Win a $50 Toys “R” Us gift card!

This giveaway is now closed.   Erin W. is the winner of the gift card.   Congrats, Erin!!

Since Christmas is approaching (I checked out library books yesterday and the due date was in December. What the what???), Toys “R” Us has just sent out their Great Big Christmas Book.

Aaaaand they’re also having several special events at their stores, called Ultimate Wish Saturdays.

They sent me over with a gift card to check it out with my kiddos (plus I have a gift card for one of you too!)

At these special events, which run from 12-4, you get stickers, a shopping bag,   a wish list paper, and you get to meet Geoffrey.   Plus, this Saturday there are some fun Nerf events, and on the 22nd, there’s a Lego-themed Ultimate Wish Saturday.

Sonia and Zoe and I decided to use our gift card to buy items to fill our Operation Christmas Child box.   They chose to fill one for a 7-9 year old girl, since they’re pretty in touch with what girls that age love.   😉

We got plenty of art supplies…

a little Calico Critter animal…

plus a yo-yo, Play-Doh, hairbands, and an Etch-a-Sketch.

(Not pictured is a hilarious $0.99 wind-up giraffe that will probably break after a few weeks of use, but it was so funny, we couldn’t resist. And we figured it was balanced out by all the other long-lasting stuff in the box.)

We did not buy this car for our Christmas child.

Or for Sonia and Zoe.

We’d have to have a much larger house or garage to accommodate that, I think. 😉

Toys “R” Us participates with Toys For Tots, so they have a handy-dandy bin at their stores where you can donate new, unwrapped toys for children in your community.

Sonia and Zoe and I thought for a while about what we’d like to donate.   We wanted to pick something that could work for a lot of ages and also for either boys or girls, so we opted for a Play-Doh set that had lots of fun potential.

(Some Play-Doh kits are kind of unitasker toys, you know?)

So we chose one with lots of different colors and some useful accessories, like shape cutters and rolling pins.

And since they were on a buy one, get one 50% off sale, we bought two.

After we paid, into the Toys for Tots bin they went.

 

Oh, and Toys “R” Us wanted me to try out their free wishlist app (since I have a super-duper cheap smartphone plan now, I was able to give it a shot.)

Here’s the app on Google Play, although of course I used the iPhone version.

Basically, it functions in place of a paper wish list: you scan the items in-store, and you end up with an electronic wishlist which you can use for yourself or share with friends and family.

(This would be a handy way to send gift ideas to grandparents.)

We tested out the app on some Calico Critter items because of course.

It takes a little bit of work to set up each individual kid in the app, but once that’s done, it’s very very easy to scan items for the wishlist.   Scan the barcode, and poof, there it is on the wishlist, with a photo beside.

The last two Ultimate Wish Saturday events are this Saturday and next, so if your kids are into Nerf or Lego (or Geoffrey), don’t miss out!

And do consider giving to others by choosing a toy to put in the Toys for Tots bin.   Have your kids help you pick something out!   They might be surprised at how much fun it is to choose a toy for another kid.

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The Giveaway

Toys “R” Us gave me a $50 gift card to give away to one of you.   It’ll be sent out to the winner right away, in plenty of time to help you out with your shopping.

(To make your gift card go even farther, be sure to check out the coupons in the back of the Toys “R” Us Christmas book.)

To enter, leave a comment telling me what you’d buy at Toys “R” Us if you won the gift card.

We’ll make this a quick 48 hour giveaway, so get your entries in before 7:00 am EST on Friday,   November 14th.

Toys “R” Us provided gift cards but this post was not sponsored in any other way. All opinions are my own.   NO PURCHASE NECESSARY.   Void where prohibited.   Chances of winning depend on the number of entrants.   Winner will be chosen at random.