a peek inside the fishbowl

14 Jun, 2013

A SPUD-tacular giveaway for Ottawa families

Posted by andrea tomkins in: - Ottawa for kids|Fishbowl patrons|Giveaways and product reviews

Can I take a minute to tell you what I love about places like the Canadian Museum of Civilization and the Canadian Children’s Museum? They go to great lengths to encourage the youngest of visitors to LOVE going there, and they are serious about helping parents make great family memories. And that’s why I’m so pleased that (a) they’re a Fishbowl patron and (b) they’re hosting a giveaway that’s related to a very fun new exhibition called The Adventures of Mr. Potato Head.

This temporary exhibition is full of opportunities for imaginative play and problem-solving and is intended for children ages 3 to 8. It’s the perfect thing to do over the summer. It’s designed to develop school readiness and academic skills for young children by focusing on literacy, problem solving, mathematics, science and social studies… and having lots of fun at the same time!

How does this sound:

In the Spud Safari zone, kids build fantastic jungle bugs, hop aboard a model jungle-rover vehicle, and identify the animal sounds in a make-believe rain-forest. In the Spud Overboard zone, the Captain Jacques Coustato character leads young oceanographers on an imaginary journey in the spud sub, a vessel equipped with watery sound effects and a disco-ball. In the Spud Quest zone, the MR. POTATO HEAD PhD character encourages budding archaeologists to solve mazes, decipher tatoglyphs, and sift through the rubble in a simulated dig site to unearth the secrets of King Tato’s lost empire. Finally, in the Space Spud zone, junior cosmonauts join the Commander POTATO HEAD character aboard the S.P.U.D. space station, conducting repair missions and searching for life on planet Neptato.

Sounds pretty fun, doesn’t it? You can read more about the exhibition here. This is also where you can buy advance tickets and look ahead to any special activities that are planned.

Now for the giveaway part.

I have a SPUD-tacular package to give away to one lucky family. It includes a family pass as well as TWO Mr. Potato Head toys. Interested? Please read the nitty gritty:

  • The prize will be awarded to one family, and contains one family admission pass (which is good for five people, max two adults) and two toys: one MR. POTATO HEAD and one MRS. POTATO HEAD. Isn’t that nice? They can live in holy matrimony at your house!
  • This giveaway is open to anyone residing in the Ottawa area but is void where prohibited by law.
  • In order for your entry to qualify you must answer the following question in the comments below: tell us about one of the things you like to see or do at the Canadian Museum of Civilization or the Children’s Museum with your family. That’s it!
  • One entry per family please.
  • If you can’t post your comment here for whatever reason, you can email it to me for posting. Send it to andrea at quietfish dot com … however I cannot be responsible if your entry is misdirected or gets stuck in my Spam folder.
  • Good karma goes to those who tweet or share this giveaway on Facebook. Do you know someone who would appreciate the chance to win? I bet you do. So please forward this info to them!
  • The winner will be mailed their prize by the Canadian Museum of Civilization Corporation.
  • I will choose the winner using Random.org at noon EST on Friday June 21, 2013.

That’s it! Over to you. And good luck!


36 Responses to "A SPUD-tacular giveaway for Ottawa families"

1 | Brenda A

June 14th, 2013 at 12:41 pm

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As inspired by you, we have made a family summer bucket list and the SPUD exhibit is on the list!

When we go the the Civilization Museum my girls of course love the Children’s Museum (especially the market and kitchen areas!), but also love the just roll around on the cool, cool floor of the great hall!

2 | Tiana

June 14th, 2013 at 1:11 pm

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My kids love the children’s museum and no visit is complete without squabbling over driving that bus right at the entrance!

3 | Mel

June 14th, 2013 at 1:24 pm

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what fun! we can’t leave the kids museum without doing whatever craft project is happening in the art room. thanks for the chance!

4 | Sonya

June 14th, 2013 at 1:50 pm

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The children’s museum is actually my favourite – probably because there is so much for the kids to do!

5 | Jason

June 14th, 2013 at 3:01 pm

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My daughter loves the big ship in the Children’s museum – and looking at the Civilization Museum totem poles!

6 | Jesse

June 14th, 2013 at 3:49 pm

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We love the Children’s Museum! Nothing beats the play food in the market area!

7 | Gwen

June 14th, 2013 at 4:13 pm

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I’m embarrassed to say that we have never visited this museum. BUT, it is on our Summer 2013 bucket list, so we will be going no matter what! As for what we would like to see and do at the museum? EVERYTHING!

8 | KL

June 14th, 2013 at 5:09 pm

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We enjoy the Children’s Museum. No trip is ever complete without driving the big ship or playing in the market.

9 | Karen S

June 14th, 2013 at 7:43 pm

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We can’t tear our kids out of the Children’s Museum. We also really enjoy the Canada Hall. We would love to win this !

10 | Danielle

June 14th, 2013 at 8:25 pm

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We haven’t had the chance to visit the Children’s Museum with our little ones yet, but we love First People’s Hall at the Museum of Civilization.

11 | Nikki

June 14th, 2013 at 8:57 pm

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You never know what will fascinate my kids at the Children’s Museum – the French bakery, the pyramid, the boat. There’s always something!

12 | Michelle

June 14th, 2013 at 9:13 pm

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Fun & educational at the same time & during the summer they have outdoor activities too!

13 | Rosanna

June 14th, 2013 at 9:26 pm

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We love the Children’s Museum…the little theatre, the big bus, the boat and the kitchen!

14 | Lynn

June 14th, 2013 at 10:29 pm

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Ahh, we love the children’s museum. A place where it’s okay to touch everything!

15 | Holly

June 14th, 2013 at 11:04 pm

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The newly renovated play restaurant area is awesome! My boys can spend an hour in there taking orders, making sushi trays and serving them up. So many opportunities for imaginative play. We heart the Museum!

16 | wendy

June 15th, 2013 at 12:03 am

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Love everything about the museums!

Can’t get enough of the resteraunt though and the post office.

17 | Shawna

June 15th, 2013 at 9:14 am

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We like posing for pictures on the different modes if transport there: bus, motorcycle, camel, etc.

Love the Children’s Museum!

18 | Judy

June 15th, 2013 at 1:00 pm

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We love going to the Children’s Museum and make a day of it, with lunch before heading home.

Our son loves moving cargo on the ship!

19 | Katie

June 15th, 2013 at 2:02 pm

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Going to the museum is always a treat, andI love walking around on the grounds and enjoying the view.

20 | Cheryl

June 15th, 2013 at 2:12 pm

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We love the children’s museum. Our favourites are the big ship and sitting on the camel outside the pyramid posing for pictures!

21 | Mary Lou Hulan

June 15th, 2013 at 3:11 pm

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We love the outdoor play area that you have in the summer time! So much fun!

22 | Nicole

June 15th, 2013 at 6:23 pm

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We love the totem poles they are like no other and so many to choose from to suite everyone’s tastes!

23 | Meeka Proudfoot

June 15th, 2013 at 9:34 pm

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LOVE the children’s museum! Can’t wait to go see the mr potato head exhibit. My kids love the market and always spend lots of time “shopping”

24 | Tina

June 15th, 2013 at 10:14 pm

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Our family likes to sit in the theatre. The kids love to dress up and put on a show for us with all the costumes and props!

25 | Heather

June 15th, 2013 at 10:42 pm

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Ooo sounds like a fun exhibit!
My daughter loves getting her passport stamped in the childrens museum. My 22 month old twin boys haven’t been yet to the childrens museum so this would be a fun opportunity to get them there !

26 | Sean

June 16th, 2013 at 9:57 pm

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Wouldlove to bring the family accross theriver for this. the imax there is sick. Kids would love potato head fest!

27 | Cath in Ottawa

June 17th, 2013 at 1:05 am

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We love this museum – the bus is always popular, as is the fabric shop and market!
Ways

28 | Kristen

June 17th, 2013 at 8:54 am

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We have a museum membership for Museum of Nature, Science & Tech, Agriculture, Aviation. The ONLY museum in the region we haven’t been to is The Children’s Museum/Civilization. The kids would love it (ages 2 & 4) – would LOVE to see Mr. Potato head, and would love to hear the 2 year old yell BUS (his favourite) at the bus they apparently have!

29 | andrea tomkins

June 17th, 2013 at 1:20 pm

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This entry is for Sarah, who writes:

“We love biking over the ‘rickety bridge’ to get to the museum, then we spend all day there, doing crafts, eating lunch in the caf, walking around the grounds and seeing Ottawa from the ‘other side’. “

30 | Patricia S

June 17th, 2013 at 3:48 pm

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My kids love the boat in the children’s museum where they move all the boxes around.

31 | Carly

June 19th, 2013 at 8:45 am

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Whenever we ask the Little Man what indoor adventure he’d like to have, he always choses the Children’s Museum. Always. It’s so hard to chose just one thing we love about that place, but he would probably say the boat. He’ll spend an hour playing in and around it every time we go.

32 | Melissa Adams

June 19th, 2013 at 10:01 pm

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There is no way that we can pass by the bus at the entrance to the children’s museum without going for a ride!

33 | Karen G

June 20th, 2013 at 3:04 pm

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My son’s favourite part is the crane in the Children’s Museum!

34 | Tanya

June 20th, 2013 at 9:57 pm

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The Children’s Museum is great! The last time we went, my daughter was running from one play area to another like a wild tazmanian devil. The newly renovated cafe play area was a favourite.

35 | andrea tomkins

June 21st, 2013 at 12:11 pm

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Thanks everyone! Looks like the Museum has lots of fans out there. :)

Comments are closed to new entries now. Stay tuned for the winner!

36 | andrea tomkins

June 21st, 2013 at 12:54 pm

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We have a winner! Congratulations commenter #25 – Heather – who writes:

“Ooo sounds like a fun exhibit!
My daughter loves getting her passport stamped in the childrens museum. My 22 month old twin boys haven’t been yet to the childrens museum so this would be a fun opportunity to get them there !”

I’m so happy you won Heather! I’m emailing you right now. :) Thanks everyone, for all for your entries, and thanks to the Museum for hosting this SPUDtacular giveaway!

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The Obligatory Blurb

My name is Andrea and I live in the Westboro area of Ottawa with my husband Mark and our dog Piper who is kind of a big deal on Instagram. We also have two human offspring: Emma (24) and Sarah (22). During the day I work as a writer at the Royal Ottawa Mental Health Centre. I am a longtime Ottawa blogger and I've occupied this little corner of the WWW since 1999. The Fishbowl is my whiteboard, water cooler, and journal, all rolled into one. I'm passionate about healthy living, arts and culture, travel, great gear, good food, and sharing the best of Ottawa. I also love vegetables, photography, gadgets, and great design.

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