Start Exploring with Backyard Safari!

One of the many things my kids LOVE to do is go exploring.  Zack and Bella are very creative kids and they always have this elaborate scene going on whenever they are playing.  Usually they are fighting Storm Troopers or Bella is making Zack pretend to be a pirate with her (which, by the way is absolutely hilarious…she sounds like Mr. Krabs when she talks like a pirate)!  Luckily for them, we live very close to nature trails and they love to go exploring (and shove their pockets full of rocks that end up in my washing machine)…they also are lucky that they have a grandma and grandpa that like to go on nature trails with them…me…I don’t really like the outdoors all that much.  Especially when trees are there.  I hate trees.  Trees, to me, mean bugs.  I no likey bugs.

So when Team Mom contacted me about doing a review for some products by Backyard Safari, I said “heck ya”!  If you aren’t familiar with Backyard Safari, you need to be!  They have a TON of awesome products for children that encourage outdoor play, exploring, and just plain being outside in nature.  My most favorite product they have is the bug vacuum.  I may or may not have even asked for one of those for Christmas…

My kids (not pictured…my awesome pictures wouldn’t come off my memory card.  Apparently they liked it right there on the card) had the opportunity to try out the Backyard Safari Base Camp with the Camo Net (which I had to explain the net to them…they thought it was meant to catch animals in the wild) <—only my kids!  Along with the Base Camp and Camo Net, they were also given the Walking Stick and a Bird Watching Kit.

The kids really enjoyed all the items they received.  The tent was a little difficult to put together, but that’s mainly because I am NOT good with visual directions.  I wasn’t seeing what they wanted me to see in the pictures so I couldn’t, for the life of me, figure out why my tent kept tipping backwards.  But of course, my husband came home and within 5 minutes their tent was exactly the way it should be.

I really think there should be more toys that foster imagination like the Backyard Safari toys do.  It’s fun to see some of the things they come up with when they are out in the backyard playing in their tent.  They have begged me and begged me to let them sleep out there in it.  I told them I would set it up in the family room and they can “camp” there!

One thing I would probably change about this toy is making the Camo Net a tad smaller and possibly add a way for it to hook on to the tent.  It was really windy the day we tried it out for the first time and it was rather difficult to keep that net where we wanted it.

Thank you to Team Mom and Backyard Safari for providing me with these toys to help facilitate this review.  All opinions stated are solely mine.