Just in time for the dog days of summer, we have a children’s educational outdoors toy set contest giveaway. Backyard Safari Outfitters makes nature walks, and exploring the outside world, even more fun for kids. The educational toys at Backyard Safari Outfitters are 
tough and well-made, and children don’t even have to really “pretend” to be using the equipment since it’s all fully functional. No pretend child-size outdoor toys here! The Vacation Gals have a contest giveaway of three Backyard Safari Outfitters items: The Cargo Vest, Bug Vacuum, and Mega Magnifier. A Pop-Up Field Guide is also included.
The Cargo Vest tag says it’s good for kids ages 5 and up, but it might be too small for a 10-year old (my 11-year old could zip it up, but it didn’t look comfortable). It is super rugged, with lots of cargo style pockets for the safekeeping of those treasures kids find on nature walks…you know, rocks, pine cones, that sort of thing. There are six D-rings and two shoulder clips so that other gear can be kept easily at hand, and a clear front pocket for the Field Pop-Up Guide.
The Bug Vacuum is my older daughter’s favorite Backyard Safari Outfitters item. It really works; it sucks up insects and arachnids, 
without harming them as far as I can tell. Kids can be kind to nature while observing the bugs, and then releasing them safely. I’ve also found the Bug Vacuum to be very useful in terms of getting insects out of my house without having to squish them first. We don’t have to embrace all types of bugs to appreciate little critters, after all!
The Mega Magnifier is a large, framed magnifying glass that can be put on the surface of a stream — or other types of water — so that children can examine what swims or grows under the water’s surface. My family didn’t get to test one of these out, but I assume it’s as sturdily constructed as the other Backyard Safari 
Outfitters educational toys with which my kids have played.
To enter this contest giveaway, all you have to do is leave a comment below describing something you or your children have found on a nature walk. The giveaway winner will be chosen using a random number generator, but please don’t enter more than once a day. Relatives of The Vacation Gals should not enter the contest giveaway, and please — US residents only. The Backyard Safari Outfitters giveaway will run until 6:00 PM PST Tuesday, August 10, and the winner will be announced on Wednesday, August 11, 2010. Good luck!
Our family loves camping in the White Mountains of AZ. One year we were hiking close to our campsite and found a watering hole. The kids spent a good long time playing and catching tadpoles and chasing the grasshoppers. After a while we sat down to eat our picnic lunch and let our dog enjoy the cool water. The kids were quiet for a while as they were eating and all of a sudden about 15 wild horses came up over the ridge and walked down to drink at the watering hole. We watched in amazement as the majestic creatures drank and whinnied and then spotted us and bolted for the top of the ridge. They held their ground and watched us until we packed up and left their little spot to them. It is a memory we will always cherish.
We love to explore outdoors! My little one loves to look for the birds and I try to name them as we see them – He giggles and we look for more
My son always finds a pinecone or a special rock to bring home.
The most unusual thing we’ve found were baby sand dollars on a beach walk.
My son loves to try to reach the branches as we hike (he’s in a backpack carrier, usually.) His happy babbling usually means all the animals scamper away as we come down the trail.
we always seem to find bugs
We have a very large and wild city park near us. We see lots of wildlife when I take my grandkids , but perhaps the most unusual was a wild turkey doing its mating dance.
Poisen Ivy is the first thing that comes to mind…something you don’t forget.
We’ve also found pretty wildflowers, frogs, a snake (yuck) and of course lots of bugs.
Thanks so much for this great giveaway.
rickpeggysmith(at)aol(dot)com
I think the neatest thing to watch are the bugs…at least for my 3 year old grandson. To me, not so fascinating. I can see him loving the bug vac!
they look for birds…and take pictures- nothing odd but they do not take things from nature or take leaves, or rocks
Hi
!
we rented a house last summer in New Buffalo MI and on one of our trail walks/bike rides, we found a completely intact next with a hatched blue egg in it! It was enchanting not just for my daughter – but also for me
Love the vest!!
Swati
When we were walking near our campsite in the mountains near us we came upon a momma moose and her baby. We enjoyed watching them for awhile.
a special rock
My kids love to collect pinecones. We live in the desert, so when we camp in the mountains, pinecones are a rareity. We like to cover them in peanut butter and birdseed and hang them in the trees.
We looove to explore nature and our surroundings!
We recently discovered some awesome monarch caterpillers and brought them inside and are currently waiting for them to emerge from their chrysalides!
Backyard Safari Outfitters seems right up our alley!
xoxo
When my grandsons visit, we love to play in the garden and identify the plants and animal life.
My kid are just crazy about bugs and always looking for them everywhere. They found a slug in the backyard too and I thought our climate was too dry for them.
they love full moon walks
my daughter loves shapes of all sizes
my daughter loves shells of all sizes
The most fun find are always the frogs! And the “chick-monks.” Thanks for the chance to win the fun prize pack!
pretty awesome
shells
We love finding turtles around our house.
We love collecting rocks that look like things. Our favorite so far, a pink rock that looks like a heart!
We have found so many things. A heart shaped white rock stands out.
Thanks for the chance.
mogrill@comcast.net
a wild turkey
We found a HUGE beetle! It had a hard shell and was really gross!
jmatek@wi.rr.com
Well, me and my son and niece saw a snake shedding it’s skin one time when we were walking by the river but it really scared them because they are so young.Plus,it was a cottonmouth(Water Moccasin) so I was scared too.
jcksoncrisman@yahoo.com
We found a baby king snake walking around our yard today.
Today, we saw a beautiful yellow and black striped butterfly in our garden and a shimmery green and blue dragonfly (both really up close). It was so cool!
all kinds of bugs
on the beach we discover many things we can’t identify but interesting
7/31- find bugs
We love to collect different sized sea shells at the beach and glue them into frames to give as gifts.
a snake
We love to walk around the lake by our house and pick up fishing weights and dried up salmon eggs. One year we actually found several lures and gave them to Daddy for Fathers Day!
We found salamanders and little frogs on a nature walk-they were so cute!
smchester at gmail dot com
a blue egg
My girls love to collect wildflowers, but we have a rule. You can only pick as many flowers as you are years old on each walk.
We keep an eye out for deer
find bugs
blue egg
We have found a birds nest
We like to look for wildlife, chipmunks, snakes, squirrels, bugs and frogs top our list of finds.
We went on a nature walk today and ended up collecting more trash than anything else.
Sometimes collecting things isn’t as fun, but leaves our Earth much cleaner! 
We are a family traveling the US and visiting all the national parks. All 5 of my kids love the outdoors. How cute is this?! Thanks!
monarch caterpillers
a dragon fly
We seem somehow to usually see a snake.
I sure would like to explore nature with kiddies with this vest!!
Yesterday on a walk we saw a quail and my 2 year old yelled out, “Look Mommy, a ROOSTER!”
always snakes and I am so paranoid of them
came upon a wild turkey
My son loves to pick up baby pine cones, leaves, rocks, and feathers.
We like to find and save special fall leaves and put them in a collage.
came across baby frogs
We normally look for new insects, birds and rocks on our nature hunts.
But last year as we were looking we found a full grown Iguana in a tree.
We brought it home and later found it’s original owner as it had gotten away from him.
Thank you so much for the giveaway.
jweezie43[at]gmail[dot]com
We love nature walks and find creature and interesting things a ll the time but one thing that sticks in my mind now is when we found an American toad on a trail once. We all held it and came back to wash our hands. Luckily we did because we later found that it was poisonous!
A few days ago we went walking in our yard and found a six inch long walking stick. It was climbing up a pine tree.
baby deer
My daughter spotted a wild turkey once while on a hike in the White Mtns! She was SOOOO excited!
There is a place up in the mountains that is hunter free and the deer will let you walk right by them. We love to sit and watch.
We’ve discovered…life. when in NM, strolling along the Rio Grande – we found rabits -s ome kind of little lizards and here in Texas now – we find a snake (the remains of one ) bugs – he loves ‘em not sure why pelicans, seagulls and other birds we can’t identify!
My niece goes out “exploring” in the backyard and is constantly coming back with the little lizards that live out there. She has an aquarium where she has a few as pets.
I’ve found what looks to be a tombstone of some kind on a huge cliff hill in my hometown
We love going to my moms house in the country and seeing many animals.
Thanks for the giveaway…in our neck of the “woods” we often see Jackrabbits, Roadrunners, various types of lizards, hawks, buzzards, and the occasional coyote.
seagulls
Once while in the woods we found a pup. There was no other dogs around. I was afraid it was a wild dog but it didn’t look like one. We carried it home and it made a great pet.
I have found a snake skin, an arrowhead, a dead bird. And I have found some turkey vultures eating a dead deer.
we go on nature walks around the house all the time, we see deer and rabbits and armadillos
My daughter always finds special rocks to bring home. suelee1998 @gmail.com
my son likes to find rocks when we are out on walks
Most interesting things we have found were a big group of blue/black butterflies. The kids had a blast trying to catch them. I happened to have my camera with me, and got a bunch of wonderful pics of them playing with the butterflies.
We have a pond around the corner, where we like to go discover frogs, turtles, ducks, fish and who knows what else we may come upon – every walk is a new adventure.
My children love nature walks and for some reason their favorite finds are rocks..yes…rocks.
we love to walk in the woods behind our house..about 15 years ago when we first moved in we were walking and found a dead deer carcass wrapped in heavy plastic..i am sure it was my neighbor who put that there because he has hunted every year since we have lived here and he was the closest after us..what a jerk
Our nature walks are along the Gulf Beaches. My daughter likes to pick up sea shells and hermit crabs. We return them back to the ocean though so we won’t harm them.
The kids I nanny and I went hiking yesterday and found a huge mushroom. They were sad they couldn’t bring it home though.