SvanLogoAh, Sweden – how we love you. The country that has given us the Nobel Prize, the films of Ingmar Bergman, beautiful women like Greta Garbo, giga-tons of flat-pack fiberboard IKEA furniture and of course – ABBA. O.K. they can keep that last one, but we’re thankful for all the others. To the list of cool Swedish exports we can now add this awesome little kid’s scooter made by a company called Svan. They make a line of very cool kid’s products, including a high-chair, bouncer and the scooter that we’re giving away today.

Svan Scooter 1I’ll keep my description of the scooter concise since it is so simple that it requires little in the way of explanation. In America we seem loathe to create a children’s toy that isn’t neon-yellow, with seizure inducing flashing lights and loud enough to scare the neighborhood pets. The Svan scooter is the opposite of these tacky little devices. Its construction is of a single piece of wood (birch) that has been shaped into the ideal form of a ride-on scooter.

Like a real world example of what Plato was talking about in the allegory of the cave – when we abstract away all of the minutiae that we attach to our toys in the form of “decoration” and distill these things to their essence – we end up with something like this Svan Scooter. A toy that is as much a piece of sculpture as a source of fun for your children. I’m a huge fan of good design and this thing hits the bulls-eye. If Charles and Ray Eames designed a scooter, I imagine it would have looked something like this.

Your youngster will develop leg strength and balance as they push themselves about the floor on this device. Its absence of frills and distraction allows their imagination to take over as they play. They can pretend they are riding a motorcycle, a rocket,  a horse, even an a-bomb like Slim Pickens in Dr. Strangelove (I’m obviously joking, you should not let your children play with nuclear weapons – or watch R rated Stanley Kubrick movies, at least not until they are 9 – uh – or maybe a little older than that).

Svan1This would make a fantastic gift for a kid in your life this year. No assembly is required and its solid construction is safe for use by children 18 months and older up to a max. weight of 50lbs.

Giveaway!
One reader will win a Svan Scooter (ARV $120). Our sponsor has indicated that they will be able to deliver the scooter before Christmas. To enter, all you have to do is leave a comment on this post. Since this is a very cool toy, I am making that the “theme” of this giveaway, so in your comment, mention your favorite toy from when you were growing up. You don’t need to write a paragraph, just a brief comment is all that is required – but you have to mention something to qualify.

Official Rules:

1. You must already be, or become a subscriber to this site in order to participate in this contest.
2.  To enter, leave a comment on this post and mention your favorite toy from when you were growing up.
3. One winner will receive a Svan Scooter (natural finish) (ARV $120 ) The winner will receive the prize by Christmas.
4. The winner will be selected using random.org, based on the number of your comment.
6. This contest will end at 10pm on Friday, December 12th 2009.
7. Winners will be notified by email and posted to this site. Winners will have 48 hours from the time of notification to claim their prize. If the prize is not claimed within that time, an alternate winner will be chosen.
8. Each comment represents a single entry. Those entitled to multiple entries for performing “extra credit” must add a comment for each entry.

Extra Credit:

1. Follow me using the Google Friend Connect widget – 1 extra entry
2. Follow on Twitter and Tweet about this contest – 1 extra entry per day (include link to Tweet in your comment)
3. Blog about this contest – 3 extra entries (include a link to the post in your comment)
4. Enter any of the giveaways in progress on www.theartofbeingmom.com – 3 extra entries (include name of contest and your comment # )
5. Post a comment on any of the other posts on this site (from the past month) – 1 extra entry per post (leave post name and comment #)
6. Enter any of the other giveaways in progress on this site – 2 extra entries per giveaway (include name of contest and your comment #)

(remember, you have to leave a comment for EACH ENTRY when you do extra credit. We pick winners based on a drawing using the comment number. If you put 5 entries into a single comment, you defeat the whole purpose of the extra credit, since you aren’t increasing your chances of winning. No, I am not going to go through each entry and make sure that you’ve entered correctly, that is up to you.)

FTC Disclosures
One Svan Scooter has been provided by the manufacturer to provide to the winner of this contest. I have received neither complimentary products or monetary compensation for reviewing these products or administering this contest. Regardless of compensation, all views and opinions expressed are my own.