Your guide to activities and fun things to do with your preschoolers, toddlers and kids in denver, CO

Win a $100 dinner at Strings Restaurant & support your community with tuggl.com

September 03, 2009

There's a new way to find good local businesses in Colorado while supporting important causes in our community at the same time. Tuggl.com, based right in Denver at 30th & Larimer, helps you determine what mechanic, contractor, restaurant, or any other local business you should use based not only on the service they've provided our friends and neighbors, but also on what they're doing to give back to the community.

Tuggl has been hard at work for the last year creating a local business search site that helps people find trustworthy local businesses in an instant. For any business on Tuggl, you can see how they rate in terms of service, price, and quality compared to others in the same industry, and additionally, how they rate in giving - volunteering, donating, providing pro-bono support - to important community organizations, also compared to others in their industry.

Since launching to community organizations back in March of this year, Tuggl has brought in over 100 important causes including community foundations, homeless shelters, food banks, and schools, and found more than 1,000 local businesses in every category who are doing something to give back. You can find your favorite local cause to search for businesses they recommend, connect with Facebook to find out who your friends use, or just go with the best business by their "Tuggl rating," Tuggl's index of a business's service and giving rank compared to their industry.

WIN A $100 GIFT CARD TO STRINGS!
Tuggl.com ultimately hopes to prove that becoming a "Tugglr" (Don't use an "e" there!) will make your life easier and better while helping improve our community at the same time. They're officially launching the service, and as part of that are running a "tuggl tastr" contest - an opportunity for you to try Tuggl and perhaps one of Denver's best restaurants at the same time! From now through Friday, September 4, 2009 at midnight, every Tuggl business review that's tweeted on Twitter including "#tuggl" is an entry for you to win a $100 gift card to Strings Restaurant. Additionally, tuggl and local web design firm HotPress Web have agreed to donate $1 combined for each of the first 500 reviews done to the Rocky Mountain Institute of International Education, Twitter or not. Either way, a great reason to try Tuggl!

Josh Clauss, Tuggl's communications & communities guy, invites you to friend him on Facebook to see how tuggl works with your Facebook friends. He's big on cafes, so look that up to get a good idea of what's possible!

Tuggl invites you to follow them on Twitter and become a fan on Facebook as well. 

Journaling For Kids, Where To Find The Supplies

by Aimee Greeblemonkey

January 14, 2009

So, you like to keep track of your kid and their lives, right? Maybe it's through a blog, or through scrapbooking, or even just a good old fashioned journal. And your child is interested in the same things! How fun! But of course they are not as sophisticated in their memory-preservation. Really, all you need for a kid's "journal" are some good old fashioned art supplies and some imagination.  Read more...

Draping The Dollhouse

by Aimee Greeblemonkey

October 23, 2008

I was never really into dollhouses when I was a kid. But as I started doing research for this post, I almost regretted it! Because there are so many neat things that can be done in miniature. Or what can be done to be precious dolls back to life. And even in your child is not far enough along in their fine motor skills for some of the amazingly detailed dollhouses featured, some of the toys  Read more...

The art of the self-portrait

by Aimee Greeblemonkey

June 25, 2008

One of the first things my son started drawing was, quite honestly, himself. I don't mean to make him out to be self-centered, because the truth is (Warning! Mom brag!) he is so NOT self-centered that sometimes I actually have to remind him to think about himself! But I am guessing (just a guess, no official research or anything) that part of the reason Declan, and so many other kids, like  Read more...

The Littlest Picasso

by Aimee Greeblemonkey

May 21, 2008

My husband and are both graphic designers/web developers. So, it follows naturally that our son is interested in art. In fact, when recently asked what he wanted to be when he grew up, he answered, an Artist. Oh yeah, you can bet I welled up over that one. But how did we get him interested in art? Well, partly I think it was in his genes, just like I got it from my great-uncle Heinrich, a  Read more...