Reviews for Educational
We all lead busy lives, and today’s kids are no exception — often running from school and work to sports and other activities, then rushing home to do homework, have dinner, and hopefully get enough sleep… only to do it all again the next day. Weekends and school vacations are sometimes the only time family members really have to relax, play, spend time together, and… talk. Talks don’t always have to be serious, and sometimes just plain silliness is the best way to connect. Other times (and I suspect we don’t use these moments nearly enough) are great for discussion, and getting to know each other — even if you think you already know all there is to know. Meanings in Motion life skills card deck is a new activity developed by a social worker who counsels children of all ages. It’s basically a tool to help us all — regardless of age — to do some self-reflecting. The card deck is actually a fun way to remind us of some important qualities and life skills we should use and exhibit throughout life. Each card prompts us to ask ourselves, and each other, questions relating to these practices (and how they make us feel), and we respond to these questions as honestly and accurately as possible. Of course, the depth of responses can vary radically depending on the age of the family member, but what’s so unique and refreshing is that grandparents, parents, children, and other family members or friends, are all on the same playing level — and there are no wrong answers! One great place to start with a younger child is the “feelings” card, the illustrated side featuring simple smiley faces, silly faces, sad faces, confused faces… you get the picture. The questions on the back include: “why do we have feelings,” “what purpose do they serve,” “what is one feeling you struggle with the most,” and “can you have more than one feeling at a time.” Some of the other life skills highlighted in the cards are: integrity, gratitude, honesty, compassion, self-esteem, positive thinking, forgiveness, building boundaries, balance, empathy, creativity, and peace (a state of calm). Now you see why this is a great activity for all family members of any age. We can all use these reminders, and talking to each other about how these qualities come into our lives can only bring us closer together. In addition to carefully crafted questions, each card also includes suggested activities. For instance, the “positive thinking” card suggests limiting exposure to negativity, choosing to be around positive people, and avoiding negative gossip and bad news. It also suggests reading inspirational books and poems, and re-telling stories that you’ve found to be uplifting. Another thing that makes Meanings in Motion successful is that each card is so beautifully designed. The sturdy, laminated, oversized cards feature colorful, whimsical, and often comical photographs and illustrations to represent the idea each card is meant to convey. For instance, the card dealing with “diversity” features a full tray of donuts, all decorated in their own unique way, yet all looking equally delicious. Meanings in Motion is a different kind of gift, for sure. But it has the potential to help family members of all ages with their own individual self-development, while at the same time bringing everyone closer together.
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Dear President Obama: Letters of Hope from Children Across America$17.95 at Amazon.com |
Children in America were well aware that history was made in November 2008, but their thoughts and reactions were bound to get lost among the flurry of news reports and adult conversations. That’s why it’s refreshing to read this new collection of children’s letters to President Obama, complete with hopes, fears, well-wishes, illustrations, and expressions of downright elation. Children ages 4 – 18 from all areas of the U.S. are represented and have a lot to say. Some of the letters made me smile — kids have been know to do that! For instance, I got a chuckle out of “Have fun at the White House,” “Do you believe in ghosts,” and much more. Other letters made me realize just how aware kids are of what our country’s issues are. Questions like, “Is the White House Eco-Friendly,” and “P.S. I’m 8 years old and I want to change the world. How Can I,” are just a sampling of some of the thoughts going through kids’ minds. 200 letters and drawings were collected by journalists Bruce Kluger and David Tabatsky immediately following the election. Linda Ellerbee wrote the Foreword, a nice addition that does not outshine the very real sentiment expressed by our youngest, yet extremely active and concerned citizens. Letters to President Obama makes a great gift for your grandkids, but adults will equally appreciate it.
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Squiggle On-The-Go doodle pads are a super creative travel activity. We surprised our kids (4 and 7) with them last week as we began a fairly long drive towards our vacation destination. They immediately began creating, and the more they doodled, the bigger their smiles and sillier their giggles became! Squiggle pads are a cleverly simple concept. Each sheet contains a “squiggle,” or randomly drawn line that your grandchild can use as the basis for their own creative doodle, or full-blown picture. Most of the sets also include a spinning wheel for added game-like dimension. For instance, the original Squiggle On-The-Go (shown here, 5 and up), has you spin and land on any of the letters A through D, each letter corresponding with a different side of the doodle pad. Your grandchild then rotates the pad so that the letter spun is at the top of the pad. However the squiggle line appears in that position is the starting point for their picture. How my son immediately envisioned (and then skillfully drew) a scarecrow in front of a farm — all from just a slightly curved line — is beyond me. It’s all in the way each child sees things — everyone potentially seeing something different — sort of like looking at clouds, or a Rorschach picture. Kids 4 and up will enjoy the themed Sguiggles, such as: Shapes and Colors, which has them draw pictures from shapes; Alphabet, where they spin and land on a letter, then draw a picture from the letter; and Barnyard, where they spin and land on an animal, and then draw that animal from the squiggle line provided on each sheet. Each pad comes with a small travel pencil (Shapes and Colors comes with four colored pencils for coloring/filling in), and the sheets easily tear off the pad. You can either leave the sheets on the pad, or carry a little ziplock bag to easily store all of the completed sheets. Squiggle On-The-Go is a simple yet clever and creative concept — a welcomed alternative to today’s typically electronic road-trip activities. Available through the link below or at all Barnes & Noble locations.
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Young children may not understand exactly how currency works, or even be able to tell the difference between a quarter and a dime. But they should be able to grasp simple financial literacy concepts… as long as they’re presented in an engaging age-appropriate way. The Money Mammals is a DVD produced especially for younger children, to teach them some basic concepts about money. These concepts are reflected in the DVD’s title, “We’ll Share & Save & Spend Smart Too.” The story’s characters are cute new puppets, including Joe the Monkey, Piggs the Bank, Clara J. Camel and Marmoset the Monkey. The content is presented primarily using catchy original songs to get the main points across. In fact, don’t be surprised if you find yourself singing along with your grandchild! The animals first learn that they need a certain amount of money to buy a certain thing. Piggs the Bank and Joe the Monkey realize they can use 1 coin to buy the trading card they want — the corresponding song is “One Coin (for the Coconut Card).” They then learn their friend Clara wants a red straw hat and decide to buy it for her birthday — but they soon realize they need to save 4 coins in order to buy it. This means they must make a choice not to buy more trading cards in order to save up to buy the hat for Clara. These “sharing,” “saving,” and “spending smart” messages are backed up with songs such as, “Reasons to Save,” and “Let’s Make the Right Choice,” which are, again, likable tunes that drive the points home in a fun, non-preachy way. The Money Mammals DVD has clear learning objectives and we believe it achieves them. But we’re guessing your grandkids won’t even realize they’re supposed to be learning!
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My daughter is thrilled to be the screen star in several new computer learning games, and she loves playing them too! Custom Kid Games (founded by veteran kids software designers) has launched Rocket Smarts CD-ROM for the PC or Mac, perfect for grandchildren ages 3-6 and personalized with your favorite photos of them. There are three games to choose from and in each one your grandchild will star as the adorable little astronaut — the main character, of course!. One game focuses on color recognition and is great for younger (3 year-old) kids. Another game focuses on numbers and counting, asking the player to repeat an action 2 times, 5 times, 8 times, etc. Once players master this task, the game will intuitively become more challenging, asking them to repeat an action “more than” or “less than (3) times. The third game is, perhaps, the most challenging of the three, both in terms of its learning objectives as well as the motor skills it requires. It shows a word and asks the player to transport a certain letter in the word up to the matching letter on the top of the screen. The letter is sometimes upper case and sometimes lower case. On the way up and on the way down, the player needs to avoid hitting any moving objects. As is the case with most computer games, well-supervised play will help your grandchildren to develop their conceptual and fine-motor skills. As mentioned, the overall theme of this first CD-ROM is space, and the retro cartoon design is adorable. You can choose a girl’s or boy’s version — some of the graphics differ, but the play is exactly the same.
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Create Your Own Fairy Garden/Butterfly Garden$8.50 at Garden Chick |
Gardening is such a perfect intergenerational activity. Planting seeds, nurturing seedlings, and watching them grow into mature plants, is so satisfying, whether you are a seasoned gardener or a child trying it out for the first time. Mackenzie’s Garden gift kits for kids, created and sold by Karen Creel (a.k.a. “Garden Chick”), can help you make this experience even more magical for you and your grandchild. Gardening with her own grandchild inspired Creel to start her line of enchanted kids gardening kits. You can choose from a Create Your Own Fairy Garden kit or Create Your Own Butterfly Garden kit. Each kit comes in an attractive purse-like gift package (no wrapping necessary!). The Fairy Garden kit includes a variety of seeds from sun-loving plants that attract “fairies” or fairy-like creatures, such as dragonflies, butterflies, etc. It also includes a card with instructions for planting your garden and some fun info. about fairies. As a bonus your grandchild will receive a little Garden Fairy paper doll sticker book. The Create Your Own Butterfly Garden kit is almost identical — seeds for growing colorful sun-loving plants that attract butterflies, growing instructions, and a booklet containing butterfly kids tattoos. In the Mackenzie’s Garden section of the Garden Chick website you can also purchase a Fairy Dust Cookies cookie-making kit (with fairy, dragonfly and flower-shaped cookie cutters, recipe, and “fairy dust” to sprinkle on top of the iced cookies), as well as a Flower Fairy Tea kit for tea parties (with tea bags of organic chamomile flowers, lemon balm, honeysuckle blossoms, hibiscus flowers, and spearmint). Each of the kits are under $10 yet they offer the prospect of a memorable and, quite possibly, enchanting experience with your grandchild.
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MunchMats Nutrition for the Brain$19.95 per set at MunchMats |
MunchMats educational and interactive learning placemats have my kids completely engaged in what I would call “school work that’s fun.” They are essentially a version of what restaurants sometimes provide — disposable paper activity sheets that double as placemats. But MunchMats are full-color and bursting with outstandingly-designed curriculum and learning objectives. MunchMats are sold in sets of 30 original sheets for 3 different age groups and 3 different themes: colors, shapes, letters and numbers for ages 3-6; the alphabet for ages 4-7; and U.S. geography for ages 8-12. As you can imagine, in the 3-6 year-old placemats, there is a lot of tracing of letters and numbers encouraged, along with coloring, counting and number sequencing activities, word searches, mazes and much more. In the alphabet-themed MunchMats for ages 4-7, there’s a great Pictionary Matching game, where a word definition can be read by your grandchildren (or you can read it to them). They then draw a line from the definition to the picture of the word, and then a line from the picture to the actual word. There are also fun fill-in-the-blanks activities, hidden picture puzzles, rhyming activities, and on and on. Regarding the geography-themed mats for ages 8-12, combing through each of the sheets is like taking a virtual cross-country trip (complete with great pictures) with a lot of extra information, such as facts about each region, famous landmarks, map-reading (including latitude and longitude), state abbreviations, common road signs, locations of famous people and events, etc. Each MunchMats 30-pack is printed using vegetable ink, and comes with a parent (or grandparent) lesson plan, a review page, and certificate of completion. It also comes with a large sturdy plastic zip-lock carrying case for storage in the car, at home, etc. I can think of so many uses for MunchMats. Aside from simply encouraging quiet learning time at home, they are invaluable for travel, in restaurants, etc. You can even tear off a sheet or two, fold it up and keep it in your purse for when the need arises. For an additional $12.95, you can purchase a MunchMats lap board that enables your grandchild to work on the activities in the car, on a plane, or anywhere where a table is not available. This is such a great opportunity for many hours of interactive learning time with your grandchild — and it’s fun!
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WheeGo Home/Indoor Quest$9.99 at Wheego |
WheeGo Home/Indoor Quest is a new indoor treasure hunt activity created by a resourceful mom and dad team. Cold winter days and long stretches of spring and fall rain can mean antsy grandkids looking for action. Nothing a good old-fashioned indoor treasure hunt can’t cure! WheeGo is designed for kids ages 4-7. It’s small and portable, and is great for visits with grandparents. Each package comes with supplies for two hunts – ours came with Cody the Country Singer’s and Jilly the Jouster’s quests. Most often, you or another caregiver will be Captain WheeGo, following the instructions enclosed and setting up the hunt. Each hunt includes color-coded and well-labeled envelopes containing: a Captain WheeGo Card that tells you (Captain WheeGo) where in your home to place each of the clue cards (out of site from your grandkids); a Character Card that gets the quest started and tells players where to find Clue #1; 10 Clue Cards; a little Treasure that is placed in the Treasure Box; and a Character Trading Card. Each of the Clue Cards is written in poetic verse and the clues are fairly easy for 6 & 7 year-olds to figure out – less so for 4 and 5 year-olds. They are not intended to stump any player. I found that the game became more interesting when I made the Clue Cards a little harder to find. In other words, once your grandkids figure out the Clue Card and know, in general, where in the house to look for the next Clue Card (for instance, the pots and pans cabinet), you may want to make things a little more challenging (like placing the card in the pot they’d least expect, or not in a pot or pan at all!). Your grandkids will be up and moving and excited to find each clue, and eventually, the treasure. My kids were literally out of breath, dashing through the house to each Clue Card destination. I should note that some kids will need help reading the Clue Cards, and some, if not most, will need clues read to them completely. Either way, they will have loads of fun – you all will!
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HEXBUG Micro Robotic Creatures$9.99 - 19.99 at HEXBUG |
We were delighted — and not the least bit squeamish — to be introduced to our little HEXBUG friends at Toy Fair in New York last month. HEXBUGS are beautifully designed and affordable micro robotic creatures appropriate for ages 8 and up. Currently there are three models available for purchase — the “bug,” the “inchworm,” and the “crab” — while the newest “ant” will be available this spring. We’ve fallen hard for our green inchworm, the only HEXBUG that is controlled by a tiny infrared remote control unit. What’s fascinating about it is its steering capabilities, and its ability to pirouette in place when stopped on its center pod foot. The HEXBUG crab reacts to light and sound, hiding in shaded areas until a loud sound or exposure to light chases it out into the open. The original bug reacts to touch and sound, and the newest ant has legs and wheels that allow it to move faster than the others. Each HEXBUG comes with button cell batteries included and are available in a variety of fun colors. Your grandkids don’t need to be robot fans to enjoy HEXBUGS — anyone, including adults, will have fun with them. Their affordability makes them great surprise gifts, and, unlike real bugs, anyone would be happy to have them roaming around the house!
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Hoppers Jr. is a fun and challenging peg solitaire game designed for kids ages 5-7 to play on their own — although I’ve been having just as much fun with it as my kid testers! Once again, Thinkfun has done a great job with the design of this game (as with most of their games). The square sturdy board (along with a handy travel bag to carry the pieces and hook onto the board) is intended to mimic a lily pad pond, and the object is to have the chunky little frogs hop over each other until only the red frog remains. The green frogs can hop over each other in any direction, and the 1 red frog can also hop over the greens, but the greens can not hop over the red. Like many of Thinkfun’s games, Hoppers Jr. comes with a Challenge Book with game board setups ranging from Easy to Super Hard. Some of the challenges actually start getting “challenging” in the medium range, so somewhere along the way your grandchild will likely require some friendly encouragement and assistance. At the more difficult levels it will be necessary to navigate the board more than once, possibly many times, in order to crack it. Similar to Chess, it helps to study the board and try to see all of the remaining moves, or hops, ahead of time. However, there is only one player so there are no surprises — just good mind-stretching fun! Thinkfun also sells a version of this game for older children (ages 8-12).
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