Mission Accomplished!

We would like to thank and acknowledge your support of our 'Mommies on a Mission' campaign - it was a huge success! 

We are beyond thrilled to share that we are officially building a playground in Afghanistan for 1,000 children! Our friends at Playground Builders boarded their flight to Afghanistan late last night and will immediately start construction on our newly funded playground as early as next week. 

  

With your help, we were able to sell 700 Mommy Beans 'Reminder To Play' sets in just 23 days! In order to raise the required $8,000 in funds to build the playground, our goal was to sell 1,000 'Reminder to Play' sets.  While we fell just short of our goal, Peekaboo Beans is pleased to announce that we will cover the remaining cost required to build this much-needed playground!

  

We are so excited to make a positive change in the lives of hundreds of children and we could not have done it without your help.  It's incredible to see what can happen when 'Mommies Are On a Mission! ' 

Thank you again for all of your love and support.

  __________________________________________________________________________

BUILDING HOPE FROM THE GROUND UP. 

ONE PLAYGROUND AT A TIME.  

There is often no safe place for children to play in many war-torn communities. Most have never experienced the joy of a swing or the thrill of a slide. Playground Builders is dedicated to building hope and peace through the gift of play. The need for safe play areas around the world is overwhelming. Often the hardest part of what they do is selecting which projects to support.

At any given time, Playground Builders has numerous proposals for play areas in need of funding. Unfortunately, without the necessary resources, they can't address them all. At this time, they are focusing their efforts on the war-torn areas of the Middle East, specifically Iraq, the Palestinian Territories and Afghanistan. The need in these areas is great. As an example, in the eastern province of Afghanistan, Herat, there are approximately 780 schools in need of playgrounds.  Imagine.... children living their daily lives without a safe place to simply play

Playground Builders has established an innovative, cost effective, time efficient and safe model for building and installing their playgrounds. They use a generic playground design and local construction, based on a competitive value bid system.  The building process commonly takes 6 to 10 weeks from site determination to installation depending on the time of year, level of conflict in the surrounding areas and material availability. 

With our 'Mommies On A Mission' campaign, we are thrilled to have raised enough funds to build a playground, and support Playground Builders' mission to bring PLAY back into the lives of children who need it the most

High fives all around.... WE DID IT!!  Below is the actual site that our much needed playground will be built. We will provide you all with periodic updates on the building and completion of YOUR playground!

"We know it's not about the number. It's about the value of just 1 child experiencing joy. We are quickly closing in on 500, 000 kids playing on the 194 playground we've built to date. Can you imagine how many laughs and friendships and... well, wow. Just wow." - Playground Builders

Pj's, Pancakes, & Play!

Last Saturday Peekaboo Beans and Bobs & Lolo teamed up for a super fun morning of pj's, a pancake breakfast, & playtime with Bobs & Lolo in support of Playground Builders, the Canadian charity building playgrounds in war-torn areas.

We had an incredibly fun time playing with all of you and are so thankful for everyone who came out! Peekaboo Beans' mission is to help all kids get back to play & together we raised an amazing $2,300 towards building a new safe place for children to play! See our last blog post for a breakdown of the playground equipment that the funds we raised will be used towards here.

Check out pictures of all the fun we had at the Pj's, Pancakes, & Play event below!

Learn more about Playground Builders or donate now on their website here.

Spring Break Play it Forward... the results are in and we are AMAZED!

Exciting news - we exceeded our goal of raising $500 for Playground Builders during Spring Break by a long shot!  Between March 15th and March 31st for every $75 spent by our customers, the Peekaboo Beans Playground donated $2 to our friends, Playground Builders.  

And with your help, we raised...  $3,128.  Happy Dance!!  A big kudos to all of you for Playing It Forward during spring break!  Here's a breakdown of the playground equipment the funds raised can be used towards.   

We are having a playdate with Bobs and Lolo!

To purchase tickets click HERE

Peekaboo Beans and Bobs & LoLo are teaming up to present a super fun morning of PJ's, pancakes and PLAY in support of Playground Builders - a charitable organization building playgrounds for children in war torn areas.

Bring the entire family out for the fun! Sing, dance & play along to Bobs & LoLo's catchy tunes, enjoy a yummy breakfast of pancakes and do it all in the comfort of your pajamas. Please feel free to bring a blanket to put down for cozy pancake picnics and seating around the dance zone. Limited chair seating will also be available. Full proceeds from this special event support Playground Builders. 

Bobs & LoLo will perform at 10:30am. Come early or stick around after to meet the Treehouse TV stars in person. Stickers and high-fives for everyone! 

Or... would you like the VIPB service?  Enter for your chance to WIN!! Just post in our comments section what your Beans' favourite Bobs and Lolo song is and be automatically entered to WIN this fabulous VIPB prize!! 

* Contest closes Thursday April 3rd, 2014 at 9pm. VIPB Prize will be awarded to one complete family, up to 6 family members. One entry per family. Winner will be announced on the Peekaboo Beans facebook page Friday morning, April 4th.  

Spreading happiness in Kabul.

Peekaboo Beans is taking a stand for play.  Here and around the world.  As we shower our Beans, friends and family with love and play over the holidays, know that your contribution to Playground Builders has given that love to other families and Beans, despite their circumstances.  Our impact is powerful.  If you didn't know, a large number of our Play Stylists have decided to regularly donate a portion of their monthly commissions to Playground Builders and their small but important contributions go an extremely long way. Peekaboo Bean is a stand for PLAY, for children near and far. Every little bit helps bring smiles to much deserved faces. 

Below is a heartfelt letter from Playground Builders coordinator in Kabul who provides insight from Afghanistan and the impact of the work that Playground Builders is completing. For security reasons the coordinator is best left nameless, please read on... 

(Why is there cruelty) from everywhere to Afghanistan, why? We are also human, we also have hearts, we also have feelings, and we also have rights. We wish peace, we want happiness, we want stability, we want to have freedom, we want to be friendly with friends. We want to welcome our guests and be so hospitable for them - this is our culture and this is our Islam. But why do people not let us be so and to do so?

"We cannot live freely, we cannot wander freely, we cannot love, we cannot want something, and we cannot wish something. Why? Our children cannot go to schools freely, no one is (sure) that their children, their father, their mother, their brothers, their sisters and their others will come back from their schools from their work or from market alive or safely.

There is a (scarcity)... there is instability, there is no satisfaction, and there is no freedom. There is always (fear) of explosion, kidnapping, killing, bombardment and harassments. Why? We are human. We need freedom, we need love, we want friendship, and we want to live. Our children want to be happy, be free, be healthy, and be normal.

I am thankful to the world community, but they are also not so honest to the people of Afghanistan. They all are playing just games. But I am so proud and thankful to Canadians and Indians. They always have been honest to Afghanistan. They always help us without any their own interest. For example, Playground Builders of Canada always spread the happiness among the children and people of Afghanistan. The people and communities always thank these humanitarian efforts. We accept that world community has helped us a lot, but... with force and by military actions, which killed thousands and thousands and at the result is still no peace, no stability and no women empowerment and no children's happiness. But with the special projects of Playground Builders of Canada, they have spread much, much happiness among the children and among the people.

Why I am writing this email with so (much passion)? Because last week when we were smoothening the ground for the football ground at school...the (parent) committee came to the school and thanked me a lot. To be honest, the Mulla Imam wept and thanked me a lot (because) we are the only people who are going to bring happiness to the children, to the girls and to the people. I also became so impressed. These are the feelings of our Mulla.

There is no terrorism in our Islam, there is no terrorism in our culture, there is no terrorisms in the people of Afghanistan. Taliban are not Muslims. They kill us too, they kill our children, they prevent us from happiness, they prevent us from living and they prevent us from work."

________________________________________

From the Playground Builders Winter 2013 Newsletter

Happy Holidays From Playground Builders!
Playground Builders wishes our friends and supporters all the wonder and magic the holiday season can bring. And, for Playground Builders, the magic has already begun!

Anonymous donors pledged to match all donations made from now until Dec 31st, 2013, up to $50,000. If you donate now, every dollar donated to Playground Builders becomes two.


2013 is Playground Builders' Best Year Yet.
Playground Builders averages approximately 20 playgrounds per year. In this, our best year yet, we are on track to complete 35! To date, Playground Builders has finished 145 projects in some of the world's toughest areas. These are areas that have collapsed under decades of war and are politically and economically devastated with a bleak outlook for the future. Playgrounds can be a flicker of hope in these dark places. We calculate that each and every day, over 300,000 children living in conflict now have access to safe play areas.



Until Dec. 31st, Every Donation is Matched!
Every dollar pledged over this holiday season will be matched, up to $50,000! As you plan your holiday giving this year, consider giving to Playground Builders, and you'll give twice as much. We have play projects approved and waiting for funds.

Donate to Playground Builders today! Visit our donation page Or, email us anytime at info@playgroundbuilders.org

About Playground Builders
Playground Builders is a registered Canadian charity #852810019RR0001 that relies on donations from corporations, individuals, corporate and family foundations and community groups. The majority of our minimal administrative costs are covered by individuals so that most every dollar donated goes directly to building a playground. The cost of a complete playground ranges depending on size and location from $5,000 to $12,000.

There's no better reason.

November 30 is "SHOP LOCAL" day! 

I invite you to shop Local with Peekaboo Beans through your local Play Stylist all year long - but November 30, 2013 is shop local day. By doing this you are fueling our economy, creating jobs and spreading the VITAL importance of Play around the world! In particular if you purchase select products you will be helping build playgrounds in war torn countries through our partnership with Playground Builders!! 

So come PLAY with us and shop LOCAL on November 30th within the comforts of your own home. You really can't get much more local than that!  Peekaboo Beans is a born and raised Canadian company, so find a stylist near you and book your holiday Bean Soiree today. 

Giving the gift of PLAY!

We want ALL children to have the right to PLAY! 

So this holiday season we are gearing up and offering you 2 of our best sellers in purple and green (our signature PB colours!) and giving the gift of PLAY to those children who need it the most. 

From now until December 9th purchase either the On the Go Hoodie in Emerald at a discounted rate of $40 (regular $50) or the I Heart Play Hoodie in Purple at a discounted rate of $45 (regular $56) and we will donate $5 from each of these fabulous styles to our friends and partners in play... Playground Builders! 

Together with your help, we can give the gift of PLAY!

To purchase contact your local Peekaboo Beans Play Stylist or shop On-Vine at www.peekaboobeans.com. 

Our first ever "Pancakes for Playgrounds!"

It's Pancakes for Playgrounds Time!

We are a stand for Play.  In our community and in our world. 

Join Kirby, Traci and the PB team on Wednesday, August 21, for our first-ever 'Pancakes for Playgrounds' event at the Peekaboo Beans Playground.  It's the perfect opportunity to meet Kirby Brown of Playground Builders and learn how he and his partner, Keith Reynolds are building hope from the ground up, one playground at a time!

Bring your Beans, bring your friends, bring your neighbors!! And help us bring smiles to the faces of children who need it the most.  Every little bit helps, so bring your pocketbook with you and enjoy some fabulous pancakes by donation! 

Wednesday, August 21, 9:30-11:00am

@ The Peekaboo Beans Playground

610-13211 Delf Pl., Richmond, BC

Who's Invited: 

You! Your Beans! Your friends and family!

RSVP Now:

Email jenn@peekaboobeans.com and be sure to include your total number of attendees, too.  We want everyone to have full bellies of delicious pancakes!  Please RSVP by Monday, August 19th. Space is limited... we can only feed so many bellies so be sure to RSVP and reserve your pancakes today! 

This pancake breakfast is powered by donations and 100% of all proceeds will go to Playground Builders.

Suggested donation is $10.  For a family of 4 or more, the suggested donation is $20.

Visit www.playgroundbuilders.org to see what these amazing guys have been up to recently!

Social Media Scary!

It was the simple click of a photo posted to her teenage daughter’s Facebook page that left a Langley mom deeply disturbed.

The link opened up a series of shocking images showing two young children, who looked about eight years old, performing sexual acts on each other.

“It’s disgusting,” Traci-Lee Burchell told The Province. “It makes me sick to my stomach.”

Burchell regularly keeps tabs on her daughter Hailee’s social-media activity, but she never expected to find child pornography posted to the 16-year-old’s Facebook profile.

The photo appeared on Hailee’s page without her knowledge after she did something almost every other teen regularly does on social media — she “liked” a page with a picture of a cute kitten that had gone viral.

Hailee’s just one example of how efficient Internet predators are becoming at reaching children on social-media websites. Even more shocking, police say, is that predators are now going after even younger kids.

“What’s alarming to us is the ages of the children,” said Ridge Meadows RCMP Cpl. Alanna Dunlop, who said she has seen kids as young as nine or 10 on social-media sites that are at risk of being targeted.

Dunlop said the problem is widespread, with police jurisdictions across Canada working to better educate the public on how to protect kids from child predators.

Ridge Meadows RCMP are currently investigating a number of cases involving kids being targeted by child predators on websites and apps such as Skype, Kik and Instagram, Dunlop said. In some cases, she said online predators coerced children into sending nude images of themselves.

But in many other cases, young, underage girls sent nude photos of themselves to someone they’re dating in what is often called “sexting,” Dunlop said. When the relationship ends, photos often get posted on social media, she said.

Part of the problem is that kids are signing up on social-media sites at younger ages than ever before.

Vancouver social-media educator Jesse Miller said Thursday that he had just finished a speaking engagement at a school where children in Grade 3 and 4 admitted to having accounts on the photo-messaging app Snapchat. The minimum age to join Snapchat is 13.
But since there’s no age verification, anyone can sign up, he said.

Miller said he expects to see kids using social media at even younger ages, where they will increasingly be put at risk of child predators.

Dunlop urged parents to have access to their children’s social-media accounts, which she said should always be set to private.
She said parents should also ensure their kids don’t accept friend requests from people they don’t know personally, and that they don’t use messenger apps like Kik that lack privacy settings.

For mom Burchell, open communication and vigilant monitoring is key to trying to keep her daughter safe.

A few social media sites where your children may have accounts:

- Facebook: social utility that allows people to connect with friends and others online;
- Twitter: account holders can follow other users and share their thoughts, links and photos in 140 characters or less;
- Instagram: a photo-sharing site;
- Tumblr: a blogging platform that allows users to post text, photos, quotes, music and videos;
- YouTube: site where users can post original videos and comment on those posted by others;
- Google+: social networking site;
- Pinterest: A content-sharing service that allows members to “pin” images and videos to their pinboards;
- Snapchat: real-time photo messaging app;
- Vine: allows users to create and share short videos;
- Kik: smartphone messenger app that allows sharing of text, photos, video and more;
- Pheed: iPhone social app that allows users to share text, photo, audio, video and live broadcasts;
- Reddit: an online community where users share and vote on content, promoting stories to the site’s front page;
- Whatsapp: smartphone messenger app where users can create groups and share text, image, video and audio messages.

This article was originally posted on June 7th in the Province Newspaper.  Read more HERE 

Join us on June 13th, for and evening of Cyber Safety for our Beans and Tweens with special guest Jesse Miller, hosted by Peekaboo Beans. We invite you attend this insightful and informative seminar and learn how to teach your children the guidelines and importance for safe and responsible social media use.

Purchase tickets HERE on-line or RSVP to deana@peekaboobeans.com to reserve your spot and pay for your ticket at the door.  Did we mention we will have snacks and bevies??

And we are excited to support our friends at Playground Builders by donating all proceeds from this event to their amazing organization!

Creating a safe environment for our families within our community

As a parent we spend every ounce of our children's lives protecting them and guiding them, so they can make good, safe choices. Whether we are teaching them to not talk to strangers, about our private parts, or looking both ways before crossing the street, we want to make sure we are giving our children the tools to be successful in life. We are now living in a new generation of safety and awareness, via the internet and technology, but as parents in this new generation, we don't know what we don't know. 

 

Peekaboo Beans mission is to provide ingredients for a playful life. We believe that play is the backbone to learning and development. Playing teaches us about boundaries, it evolves our imagination, it connects us socially, it builds our bodies and expands our thinking. Peekaboo Beans is a stand for unstructured free play so children can learn and grow into happy healthy human-beans. But as technology becomes a driving force in our daily lives, it is sometimes difficult to manage.

When I heard Jesse speak, I hung onto every word, because as a parent in this new world, I want the tools to help my beans grow and flourish. His talk was enlightening and frightening all at the same time, but I felt like this provided me with the education and understanding that I needed to help me make good decisions for my family. Anything from how old should you be before you use a cell phone to how you manage social media in your tweens life - it all creates conversation.

 

I am so happy that Jesse is going to come and speak to our group of mindful parents and help provide ingredients for a playful life! Please DO NOT MISS this opportunity to learn and grow as a parent!

 

In love and play,

Click HERE to purchase your ticket On-Vine (listed under "Really Neat Things")

 

We are happy to support Playground Builders and will be donating the proceeds from this event to their wonderful organization as part of our Play It Forward Campaign.  

 

Building a playground for the holidays.

I have two very conflicting thoughts on Christmas - I LOVE THE FEELING OF CHRISTMAS!! I Love the Christmas celebrations, I love the gatherings, I love saying thank you to friends, co-workers, teachers and neighbours! I love decorating, the music, the lights...the parties, the dressing up, cocktails - friends! I love hot chocolate and cozy fireside nights! I love the magic of Christmas.

 

Where I sometimes feel conflicted is my children have so much. First and foremost they have love, the have a warm home, they have safety, comfort and support, needless to say they have toys. Toys, toys, toys and STUFF! I don't want to deprive them of the magic, but truly - what more could they need - definitely not more toys!! So I want to take this opportunity for us to help teach our children the importance of giving during the holidays, rather than receiving.

 

My goal this holiday season is to contribute these elements to the next Playground initiative that Playground Builders is creating.

1. 1 Swing set $317.00
2. 1 Slide $391.00
3. 1 Seesaw $381
4. 1 community bench $74.00
5. 1 playhouse $1100.00

So far though our amazing Peekaboo Beans Play Stylist, Beanefactors and sales of my personal stash of Vintage Beans we have raised $1,690.00.

 

Only $573.00 left to go! 

 

There is nothing that feels better than being able to give the gift of play this holiday season. 

 

How far can your $2 go?

Peekaboo Beans wants to give children from all walks of life the opportunity and right to safely play. This is why we have partnered up with Vancouver based non-profit organization, Playground Builders and starting November 1st, Peekaboo Beans will give you the option to purchase a $2 donation to fund Playground Builders with your On-Vine Beans order.  Or if placing an order with a Play Stylist, simply advise them to add the $2 donation to your total.  Peekaboo Beans is on a mission with our Play Revolution to bring PLAY back into the lives of children everywhere.  Our children are playing less than any previous generations, and this lack of play is causing them profound physical, intellectual, social and emotional harm. Experts say our kids are experiencing a Play Deficit.  As parents we need to and support our child's right to develop and grow in a natural and healthy way, no matter what walk of life we are from. 

 

You can find and add the $2 donation to your Peekaboo Beans order under our Really Neat Things section in the On-Vine Site HERE.  See our Ingredients of a Playground below to find out exactly how your contribution will be used in order to bring PLAY back into the lives of children everywhere.

 

 

A bit about Playground Builders:

Playground Builders is a nonprofit that builds playgrounds for children in war-torn areas. There is often no safe place for children in these communities to play. Most have never experienced the joy of a swing or the thrill of a slide. Playground Builders is dedicated to building hope and peace through the gift of play.

To date, they have supported the construction of more than 100 playgrounds throughout Afghanistan, Iraq and the Palestinian Territories. But this is just the beginning. There are many more children, schools, orphanages and communities in dire need of safe havens for play.  Playgournd Buliders are building hope, one playground at a time.

 

Visit their website to find out more about Playground Builders.

{Playground Builders}

YAY! for Peekaboo Beans.  TOOT TOOT!  We reached our goal of 5,000 views on You Tube for our Play Revolution Video and promised to donate $1,000 to local foundation, Playground Builders... and we have done just that.  Since inception in 2007 this remarkable company has built approximately 20 playgrounds per year supplying safe play for over 250,000 children.  WOW! What an amazing accomplishment, and that's just the start of it.  They have built 100 playgrounds to date in worn-torn areas of the world like Iraq and Afghanistan providing children the opportunity to safely play like children were intended to.  Currently Playground Builders is working on playgrounds 101, 102, 103, 104 & 105.  Did I already say that this is amazing??? 

How can you get involved?  Visit their website for more information and see what you can do to help.  It doesn't take much to pull some neighbourhood friends together and make something incredible happen.  All children need play in their lives, let's see what we all can do to assist Playground Builders with their goals. 

www.playgroundbuilders.org

On a side note, have you joined our Play Revolution?  Our children are playing less than any previous generations, and this lack of play is causing them profound physical, intellectual, social and emotional harm.  Experts say our kids are experiencing a Play Deficit.  Take our Play Pledge today and support your child's right to develop and grow in a natural and healthy way.   

Download your PLAY PLEDGE here