Handy Man in Training: One Step Ahead Bosch Work Bench and Tool Set

December 7, 2012 by Momstart 7 Comments

One Step Ahead Bosch Work Bench and Tool Set – Perfect for the Little Handy Man in Training VIDEO REVIEW

By: Ashley

It’s not secret that I am a HUGE fan of OneStepAhead. I think they have an incredible selection of toys that are good for kids. Their products are good quality and pretty much all of their toys have some kind of great learning value. To top it all off, their customer service is amazing!

So, now that I’ve told you all about how much I love OneStepAhead, I can tell you about the cutest pint sized work bench I’ve seen in awhile. The Bosch Junior Toy Workbench is a great hands on, motor skill building, imagination starting toy. This workbench is made for toddlers (recommended for ages 2 and up) but could last through preschool (at least until 4 years old). The height of the bench might start to seem a bit short to older children, but the realistic tools, interactive turning gears, and working vice can keep children busy and entertained. It is currently on sale at OneStepAhead for only $41.97 and regularly priced at $59.95.

The Bosch Toy Toolbox and Tool Set (recommended for ages 3 and up) will make any kid happy because they will be working with tools and a tool box that look just like yours! Just like the workbench, the attention to detail and realistic appearance of these tools is amazing. With a toy hammer, saw, screwdriver, and wrench, your little handyman will be ready to go. When you add in the battery powered toy drill that really buzzes and spins, you make this the perfect toy tool set. The handle on our tool box was a little wobbly, but the tools are all super sturdy and durable making these tools toys that should last a long time.

Make sure you watch the video for an up close look at the workbench and the tool box. I’m always impressed with the toys from OneStepAhead and this is no exception.

About Ashley (Managing Editor at MomStart): Ashley is a mom, wife, sister, daughter, friend, and former teacher working to navigate through the mysterious world of Mommyia. Read more about her adventures at Momicles and follow her @Momicles2010

Disclosure – A product was provided to facilitate this review. All opinions are my own.

One Step Ahead Where Costumes Aren’t Just for Halloween #Giveaway

October 9, 2012 by Momstart 174 Comments

By: Ashley

I taught kindergarten for awhile before I became a mom. I saw first-hand what important role dress up played in the development of kids day in and day out. Halloween is a great time to take advantage of costume deals and sales to build a dress up kit for your own children at home. One Step Ahead is a great spot to check for Halloween costumes… and costumes that can be used all year long.

A lot of people automatically think of princess boxes or skirts, aprons, and old high heels for a dress up box all geared towards little girls. The truth is, little boys can have just as much fun with a dress up box even if some of the items inside are a little different. One Step Ahead is a great place to look for girl friendly, boy friendly and most importantly KID friendly dress up gear for your little ones. The costumes from One Step Ahead are extremely high quality and incredibly authentic encouraging your children’s abstract thinking, communication skills, and imagination.

What kind of high quality costumes does One Step Ahead have? Their firefighter costume comes complete with suspenders, a real zip and hook coat, and a great solid hat. It was cool enough that even my husband was impressed!

They also have dress up kits like the pirate role play kit, dragon costumes, police officer costumes, doctor and nurse uniforms, and more! I’ve always had great experiences with One Step Ahead and know that you will too.

One of the best things about shopping with One Step Ahead is their satisfaction guarantee. They have a 100% lifetime guarantee on all of their products and a price match guarantee. If there is ever a problem (or sizing issue), the customer service team will happily help fix the problem. I actually had a sizing issue with the dragon costume pictured above and wanted to check it out for everyone else.

Enter to Win:

To get you into the dress up spirit, One Step Ahead wants to giveaway an in-stock costume of equal value to the Firefighter ($60) to one MomStart reader! That means you will have $60 to spend on a costume for your dress up box at One Step Ahead!

To Enter:

Tell me what your kids like to pretend to be

Extra Entries:

Use the rafflecopter

a Rafflecopter giveaway

I was provided product to facilitate this review. All opinions are my own.

This giveaway ends October 22nd. Please see the giveaway rules.

Know Where Things Are, and Keep Your Car Clean One Step Ahead Family Car Organizer

September 13, 2012 by Momstart 13 Comments

One Step Ahead Family Car Organizer – Know Where Things Are, and Keep Your Car Clean!

By: Ashley

I know that the summer travel season has passed us by, but just because you’re not loading up the family car for a long road trip does NOT mean that you’re not spending time in your car. Now that school has started, so have carpools, rides to extracurricular activities, shuttling kids to school, and weekend sleepovers. Or, if you’re like me, you don’t have school age kids yet, but every time you go anywhere, the backseat ends up looking like a toy box exploded (along with some snacks and drinks…). I feel like anytime is the right time to get more organized and the One Step Ahead Car Organizer helped my backseat go from toy/juice explosion, to neat contained chaos in no time.

One Step Ahead is an awesome company that brings solutions to those every day challenges we face with kids. We actually purchased an awesome inflatable bathtub from them when Atticus was younger. They have great high quality products.

Okay, back to the car organizer. I’ve always kept a stockpile of toys in the car. I also keep spare diapers, a couple of snacks, and a change of clothes for those moments that inevitably happen when you’re out and about. I’ve tried a ton of different ways to keep it all organized – bags, plastic tubs, trunk organizers… but none of it worked. When I got the One Step Ahead Family Travel Organizer, I wasn’t sure it would do the job. Boy was I wrong! Everything from the boxes on the floor and the stuff all over the seat was easily organized in seconds.

The Family Travel Organizer has a ton of features that I LOVE!

– Mesh cupholders that are easily accessible and hold a variety of sizes.

– A sturdy snap-on lid that can serve as a snack table or play table.

– A carry strap that allows the organizer to work as a bag.

– 8 outside pockets for storing and organizing all of the extra stuff.

– Repositionable dividers to create the space you need – like splitting it in half for 2 kids.

You can see from the before and after pictures that this organizer really cleans up the space in your car. We’ve been using it for 3 weeks now, and it STILL keeps things within arms reach and nice and tidy. The best part is, Atticus understands what the organizer is for, and where things go in it. AWESOME!

This Family Travel Organizer is now on my recommendation list for anyone who drives around with a little one in your car! It will help you keep your car clean… and your car time a little less stressful.

Disclosure – I received a product to facilitate this review. All opinions expressed are my own.

Traveling With Kids: Tips from One Step Ahead

September 12, 2012 by Momstart 14 Comments

Summer travel has winded down, but families are already planning ahead for holiday travel. It’s hard to believe that it’s already time to start thinking about the holidays, but especially when it comes to travel, planning ahead is a good thing.

One Step Ahead has a ton of family travel supplies and gear that can make the whole thing a little less stressful. You should definitely check them out before your next trip.

In addition to all of the cool supplies One Step Ahead has to make travel a little easier, they went to their Facebook fans to collect a list of tips. I’ve seen a lot of these lists floating around, but this list of “real life” parent tips for traveling with kids is great!

· Travel fairy. Purchase small, inexpensive toys to use as rewards during the trip. For each hour of good behavior while on the trip, hand out a wrapped reward to each child. They will be motivated to behave and will enjoy a new treat to keep them occupied during the next stretch.

· Catch your Zzzz’s. Time road trips or flights around sleep schedules if possible. Try to travel when the kids are sleeping to pass a large chunk of time. If possible, travel overnight. Try our Deluxe Seat Belt Snoozer Car Pillow.

· Snack attack. Bring a cooler of snacks for kids (and parents!). This will help keep kids hunger-free for longer periods of time and will prevent frequent food stops. This will also cut down on airplane snack costs while in-flight. Try our My First Insulated Lunchbags and Snack Happened Reusable Snack Bags.

· Family time. While road-tripping, play family travel games such as License Plate Bingo, I Spy, Landmark Scavenger Hunt & throw in family sing-along time to boot! Try our Flip to Win Travel Hangman.

· Bookworms. In addition to favorite story books, bring along brochures of your destination for kids browse and pick out things they want to do when they arrive and/or catalogs for kids to circle picks for birthday/holiday lists. Even load up the iPod with audiobooks for whole family entertainment. Try our Kids Activity Books or My Quiet Activity Book.

· Activity binders! Print free online coloring pages of kids’ favorite characters, dot-to-dots, mazes (even some fun school skill worksheets!) & assemble in a special binder for each child. Give to each child at the start of the trip for hours of entertainment! Bring along our Deluxe Snack & Play Kids Travel Tray or Family Travel Car Organizers!

· Everyone needs a break. When traveling by car, try and pre-plan meal stops around rest-stop/park locations. Either bring or buy meals there & let the kids stretch their legs and burn off some energy running around before hitting the road again! Take along our Waterproof Outdoor Blanket for perfect rest stop picnics!

· Engage children. Have children help with the packing! Give them each parent-approved bags to fill with special toys and activities that they want to play with en route and while at your destination! Try our My First Backpacks or Sun Smarties Swim Bags.

· Mail the luggage. When flying, cut down on airport baggage by mailing some items to your destination ahead of time. It’s easier to maneuver with kids through the airport when you’re not carrying so many bags. Try our Go Go Kidz Travelmate for whizzing through the airport.

· When flying, bring at least one small, carry-on bag with your family’s “essentials” (think change of clothes, diapers, toothbrush, favorite stuffed animal etc). You never know when your flight could be delayed or your baggage could get lost for a night or two!

· Whether you’re road-tripping to Grandma’s house or flying to a destination vacation, bring along some items to help children easily transition to their temporary home-away-from home. Try our Go-Pod Portable Activity Center, Stay-Put Inflatable Bed Rail Set or Tuck Me In Travel Bed.

· Stay safe. No matter where your destination, be prepared & address appropriate safety behaviors with the family in advance of the trip. Explain what to expect at the airport, theme park, hotel or visiting house & agree on best safety practices. For theme park visits, try our Clip-On Child Locator and/or Temporary Tattoos so you can write your cell phone number on your child’s arm.

Traveling with kids seems like a scary thing, but once you just go ahead and do it, you see it’s not as bad as you think. With tips like these and more great resources at One Step Ahead, you can make all of your family’s travel smooth sailing.

One Step Ahead Jumbo Hopscotch Splash Mat #giveaway

July 11, 2009 by MomStart 392 Comments

One Step Ahead was very generous and gracious when I contacted them and asked if they would like to be on Mom Start for a review and giveaway.

One Step Ahead loves mommy bloggers and for me I was able to choose from few different products and I chose the Jumbo Hopscotch Splash Mat. The Splash Mat retails for 24.95 and is recommended for ages two and up.

I didn’t read the directions so this is my story. I took i tout of the box and hooked up the hose to it. I was surprised that it had to fill up before it worked. It didn’t take long though and then the water was spraying out in between each of the numbers.

My daughter didn’t like the water coming out very strong so I turned the pressure down and then she would play in it. She’s not very into getting wet but I was able to encourage her and she was counting up and down repeating after me. We had fun on it until the mosquitoes came out.

I really liked it and I played on it with them. I haven’t had any problems with it. I found it very slow to release all of the water in it. We live in Washington so I expect it to get yucky before too long, but we’ll enjoy it for as long as we can. She can practice reading her numbers and we can remember colors and the shape of squares. She played with the little sandbags as well. It came with four and it was still very difficult for her to share one with her brother, but she did.

You can win one:

To Enter:

Visit One Step Ahead Summer Fun and choose something else that you think would be nice to try some time.

Extra Entries:

None Bloggers get and extra entry for every e-mail they send out linking to this giveaway cc louise@looksblue.com (be sure to leave a comment for every person you e-mail, for example if you e-mail 10 different people leave 10 different comments)

Subscribe to my blog
Follow me on twitter tell me your twitter ID
Blog about the giveaway include a link to me for five extra entries
Tweet the giveaway (every time you tweet you get an entry) Link to the giveaway please!!!
Add my button to your blog/blog roll
Dig, Stumble, or fav me on Technorati (two entries for each one)
Leave a comment for every entry and the giveaway ends July 31st.

The contest will run until Friday July 31st 11:59 pm Pacific. The winner will be selected by www.random.org

One Step Ahead is giving away Stay-Fresh Baby Food Container

June 14, 2009 by MomStart 1 Comment

One Step Ahead is the one stop place for everything you need for children.

I’ve been looking at the list and every idea I can come up with is already on the list. If you have an original idea don’t tell me send it to the e-mail address below.

To Enter

you need to e-mail yourideas@onestepahead.com

Official Rules: Contest Rules

Use our Stay-Fresh Containers…

To freeze homemade baby food
To send baby’s food to daycare
To pack portion-controlled lunch treats
To tote a mess-free meal in your diaper bag
To make a rattle for baby (fill with uncooked pasta)
As a Tooth Fairy mailbox; no foraging under pillows
To capture loose change in the laundry room
To organize paper clips and office supplies
As a travel sewing kit (fill with needle and thread)
As stacking toys for baby
For organizing (or packing) jewelry
As a portable pill box
As spice containers
To sort spare change
To hold fuses in your glove box
As a starter pot for seedlings
As candy containers
As popsicle molds; just add sticks!
To hold lunchbox salad dressing
To store beads and other craft supplies
As dipping cups
To hold extra buttons
To corral barrettes & bobby pins
To organize nails, screws, and misc. hardware
To portion bulk instant drink mixes (way cheaper than single servings!)
Use to sort small Lego® pieces
As gelatin/pudding cups
To hold cotton swabs
As sand castle molds
As paint cups (paint won’t dry out between uses!)
To trace perfect circles— it’s way safer than a compass!
As an emergency contact lens case
As a bug catcher; poke holes in the lid
As food/water dishes for pocket pets
As a dog treat dispenser
To send SOS messages from a deserted island
To store homemade modeling dough
As a waterproof wallet at water parks
As a cooler cold pack; just fill with water and freeze
To hold your little scientist’s nature specimens
To store seeds for planting
To store pre-chopped ingredients, speeding meal prep
For collecting seashells
As a bedside water cup
As a chalk holder
To hold party favors
To contain small doll accessories
To safely store thumbtacks
As a scrapbook supply organizer
As a coupon holder