Stuff Parents Need

Thanks to My First Lab for sending along products for review. As always, all thoughts and opinions are my own. 

The next time you go on a hike with your kids, I would recommend taking along a microscope for the journey. Does that sound odd? Or at the very least, impractical? Well, you can actually now get a very compact, lightweight, high-resolution digital microscope that can fit in your pocket, right next to your smartphone.

We recently used this Smartphone Inspector (priced at just $12.99, by the way!) and checked out ant hills, rocks, leaves, moss and all sorts of other completely awesome stuff that we were able to view in a totally new way. We even brought some specimens back to our room for further inspection on the iPad, which this device will also work with, seamlessly. I think this is one of the absolute coolest items on the market to give to curious little explorers! We love having ours and take it with us on our travels.

If you’d like to have something a little more traditional, we have also really enjoyed the Duo-Scope Starter Kit, which is also very reasonably priced at just $29.99 (for a microscope with accessories!). We have been working a bit with Darah on learning how to use this microscope and properly care for it. It is a fantastic addition to our homeschool curriculum and so perfect as a first (real) microscope. We have already been checking out the yeast specimen included in the kit and the other slides included have been viewed, as well. I love that this entire kit is CPSIA approved. What a great addition for homeschoolers or a great supplemental resource for anyone!

Definitely check out these two very useful and intriguing gifts that will bring out the little scientist in your child!

Complimentary product received in exchange for honest opinions, which I always provide. 

Yesterday my oldest went to a sleepover, which gave her little sister the perfect opportunity to do some modeling for me….

as a mermaid!!!

Layah is going to give this gorgeous mermaid tail to her big sister for Christmas. I predict it will be one of her very, very favorite gifts (and likely a gift that she’ll still remember many years from now). Layah is only slightly smaller than her big sister, so she’s excited because she knows she is going to get to wear this mermaid tail, too! 🙂

When you order a Sun Tail Mermaid Tail, it comes with a fabric bodysuit piece and a hard plastic monofin that you attach after you put the fabric on. There are also detailed instructions on exactly how to put everything on for maximum safety for you, for your monofin, and for the fabric tail. You also get some information about practicing with everything (people using this product need to get very comfortable swimming with the monofin by itself before adding the fabric tail into the mix).

Basically, this is a product I would have absolutely LOVED to have received as a child (I remember playing mermaids with my friend Misty in her pool  for hours and hours when we were in elementary school). I’m so thrilled that a company has figured out how to offer such a gorgeous product for this generation’s little mermaid (and they make adult sizes, too!). The fabric suit is very soft and the colors are gorgeous. Based on our initial try on session, I would definitely recommend this product to others.

Right now they are offering 10% off your purchase when you use the coupon code BestGiftEver at checkout!

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #ProPlanPossibilities #CollectiveBias

The House of M has 3 feline members as part of its crew: Ruby, Ginger and Hattie. All 3 are rescues (Don’t buy! Adopt!). All 3 are loved to pieces by the humans in the house. But unfortunately, 2 of the 3 have a tough time getting along with each other. Ginger and Hattie, our two senior cats, both seem to wish that they were the one and only kitty in this house, and for a long time could not walk past each other without growls and hisses.

Therefore, feeding time for these two is also behavior training time. If you have cats who aren’t best buds in your home, let me show you a simple change to make that will help improve the relationship. I can’t promise you that they will become inseparable, but it should cut down on the animosity a bit.

Both Ginger and Hattie absolutely LOVE Purina® Pro Plan® SAVOR®. This is a top notch wet cat food that you can find at your nearest PetSmart. When we headed over to PetSmart last weekend to get restocked on irresistible wet cat food, I was so happy to find 21 different Pro Plan wet entrees, all of which were protein-rich and had accents like pasta, rice, cheese or vegetables. I appreciate so much being able to offer my kitties this much variety, to ensure that they are NEVER bored with their food! PetSmart really is the leader in keeping an amazing variety of flavors in stock.

All of these formulas also provide omega fatty acids for a healthy skin and coat. Since my girls are both seniors, it is critical that I provide them with advanced nutritional formulas to help them remain healthy and active. And it’s important for the sake of behavior training that I purchase varieties that my cats cannot wait to try. I get everything I need for them with Purina Pro Plan Savor.

Once you are equipped with the very best food for your cats, it’s time to start your behavior training. During your designated feeding time, open one 3 ounce can of wet cat food per cat, and place the cat food on one small plate per cat. Now place the plates no more than 5 feet away from each other, and ensure that the cats are able to see one another. There will be some push back from the cats during this first session, but the desire to taste what they can already smell from Purina Pro Plan Savor should override the desire to be far away from the other cat or cats.

With every passing day, nudge the plates slightly closer together.  My cats who used to hiss at each other from the complete opposite side of the room now eat their breakfast every morning this close together. If you seem to be going too fast with your plate placement, pause at whatever the closest point together seems to be that your cats will tolerate and let them get used to that for a week before trying again. Feeding time is going to become one of their very favorite parts of the day, and they will quickly understand that they don’t get to have that great experience without their fellow feline housemate. This gives a positive association with the cat, and that should, over time, help decrease the amount of negative interactions your cats have with each other. And when the food tastes as good as my cats seem to think Purina Pro Plan Savor does, there’s honestly just no time for growling and hissing. We love how much this product helps us work with our cats behavior toward each other!

When you head out to PetSmart to pick up your Purina Pro Plan Savor, don’t forget to use the Shopkick app. I used mine in store last week and noticed multiple offers: 10 kicks for watching en educational video, 50 kicks for scanning a barcode on select Pruina Pro Plan cat food, and 200 kicks for purchasing select Pruina Pro Plan products and submitting a receipt. What an easy way to earn! And if you have other pets (cats or dogs) not in need of behavior training, take a moment to discover the Purina Pro Plan food that’s best for your buddy.  Grain, corn, wheat and soy free options are available for a variety of taste preferences and health needs. Puring Pro Plan ensures that no ingredient is unnecessary – everything is selected with intention! If your cats prefer dry cat food, you can also currently find $2 savings of Pro Plan dry cat food (5.5-7lb bags). You can also find other great tutorials through the Social Hub. Go check it out to get more ideas to spoil and engage with your pet.

Thanks to #Stikbot for sending product samples my way. As always, all thoughts and opinions are my own. Affiliate links may be included at no cost to you. 

Last Christmas I gave my oldest child (who was 7 at the time) a stop motion animation starter kit. It contained software that would teacher her how to take a long series of still shots of her toys that she could move slightly after every photo, with the end result being that her toys were moving on screen (think the video version of the books you flip through quickly to see drawings turn into animations). I really wasn’t sure if it would take off with her but it created an entirely new way for her to play with her beloved Beanie Boo stuffed animals. She has since spent many hours making these types of videos and I really love how creative she gets!

I want to encourage her to keep up her imaginative play through movie making so this  Christmas she is going to be getting some #Stikbot products. Stikbot is a very popular stop motion toy company that offers some pretty incredible props and a really useful app for stop motion videos.

The app is called Zing Stikbot Studio and it’s completely free to download. My favorite thing about the app is that it allows you to use a green screen during filming and then turn that green screen into some pretty incredible backgrounds for your final product. Kids will absolutely LOVE it. This element in and of itself is already an upgrade over what my daughter is currently working with when she creates videos.

There are 2 sets she is getting this year. The first one contains a human #stikbot as well as a dog (so perfect for her) and it comes with a camera tripod which is also something she doesn’t own yet (she’s been taking photos with her ipad). The other product is the Farm Movie Set, which is actually designed to look like the summer season or autumn depending on how you set it up (which is brilliant design!). These accessories included in this kit are perfectly sized for the #stikbot figures and will add tremendously to the creative ideas for movies that my daughter can make.

I am so impressed with the very simple concept of #stikbot figures, combined with some advanced technology so that children can be makers and can create something to share with others during play time. I can’t wait to see what she will create with her new figures and accessories, and based on how much I have already seen her enjoying the world of stop motion, I will very highly recommend this. What a great way to encourage creativity!

#Stikbot products can be found at Amazon, Target and Toys R Us and are, in my opinion, very reasonably priced. Happy shopping!

Surely I’m not the only mom out there who tries to hide the name brand 18 inch doll catalog when it arrives in the mail. I didn’t catch the latest one before my 5-year-old found it. It was rather adorable to watch her go through it and circle items she wanted, until I started looking at the price points (A bed for a doll that cost the same amount as her own bed?! Yikes!).

So when I heard about Starpath Dolls and the mompreneur behind the brand, I was very curious and agreed to check out the products. We were sent the doll Shining Star and it was love at first sight for my 5-year-old, Layah.

When we took the doll out I was immediately checking for whether or not the doll looked sturdy, meaning whether or not it could endure lots and lots and LOTS of play. I quickly noticed the arms and legs that are easy to move, and the soft (yet not squishy) body core. It all looked good to me! Layah immediately noticed just how lovely the doll was, saying, “She’s precious, mommy! Can I name her Precious?”

Precious, it is! This doll has been put in baby carriers and strollers, has slept in Layah’s bed, has traveled rather extensively with us over the past month, and has been changed into countless different outfits (that we have acquired now that we have a doll this size). Her hair is extremely soft and easy to brush (yet it isn’t falling out, which is something else I’ve been watching for), and she’s just all around adorable and high quality! Her price point ($79) reflects her quality without reflecting a name brand premium price.

What Sets Starpath Dolls Apart

There is something very special that is included with Starpath Dolls and that I think really sets it apart from the competition. When you purchase a Starpath Doll you will receive a code at the time of purchase that will allow you to order a personalized story book for your child in an eBook format your child can read on a device like an iPad or Kindle. This book is included with the price of the doll and you receive it immediately after you customize your online book. Or, your child prefers a paperback book you can pay $20 to get your book printed and it will arrive at your doorstep within 2 weeks of placing your order.

We are extremely impressed with the quality of our Starpath Doll, and we love our personalized book, as well. If you have a little one who would love 18 inch dolls and you want to buy something that will last without having to take out a second mortgage on the house, give Starpath Dolls a try! Right now the website is offering free shipping on orders over $50!

Thanks to Smartick for our trial subscription. As always, all thoughts and opinions are my own. 

One of the areas I have been the most nervous about teaching my kids is math. I started to really loathe math as early at 3rd grade when I didn’t quickly understand the concept of long division (I actually have a memory of running to the bathroom and crying over it!). The last thing I want is for my kids to have an  unhealthy relationship with math. I want the complete opposite for them, in fact. But can I help them achieve that as their teacher? I knew at the very least, I was going to need some help.

So I looked into online-based programs that can assess where your child is at in her math journey (as opposed to arbitrarily assigning them math problems that fit in with their grade year), and that’s how I discovered Smartick. Once assessments are complete, the child will log in daily to complete just 15 minutes of exercises, during which time points are accrued based on the number of problems the child completes. At the end of the session, the child has the opportunity to make corrections for an additional point. I find that it is often the case that the child has figured out how to solve a particular type of problem by the time they get to the corrections section, and it is really a good boost to their confidence level to get to go back and take another crack at a problem they missed before. The points are used to purchase fun virtual items such as pets or room accessories that can decorate the child’s room in the Smartick world. These points are extremely motivating to both of my girls, especially since they can “buy” really fun pets with them (cats and dogs are available, but also really wacky things like an octopus!).

One thing that has really impressed me about Smartick is the ability to communicate with the people behind the program and to customize certain elements. For example, there is a progress bar on the screen during a child’s session, and it will turn red when your child is falling behind the average time it takes for children of that age to complete these problems. This is likely motivating to some students (it motivates my youngest!) but it is extremely distressing to more anxious children, like my older child. In fact, it was starting to cause tears during Smartick sessions, so I emailed the company to ask if there was any way to get rid of that feature for her account. I didn’t expect that there would be, but I was surprised and delighted to learn that they could turn that feature off for Darah in order to help her have sessions that weren’t as stressful. It helped tremendously!

The program seems to be quite smart, and is doing a great job at keeping both of my girls appropriately challenged. I am seeing their confidence grow with every session, and it is really helping us develop positive relationships with math. While we are using it as part of our homeschool curriculum, it is not strictly designed for homeschooling children. Since the daily sessions are only 15 minutes long, it can be used as an enrichment tool for all children. Smartick reports that 94% of students improve their grades in school after using Smartick, so it really is a great option for children already enrolled in school. It is also designed to help your child advance faster than in school and beyond what is taught in the classroom.

As a parent, you will receive an email report as soon as your child completes a session with a summary of the work that was done. It’s helpful to me to get a sense for the areas where mastery is being built, as well as areas that are new and still quite challenging to my girls. The parent section of Smartick also contains helpful tutorials you can view with your child to help introduce a new concept (for example, vertical addition with carrying) and a listing of problems completed so you can go back over any problems that caused confusion.

In addition to the 15 minute daily sessions, Smartick does offer fun games for the kids. We have only played around a little bit with the games, so far, but my kids are definitely interested in getting to do more. The games are designed to improve concentration levels and to reinforce perception, attention memory and logical reasoning.

Overall, this is a very high quality program to help your child learn to love math and to grow and develop right at the level s/he is on now, as opposed to the level s/he “should” be on (I have one child who is almost a year ahead in math, and one child who is almost a year behind and both are loving Smartick). I would very highly recommend the program with one simple caveat: I find the price point to be tough. It’s $50/month per child, per month (there are small discounts if you enroll more than 1 child at a time and/or if you subscribe for a quarter or for a year). I do appreciate the referral program which allows current subscribers to offer a 25% off coupon to their friends, and in return if a friend signs up, the referrer receives a $27 discount on their bill. However, even with the discounts available it’s still quite expensive for something that is used for just 15 minutes a day. There is a 15 day free trial available, and I would recommend giving it a whirl to see what you think, especially since it won’t cost you anything to try it. It is making a difference for both of our girls, but it’s not priced to be affordable for most families (or at least not for mine), which really is a shame because I think the program is very beneficial.