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SeaStar
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| Posted: Nov 05 2008 at 8:34pm | IP Logged
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I was in a party supply store this week (Party Express) and found some surprising things:
A package of world flags toothpicks for $1.99 (lots of different countries with nice paper flags). Perfect for my continent boxes...
and an amazing array of "toob" type animal sets for $1.99 each. They would be great for matching activities, continent boxes, unit studies (ex. dog breeds), etc- in the section for party favors/pinata fillers. The store I was in had sea creatures, desert animals, dogs, cats, reptiles, African animals- all for $1.99 a set.
A shallow pan of water and a set of sea creatures has kept my dc busy for hours over the past couple of years. I recently bought a set of rainforest animals from a Montessori company for a lot more than $1.99, and the set included a koala bear on a eucalyptus branch (not a true resident of the rain forest as far as I know ), a brown bear and a tapir... only it is a Malaysian tapir and looks quite different from a South American one. I was so disappointed.
Anyway- might be worth a look if you have a similar store near you. We picked up a set of dogs- 12 different breeds- that has sent us off on a nice rabbit trail.
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Melinda, mom to ds ('02) and dd ('04)
SQUILT Music Appreciation
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lapazfarm
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| Posted: Nov 05 2008 at 8:55pm | IP Logged
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Great finds! 
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Theresa
us-schooling in beautiful Fairbanks, Alaska.
LaPaz Home Learning
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Mackfam
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| Posted: Nov 05 2008 at 9:08pm | IP Logged
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Wow! those are really great finds, Melinda! I was thinking tonight of how my shelves could use some refreshment as some of my practical life activities especially have become a bit stale.
We love our set of toothpick flags for mapwork and have found a number of really fun books that offer flag lore to go along with that activity.
I have a question for you since you sound awfully expert at determining the difference between the Malaysian tapir and the South American tapir when represented in ****plastic****  . I recently found a big ziploc bag of plastic toob-like animals with many that seemed like they'd fit in our Africa continent box (a thrift store), but upon getting them home  I admit they are sitting in a basket on top of my geography center because I have a mental block about identifying animals represented in plastic. How did you go about identifying them? Have any hints or pointers for me?
Terribly excited about your finds! You inspire me to head to the corners of the house and gather materials for a few fresh trays to set out.
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Jen Mackintosh
Wife to Rob, mom to dd 19 , ds 16, ds 11, dd 8, and dd 3
Wildflowers and Marbles
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SeaStar
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| Posted: Nov 06 2008 at 6:48am | IP Logged
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I'm no expert- there are still a couple of large cats that came in the Montessori animal collection that I can't ID- ocelot? Jaguar? Which is which?
I just lucked out with the tapir since a book we have about the rain forest showed the two different kinds (the Malaysian one being black and white).
I wound up buying a whole new rain forest toob at AC Moore with one of their coupons- this one has the animal names stamped on the bottom.
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Melinda, mom to ds ('02) and dd ('04)
SQUILT Music Appreciation
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Mackfam
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| Posted: Nov 06 2008 at 7:04am | IP Logged
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really???
I was so hoping you would link me to an...
**if your plastic animal has 4 legs click here...
**if your 4 legged plastic animal is an orange color ranging from neon construction orange to pumpkin orange click here...
**if you orange plastic animal has pointy ears and spots click here...
...sort of a website.
I suppose I must sit down with this basket of plastic animals and just start googling! 
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Jen Mackintosh
Wife to Rob, mom to dd 19, ds 16, ds 11, dd 8, and dd 3
Wildflowers and Marbles
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Lisbet
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| Posted: Nov 06 2008 at 7:23am | IP Logged
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I never thought of the pary supply store - weird b/c I always look at the party section of Target for these things! The party supply store is closer to me than Target!
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Lisa, wife to Tony,
Mama to:
Nick, 17
Abby, 15
Gabe, 13
Isaac, 11
Mary, 10
Sam, 9
Henry, 7
Molly, 6
Mark, 5
Greta, 3
Cecilia born 10.29.10
Josephine born 6.11.12
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Angi
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| Posted: Nov 06 2008 at 7:23am | IP Logged
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Mackfam wrote:
really???
I was so hoping you would link me to an...
**if your plastic animal has 4 legs click here...
**if your 4 legged plastic animal is an orange color ranging from neon construction orange to pumpkin orange click here...
**if you orange plastic animal has pointy ears and spots click here...
...sort of a website.
I suppose I must sit down with this basket of plastic animals and just start googling! |
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You could post a contest on your blog, with plastic animal pics, and see if anyone on the blogsphere could help.
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4Real Forums : Nurturing the Years of Wonder
Topic: Surprising source...
