Safe Toys - and Two Fun Give-Aways!

As I have been posting the past few days, we have to take the time to be sure the toys in our children's ministries are safe . . . if they are not, THROW THEM AWAY! I'm happy to say there are a lot of toys out there which are safe, excellent choices for use in our children's ministries! Today I want to share one of my favorite toy manufacturers with you - Folkmanis. They make the most amazing puppets - they are so plush and huggable - they are great stuffed toys, too! Check these puppets they recently sent me for review -


Mini Alligator - this puppet is also available in a large size  . . . the boys in your children's ministry are sure to love these gators! My grandsons think they are wonderful; in fact, my one year old grandson took one look at this Mini-Alligator and put a huge smile on his face, began growling ferociously and brought the gator to me so it could growl at me! The mini-alligator is 9 inches long and is a finger puppet.

Grizzly Bear - this is another puppet which my one-year old grandson LOVED! He loves bears . . . and growling like a bear! This grizzly is soft, plush and is sure to get lots of "hug-time" from the children in your ministry! The grizzly is 15" long - the perfect size to be a "friend" children can play with in the children's ministry!

Alpaca - This is a large puppet with soft fur/wool. What a gentle, great puppet for use in your younger children's ministries! You could make this alpaca a "friend" who greets young children each Sunday - they are sure to love it! This unique alpaca puppet is an impressive 19" long.

Tuxedo Cat - soft, snuggly and sweet, this cat puppet is also a plush friend young children are sure to love! At 21" long it is the size of a real cat and is great as a toy for children to play with or as a friend who greets them each Sunday!

Baby Sea Otter - this fun little friend is one children are sure to love! At 12" long it is a smaller puppet - perfect for a child's smaller hands! 

Screetch Owl - this puppet has a special hidden rod which allows you to turn it's head - like a real owl! It even looks like it has feathers! Whether you are teaching children about the wonderful creatures God created or using a puppet as a classroom "friend" who "greets" children each week, this little owl is sure to get a lot of attention!

Any of these puppets would make a wonderful addition to any children's ministry! I'm very happy to say not only did Folkmanis send me puppets to review, but they sent additional puppets for me to give away (USA only)! On April 1, 2013 I'm going to give away one Baby Sea Otter puppet and one Alpaca puppet, so if you'd like to be in the drawings, please comment below to let me know if you have followed on Google Friend Connect, followed by liking on facebook with the tab in the "Find us on Facebook" box ON THE BLOG (not just by liking the post) and/or have followed About the Children's Department by email. For each of these which you have done you will receive one entry. In addition, if you "share" this post, you'll receive an additional entry for each "share" (please let me know if you share). This will help me be able to draw names from among people who would like to win one of these puppets and it gives you several ways to enter the give-away! Thank you for reading About the Children's Department and for sharing it with the people you know!