Stuff Parents Need

Easing the chaos in the nest, one find at a time.

$50 Gift Card to Educational Insights GIVEAWAY!!!

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As you know, I have partnered up with Educational Insights to bring you monthly selections of AMAZING toys, games and other educational products that your kids will love and that will foster a genuine love of learning at home.

Educational Insights has offered a very special treat to Stuff Parents Need readers this month: one of you is going to get a $50 gift card to spend as you please on the site!

What do you need to do to enter? It’s SO easy! You just have to like Educational Insights on Facebook and let me know you did so on the Rafflecopter form below. Woo hoo!

There are so many great things for you to spend it on….can’t wait to hear your ideas!

What are you waiting for?! Get to it!

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Hot Dots Jr. Alphabet Cards Review and GIVEAWAY!!!

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We have a FANTASTIC new educational toy at our house, and I’m so excited to share it with you! It comes to us from Educational Insights, an online store that is packed with really great games and toys that help children learn important concepts.

Hot Dots, Jr. is an interactive set of flash cards. We received the beginning alphabet cards. You use these cards in conjunction with a special talking pen that helps children know if they have solved the problem on the card correctly, or if they need to try again. Darah has Kat, and they also offer Ace the dog. Kat’s eyes turn green and she purrs when Darah selects the right answer. She meows when Darah needs to try again.

The cards in the beginning phonics set have various problems that need to be solved. Darah is just now mastering the set of cards that has her match upper case and lower case letters. We are now moving into the cards that also have her match upper and lower case letter, but offer more options and seem to be a bit more difficult. Darah absolutely LOVES to do these flash cards, and she does not get discouraged when she misses the answer. She remains very focused and also practices the sounds the letters make while doing her work. Its really pretty awesome to watch!

I will most definitely be getting more of these cards for her to work with because she has responded so well to them. I also like that they come in a compact case with a velcro lid and a canvas handle for easy storage as well as easy access by Darah. She can pull these out on her own and put them away on her own, which is really nice.

Hot Dots, Jr. card sets retail for $14.99 each and the talking pens retail for $12.99 each. I highly recommend these products as a way to keep the learning that is happening at school also happening at home.

Win it!: One lucky Stuff Parents Need reader will win a Hot Dots Jr. card set and a talking pen!

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Grandma’s Trunk: 5 Games in 1! Review and GIVEAWAY!!!

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I’m so excited to announce that I am part of the blogging review team for a FANTASTIC educational resource website called Educational Insights (this is a site you are going to want to bookmark, promise). Every month I’ll be bringing you at least one review and giveaway opportunity. I’ll be introducing you to some innovative and exciting educational products for young children, and you’ll get a chance to win, of course! Let the fun begin!

My very first review for the company is of a new game called Grandma’s Trunk. This is designed for kids in Kindergarten and up, and it is actually 5 games rolled into 1 (hooray for toys that can do more than one thing!). From the website, here are the 5 games that can be played with this set:

1. What Comes Next? Take turns placing the letter cards in the trunk in alphabetical order.

2. Memory Time Take turns repeating the sequence of cards already in the trunk, then adding one of your own and challenging other players to remember them all, in order.

3. Grandma’s Riddles Deal the cards, then read a riddle and race to see who has the letter card that answers it!

4. Letter Sequence Memory Deal the cards and take turns putting them in the trunk in alphabetical order, repeating the items already in the trunk and challenging other players to remember them all, in alphabetical order.

5. Grandma’s Adventures Place the letter cards in the trunk and take turns pulling them out to create a cooperative story: “Once upon a time there was a grandma. She saw an iguana.”

While most of these games are too advanced for Darah at this point, we are already playing with the set by looking at the letter cards and practicing the sounds each one makes (she LOVES practicing letter sounds at school, so it’s great to continue those lessons at home!). Since there are so many different things to do with this set, I can tell that it will be played with for several more years, which makes it an excellent value.

I’m very pleased with all the different things you can do with Grandma’s Trunk, and with the overall quality of the game. I’d say that at $14.99, this is a bargain price for a game that will really help develop reading, memory and story telling skills.

Win it!: One lucky Stuff Parents Need reader will win a copy of Grandma’s Trunk! Score!
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