Happy St. Patrick's Day: Dinosaur Train DVD GIVEAWAY

CONGRATULATIONS #14 AS CHOSEN BY RANDOM.ORG! PLEASE RESPOND TO MY EMAIL WITHIN 72 HOURS. THANKS EVERYONE AND PLEASE ENTER MY GIVEAWAYS THIS WEEK!
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Everyone rightly associates St. Patrick's Day with the color GREEN. After all, if you've ever been to Ireland in the spring/summer, you would never forget the lushness of the countrysides or the breathtaking vegetation of Killarney National Park. When Stewart and I visited the park, it was a strange moment while my eyes adjusted to the scenic vista--I felt like I was moving even though I was standing completely still. The boys and I had a great time this past weekend at a St. Patrick's Day party and they know that St. Patrick's Day is about green, green, and more green! So I thought what more appropriate day could there be to talk about March being National Nutrition Month than a day that celebrates GREEN in light of this year's theme "Eat right with Color."

March is National Nutrition Month®, a nutrition education and information campaign created annually in March by the American Dietetic Association. The campaign focuses attention on the importance of making informed food choices and developing sound eating and physical activity habits. This year's National Nutrition Month theme, “Eat right with Color,” encourages everyone to remember to include a colorful variety of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, lean proteins and dairy on their plates every day. To help parents, the American Dietetic Association provides many online resources. They even have a downloadable PDF list of 25 healthy snacks for kids, including these five great ideas:

1. Peel a banana and dip it in yogurt. Roll in crushed cereal and freeze.
2. Spread celery sticks with peanut butter or low-fat cream cheese. Top with raisins. Enjoy your “ants on a log.”
3. Stuff a whole-grain pita pocket with ricotta cheese and Granny Smith apple slices. Add a dash of cinnamon.
4. Mix together ready-to-eat cereal, dried fruit and nuts in a sandwich bag for an on-the-go snack.
5. Smear a scoop of frozen yogurt on two graham crackers and add sliced banana to make a yummy sandwich.

 PBS's Dinosaur Train has also designed an activity to help children learn about the campaign. Buddy can help you and your child prepare a vegetarian (herbivore) picnic. The Have A Brachiosaurus Picnic activity helps young children to learn what foods fit into an herbivore's diet (fruits and vegetables); reminds children about the importance of hand washing before eating; and also creates an opportunity to discuss why all animals need to eliminate waste from their bodies (a.k.a. “poop”). The downloadable PDF file provides the ingredients to prepare Brachiosaurus Picnic, with fun food items on the menu, including: 

• Brachiosaurus Super Salad: The kids will have fun tearing up green leafy veggies into bite-size pieces and mixing ranch dressing with green coloring to make a tasty topping.
• Sauropod Sandwich: With a plastic knife, cut pieces of whole wheat bread in the shape of a favorite dinosaur and spread with cheese spread or peanut butter.
• Herbivore Herb and Spinach Spread: Mix frozen spinach, dried onion soup mix, sour cream, celery sticks and crackers
• Green Juice – fill a child’s plastic cup with apple juice and add green food color to make a green beverage fit for an herbivore. (The boys and I are taking this idea to the next level and making "shamrock" shakes with ice cream, mint extract, green food coloring and soy milk!)

To celebrate Dinosaur Train's support of the American Dietetic Association's campaign, one Random Mommy reader will get the chance to go on a virtual trip around the world on the Dinosaur Train through the new DINOSAUR TRAIN: PTERANODON FAMILY WORLD TOUR ADVENTURE DVD, released on March 15. Buddy and his adoptive family of Pteranodons embark on a roaring, exploring world tour adventure to discover a variety of dinosaurs inhabiting the globe as they journey to Asia, Europe and Africa.  From the world-renowned Jim Henson Company, PBS KIDS and Paramount Home Entertainment, the DVD includes eight exciting edu-tainment adventures, interactive games, coloring pages, a dinosaur reference guide and parent information. Boasting incredible CGI animation and an average monthly viewership of 11.9 million, the “Dinosaur Train” is a Parents’ Choice recommended PBS KIDS TV series and is one of the top ten shows for kids 2 to 5.

HOW TO ENTER THE GIVEAWAY:  Contest period runs from Thursday, March 17, 2011 at 12:01 AM (Pacific) until Thursday, March 31, 2011 at 11:59 PM (Pacific). Enter by leaving a comment on how you celebrate St. Patrick's Day, and leave your e-mail address OR sign in to comments using your Blogger ID, making sure your Blogger profile is public and includes your e-mail address.

Bonus Entries (leave a separate comment for each entry, it counts if you've done any of these so leave a comment for each one)
1) Follow me on Twitter
2) Tweet this contest and leave the tweet url
3) Follow my blog with Google Friend Connect by clicking on the sidebar
4) Like The Jim Henson Company on Facebook
5) Follow Henson Parents on Twitter

If you don't leave a qualifying comment and your e-mail address or public Blogger profile, your entry will be disqualified. I reserve the right to extend the contest period. At the end of the contest period, I will utilize Random.org to randomly choose the winner. The winner will be contacted by e-mail and will have 72 hours to respond to my e-mail. If the winner does not respond within 72 hours, the prize will go to the next place winner as decided by Random.org. This contest is open for US Residents only. Good luck!

I did not receive compensation for this post. I was given an opportunity to share the information and run a giveaway for my readers and took it!