Gifts That Give, Part 2: Sea Life

If you know someone who feels strongly about a cause, consider giving a gift that is put out by a charitable organization. You could just make a donation in their name, or you could buy something tangible that will remind the person of the organization or cause. Here are a few ideas for people who care about wild animals and nature. I would love to get these, and I bet any other animal lover would too! (You may want to do your own research to choose an organization you think is particularly worthy of your donation. )

Dolphin Communication Project Adoption -  This organization is dedicated to research and education around dolphins. You can choose to sponsor one of 23 dolphins. You get an adoption certificate, photograph, biography of your dolphin, a DVD about dolphins, and more. You can keep track of when your dolphin was last seen, via their website. Adoption costs $35.

Dolphin Research Center Adoption - This will be particularly exciting to you if you live near, or often visit, Grassy Key, Florida. The $50 "Dolfriend" adoption option gets you free admission for two people to the facility for a whole year, plus a guest pass, as well as the usual adoption certificate and dolphin information and photo. You also get to access their Members Only section of the website. Also, if you pay a little more money, you can do wicked cool things like hug a sea lion, play with a dolphin, or swim with dolphins!!! I wish I lived in Florida!

Loggerhead Marine Life Center Gift Shop - Really cool turtle-themed gifts for everyone. I really want the hatchling snow globe. 

Marine Mammal Center Gift Shop -  They have tons of cool gifts here, including sea animal adoption packages, toys, clothes, jewelry, and books.

National Marine Life Center Adopt An Animal - For $35 you can adopt a patient at the National Marine Life Center! You can choose who you want to adopt. Will it be a beautiful sea turtle or an adorable seal?

Oceana Adoption Program - You can adopt a shark, seal, whale, dolphin, penguin, octopus, clownfish, ray, or puffin. For $50 you get a stuffed animal and an adoption certificate!

Pacific Whale Foundation Adoption Program - This organization works to protect whales, dolphins and turtles in the Pacific ocean. You can choose to adopt a whale, dolphin or turtle for $75. You'll get an adoption certificate, the story of your sea animal, map of where it was last seen, a stuffed animal, and a tote bag, You can choose the specific animal to adopt. If you want to shell out $750, you can even name a future animal! It has to be a nice name though.

Pacific Whale Foundation Eco Cruise - If you are going to Maui, surprise someone you're traveling with, by signing up for an eco cruise! These cruises only take a few hours. You'll get to watch whales or dolphins!

Pacific Whale Foundation Gift Shop - This gift shop has something for everyone! Tons of stuff to choose from!

Sea Turtle Adoption - For $30, you'll get an adoption certificate, a Sea Turtle Conservation Guide, a membership window cling, a sea turtle sticker and bookmark, a hatchling magnet, and a one-year subscription to STC's membership publication. You can go on the website and track where your turtle friends are traveling! You can also choose to name a new turtle.

Sea Turtle Patient Adoption - When sea turtles get sick or injured, where do they go? Hopefully, to the Loggerhead Marine Life Center in Juno Beach, Florida! Turtles who end up there get state-of-the-art veterinary care. You can adopt a turtle patient and help pay for his treatment... because turtles don't have jobs and cannot pay for themselves! For $50 you get a stuffed turtle, a tote bag, a "Proud Parent" sticker, a photo of your turtle, and educational information about sea turtles.

Shark Angels - This organization works to protect sharks and educate people about them. For $50 you get a shark puppet, adoption certificate, photo, a shark sticker, and your name on the website! They also have a lot of cool things in their online gift store.

Gifts That Give, Part 1: WIldlife

If you know someone who feels strongly about a cause, consider giving a gift that is put out by a charitable organization. You could just make a donation in their name, or you could buy something tangible that will remind the person of the organization or cause. Here are a few ideas for people who care about wild animals and nature. I would love to get these, and I bet any other animal lover would too! (You may want to do your own research to choose an organization you think is particularly worthy of your donation. )
Bat House Kit - For the person who loves bats and wants to have them in his yard, here is a kit that has everything you need to make your own bat house. It is designed to be easy enough for children as young as 6 to do. Proceeds go towards Wildlife Forever, an organization dedicated to conservation efforts and the education of children about conservation. $32.95.

Bluebird House Kit - This simple kit allows you to put together a blue bird house. (By the way, bluebirds are different from blue jays. And they don't kill other birds.) It is designed to be easy enough for children as young as 6 to do. Proceeds go towards Wildlife Forever, an organization dedicated to conservation efforts and the education of children about conservation. $32.95.

Born Free - This program allows you to adopt either a species of animal, or a specific animal living in one of their sanctuaries. This is a monthly payment program for 2.50 pounds (or $3.79 US dollars) per month. You get a stuffed animal, photo, adoption certificate, the animal's story, a magazine subscription, and a window decal.

Defenders Of Wildlife Species Adoption - This site has 32 animals to choose from. The adoption fees vary by animals, but for $30 to $50 you get a stuffed animal, animal fact sheet, photo, and adoption certificate. 

International Animal Rescue - This site is a little more expensive... you can pay $6 monthly or $72 for a year. For this site you are helping to sponsor a specific animal that is living in a sanctuary... animals that have been injured (often by humans) and cannot take care of themselves in the wild. You get a stuffed animal, adoption certificate, framed photo, and animal fact sheet. You also get to log onto the site whenever you want to view members-only information about the animal you are sponsoring, such as updates on his welfare. Your choices for adoption are orangutan, sloth bear, or slow loris.

National Wildlife Federation Species Adoption - This is another site with a ton of choices of animals to adopt. For $30 you get a stuffed animal, an 11X14 color poster of the animal, and an adoption certificate. For the same amount, you can adopt a wild animal baby, and get a stuffed animal, adoption certificate, and story card with information about the animal.

National Wildlife Federation Gift Store - The store has toys and games,  clothes and accessories for kids, clothes and accessories for adults, home decorations, and gardening and birding gifts. These are for all different prices. They also have magazine subscriptions, including Ranger Rick and Ranger Rick Jr.

One Special Rhino - This is a children's book, actually written and illustrated by fifth graders, about the true story of a rhino born in captivity, how the species is in danger, and how children can help to save the rhinos. Proceeds from the $13.00 book go to the International Rhino Foundation. 

Silver Rhino Pendant - A sterling silver rhino pendant handmade in Indonesia. It is only $25, and the money goes to support the International Rhino Foundation.

Sierra Club Species Adoption - This adoption program has 17 choices of animal species that you can adopt. For $39 you get a stuffed animal, a sticker of the animal, an adoption certificate, and a booklet with animal facts. For $79 you also get a backpack.

Sierra Club Membership - It looks like you can join the Sierra Club for as little as a one time $15 donation. You become a member of your local chapter, and can participate in member-only outdoor adventures. These include worldwide trips, and local day trips such as hikes. You also get a magazine subscription and a messenger bag.

Snow Leopard Trust - All sorts of gifts... clothes, toys. home decor, books, accessories, pet products and more... that support this organization that is dedicated to protecting snow leopards. 

Tigers Forever -  "National Geographic photographer Steve Winter spent a decade in search of wild tigers, devoted to capturing their magnificence and telling their story. Tigers are in trouble, and his quest for photographs became his way to address the plight of this magnificent cat. His goal: to reinvigorate global concern--while there’s still time." This book is full of both information, and beautiful photographs of tigers. 10% of the proceeds go towards Panthera's Tigers Forever program.

Wolf.org - A gift shop with clothes, jewelry, toys, books, and more. Proceeds support International Wolf Center, which works to educate humans about wolves and to dispel the myths that often cause people to hate and fear these beautiful animals.

World Wildlife Species Adoption - Symbolically adopt or "sponsor" an entire species! For  $55 you get a plush animal, an adoption certificate, a photo, a "species card" with information about the animal, and a gift bag to put it all in. They have a ton of choices of animals, from elephants to butterflies to aye aye aye lemurs. You can even adopt a "sniffer dog," a dog whose job it is to sniff out illegal animal products such as bones and tusks in airports.

World Wildlife Games, Clothes, Etc. The gift shop includes a cool tiger puzzle, a couple of kids' games, T-shirts, hats, sweatshirts, and more. The price of each of these is a $55 donation.

Zoo Animal Adoption - Your local zoo (or the zoo that is local to the person receiving the gift) most likely has an animal sponsorship program, with added bonuses that other sponsorship programs can't offer. For instance, Brookfield Zoo's Share The Care Program gives you, for $50, a stuffed animal, photograph, window decal, animal fact sheet, and an invitation to a special event... plus, you actually get to see "your" animal in person when you go to the zoo! If your local zoo doesn't have such a thing, or if you don't live near a zoo at all, you could try the Audubon Institute's adoption program. For $50 you get an adoption certificate, photo, fun facts sheet, and stuffed animal. The Smithsonian National Zoo offers a similar package for $65.

Spring Loaded Rocking Horse

When I was a little kid, I had a rocking horse. It wasn't just a little, ordinary horse on rockers though. It was on springs! I would climb aboard, and I could rock back and forth, with the horse's nose and tail almost touching the ground each time I rocked. I could also bounce on it. It was my favorite toy and I can remember rocking wildly on it, feeling so happy, my pig tails flying behind me.
My horse looked kind of like this.

They still make horses similar to this, although now of course they are full of safety precautions, like seatbelts and spring covers. Plus, they do extra things like make noise and talk and stuff. Here are two that I found.




Radio Flyer Blaze Interactive Riding Horse
Ages: 2 to 6 (up to 60 pounds)
This horse has a realistic mane, a brush to care for the mane, and pretend carrots to feed him. When you feed him the carrots, Blaze makes eating sounds. It has an X-frame with a step on it, so children can easily get on the horse without having to clamor and slide onto it the way I had to when I was young. You can walk, trot and gallop, and the horse makes different sounds depending on how fast you are going. Blaze is made by our old favorite, Radio Flyer!




Rockin' Rider Maverick Plush Spring Horse
Ages: 2 and up (up to 65 pounds)
Made by a company that specializes in rocking horses, Maverick has soft fur that makes him feel like a giant stuffed animal. His stirrups can be adjusted to three lengths, so that the child can continue to ride as she grows taller. If you press one of his ears, he sings a song called "I'm A Little Pony." When you press his other ear, he makes a variety of horse sounds. This horse also has volume control that parents can set if they are easily annoyed by noisy toys. (Both of these horses would also work perfectly well without any batteries in them... they just wouldn't make the noises. That might be preferable to some parents!)

Any kid who enjoys rocking toys will love to have one of these horses!

Dino Pet

Dino Pet
Ages: 3 and up
Wow, it is a glowing plastic dinosaur! What a nice night-light! But what makes it glow like that? It is filled with bioluminescent plankton called dinoflaggelates. You may have seen these in the ocean in some places. These plankton are what cause the "glowing waves" at night in places like California, Puerto Rico and the Caribbean. This is a lovely pet that is very easy to care for. Keep the plastic dinosaur in a spot with indirect sunlight (near a window, but maybe not directly on the windowsill) and feed it some of the "dino food" that comes with it. At night, it will glow. Now I really want one of those!

Hide And Seek Safari

Hide And Seek Safari
Ages: 4 and up
Number of players: 2 or more
I first came across this game several years ago when I was a full time caregiver to three children under the age of 7. They had a blast with this game, and it entertained them for quite a while! It is sort of like the game of "hotter-colder," but more high tech. The way you play is, one person hides the animal somewhere in the house or yard or whatever area you're playing in. Then someone else uses the wand to find the tiger. The wand has five lights on it. When you start getting a little closer to the tiger, one light will turn green. The closer you get, the more lights will turn green. When you get really, really close to the tiger, it will start beeping!
The only annoying thing is that it only comes with one wand, so really only two people can play at a time,,, the one hiding the object, and the one looking for it. Of course, you could take turns. You can also buy an extra wand or two.

They also have a version for littler kids, or those who have trouble understanding the lights on the wands for the first game. In Hide And Seek Safari JR, one person hides an animal, and the other person tries to find it using a wand. But instead of using a light system, this game uses sound. When the wand starts to get close to the stuffed animal, the animal "hears" it and starts to make noise. The player then follows the noise in order to find the stuffed animal! This version could probably be understood and played by children as young as 2 years old.



Watch this video to see the Hide and Seek Safari game reviewed by a 6-year-old named Hayden!

Animal Soundtracks
Ages: 4 and up
Number of players: 1 to 4
I like the sound of this game! This is like a BINGO game, where you cover up pictures of animals as they are called. But instead of  hearing the name of the animal, or seeing a picture of the animal, you hear the sound of the animal on a CD! I'm guessing you put the CD on shuffle so that they are not called in the same order every time. This requires kids to use their listening skills to identify the animal and then find the right picture. No reading skills required! This game can be planed alone or with other players.