Tuesday, January 14, 2014
Hunter and His Honeycombs
Our grandson Hunter really enjoys his
Honeycomb cereal. To add to his pleasure, and to his education, Post Cereal has
recently added a program to keep his interest at the breakfast table.
There are 24 hockey cards available
to collectors in the program; however, Hunter is more interested in the boxes. Six
players from the Canadian Hockey League are pictured on the boxes. He can spend
as long as it takes to devour a couple of bowls, studying the boxes intensely.
Therein lies the education factor.
Without a doubt, he has learned a lot
of language from cereal boxes in his seven years. Last year, Post introduced
its hockey program, and that was just fine for him. While he ate, he asked
about pronunciations, particularly about names uncommon to him. For example,
one of the players featured on the boxes this year is Connor McDavid. That is
no problem for him, especially since he has an uncle David; however on the
Shreddies box is Laurent Dauphin. That was arrived at with some difficulty, as
it contains one of those consonant blends, and the “au” vowel grouping pronounced
as an “o” in French.
2012-2013 Post Shreddies with Belleville Bull Malcolm Subban
It’s a “Hooked on Phonics” lesson in
the kitchen. The other players on the boxes, you ask? Sean Monahan, Josh Morrissey,
Frederik Gauthier, and a namesake for him, Hunter Shinkaruk. Helping him with
all of those names has been a good lesson to begin with. Add to that the other
18 players in the series, and there is a heap of learnin’ going on.
I can personally vouch for the
exercise. Cereal companies have been featuring sports cards in their
promotional programs for years. When my children were young, Wayne Gretzky was
featured in a program. The whole concept began in 1960 with the Post Company.
In 1961, they featured baseball players from the major leagues on the back of
the boxes, to be cut carefully from the box. The Mantle and Maris cards have
increased in value many time over, fetching more than a thousand dollars in
fine condition.
I checked on this year’s Post
Collection on one eBay site. The Connor McDavid card was advertised for $
14.95, plus shipping, taxes, and handling, of course. I found an easier way to
get McDavid’s card, and it does not cost a dime. Inside the box is a special
number. I got on the proper Post site, entered the number, and qualified to
receive Connor’s card, as well as three cards from other CHL stars. I was
informed that I would have to wait up to six weeks for my cards. Wrong! They arrived
in a little cellophane package in a fortnight! In a short period of time, I had
the cards for Hunter’s collection.
There are 24 cards in the program,
requiring six numbers from the boxes. They feature players from the three CHL leagues:
Ontario, Western, and Quebec.
You will find all of the pertinent
details on the boxes. There are also Sugar Crisp, Honey Shreddies, and
Alpha-Bits in the program. It is a very easy way to encourage a seven-year-old
to start his or her day!
Bon appétit!
James Hurst
Sportslices.blogspot.com
January 14, 2014
# posted by James Hurst @ 6:04 AM 
