This is sponsored content by BlogHer and Kelloggs.

We have our winner! Commenter #66 – Cori! Congratulations Cori!

It seems the end of summer comes on suddenly, and every year I find myself standing with my arms out asking, “Where did the time go?”

Most summers,  we close with a long weekend camping trip with a dozen other families. But due to schedule conflicts, we don’t get to do that this year. *sad face*

With the realization that summer is coming to a close, we often try to cram in a few activities in the last weeks of our freedom… ranging from a baseball game, trips to the beach, a trip to the zoo, and this year we are going to shell out some cash to take the kids on a local tourist attraction – The Ducks of Seattle.

Truth is, times are tight, and our summer excursions have had to stay local… even going to the movies can get expensive, but not if you have friends with a projector – and a white garage door! This summer we have enjoyed “Drive-in on our drive way” night!

How about you? What are some fun summer activities that you plan with your kids as the summer comes to a close? Please share it in the comments! If you do, you will be entered for a chance to win a $100 Visa giftcard! This contest runs 8/17- 8/24/2010. There are 24 other chances to win! Please visit the round-up page to find out how —> BlogHer.com Kellogg exclusive offers page

Rules:

• No duplicate comments.
• You may receive an additional entry by linking on twitter and leaving a link in the comments.
• You may receive an additional entry by blogging about this contest and leaving a link in the comments.
• This giveaway is open to US Residents, aged 18 and older
• Winners will be selected via random draw, and will notified by e-mail.
• You have 48 hours to get back to me, otherwise a new winner will be selected.
• BlogHer.com Smuckers roundup page. You can find the official rules here.

Mom’s Breakfast Club was started to help educate moms and families about kids’ cereal and share the scoop on their nutritional benefits and ingredients. To learn more about the program, visit www.loveyourcereal.com.

You can check out their official site here!

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*Update… we have our winners!Thank you so much to Zelosport for your huge heart and giving extra to benefit 2 charities! Our winners are Bob and Eric. Bob’s choice charity is Common Era Ministries, and Erics choice charity is the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation of Washington State! You guys are awesome – Bob, Eric AND Zelosport! Here are the randon.org numbers:

I received an email from Zelosport asking if I’d like have my family try one of their table top games. I was all, “What? Fun? Bring it!”

Zelosport makes table top football, soccer, baseball, and golf games.

I decided we’d try out the football game, and got to choose our own team – of course I chose the Seahawks mat! We live in the Seattle area, and are therefore Seahawks fans.

Also, after my kids pass gas, instead of “excuse me”, they say “GO SEAHAWKS!” It’s true.

This is not my family. I didn’t want to show my messy house.

The Zelosport mat is a smooth and sturdy. The game comes with instructions, and the pieces needed for play (dice, foam ball, ring markers). Our family found it was a little complicated to fully integrate the rules… so we adjusted a bit and found it fun to flick around the foam football and zoom the rings and pieces… setting our own passing goals and whathaveyou.

If football is not your “thing”, Zelosport also has mats for baseball, soccer, golf… Visit Zelosports for more information! By the way if you decide one of these games might be a fun holiday gift – be sure to use this link or type the code “Jenny” at checkout — you will receive 10% off your own game purchase!

Hey! Would you like to win a game for yourself? Would you ALSO like to be able give away one of these games to a charity of your choice? It’s almost Christmas! Zelosports is giving a free game for two commenters AND a game for each winner’s charity of choice!

Contest Rules:

• No duplicate comments.
• In your comment, please leave the name of the charity to which you will be donating.
• You may receive an additional entry by linking on twitter and leaving a link in the comments (please leave Twitter link in a separate comment).
• Or receive an additional entry by blogging about this contest and leaving a link in the comments.
• This giveaway is open to US Residents, aged 18 and older.
• Winners will be selected via random draw (www.random.org), and will be notified by e-mail.
• You have 48 hours to get back to me, otherwise a new winner will be selected.
• Contest ends at noon PST on Friday December 11th!

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Keep up on the ridiculous, the insightful, the always digressive…

Get Jenny On The Spot by RSS or EMAIL

Follow JOTS on Twitter, join the Facebook Fan Page and/or Networked Blogs!

This is a compensated review from BlogHer and LEGO^® DUPLO^®.

*Update! We have a winner!

Congratualtions Keeslermom of Keesler Chaos! I know you have a pefect kiddo in mind! Enjoy!

My 4 year old daughter, Lucy is undoubtedly a tactile/kinesthetic learner. I have learned that stopping to touch flowers and leaves and towels and clothing and toys and even cans in the canned food aisle are a huge deal to my daughter. Her favorite things to touch are soft things, and if she could go about life in her bare feet, she would. Even in at the park in 40 degree rain…

My little girl is a busy little girl… always looking for a new sensory experience.

She is an explorer and only recently has my maternal “light bulb” turned on. I am learning that I need to allow her time to touch, feel, smell and explore as we march through our day-to-day happenings.

Even something as simple as feeling the water temperature change when she gets ready to “do the dishes”. Yes, my 4 year old helps “clean” the dishes. I think she is drawn to the “slick” feeling that soap and other surfaces create. She loves the feel of the water running on her hands. Yesterday she approached me with a mushroom bouquet and squaled, “OH Mama! Feel! These are SOOOOOO soft!”

Her hands are ALWAYS moving… coloring, drawing, scribbling, building, cleaning, scratching, touching, feeling, touching…

We recently tore into our new LEGO^® DUPLO^® package… I made her wait a couple of days before we did, and she nearly came unglued.

Once the contents were emptied, there was no holding her back.

We worked together to build the rescue station. This was her first experience with full LEGO^® freedom. Her older brother has his Star Wars collection that she is allowed very limited access to. This little project was a very big deal… “Mama! Feel this!” There were a couple times the pieces she was playing with popped apart. She cried, “It broke-ed!”

I said, “Oh honey. These don’t break. Look!” And in a snap the “broke-ed” parts were repaired and after a couple of repairs, she got it. A little while later a piece came off. She giggled and said, “It’s not broke-ed”. I can fix it Mama!”

*****

LEGO^® DUPLO^® wants to encourage imaginative play in children. In keeping with this theme, they are offering a LEGO^® DUPLO^® prize pack to one of you! To enter for a chance at this prize pack, leave me a comment below and share how you get creative and stimulate development in your kids – or you may leave a link to your post on your own blog in the comments below. The contest will begin at 9:00 a.m. (PST) November 9, 2009 and will end 8:59 a.m. (PST) November 16, 2009.. Make sure that the e-mail address you leave is correct.

Rules:

• No duplicate comments.
• You may receive an additional entry by linking on twitter and leaving a link in the comments.
• You may receive an additional entry by blogging about this contest and leaving a link in the comments.
• This giveaway is open to US Residents, aged 18 and older
• Winners will be selected via random draw, and will be notified by e-mail.
• You have 48 hours to get back to me, otherwise a new winner will be selected.

Please see the official rules here: Official rules

Winner to be chosen via the Random Number Generator.

Be sure to check out the other reviews at BlogHer! You have 8 chances to win!:

Feel free to visit the official site for more information: Duplo official site