Review and Giveaway: Scholastic Treasures Wheels on the Bus Sing-Along Travel Kit CLOSED

Thank you to Scholastic and Sugar Mountain P.R. for participating in the Bloggy Birthday Blowout Event on Goodie Goodie Gumdrops!

Ah, summer. The perfect time for road trips and traveling. While I love exploring and visiting new places, long car rides and toddlers are like oil and water - they just don't mix. It can be a struggle to keep them entertained for extended periods of time when their patience hangs by a thread. Thankfully, Scholastic Treasures has an extra-special rescue pack for us road warriors.

The Wheels on the Bus Sing-Along Travel Kit gives you everything you need to make traveling with little ones easy, fun and educational. Included in the kit are 15 musical stories on 2 DVD's, a 13-song CD, and a 34-page activity booklet complete with crayons and travel tips for parents. All of this fits conveniently in a compact travel case with handle for hours of family-friendly fun.

Episode/Track Listings:

DVD #1: The Wheels on the Bus
1. The Wheels on the Bus
2. Musical Max
3. Joseph Had a Little Overcoat
4. Bugs! Bugs! Bugs!
5. All the Colors of the Earth
6. Keeping House
7. Hush Little Baby

DVD #2: There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly
1. There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly
2. This Land is Your Land
3. Frog Went A-Courtin'
4. Over in the Meadow
5. Giraffes Can't Dance
6. The Chinese Violin
7. Dem Bones
8. Changes, Changes

CD: The Wheels on the Bus
1. The Wheels on the Bus - The Bacon Brothers
2. The Fox Went Out on a Chilly Night - Alice Peacock
3. Dinosaur Bones - Bob Barner
4. Chicka Chicka 1, 2, 3 - Chrystal Taliefero
5. Donut Make You Feel So Good - Scotty Huff and Robert Reynolds
6. Dem Bones - Raul Malo
7. He's Got the Whole World in His Hands - Chrystal Taliefero
8. Everything's Better - Scotty Huff, Robert Reynolds and Paul Deakin
9. Over in the Meadow - Mae Robertson
10. The Erie Canal - Rusty Young and Jack Sundrud
11. Frog Went A-Courtin' - Rusty Young and Jack Sundrud
12. Tooth School Anthem - Scotty Huff and Robert Reynolds
13. Gonna Read to My Bunny - Mary Chapin Carpenter

A few weeks ago, we decided to take an impromptu trip to the beach, which is about 2 hours away. I was nervous about Nate being in the car that long with no pit stops so I made sure to bring along our Wheels on the Bus Sing-Along Travel Kit. We don't have a DVD player in the Jeep so we couldn't view the videos on the way but we popped in the CD instead. It really set the tone of anticipation for the start of our vacation. It wasn't too boisterous or too mellow; it was just right and had all of us bopping our heads. The Bacon Brothers' "Wheels on the Bus" is a refreshing rendition of a repetitive classic and Mary Chapin Carpenter's catchy country ode to storytime "Gonna Read to My Bunny" is beyond cute. I also enjoyed the Beach Boys-esque "Dinosaur Bones" and "The Erie Canal", on which Rusty Young is a dead ringer for Eric Clapton.

Mid-way on the trip, we slipped Nate the crayons and activity book, which he loved. It kept him happy and occupied for a good long while. I liked that it had simple color pages for toddlers as well as counting and matching games for slightly older kids. There were also travel game ideas such as scavenger hunts and alphabet games in the back of the book that the whole family could play together on the road. I just wish the book had wipe-clean pages so it could be reused.

Once we made it to our destination, as luck would have it, it rained just about the entire weekend. Bummer! Since we were stuck in our hotel for hours on end with limited resources for an attention-deficit toddler, we pulled out our Sing-Along Travel Kit DVDs and played them on the laptop for Nate. As we've come to expect from Scholastic Treasures, both videos were entertaining as well as educational. The illustrations are whimsical and colorful, and narrations/music by popular actors and musicians such as Rob Reiner, Cyndi Lauper and Arlo Guthrie make them fun for parents. Nate is only two so he can't read yet but I still love the read-along feature, which supports reading comprehension and vocabulary.

All I can say is thank goodness for our travel kit. Without it, I think our getaway would have been a lot more stressful. But we don't use our kit exclusively on the road. As you can see, we even have fun with it at home:

BUY IT: You can purchase the Scholastic Treasures Wheels on the Bus Sing-Along Travel Kit online at www.newkideo.com or Amazon.com (ARV $13.49).

WIN IT: I have another travel kit up for grabs for one lucky reader!

MAIN COURSE (MANDATORY ENTRY): Tell me where your next family vacation will be and how you're getting there! Remember to please leave your email address in your comment if it isn't visible on your profile to prevent disqualification!

SUGAR ON TOP (BONUS ENTRIES): To maximize your chances of winning, you may do any or all of the following. Be sure to complete the above mandatory entry or your bonus entries will not count! Remember to leave one comment per entry.

1.) Follow my blog and/or subscribe via reader or email. If you already follow and/or subscribe, that counts! (1 entry each)

2.) Follow me on Twitter and tweet about this contest. You may use the following tweet of come up with one of your own:

Road trip with the rascals? Win the Scholastic Wheels on the Bus Sing-Along Travel Kit @kris10chumley Ends 8/15 http://bit.ly/c6EXH5

Just leave a comment with your tweet link. (1 entry)

3.) "Like" Goodie Goodie Gumdrops on Facebook. (1 entry)

4.) Add my Bloggy Birthday Blowout event button to your site and leave a comment with the link to where I can find it. (1 entry)

5.) Add my blog button to your site and comment with the link to where I can find it. (1 entry)

Giveaway will end on August 15, 2010 at 11:59pm EST. Open to U.S. only. Winners will be chosen via Random.org and will have 48 hours to respond to congratulatory email or prize will be forfeited and another winner will be chosen.

Disclaimer: I received a free Wheels on the Bus Sing-Along Travel Kit from Beth at Sugar Mountain P.R. to facilitate my candid review. I was in no other way compensated for this post. The thoughts and opinions expressed in my review are purely mine. Your experience may differ.