids can have a full "Sand Kitchen".

Connect With HABA :

You can check out this and other amazing children's products on the HABA website.

You can also connect with HABA on Facebook and on twitter to stay on top of their latest products and promotions!

And BIG NEWS!! HABA is now also on Instagram! Woo-Hoo!

Enter to WIN :

I am thrilled to announce that one lucky reader will get an awesome truck-themed sand toy from the awesome folks at HABA! The winner will get to choose a prize from the products below:

How cool is that?!

Simply enter on the Rafflecopter form below!

This giveaway is open to US  Residents 18+ until 11:59PM on September 20, 2013. No PO Boxes. Winner will be drawn using Rafflecopter's Random Number Generator. All entries will be verified, so play fair! I will notify winner via e-mail and they will have 48 hours to reply before I am forced to redraw winners. No purchase necessary. Void where prohibited. This contest is not affiliated with Facebook in any way. Thanks for entering, and Good Luck!
***Disclosure: I received complimentary samples to facilitate my review. No other compensation was provided, and all opinions are 100% honest and have not been influenced in any way. By entering this promotion, each participant agrees to release, indemnify and hold harmless the Sponsor and its parent companies, affiliates and subsidiaries and their respective representatives, officers, directors, shareholders, agents and employees from and against any injuries, losses, damages, claims, actions or liability of any kind resulting from or arising from participation in this promotion.***

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