Last month I posted about the Charlie’s Playhouse Giant Timeline Floor Mat, suggesting it as a holiday gift for kids interested in Paleontology.

I placed an order for one, and shortly after received an email from Dr. Kate Miller telling me that they were sending a selection of their products. The Giant Timeline I had ordered soon arrived, and not long after that another package came which included another Giant Timeline Floor Mat, a few of their T shirts, and a Giant Timeline Poster.

The girls (ages 5 and 9) have had over a month to play with their Giant Timeline Floor Mat, so I thought I would post a bit of real world followup. The first thing worth noting is that this is not a toy which was opened to great fanfare and then promptly forgotten. The day they received it, they opened it up – built a fort, and spent the rest of the afternoon reading the “walls” about the various creatures highlighted within. Kevin and I were constantly updated on their more unusual finds, and the girls took great satisfaction in telling us facts about the ancient critters that we did not know.

Kevin and I were impressed by the Floor Mat’s large size, rugged construction, and the fact that it folded into an easily manageable “book” when the girls were done playing with it.

The 9 year old says that it is “fun to play with, and it is awesome.” She likes all the dinosaurs on it, and she how she has learned facts about creatures she never knew existed, such as the Hallucigenia – of which no one knows which end is its head or tail. Her favorite creature is the Belantsea.

The 5 year old says she likes making it into a fort, and seeing interesting creatures. She likes to pick out the odder ones, and tell us about them. Her favorite creature is the Promissum, and she loves to point out that it is an ancestor of anything with a backbone.

Over the last month, I have watched them reach for the Giant Timeline Floor Mat many times, and have on more than one occasion realized that the girls were being awfully quiet in their room, only to peek inside to find them laying on the floor – timeline arranged around them, while they lay looking at and quietly talking about the various creatures. For us, the Giant Timeline Floor Mat has been a smashing success.

And what about the poster and the T shirts? The poster contains the same information as the Floor Mat, but it is printed on a twelve foot long scroll – perfect for hanging in a bedroom, a hallway or classroom wall.

The T shirts are, in a word – cute!I can think of two little girls (and one 19 year old) who qualify for the 98% chimpanzee shirt on sooo many levels.

So here’s the thing: Thanks to the generosity of Kate and Charlie’s Playhouse, I now have two Giant Timeline Floor Mats, and we only need one. I would love to give the other to someone with children who might also enjoy it.

I also have a few T shirts to give away, namely: an adult medium “Hallucigenia”, a 3T “Meet your ancestor”, a 3T “Product of Natural Selection”, and a 12 months “98% Chimpanzee”.

And finally I have the Timeline poster, which in the spirit of the season the girls have decided should also go to a new home. This decision was only reached after assuring the girls that the poster was exactly the same as the timeline, and they weren’t missing out on any new creatures.

Leave a comment telling me which item you would like, and I’ll ship to the first who respond. I’ll update the post as each item is given away, so keep checking. In the meantime, be sure to look at all of the goodies at Charlie’s Playhouse!

1. Giant Timeline Floor Mat

2. Giant Timeline Poster

3. Adult medium “Hallucigenia”  T shirt

4. 3T “Meet your ancestor” T shirt

5. 3T “Product of Natural Selection” T shirt

6. 12 months “98% Chimpanzee” T shirt

I’ll ship each item to the first person who claims it, so leave your request in the comments.

Related posts:

1. Win a One Year Subscription to Maghound
2. The MAGnificent Makeover Sweepstakes
3. Back to School and Better Together Giveaway: Geek Zone
4. HP Magic Giveaway: Morningside Mom and Thoughts on Poetics & Tech
5. HP Magic Giveaway: PlanetX64, AbsoluteVista, and digitalmediaphile