UPDATE: This contest is now closed.

Enter the NeenMachine.com U Go Grl Trading Card Giveaway!

Here is your chance to win a box of 20 packs of U Go Grl Trading Cards!

Earlier this week I posted a review of the U Go Grl Trading Cards. Check it out to learn about a new craze that empowers tween girls with self confidence.

These cards are aimed at tweens and contain uplifting and constructive information to build a girls’ sense of self. Definitely something parents will appreciate. Oh yeah - and they are a lot of fun too! Which is why kids love them.

To enter the contest just leave a comment on this post - something like “I would love to win this!” is perfect. The deadline to enter is midnight on Friday April 25, 2008.

You can read the official contest rules here. This one is for U.S. residents only and you must be 18 years or older to enter.

There is only one entry per person but if you subscribe to NeenMachine.com via email (use the form in the right sidebar) and confirm your subscription you will gain a second entry. And if you blog about this contest you gain a second entry as well - just leave a comment with the url of the post.

Good Luck!

This contest is also part of the BloggyGiveaways.com quarterly carnival. Check out the list for more awesome family oriented giveaways!

U Go Grl Trading Cards - Building Self Confidence in Tween Girls

Trading cards have long been a staple of youth. Think about it - baseball cards, Pokemon cards, Yu Gi Oh cards, and when I was a kid - Charlie’s Angels trading cards (that really dates me!).

As you can see, there aren’t many choices aimed at girls. To fill this void, two moms - Shirley James and Chrisann Joson (you gotta love mom-preneurs) created a line of trading cards called U Go Grl Trading Cards. Aimed at the tween girl market these cards contain positive messages that empower girls with self confidence.

Each card falls into one of six categories:

• Go Active - promotes an active lifestyle
• Go Basic - teaches life skills that girls will use daily
• Go Create - helps tween girls express their creative side
• Go Figure - encourages problem solving skills
• Go Mingle - deals with the social aspects of being a tween
• Go Primp - talks about personal hygiene

Honestly, what is there not to like about these cards? Each one contains parenting tips in disguise!

For example, one “go mingle” card has tips for dealing with sibling situations. Written in a text message style, this card gives this advice - “If ur relationship with ur sib is stressed, try spending 1 hour 2gether doing things taht u both really enjoy. Make an agreement that during the hour u won’t argue.” Couldn’t have said it better myself.

Another card, this one in the “go basic” category, gives tips on interpreting a food label. Explaining how to figure out how big the serving size really is, all the way to recommending that you should “look 4 foods that have more fiber and less sugar.”

It is refreshing to see a product that sends a positive message to our daughters and empowers them with self confidence. Especially when the media makes building self esteem so difficult. It also helps that the trading cards are pretty cool and fun to collect. They sure beat those Charlie’s Angels cards of days past.

Each pack of trading cards contains 8 cards and either one specialty shimmer card or sticker or tattoo card. You can collect 24 Grls in each category to unlock a pass code. Then you can log in to ugogrl.com to for exclusive games, activities and more.

Visit the U Go Grl website for more information and find out where to buy these awesome cards. And stayed tuned here at Parenting Tips at NeenMachine.com for a giveaway where you can enter win one box of 20 packs of U Go Grl Trading cards.

Hasbro Introduces the Littlest Pet Shop Digital Pen

You know my affinity for LittlestPetShop.com. And I am not the only one. The adorable Littlest Pet Shop toys are favorites of girls everywhere.

Back in October 2007 I announced on this site the arrival of the Littlest Pet Shop VIPs. At the time these adorable stuffed animals (and their online counterparts) were only available in the New York City Metro area and at certain online retailers. Recently, Hasbro expanded their Littlest Pet Shop.com VIP line to include more interactive pets. And Littlest Pet Shop VIP’s are now available in stores across the country!

To celebrate this milestone - Hasbro has created some new and awesome Littlest Pet Shop toys, including the Littlest Pet Shop Digital Pen. My daughter and I have been playing with this pen all weekend and have been having a blast!

What exactly is a Littlest Pet Shop Digital Pen?

I would describe the Littlest Pet Shop Digital Pen as a cross between a Tamogatchi, a writing instrument, and a handheld video game.

This toy is an actual pen. In fact, it comes packaged with a cute little writing tablet adorned with a few of the Littlest Pet Shop characters and logo, some little notecards for writing notes to friends, and a set of fun stickers for girls to decorate their notes with.

But far from the standard pens that you find at the office supply store, the Littlest Pet Shop Digital Pen has, obviously, a digital component. On the front of each pen is a screen that houses a little digital pet. When you first turn the pen on, you must enter the correct time. As the day progresses you need to feed, groom, and clean up after your pet.

• Feeding your Pet - You must feed your digital pet 3 times a day. Breakfast (between 6 am and 12 pm), lunch (between 12 pm and 4 pm) and dinner (between 4 pm and 8 pm). There is fork and spoon icon on the screen that you click to find foods to feed the pet. This keeps your pet happy and healthy enough to play games. At the beginning of each feeding time the pen will play a musical reminder. If you neglect to feed your pet and try to play one of the games on the pen, then the pet will appear on the screen and shake it’s head “no” and point to it’s mouth to indicate that it is hungry. Once your pet is fed then you can play a game.
• Grooming - Before you can play games you must also groom your pet. Click on the brush icon and your pet will be groomed and ready to play.
• Cleaning Up after your pet - Just like a real life pet, what goes into your digital pet will eventually find it’s way out (this gave me a good chuckle!). Click on the shovel and dirt icon to clean up the virtual mess.

Games

Each Littlest Pet Shop Digital Pen comes with 6 games. Three are already unlocked and you can play these if you keep your pet groomed, fed, and clean. You can unlock the additional three games by feeding your pet three meals a day at the correct times.

The first three games on the pen I tried are bowling, Fish Toss, and Match the Patterns. These are fun and easy for older kids, but challenging to younger ones. If you score a certain amount of points on each game you will unlock an additional treat for your pet to eat.

Overall the Littlest Pet Shop Digital Pen is a cute novelty toy that is a nice addition to a Littlest Pet Shop collection.
There are 3 varieties to choose from and they are available at Amazon.com and at Hasbro Toy Shop online.

Time is running out to enter the ApplyWise College Admission Counseling Giveaway. Midnight tonight is the deadline.

So remember, if you or someone you know has a high school sophomore or junior in the house they can enter to win this fabulous College Admission Counseling package for free!

To enter go to this post: Win an ApplyWise College Admission Counseling Program! and leave a comment. Just say something simple like “I’d love to win this!”. That’s it! Easy. But hurry the contest ends today.

If your college age child is a fan of writing contests - or just a fan of prizes they may want to check out the Modern Love - College Essay Contest that is being hosted by the New York Times.

In 1,500 to 2,000 words wants to know about the current state of love and relationships from a college student’s perspective. After all, modern day love isn’t what it used to be. The internet and social networking has forever changed the meaning of a “blind date”.

Meg at Fairfield County Child sent this tidbit my way. (Thanks Meg! )While Meg’s site focuses Southern Connecticut, her excellent parenting tips - like this one are universally useful.

What parent wouldn’t beam with pride if their child won one of the New York Times writing contests? And I did mention prizes, didn’t I? The winner of the Modern Love writing contest will receive $1,000 and they will also be featured on mtvU.

Of course, the deadline is quick approaching - March 31, 2008 to be exact. The winning essay will be published in a special Modern Love section of the New York Times on May 4, 2008 and also online. I am looking forward to reading about how this generation of teens perceive the new dating scene.