Noah's Ark Workshop

Thinking about doing the Noah's Ark Business? Here are the top 10 reasons to join Noah's Ark Workshops and Bella Bee Workshops today:

10. Your friends and family will LOVE you! The holidays are coming and you, your friends and your family need fabulous gifts like Noah's Ark stuffed animals!!

9. Children will LOVE you! When you walk in the door they'll think you are the best thing since - Anything else!

8. The Parents will LOVE you! You'll take care of the entertainment AND the take home bag for their birthday event. Less planning and money for them!

7. Early Learning Centers will LOVE you! No permission slips, no costs for transportation (think GAS prices!), no worries about shlepping all those kids or losing children in the mall - you bring the event to them and save them time and hassle! Plus you can set it up as a fundraiser and help them earn money too! We're the perfect "in house field trip!"

6. Retirement homes and Nursing Homes will LOVE you! When you bring a Noah's Ark event to people in these homes, it gives them a chance to interact with children as well as create an animal to love and hug themselves. What a great gift to a lonely person! Or combine it as a grandparent/grandchild event and help the retirement home encourage family visits with something fun!

5. Your husband will LOVE you - even more than he already does. You'll be bringing in a fabulous amount of money each time you do a Noah's Ark event AND you'll only be gone 1-2 hours at a time to do it!

4. Your children will LOVE you! You'll be the coolest mom on the block as a Noah's Ark rep! Plus you'll be able to work WITH them rather than leave them at home while you go off and "work".

3. Your tax accountant will LOVE you! A home based business with Noah's Ark Workshop is a wonderful tax benefit to your family and can earn you great tax advantages on April 15 each year.

2. Other potential Noah's Ark party leaders will LOVE you! As you share the Noah's Ark workshop opportunity with others in your area and across the country, you'll have people thanking you for helping them start their own business!

1. YOU will LOVE you! You'll enjoy making a difference in the lives of children of all ages, producing a lifetime of memories and fostering individuality and self-confidence with Noah's Ark! You'll come home smiling every time!

You're ready to sign up (or already have) but now how in the world do you actually START this business. Here are a few ways to get your business going:

1. Follow up on the 60 piece post card mailing that you received with your starter kit! It's free advertising for you but works best if you do the follow up!

2. Drop in on local day care centers with your Noah's Ark animals in hand to introduce yourself and leave the director a packet of information about you and our in house field trips.

3. Do a "mock" birthday party for your child and invite several of his friends over to practice. This will cost you the cost of the animals for those kids but it's a great word of mouth starter and one of the best ways to get future bookings.

4. Have an open house to show off your new business.

5. Send a press release to your local paper and offer to do a photo shoot and interview. Even better, if you know the name of a specific reporter, contact that person and bring them a sample animal!

6. Pass out 1/4 page flyers everywhere you go announcing your business and your website/phone.

7. Use your products as advertising. Donate to local charity events, giveaways, etc.

I had a great time chatting with Kelly McCausey of WAHMtalkradio.comfor her program. She kicked off a new series called "You'd make a great WAHM if...." and I got to fill in the blank with "... you love kids and stuffed animals". We talked a lot about how the business works and what type of person would fit into this direct sales business. Take a listen ... you might discover that "Yeah, I can do THAT!"

CLICK HERE
to listen to my interview about the Noah's Ark Workshop business opportunity on WAHM Talk Radio!

Of course, if you're considering Noah's Ark for your birthday party entertainment, you probably want to know who much it costs.

A Noah's Ark crew member comes to your home (or party location) and entertains the kids for approximately 60 minutes. Each child usually gets their choice of animal that they can stuff and love, a rainbow wish star, a birth certificate and a great take home bag.

Our animals start at $15 each and then if you want accessories, clothing, sound chips, etc, you can add on from there.

The most popular package that I do is an animal/tshirt package... the kids choose and stuff their animal and get an animal tshirt (because you don't want any naked stuffed animals running about do you?) that they decorate at the party with fabric markers. It's fun to watch the children get creative and personalize the tshirt for their bear or other animal. This package ranges from $17-$22 depending on the animals.

Of course you can always sign up to be a crew member yourself and get your animals and products at a discount. Contact me if you want more information on that!

Children of all ages love stuffed teddy bears and for good reason! They're cuddly, warm, and cute and they don't make a mess on your living room floor before guests arrive! The joy a stuffed animal can bring to a child is a wonderful and amazing thing and I believe every child should have at least one favorite bear in her lifetime.

Now, combine this great love of all things fluffy with a little girl's tea party and you have the makings of the grandest event of the year for your daughter. The Teddy Bear Tea Party!

There are several ways you can create this memory-filled event for your little one. Obviously the two main elements must be accounted for... the tea and the teddy bears. So let's look at both in just a little more detail.

1. The tea. Assuming you're planning your party for the younger of the young ladies, you'll want to keep the tea simple and SWEET! Not too much scrimping on the sugar here, mom...this is the event of the year remember? Choose a tea with some added flavor. Blackberry, apple or vanilla are a few of our favorites. You can go with the varieties from the tea aisle in the grocery store or find some fine lovely teas at various upscale tea shops or even online. Don't make the tea too strong and remember to have plenty of sugar (get the cubes...little girls LOVE the cubes) and cream for those who have not yet acquired the taste for afternoon tea yet. More sugar is required in the form of cookies, little chocolates and other tea fancies to complete the tea table. Remember mom; all the little ones will probably have a good toothbrush at home anyway!

2. The Teddy Bears. As you know, not all children choose a bear as their favorite stuffed animal so you might want to offer some flexibility here!

*** Please CLICK HERE to read the rest of this fun article ***

Encourage the kids in your class or homeschool to read and read and read with Noah's Ark Workshop's new Bananas About Books ® promotion!

Each child who completes the Bananas About Books challenge will earn an achievement certificate and a $5 gift card with an exclusive Mojo bookmark!

Visit the squidoo lens on Bananas About Books or Email me for more details at bananas@funontheark.com

A stuffed animal is toy animal stuffed with straw, beans, cotton or other similar materials. Some stuffed animals are very old - home made cloth dolls stuffed with straw go back to at least the 1830s, perhaps much older. Stuffed animals are also known as plush toys and soft toys and of course the teddy bear.

(article source Wikipedia)
Stuffed animals in the past were frequently produced by stuffing the evacuated skins of hunted animals. The phrase is still sometimes used to refer to examples of taxidermy. However, with modern technology it is now possible to produce them with synthetic materials. For this reason, plush toy or plushie may be a more appropriate name for a modern synthetic stuffed animal.

The first commercial concern to create stuffed toys is apparently the Steiff company that was founded in 1880 in Germany.

It is known from tomb paintings in Ancient Egypt and Mesopotamian civilisations that stuffed animals existed in those societies for religious purposes, and undoubtedly for human play as well.[citation needed] Human psychology has very strong links with anthropomorphism, and so it is almost certain that most cultures and societies in human history have used stuffed toys in the form of popular animals for children's entertainment.[citation needed]

In medieval Europe, stuffed animals were often used in mystery plays to represent Biblical animals, such as the serpent in the Garden of Eden and the lions in the Book of Daniel.[citation needed] During the Industrial Revolution in Europe from c. 1750 onwards, the toy industry began to emerge.[citation needed] During the 19th century, the concept of the stuffed animal (known as a soft toy in Britain) as an entertainment product took off, with commercial enterprises such as the Steiff company being established to produce children's toys.

In the 20th century, anthropomorphism became highly popular among people in urban communities, who were often isolated from contact with real animals. Soft toys remain very popular due to the psychological desire towards a comfort object.

(article source - Wikipedia)

A great teddy bear party is not a difficult thing to pull of with a little creativity and some things that you can find round your house! Here are some quick ideas for making the party "beary" fun!

Invitation ideas
Buy some inexpensive rubber stamps with bear images and let your little one make homemade invitations. Or cut a piece of cardstock into the shape of a bear and write your invitation on that. Free clipart can be found for this purpose in many places on the Internet. Make sure you include the request for all the guests to bring their own bear to the party too!

Decoration ideas
When kids think of bears they usually think of honey and bees, so a big hit for decorations is LOTS of yellow and black balloons and streamers. If possible have various teddy bears all around the room as well to tie in the theme.

Menu ideas
When you're hosting a bear event even your menu should be centered on teddy. Here's a cute way to turn Peanut Butter and Jelly sandwiches into a beary fun treat!
Spread your peanut butter and jelly onto eight whole-wheat hamburger buns. Now here's where the fun begins. Cut four of the eight buns in half. On a large tray or covered cookie sheet, arrange the buns into a shape of a teddy bear. For the tummy, put one whole bun and surround that with 4 half buns. Another whole bun becomes the head/face, with two half buns on the topsides of the head for the ears. Two whole buns become the legs and the final two half buns turn out off of the body to make arms. Garnish the face/head bun with raisin eyes and a strawberry slice mouth and you've got a bear! Use a separate tray for additional sandwiches and watch for all the smiles! Mix some honey and yogurt together for a great dip for cut fruit and your menu is complete!

Bear Party - Activities and craft ideas
Crafts with a bear theme abound but here are some quick ideas for your bear birthday party. Make a paper bear chain (paper dolls) that the kids can color and decorate. Use paper plates to make paper bear masks. Bead a bear collar (necklace). Take a picture with all the kids and their own bears and decorate a simple scrapbook page to honor the occasion. Decorate teddy bear cookies with colored icing and various decorations.

Bear Party - Game idea
Pin the honey pot on the teddy bear - if you have an artist in the family, draw a large teddy bear on poster board and cut out honey pots. Blindfold each child individually and see if they can put the honey pot into the teddy bear's hand.

Enjoy

I am so excited! We now have our make your own stuffed animals for 3 different CARE BEARS and also STRAWBERRY SHORTCAKE!

I'll post pictures soon!