Backyard Safari Adventures

We love spending as much time out of doors as possible, we run around to all the local parks and enjoy hiking and biking on their trails. But it's not alway necessary to leave the backyard to for an adventure. Backyard Safari Outfitters from Summit Toys sent us the perfect equipment to explore our local wildlife from the insects buzzing around our plants on the deck to the birds that like to torment our kitties through the windows.

The collection includes over 30 different essentials and ER's favorite out of the three components we were sent was by far the Cargo Vest, she is seen wearing above. It's still a bit big on her, but that doesn't stop her from wanting to wear it outside on her play structure. She really likes all the pockets for stashing stuff, like a juice box, snack, and a small baby. She'll stand up on the top deck of her structure and call out, "I'm exploring," to passer bys on the walking path behind our house. We also got a Bug Wrangler's Extreme Suction Bug Vacuum, which has a very cool concept. It enables you to catch bugs without having to touch them, so that you can either examine them close up with built in magnifying glass or easily transfer them into a bug habitat. It looked a little too much like a gun for my taste, and ER thought it was used to "zap" bugs not to catch them.

We haven't used it too much or had a lot of luck with it. Almost four year old aren't known for their stealth, and the bugs have been able to keep pretty much away from her whenever she's wielding it. It's kind of big and she can only manage one extra gear item besides the vest and she always picks the periscope, discussed below, over the vacuum. I do think it's the kind of gear that she'll begin to really enjoy as she gets a little older. It's meant for kids ages 5 and up, so it's a bit premature for her to be using it.

The Land & Water Mega View Periscope is fairly big and cumbersome, but its full-view periscope for stealth viewing over boulders, high bushes, backyard fences, and around corners went over well. Three rugged, light-weight sections telescope for a reach over 4 feet high to let you see all those out-of-reach views and we've enjoyed the somewhat comical sight of seeing her holding it like binoculars and walking around. You can also use it look underwater, and I think it'd be really neat to bring along to a trip to the lake. Daddy has also been having fun with this one.

I really liked how all the Backyard Safari Outfitters products came with a pop up essential field guide, ER loves pulling that out and looking at her "map". Over all the Backyard Safari Adventures line is great idea with a wide variety of choices for gear. I feel that other products would've been a better match for us, like the binoculars, 6-IN-1 Field Tools, or magnifying glass but I could tell from the review products we were sent that these would make really great gifts for many of our little friends.

It's great that they encourage kids to spend time observing and spending time outdoors. Items from this line are definitely things we'd purchase for our daughter. We'll have fun picking out some items for ER to carry around in the pockets of her vest.



Disclaimer: I received the gear from Backyard Safari Outfitters via Team Mom to review, and this post relates my own personal and unbiased opinion and experiences with the products. Yours may differ.