If you're anything like me you might occasionally lament the onslaught of noisy brightly colored plastic toys that seem to overtake your living room. The worst? When one randomly turns on in the middle of the night and wakes up your sleeping baby with an obnoxious rendition of the alphabet song ::facepalm:: My sponsor Momula was founded to help Moms like me who prefer toys that help children develop over ones that make us want to break out a baseball bat ;)

More about Momula:

Momula is a store that carries toys, games, furniture and much more that will help your child's development. Today, there is a huge market of toys and unfortunately, the original purpose of toys has been lost. A parent can give a child a plastic toy that will flash lights and make sounds and keep them busy, or they can choose a natural wooden toy that will help the child work on skills that will develop their minds and bodies and have a positive lasting effect for the rest of their lives. Our goal is to share great quality and beneficial products with parents. Each toy will improve your child's development in several ways. To demonstrate this, we are posting new videos weekly about the toys that we carry and their benefits.

Momula sent us a couple of toys to try out! Carina received the Nest & Stack Cubes and as you can see (below) it mesmerized her. She quickly figured out that the thin rods go inside the bigger boxes. I "tested" her by mixing up the colors and asked her to match the colors together and she did it! At any point during the day if I disassemble the nested boxes she looks over at the board, stops whatever she is doing, and puts them back together. Today I showed her how we can turn the cubes upside-down and build a tower and I'm pretty sure it blew her mind. This set is made from rubberwood, a renewable resource and colored with Eco-friendly, low VOC aniline dyes. It's the only toy we'll be taking with us on our Christmas travels because she loves it so much.

So as not to neglect the wee babe, Momula was kind enough to send their Mini Bead Rattle. Aurelia doesn't care about any of the furry animal rattles or fancy toys we have; she only has eyes for this thing. Maybe it's the bright colors? Or the movement of the beads? It's the first thing she has grasped and moved around on her own. It is made of hardwood and has child safe finishes.

I love these toys. I will choose natural wooden developmental toys over obnoxious flashy plastic ones any day ;)

I also had the chance to view The Golden Opportunity of Child Development DVD, produced by Brad and Ula, the owners of Momula. With 2 under 2 I just don't have much time to sit and read books on parenting philosophy, even though it is a topic in which I am really interested. That's why a short (~40 minutes) DVD that is broken up into multiple informative topics (e.g. communication, respect, goals) was particularly attractive to me ;) The Golden Opportunity of Child Development made me reflect on more than a handful of ways we interact with and behave towards Carina. Namely:

We might help her too soon when she has a goal she is having difficulty attaining. Even though she may whine and seem frustrated, it is better to let her complete tasks on her own.
We had not yet involved her in cleaning up her space. We tried this yesterday, and she wiped up milk she had spilled with a paper towel. I couldn't believe it. I think we were underestimating her capabilities.

There are so many other great ideas in this DVD; I've already watched it twice and plan on watching it a few more times so I can be sure to absorb all of the great ideas.

Shop
Momula carries lots of educational and developmental toys. Some of my favorites include the Greek Blocks, the Rapunzel Story Time Set, and the Shaped Whale Puzzle.

Win
Momula is generously offering your choice of the toys below! The recommended age for each toy accompanies each photo.

Locking Ladders - 75 pieces - Ages 3+

Geo Puzzle Board - Ages 9 Months+

Jr. Rainbow Blocks - 20 pieces - Ages 2+

Construct-It - 321 pieces - Ages 6+

Animal Train Sort and Match - Ages 3+

How to Enter:
This is a Rafflecopter giveaway. Click "Read More" below and then follow the instructions on the widget. Make sure to click "Enter!" after you complete each entry. All currents count! The giveaway is open to residents of the US only and ends at 11:59 PM EST on Wednesday, December 26th.

The first entry is mandatory - Visit Momula and tell me what your favorite toy is! Once you complete this entry, the widget will give you the option of completing the rest. Complete more steps for more chances to win!

a Rafflecopter giveaway