Traveling With Children: Entertainment {My Busy Kit Review & Giveaway}

{This giveaway is now closed. Thanks to those who entered!}

This product is featured as part of a week of Traveling With Children necessities.

Aside from eating, I knew the main thing that would be necessary for traveling with Big Sister E would be entertainment. Kids are happy when they are occupied with something that can hold their attention and keep them busy, right? Particularly when stuck on an airplane or in a car, it's beyond important to have just the right combination of things to color, play, create and discover. Any parent knows that without that, the boredom can lead to all sorts of whining, crying and misbehaving.

But who wants to go to a bunch of different stores to buy a million and one little trinkets that may or may not really be all that interesting to children? It would be nice if someone could have tested a huge variety of things beforehand and could tell you all the ones that kids really like. And wouldn't it be nice if they could all be found together in one portable, colorful, fun package?


I made sure to keep the My Airport Busy Kit I packed hidden from Big Sister E until the perfect moment arrived to pull it out and show it to her while we were flying. Not only was she getting a little fidgety, but I was beginning to feel the effects of traveling and was looking for a way to keep her happy while I could lean my head back and relax for a while.

You can imagine that when she saw the shiny, clear tote bag (made out of phthalate-free vinyl) being brought out and caught a glimpse of the array of fun items inside, I was definitely not needed any longer. I think the hardest decision was which cool thing to play with first. The markers? The stickers? The measuring tape?

Created for ages 3 and up, the My Busy Kit was stock full of age-appropriate activities and goodies that could be used in any number of ways depending on Big Sister E's creativity and imagination. She had a great time coloring in the activity pad or on the wooden shape sticks, finding out that the scissors cut a neat pattern and discovering all the variety of ways to play with Wikki Stix.


The founders of My Busy Kit, Lorraine Akemann and Annabel Heinemann, are moms that are familiar with keeping kids occupied, as between them their five children have traveled around the world and survived in part due to their innovative bags. Not only inventors, these entrepreneurs also give back to their community and write a successful blog, Keeps Me Smiling, that includes a variety of great hints and ideas to share stories and recommendations to make life a little better. What inspiring women!

Whether you are looking for a way to keep your child occupied on a plane, in a car, at a restaurant or just on a rainy day at home, My Busy Kit takes the guesswork out of figuring out what to bring and neatly packages it all together for you. A huge bonus (and eco-friendly plus) is that the cute bag is reusable, so you're easily able to refill it with items that have run out or your child's personal favorites.

Ready to avoid some squirming and complaining from your child the next time they have to sit or wait? Thanks to the generosity of My Busy Kit, one person will have a great surprise to pull out the next time it is needed, because...

One lucky person will win a My Airport Busy Kit of their own! ARV $19.95!

To enter to win a My Airport Busy Kit: Visit My Busy Kit and tell me which of their products is your favorite AND where it would most come in handy for the child in your life.

Extra Entries (available after the mandatory entry above is completed; please leave a separate comment for each entry in order for them to be counted).

1 Extra Entry if you suggest an item (not currently included) that you think should be added to the My Busy Kits.
1 Extra Entry (per method) if you follow Keeps Me Smiling on Twitter, become a fan on Facebook and/or subscribe to the RSS feed of the Keeps Me Smiling blog.
1 Extra Entry (per giveaway entered) - Enter any (or all) of the giveaways running on Thanks, Mail Carrier for the duration of this giveaway.
1 Extra Entry if you follow me on Twitter and tweet about this giveaway by copying and pasting the tweet below and leaving me the link. Tweet daily for an extra entry every day!

My Busy Kits provide endless creativity & imagination! WIN one @thxmailcarrier from @keepsmesmiling! http://bit.ly/9dwshs #win #giveaway

2 Extra Entries (per follow method) if you follow me with Google Friend Connect (see sidebar), subscribe to my RSS feed or subscribe to Thanks, Mail Carrier by email.
3 Extra Entries if you put my cute button up on your blog. Please leave an address where it can be found.
3 Extra Entries if you blog about this giveaway linking back to Thanks, Mail Carrier and My Busy Kit. Please leave an address where it can be found.

Giveaway will end on March 25th at 11:59pm CST. Do me the favor of leaving an email address or making absolutely sure it is visible in your profile, I have to have a way to contact the winner. The winner will be chosen by random.org and announced here as well as emailed and will have 48 hours to contact me or respond to notification or a new winner will be chosen. Giveaway open to U.S. residents only.

A huge thank you to My Busy Kit for providing a My Airport Busy Kit for me to review as well as for one lucky giveaway winner. What a great bag of entertainment! The opinions shared are my own and if you really need to see more, click here to see how I roll.