So here’s some Valentine’s Day gift suggestions for tween girls:

Custom Made Clothing from Fashion Playtes: Girls can create their own clothes! From dresses to pajamas and jackets to messenger bags, your tween girl can also make clothing for her Littlest Pet Shop Pet. We’ve used Fashion Playtes before and my daughter had a blast making and wearing clothes she designed. Free Shipping on orders of $40 or more with code FS212 until 2/29 at FashionPlaytes.com!

Stuffed Animals One of the favorite Valentine’s Day gifts no matter your age is a stuffed animal. If you’re a Disney fan, how about
”Be My Valentine” Duffy the Disney Bear Plush Toy — 12” H? So cute!

Gifts for Hobbies Find a gift for your tween girl’s hobby, especially if it’s one that you share with her. I love Flirty Apron’s Children’s Aprons. Dad’s you can find matching aprons for your wife and daughter. What an adorable idea!

On Sale from $24.95 to $19.50!

Journals or Diaries Some tween girls find writing in a journal an easy way to deal with stress, changes, and feelings. Others need help to get started and keep going. Embossed Never Stop Thinking Leather Journal – Lined is for those girls who can freestyle write. 365: A Year of Journal Prompts for Teens: A Journal Workbook provides that guidance. Both make lovely gifts that tween girls will treasure for years to come.

Do you purchase Valentine’s Day gifts for your tween girl? Do you have a favorite gift or does she?

Affiliate links included in this post.

The Mythbusters Weird World of Water is for children ages 9 and up, but with an adult’s help younger children  can take part in busting the myths and learning about the properties of water. Included in the kit is a activity guide that is filled with tons of information all on it’s own. Of course there’s the directions for the various projects, but there’s also questions to get your child’s mind thinking. There’s a number of experiments that can be done with this kit and parts needed for them are included. You do need to have some household items on hand. So be sure to read through the directions first.

My daughter and I went to a friend’s house with our kit to share the fun. We chose to make a rocket first because it was the most exciting and challenging of the experiments. The directions were a bit confusing, but once we put our heads together, it all fell into place. It helps to look at the pictures and read the directions at the same time!

On our first try, the rocket just popped, but didn’t fly. Second try, it fell over. But we didn’t give up. We realized that the stopper was too tight. Once that was fixed, the rocket soared up to 20 feet into the air! The children (and adults) were so excited. Taking time out to read the activity guide, we asked the children about the myths we uncovered, and that led to a give and take discussion. The children played with the rocket at least a dozen times. The balsa wood, which was part of the rocket broke after a few uses, but the children were creative and placed the rocket in a small cooler.

The excitement that was transferred to interest and curiosity was evident as the children listened intently to the questions in the activity guide. I give the Mythbusters Weird World of Water a thumbs up!

Elmer’s is teaming up with Scientific Explorer, one of the distributors of Mythbusters hands on science activities, to make it easy for children to create science projects. Elmer’s offers display boards, foam boards, stencils, markers and more. Although we didn’t create an actual project for display, I know these will come in handy soon.

Giveaway – Mythbusters Weird World of Water and Elmer’s Foam Board and Project Popperz

Rules

1. Contest starts now and ends May 23rd midnight EST.
2. Open to adults 18 and over within the USA
3. One submission per household (not entry).
4. Winner will be chosen by Random.org.
5. Winner have 2 days to claim prize via email.

How To Enter

For One Entry For Each Below: (please leave a separate comment for each entry)

1. Leave a comment about a science project your child has done or is interested in.
2. Use the Facebook Like Button under this post. Leave a comment that you did so.
3. Follow Scientific Explorer on Twitter. Please leave a comment that you did along with your Twitter ID.
4. Follow ConnieFoggles on Twitter. Please leave a comment that you did along with your Twitter ID.
5. Follow Elmer’s on Twitter. Please leave a comment that you did along with your Twitter ID.
6. Subscribe to the Scientific Explorer You Tube Channel. Please leave a comment that you did along with your You Tube ID.
7. Tweet this exactly. You may tweet this daily: (leave a link to your tweet)

#Win Mythbusters Kit and Elmers products @ConnieFoggles #giveaway http://bit.ly/ieLqhI PL RT

I was provided with the Mythbusters and Elmers products. All opinions are my own.

We did have to wait until after lunch to create and eat our cupcakes, but it was worth it. Plus we ate on the plates we made the day before.

Crayola provided our transportation, lodging, food, gift bags and gift cards for expenses.

We had a group of videographers with us and now the videos are up on You Tube. Here’s the one about our first day in New York City:

See if you spot my daughter Sammi and me!

Crayola provided our transportation, lodging, food, gift bags and gift cards for expenses.

I surprised my friend’s daughters with the all of the toys at their house and we had a mini Zhu Zhu Puppies party! It was a scene of excitement, with Layla (2), Leah (3) and Lauren (7) going to town helping their mom Leanne and me open all the Zhu Zhu Puppies goodies. Even her son, Christian, age 6,  got into the act of helping put the Bark de Triomphe play set together. Thank goodness that they had the puppies to play with as we tried to figure out how to assemble the play set.

The instructions leave a bit to desire as they are an illustration showing the parts and then the assembled item. There’s nothing written to tell you which part goes where or even a diagram of how the pieces should be connected. It took trial and error to get the play set together and we still had 2 parts left over. The kids were thrilled though and the playing began.

The girls loved brushing the puppies’ hair, dressing them up, cuddling with them and listening to them chatter. Of course putting them in the playset, which is like a palace, and watching them zip around was their favorite activity. It kept 3 girls happy and that’s saying a lot!

Leanne was happy to know that there are many other puppies, more outfits and playsets that can be purchased for her girls. She know has the start of a new toy collection for her girls.

Watch the girls as they play with Murphy and Sabrina in the Bark de Triomphe:

I was provided with the 2 Zhu Zhu Puppies, an outfit and the playset by Cephia and MomSelect. All opinions are my own.

The bus was decked out inside and out. Inside was like a disco, with flashing lights, music, cushioned seats and snacks and drinks. It started then. People from New York, who normally don’t bat an eye at anything looked at us. Some stopped in their tracks. This happened all day when we were together as a group. People may have thought that we were filming a TV show and we looked like we were – with our videographers, photographers and matching clothing.

Now remember we didn’t know where we were headed. We knew we’d be going to four places and every stop had something to do with each of the Pixies. So add surprise to the excitement we felt…

First Stop – Sky’s Scenic Ride at Central Park for Skye (Skye is known for Nature Nurture) We stopped to see the wind chimes we made the night before hanging from a tree. They looked so pretty along with the fall leaves. Then we were off on a horse and buggy ride that took us through the park. We chose a purple buggy with Jennifer Leet and her daughter Ashton. Great conversation, beautiful scenery and lots of photo opps.

Second Stop – Tatum’s Tea Party at Magnolia Bakery for Tatum (Tatum is known for Life… so Fun) Ah, I’ve loved this bakery since another trip to NYC. We were in a private room and started off with a lunch of sandwiches (tons of choices). We learned how to decorate cupcakes from a young girl who worked there and made it look so simple. When we tried, it was so hard, but so yummy. Especially eaten on our Crayola Pop Art Pixies Glass Plates

Break On Our Own – Rockefeller Center to be tourists and that we did. Sammi and I walked around to see the famous tree that was still in scaffolding, the ice skating rink and the store window. Even though I said I’d buy her something, she just wanted a hot dog to eat. She kept saying that the trip was a gift!

Third Stop – Maya’s Museum Tour at the Museum of Modern Art (Maya is known for Art is life) We took a tour of some of the artists like Monet, Vincent Van Gough and Henri Rousseau and then on to the Pop Art display with Andy Warhol’s paintings. We showed off our Crayola Pop Art Pixies Shadow Boxes in a group photo outside the museum.

Fourth Stop – Naomi’s DJ Dance Party at Scratch DJ Academy (Naomi is known for Music is to Die For) Our night ended with our favorite stop where Sammi learned how to be a DJ, where we had a dinner of sushi, Japanese candy and pizza and where we made the disco ball like Crayola Pop Art Pixies Color Glow Lamp and danced till we couldn’t dance any more! Sammi loves music and she got her groove on.  We started this stop out exhausted. Some of us (ahem, me) were even getting grumpy, but as the time went on, we had so much fun that we forgot about being tired!

On the ride back to the hotel on the bus, we all let our hair down. With songs like Empire State of Mind and New York, New York, we sang out loud, danced in our seats and chattered away about the day we just spent together. We got to know about each of the Crayola Pop Art Pixies, visited some hot spots in NYC and were treated like VIPs.

Lots more photos –

Crayola provided our transportation, lodging, food, gift bags and gift cards for expenses.

Having the time to bond with Sammi, getting time to craft with the Crayola Pop Art Pixies products, meeting other bloggers and their daughters and visiting sites in New York City was one of the best times I’ve had hands down. We started off flying into LaGuardia, where we were met by the Crayola gang who whisked us off to the luxurious W Times Square Hotel. We met up on the 5th floor where were given Tote bags, ID tags and T-Shirts with our very own Pop Art Pixies Avatar. Then, we had time to go to our room, take it all in (if possible), look at the view and get changed for the VIP Pop Art Pixie Premiere Party Dinner.

Before entering the party, we walked the pink carpet. Sammi was too shy to be interviewed, but she was just getting warmed up. Inside we found a room full of moms and daughters talking, eating and smiling. We joined in and soon began one of the Pop Art Pixies crafts we’d enjoy. That night, along with the delightful company, delicious food and courteous service, Sammi and I took time to work on the crafts together. That was such a joy. I found it so relaxing. Sammi thought they were fun and liked using her creativity. Doing something one on one that is peaceful, not competitive, and allowed us to talk is a real gift.

After the party, we said goodnight to new friends and some we’ve known for a while and headed up to our room on the 52nd floor. As excited as we were, the next day was a full day and we had to wake up early. When we were ready to slip into our comfy beds, Sammi hugged me and told me that she was having a great time. That made the start of our Crayola event even more special.

Stay tuned for Day 2 of our Crayola VIP NYC Pop Art Pixies Event.

Crayola provided our transportation, lodging, food, gift bags and gift cards for expenses.

Sammi’s 11 and we don’t know if this is her last year dressing up. She’s leaning toward that, but then again she could be like her sister, Alicia. She’s 23 and hasn’t missed being in costume once. She loves Halloween and creating awesome costumes.

So as promised, here’s Sammi in her Mad Hatter costume from the Disney Store -

She really is happy. I have no idea why she’s not smiling, well I probably do – she does not like having her photo taken.

Happy Halloween and be safe tonight!

They are not allowed to use rolling backpacks, not that I think any tween or teen would even consider such a fashion faux pas! The staff at my daughter’s school are deciding whether to open up the lockers for the students. My daughter said it looks good. She’s seen them being cleaned out – a good sign. As a very thin girl, she’s overly thrilled with this idea.

Thinking that she would have a locker, she practiced using a Wordlock over the summer. Practice isn’t a good description though, as the Wordlock uses a combination of letters instead of numbers, making it easy to remember. She changed her mind at least a dozen times over the 5 letter words she would use. The Wordlock is made of  hardened steel so it’s secure. You can change your word by just moving the dials and using a coin in the end slot to save your new combination. Available in red, silver, black and pink.

Sammi chose red and is looking forward to having a locker to relieve her back and to show off her unique lock too. She is thinking about changing her word combination again! After all there are over 100,000 word combinations! That’s a lesson in itself.

You can find Wordlock at Amazon.com, Target, Kmart, Sears and other retailers. The price on Amazon.com is $9.43

You can find all of our Back To School Connection giveaways here.

The set is small enough to fit in a backpack and cute enough for tween girls to share silly notes and secrets. My daughter, Sammi used a few to let her friends know that she had to leave early one day. She’s also given to newly made friends with her phone number and email address so they can stay in contact outside of school. Of course there may be other reasons for her notes, but she’s keeping them from me!

A really adorable idea and incentive for writing and communicating with friends as well as an easy way to make new friends. The Mini Locker Notes are not too girly according to Sammi, but have that cute factor. She loves the bees and hedgehog and carefully chooses which note card to send to which friend. The cards are lined so it’s easy to keep writing legible, even if rushed.

Giveaway: One set of Mini Locker Notes by Chronicle Books (value $9.95)

The Rules:

1. Contest starts now and ends September 10 midnight EST.
2. Open to adults 18 and over from the US and Canada
3. One submission per household.
4. Winner will be chosen by Random.org.
5. Winner have 2 days to claim prize via email.
6. Have fun and tell your friends.

How To Enter:

For One Entry For Each Below: (please leave a separate comment for each entry)

1. Leave a comment about news your tween or teen like to share with friends. (or any child that you know)
2. Follow ConnieFoggles on Twitter and leave your Twitter name as a comment.
3. Follow RobynsWorld on Twitter and leave your Twitter name as a comment.
4. Use the Share Button and share this post (for example on Reddit, etc.) Leave a comment for each place you shared. One point for each share.
5. Leave a comment on another post (not a giveaway) and let me know what post please.
6. This giveaway is part of the Back To School Connection Event! Visit the main page and grab our Back To School button and share it on your blog for an extra entry into this and every giveaway during the event!
7. Tweet this exactly. You may tweet this daily: (leave a link to your tweet or your Twitter ID)

#Win Mini Locker Notes from @ChronicleBooks for school @ConnieFoggles http://clicky.me/1WBA PL RT

Disclosure: I was provided with a pack of Mini Locker Notes to review and a pack will be provided to my winner by Chronicle Books. All opinions are 100% my own.

Find all Back To School Connection giveaways here.

Giveaway Ended.