Education.com revisited

This week's Tuesday Tip o' the Hat goes towards my old online employer, education.com. Some of you may recall I was a weekly columnist there, until they decided to do away with their regular columns, and I was out on the proverbial interweb street. I'm not bitter though. :)

Anyway, I got an email from Kat, their community outreach director, about some pretty cool things brewing at education.com for the holidays. One of them is a Holiday Gift Guide. Here's what Kat says about the Guide:

"Our team of editors, teachers, parents, and of course kids spent the summer testing thousands of toys, games, and books. The products that made the final list had to be fun, well made, and fairly priced – and they also had to sneak in some learning. We ended up with about 12 choices for each grade level including at least one “splurge” and at least five “Under $10” items (you won’t believe the awesome stuff we found in this stocking stuffer category!) Unlike many other gift guides, no one pays to be part of our list. These are items that we found on our own and fell in love with!"

Kat then goes on to say that they even have a customizable widget for the guide, so I thought I'd check that out and tailor it to the grade that I teach, 3rd. Here's what I found:

Education.com Gift Guide

2010 Gift Guide for Third Grade

Get your own widget

Finally, Kat talks about a brand new Winter Activities Challenge:

"Many of you participated in our 2009 and 2010 Summer Activities Challenges. With generous support from the folks at Campbell’s we’re going to help parents survive the holiday break with a Winter Activities Challenge. It will run from 12/6 through 2/28. In that time, participants just have to sign up and complete at least five Education.com activities. Everyone who completes the challenge will be entered to win one of 101 prizes. We’re giving away 100 LEGO creator sets and our grand prize winner will receive an iPad! Unfortunately, you can’t sneak a peek at the Challenge until it’s live on our site (12/6) but here’s the link to use at that time: www.education.com/activities-challenge. If you’d like an email reminder when the challenge is live, just shoot a note to ActivitiesChallenge@education.com. I can also send you the Winter Activities Challenge logo or other visual assets if you need them. "

I don't know if this is ONLY for parents, or if teachers can be included, but it's worth checking into.

A few simple gift ideas

My girlfriend, er, I mean FIANCE and I are travelling to her folks' house for Thanksgiving this year. Her parents do have internet, but it runs at roughly the same speed as Rosie O'Donnell. So I won't be blogging for a while.

In the meantime, though, I wanted to put forth a couple of suggestions for anyone looking for some fun gifts for loved ones or co-workers this year.

Readers on your list? Why not start by giving the gift of humor in book form? Check out my own Learn Me Good, the more recent It's Not All Flowers and Sausages by Mrs. Mimi, or the hot-off-the-presses How to Lose Your Self of Steam by Carol at Bellringers! (I just got my copy of Self of Steam in the mail and will be reading it at the future in-law's!)

Seen enough books at school? How about a T-shirt or 2? Good news -- you're in luck! Check out the wide assortment of funny and witty shirts at my Speadshirt store. Here are a few of the designs:





















Savings available for the thrifty shopper! Take advantage of these deals from Spreadshirt!



Want mugs? Tree ornaments? Magnets? Check out my Cafepress store!




Safe shopping as always, and Happy Thanksgiving!!