Why am I the only one that catches the little fish?

Connor was introduced to fishing officially for the first time on our summer trip to the Ozarks. Though his attention span is incredibly limited hes been talking about it non stop since. Quite often he goes "fishing" of my father's dock as well though he never has the patience to actually sit there long enough to catch something. Not to say that he doesn't try his little two year old heart out. He even does the sign for fishing, yes we are still occasionally signing though he can talk your ear off in a few seconds flat at this point.

We have found a great fishing spot though that always scores us some fishies to catch and no one has to get a hook in the mouth for us to have a little fun. heh. The only issue is somehow Connor is always the one catching the "big fish" and I'm always stuck catching the runty ones. Complete with its own tackle box, fishing vest, fishing rod, worms, and of course cute little fishes to catch the Learning Resources Pretend and Play Fishing Set has had Connor occupied for weeks. Actually I really had no idea what to expect when it arrived from Learning Resources. Sure its an adorable set and I have to admit I'm a little jealous of that adorable fishing vest that it comes with but I really wasn't sure how Connor would take to it. His real life fishing experiences are so short on his attention span I was sure I'd be cleaning it up every 30 seconds but that's not at all been the case.

Connor's favorite fishing location in the house is his crib. He's still not mastered the art of sleeping all night in his "big boy bed" so usually he ends up in his crib after I'm tired of sticking him in the big boy bed for the 20th time a night. Our compromise is that he's allowed to take a book or two and a toy to bed or we leave something close to the bed for him to grab when he wakes up. Connor has been unusually kind to me as I'm always exhausted with this pregnancy and for the most part if he wakes up before I do he will quietly sit and play or read his book while he waits for me to get up. Often his toy of choice is to take his fishing set to bed and have me set up his fish on the chair next to the bed. He will actually fish from his boat, aka the crib, all morning if I let him. It's really adorable to see how his imagination is really starting to take shape and work. The same game happens quite often in the living room where my pink laundry basket ends up as the boat and we fish off the side on the rug. Sometimes he graciously allows me to catch fish as well but usually I'm only allowed to catch the smallest fish while the large ones are reserved for Connor.

The Learning Resources Pretend and Play Fishing Set comes with three really cute fish in three sizes, three worms, and a fishing rod which are all magnetic. The fish themselves sort of sit back on their tails with their mouths open to make catching them really easy even for the smallest of fishermen. However, I will say the magnets are really much stronger than I expected and even if the fish fall over (or are thrown out of the "boat") it's pretty simple to catch them with the magnetic hook even if they are upside down or sideways. As well the set comes with a fishing net, coloring activity book, and a really adorable one size fits all fishing vest. Everything is stored inside its own tackle box so you can keep track and take it with you to the grandparents house as well. Actually one of my favorite parts of the set is the coloring book that came with it as the whole book is laminated so you can color on it and then wipe it off. It's relatively small and only six pages long so it fits perfectly in my purse for us to take with us to restaurants or doctors appointments. It's just a nice little bonus that has really come in handy.

The whole set is available on the Learning Resources website for under $30 which is a great bargain especially if your looking for a present this year on a budget. One thing I'm really starting to appreciate about the toys from Learning Resources is just how incredibly well made they are. We've actually owned several fishing sets and without fail the magnets either stop working or something breaks. The fish in this set are very sturdy as is the fishing rod so I suspect even with two boys in the house it will far outlast their interest in the set. You can pick up your own set at the Learning Resources website as well!

Learning Resources has provided us with a second Pretend and Play Fishing Set to giveaway to one very lucky winner!

To enter :

• Leave a comment on this post. Check out the Learning Resources website search for products by brand. Check out all the Pretend and Play items and tell us which is your favorite, other than the fishing set!
  
• Make sure there is a way for me to contact you - if your email address is not on your profile or you are not a blogger you may leave it in your comment or email it to me directly (angelaandconnor at gmail dot com) We have had to disqualify a lot of potential winners as of late as many people do not have emails available in their profiles or leave anonymous posts without any way to contact you.
• Please US entries only.
• To get extra credit :
  • For an extra entry :
  • Bloggers - Blog about this contest and leave me the link on your comment, or add me to your sidebar and let me know its there.
  • Non Bloggers (or bloggers) subscribe to my mailing list/RSS feed and earn another entry!
  • Let people know about the giveaway on Twitter with a link to the giveaway!
    
  • THREE extra credit per person. Please post your extra credit in a separate post.
  • This contest will end Dec 1st at midnight!