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American Girl, Doll, Children's hospital, holiday gift guide 2014, best gifts for girls

Anyone who has been a long time reader of The TRUTH knows that we are big fans of American Girl in our home. Remember the American Girl Christmas of 2013?

 

It all started with a couple of hand-me-down American Girl dolls and a Bitty Baby from my niece (who’s now 17) and my daughters were smitten. They fell in love with the AG dolls immediately.

 

Their first “new” American Girl dolls were from the My Girl collection, each girl got a doll that looked exactly like her. Both girls named their dolls after themselves. Sophie and Lucy became regulars at the dinner table, play dates and at bedtime. Wherever our girls went, so did Sophie and Lucy. It’s been love ever since.

American Girl, Doll, Children's hospital, holiday gift guide 2014, best gifts for girls

 

Anything that can make my daughters that happy is good in my book and American Girl Dolls has got even better in my book this holiday season.

 

This year American Girl has announced on an unprecedented holiday giving campaign “SHARE THE WONDER OF THE HOLIDAYS”. Starting November 24 through December 18, 2014, American Girl will match any doll purchase made online, in-store, or via phone with an 18-inch doll donation (up to 1,000 dolls each day!) to the Children’s Hospital Association. The donation, worth nearly $3 million in retail value, will help bring joy and comfort to thousands of young girls receiving care in any of the association’s 200 member hospitals in the U.S.

 

To further celebrate the excitement of giving and receiving American Girl this season, American Girl would like to invite you to share pictures and videos of your unforgettable American Girl moments-from unwrapping gifts on Christmas morning to celebrating a birthday or visiting a store-on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter using the hashtag #Joy2EveryGirl.

 

“This holiday, we know millions of girls will experience the joy that comes with the gift of an American Girl doll. We want to share the magic and emotion of that event with even more girls-especially those who could use some extra cheer in their lives,” said Jean McKenzie, president of American Girl. “Through our partnership with the Children’s Hospital Association, we’re delighted to give thousands of deserving girls across America the opportunity to find a special friend in one of our dolls and help create a cherished holiday moment.”

American Girl has a long-standing commitment to helping children and families in need. The company is proud to support a wide range of causes and issues affecting millions of individuals, and works with leading charitable organizations to help make the world a brighter place. To learn more about American Girl’s 2014 “Share the Wonder of the Holidays” campaign, visit americangirl.com, find them on Facebook ,Pinterest , or Instagram .

American Girl, Doll, Children's hospital, holiday gift guide 2014, best gifts for girls

I know, from experience, just how much joy American Girl dolls have brought to my little girls and the thought of seeing that kind of joy on the faces of the little girls who need a smile the most, is one of the most giving and generous things I can think of giving a child. If you are planning on buying the little girl in your life an American Girl doll of her own any time soon, please buy it before December 18th and help American Girl donate one to a child who can really use something to smile about.

Disclosure: I was provided an American Girl Doll of the Year Isabelle to donate to a charity of my choice but our love for American Girl Dolls is genuine and all our own.

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GoldieBlox, More than just a princess

When I was a little girl, I was raised that little girls did “girl things” like play with baby dolls and Barbie dolls. Boys played with legos and lincoln logs. Girls were pretty and boys were dirty. Boys got to have all the fun while all I got to do was chores and play with toys that taught me how to be a “young lady“. Enter easy bake ovens, play houses, baby dolls who cried and needed their diapers changed. When I tried to climb trees or build forts, I was promptly told that those things were not very “ladylike.” It’s damn hard to climb trees in skirts. Don’t get me wrong; I loved doing all those things but maybe I would have liked to play with the Legos or built something with Lincoln logs? The point is this; I didn’t even know what an Engineer did until I was in college at Purdue University…dating an Engineer. So how could I have ever chosen to be an engineer when no one thought it was worth the bother to teach little girls to be anything more than princesses, mothers and maids until now. Enter GoldieBlox. The video below just made me fall more in love with this company. Debbie Sterling, a female engineer from Stanford University, was always bothered by how few women are in the engineering field. I know firsthand how true this. The numbers are definitely skewed in the engineering field. So, Debbie is did something about it. She started a toy company in 2012 called GoldieBlox to get little girls to love engineering as much as she does. The mission of GoldieBlox is to create fun toys that develop spatial skills and teach basic engineering principles. Girls like to read and boys like to build. Put spatial plus verbal together, story and construction and that’s how GoldieBlox was born. GoldieBlox is a book and a construction toy combined, starring Goldie the girl inventor and her motley crew of friends who go on adventures and solve problems by building simple machines. As girls read along they get to build what Goldie builds using their own tool kit. How awesome is that? No longer are we teaching our girls that they have to stand by looking pretty while fetching cold drinks for the man folks. Nope, we are teaching our girls that they can put on a pair of cute jeans and work-boots and go build it themselves. By designing construction toys from the female perspective, GoldieBlox will be more appealing to a broader audience of children and parents who previously considered engineering a job for boys. Engineers solve some of the biggest challenges our society faces. They are critical to the world economy, earn higher salaries and have greater job security. And they are 89% male. There’s more to girls than just pink and fluff.  We can be anything we want to be in this world. I have not been this excited about a new toy for the holidays for my girls in a long time. GoldieBlox,GoldieBlox and the Parade Float This holiday season, the much-anticipated sequel, Goldie Blox and he Parade Float, Goldie’s friends Ruby and Katinka compete in a princess pageant with the hopes of riding in the town parade. When Katinka loses the crown, Goldie and Ruby team up to build her a parade float as well as other fun rolling, spinning, and whirling designs. GoldieBlox,GoldieBlox and the Parade Float

  • A book series plus construction set introducing Ruby, Goldie’s best friend and princess-turned-engineer.
  • Builds spatial skills, engineering principles, and confidence in problem-solving.
  • Comes equipped with 9 design ideas, a DIY project, and unlimited building possibilities.
  • Compatible with all other GoldieBlox toys.

This installment in the GoldieBlox series makes me happy because we are teaching our girls that they don’t just have to be beautiful waving from the float in the parade, they can build the float! I love it and there are lots more awesome toys by GoldieBlox where that came from. GoldieBlox is changing the world for our girls and I love them for it. That’s why they are on this year’s holiday gift guide as a must have for every little girl on your holiday shopping list. goldieblox., Holiday gift guide, holiday gift guide 2013, Shabby Apple, giveaway Disclosure: I was provided GoldieBlox and the Parade Float for review purposes but all opinions are my own.

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