Hank’s school had an auction benefit a little while ago, and I asked some Internet friends for donations. As a thank you to the folks who donated, I thought I’d do some giveaways here as well.
Wee Wood of the Month Club from Little Alouette
These pretty wooden toys and teethers feel good in the hand, encourage imaginative play, and aren’t finished with paint or varnish that will make your baby ill. Bonus. Some toys are unfinished, others finished only with a light coat of organic flax seed oil, so all the toys are utterly chewable.
Strongman from Dria Peterson
Dria Peterson’s handmade strongman protects your little one from nightmares, and encourages him or her to hang out with carnies.
Happy Trails Felt Doll Journal from Suzy Ultman
If you kept a journal as a kid, you know the pleasure of paging back through your gift wishlists, childhood heartbreaks, and lemonade stand earnings. This diary doesn’t have a lock, which saves parents the trouble of picking it.
Hand-Knit Pony from Woolies
This tiny hand-knit pony is just right for chubby little fists. Twice the appeal of My Little Pony, with none of the offgassing.
Play Scarves from Birch Leaf Designs
Simple play scarves to use as capes, forts, or baby doll blankets.
A Leaf Puzzle from Just Hatched
This handmade wooden puzzle has the names of the tree behind each corresponding leaf. Yeah. Your kid is gonna be smarter than you.
Letter Flashcards from Pollywog Learning Products
Tactile letter flashcards are made to help little ones trace the letters with their fingers. The letters are fashioned from sandpaper with a starting-point dot on each. Literacy! Hells yes.
Please leave a comment with your favorite childhood memory to enter, and please only enter once. I’ll announce the winner on Monday. Tune in next week for a science toys giveaway, and big thanks to all the artists and merchants for their donations.
Mighty Girl 
Going down to our family’s summer home in Parowan (a small town in S. Utah); I went on a long hike in the mountains with my older cousins and siblings, and we got lost for a while.. but it was such an adventure!
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Summer camp. I went to sleepaway camp for 9 years. Most of them were the best summers of my life (the first 2 or 3 were a little rough).
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Camping with my extended family outside of Homer, AK. We used to take our boat to a beach across the bay and go clam digging first thing. I loved to clean the clams and my cousins’ dog always, always ran away as soon as we began packing to leave. Great memories.
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While shopping recently I heard the song, Mr. Bass Man. I remember my father singing the — BaBaBaBa-Ba-BaBaBa to me as a little girl. Fun to have YouTube to see Johnny Cymbal almost 40 years later.
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When I was little I LOVED riding the school bus to my grandparents house. My grandma was the kind that had a 5 gallon can of flour under the kitchen table; she was always baking something. One particular day it was rainy and stormy and when I got off the bus at the end of the driveway I could smell my Grandma’s homemade dinner rolls. I ran all the way up the driveway. My Grandma met me at the door with a towel, helped me dry off and then I parked myself next to the wood stove with an afghan and a nice hot buttery dinner roll to watch Scooby Doo.
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picking raspberries from behind my aunt’s garden and her giving me total freedom to create any recipes I wanted with the fresh fruit–my favorite of her suggestions was a tartlet…that word made me giggle, still does
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Playing by myself in the woods and by the crick–just using my imagination to construct worlds.
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Roughhousing with my father on the bed in the evenings
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Catching fireflies with my Dad in the piney woods.
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pretending not to wake up when my mom masqueraded as the tooth fairy
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Easter week we’d camp on Jekyll Island, ride our bikes around and get sunburnt on the beach…. And eat lots of fried shrimp
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Sitting in my bathing suit at my grandma’s, wet and tired from the pool, eating an ice cream cone. Then jumping back in to rinse off.
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Spending most afternoons in 2nd grade and the summer after styling Fashion Star Filly hair with my best friend. It was the first time I remember having a passion (and a best girlfriend) to go back to again and again!
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Spending thanksgivings at my aunt and uncle’s house with my huge extended family
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My favorite memory is going to the zoo every Sunday.
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my favorite childhood memory was going swimming on a hot summer day with my friends and then riding our bikes to the nearest 711 to buy a slurpee.
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Riding my bike to the little corner grocery store to buy bagfuls of candy. Why did my mom allow this? I’m not sure. I could shove five atomic fireballs in my mouth at once though.
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my favorite childhood memories are easter, we always had great easter celebrations.
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my favorite childhood memories revolve around summers and vacations. i was a water-loving child– attached to the neighbors pool, the local public beach, fishing off the dock, sailing on my dad’s boat. so many wonderful memories there.
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Good luck everybody!
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drive-in movies, tractor rides, reading under the weeping willow tree, endless games of red rover, red light green light, spud, freeze tag, and ghost in the graveyard as day turned to early evening.
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Since My Grandfather passed today I will leave a memory of him. He used to let us chop wood with him as young as 8 or 9 we had our own little ax and everything 🙂
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My favorite childhood memory is going to summer camp for 3 weeks every summer in beautiful new hampshire. I made lifelong friends and have memories forever. Great giveaway! Thank you.
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My favorite memory from childhood is a day that my mother took me to San Francisco, just me, for a mother/daughter day. We ate clam chowder on the warf, shopped, watched the crazy sights. We even rode the trollies. It was a magical day!
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I’m a fan of so many of these shops already! Great giveaway!
My favorite childhood memory . . . there was a huge pine tree in our neighborhood that covered a 20-ft diameter area on the ground. The branches had been trimmed from the inside of the branches, leaving a “tee-pee” clubhouse of sorts under its sappy boughs. One summer I thought I would try to be like Jack and the Beanstalk and plant my own “magic beans” (a bag of 15 bean mix from the pantry). Needless to say, the next summer the floor of the clubhouse was overgrown with bean plants. I never told my friends that I was the treacherous gardener. 🙂
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My favorite memory is summer time growing up on Sunshine Mountain and looking for fairies in the woods.
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Running through the seemingly endless rows of corn in our back yard. Now, with the deer tick boom in that area, I wouldn’t dream of going into the field. But at least I have the memories!
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Camping with my parents and enjoying our hammock hung between two trees close to our tent.
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I respect your piece of work, thankyou for all the useful articles .
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Creek hiking at summer camp, wearing old shoes, and sliding down a mossy rock into the swimming hole at the end of our trek.
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Spending my summer days by the pool.
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girl scout camp in grade school ~ my first taste of independence.
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One of my most favorite childhood memories was attending our huge, huge family reunion. Family from all over the world, including those still living overseas, came in for the gathering. I will always remember the drive home afterwards, the beautiful sunset and the immense feeling of peace and love.
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Feral summer days riding around the neighborhood on our bikes in packs, hanging at the pool- little parental control or supervision- a childhood my kids will not have
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I remember getting dressed up all fancy with my mom and we went to Red Lobster. I asked her why they had a tray of desserts sitting out and she told me they were plastic so the customers would be able to see what they were ordering. So I poked the carrot on one of the squares of cake, and it SQUOOSHED. I hid behind my mom until I thought it was safe. 😀
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My favorite childhood memory is building an imaginary world with my younger brothers. Nothing around us was what others saw. We had secret passageways and hideouts all over the neighborhood, and since there were four of us, we had an unbreakable team one day and shifting alliances the next. It’s stress-relieving even to just remember being so carefree!
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