educational games Archives - Stuff Parents Need

$50 Educational Insights Gift Card GIVEAWAY!!!

October 11, 2012 By Tiffany Merritt 3 Comments

Big things are happening at the Educational Insights Facebook page! They are working hard to get to 50,000 fans (they are currently at 19,000). They have a survey they want people to take (I just completed it and it took me about 45 seconds…SO easy!). For every 1,000 fans they get between now and 50,000 one survey respondent will be randomly selected to win a customized Educational Insights prize pack worth $500! Once 50,000 fans are reached, ALL fans will get a reward! Woo hoo! Entries are good for the duration of the contest, so you only need to enter once to be eligible.

But it gets even better, folks! I also get to host a giveaway right now for $50 to Educational Insights and there’s only one entry! Easy peasy! If there are ANY children on your holiday shopping list, this contest is not-to-miss. Educational Insights has some of the most AMAZING toys that are so much for and so educational!

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Don’t forget to fill out the 50,000 fan survey on the facebook page so you can be entered for all those $500 giveaways, too!

Be sure to enter my other current giveaways, found on the sidebar of my page.

I received a gift card as a thank you for hosting this fabulous contest. All thoughts and opinions expressed here are strictly my own.

Filed Under: Giveaways Tagged With: alphabet cards, edu games, educational abc games, educational games, educational insights, educational insights games, educational toys, educational toys and games, educational toys for kids, estimation station, giveaway, kid learning games, learning game, learning games, math and logic skills, math skills, review

Making Logical Mathematical Estimates: Estimation Station Review and GIVEAWAY!!!

September 27, 2012 By Tiffany Merritt 88 Comments

Educational Insights is already one of the very best destinations for fantastic products that make learning so much fun. But I’m so impressed with how they just keep getting better and better. They have recently launched a fundraising program that I want to make sure you all know about. It’s completely free to join, and they offer 20% cash back on all purchases made by you and anyone you refer to them with a special promo code you will receive at sign up. It is an incredible way to earn funds for your child’s school, or even for an individual classroom! Get the full scoop here!

With the holidays fast approaching, there are so many wonderful options for gifts from Educational Insights. Today I’m featuring a product that helps promote math and logic skills. It’s called Estimation Station. What I love about this product (and what I’m consistently finding with most every Educational Insights product) is that it’s not a one-hit wonder. There are over a week’s worth of activity suggestions with this one product, including estimation, counting, place value, comparing and ordering number, making prediction, graphing, statistics and mathematical reasoning. That’s a lot of awesome concepts to derive from one toy!

Darah is still a bit too young to use this toy, as it is ideal for ages 5-9. When we introduce it to her, though, we can start with larger objects (like giant marshmallows!) and build up from there. I absolutely love this hands-on application of mathematical concepts. This can even be a really creative way to have kids put a little bit of work in prior to getting a special treat, like gumballs or jelly beans. Estimation Station retails for $14.99 and really does bring math to life in an exciting way for young children.

Win it!: One lucky Stuff Parents Need reader will win Estimation Station!

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Be sure to enter my other current giveaways, found on the sidebar of my page.

I received a complimentary product for review purposes. All thoughts and opinions expressed here are strictly my own.

Learning Resources My Very Own Doctor Set Review and GIVEAWAY!!

September 17, 2012 By Tiffany Merritt 199 Comments

Can you think of any toys growing up that you never got and still to this day remember how much you wanted them? A doctor’s kit falls into that category for me. I had friends and cousins who owned doctor’s kit, so I frequently got to play. But oh my goodness, how I longed for one of my own!

Darah recently received from Learning Resources the New Sprouts Cure It! My Very Own Doctor Set, and let me tell you, she and I BOTH have been having a blast playing with it! We have opened up a stuffed animal urgent care facility. Darah is the attending doctor on staff, and I am her trusty assistant. I report the symptoms of our patients to her, and she gives a thorough exam and diagnoses the problem.

Here’s the adorable part: about 90% of the time Darah determines that the patient has a hurt heart, and the prescription she gives is, “lots of hugs.”

So. Stinkin’. Cute. It just about kills me, folks.

In addition to healing heartaches, playing doctor is also giving us the chance to talk more about anatomy, and even about viruses, diseases and injuries. There are so many great ways to incorporate some knowledge into our pretend play with this kit.

Naturally, I very highly recommend it. It’s going to be played with for a long time, I can tell! You can find the My Very Own Doctor Set at Learning Resources for $24.99.

Win it!: One lucky Stuff Parents Need reader will win a My Very Own Doctor Set from Learning Resources!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Be sure to enter my other current giveaways, found on the sidebar of the page.

Disclosure: I received a complimentary product for review purposes. All thoughts and opinions expressed here are strictly my own.

sprouts cure it! my very own doctor set

Filed Under: Giveaways Tagged With: educational games, fun learning games for kids, giveaway, kids learning games, learning resources, learning resources pretend and play, learning resources review, learning toys for toddlers, my very own doctor set, review, teaching and learning resources

Helping Kids Truly Understand Shapes: Shape Sorting Presents GIVEAWAY!!

August 17, 2012 By Tiffany Merritt 87 Comments

One of the key things that I have learned about effective learning methods since Darah started at a Montessori school is the importance of being able to move away from learning in the abstract. For example, when it comes to learning shapes, simply studying flash cards of circles, triangles and squares is not sufficient for a mind to fully grasp and commit a shape to memory. The shapes need to be understood in the context of every day life.

That’s one of the reasons that I’m really enjoying a game available at Learning Resources called Shape Sorting Presents. This game comes with 6 boxes, each a different shape, and 90 cards with everyday objects that represent one of the 6 shapes. Each box has a slot at the top so that children can drop the cards into them.

Darah really enjoys sorting objects right now, so this game is perfect for her. I would have told you before we got this game that she had already mastered her shapes, and that is true in their abstract form, but now that we are looking at every day objects and thinking about their shapes, I see that we have more work to do. I’m so glad we have this game, because it is helping her think about objects and shapes in a different way than she had before, and I know that by doing this, she is starting to truly understand what makes a shape (straight lines or not, even sides or not, etc.). She can also see shapes now even when the object isn’t 100% like a shape drawing (a throw pillow with fringe, for example, is still in a square shape).

As Darah masters these skills a bit more, we’ll still be able to use this game to do things like go on shape hunts in the house and find objects that match with the cards.

I recommend Shape Sorting Presents as an excellent resource for your home or for a pre-k or kindergarten classroom! Since there are 6 boxes, more than 1 child can play at once. This retails for $32.99 and can be purchased at Learning Resources online.

Win it!: One lucky Stuff Parents Need reader will win Shape Sorting Presents from Learning Resources.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Be sure to enter my other current giveaways, found on the sidebar of my page.

Disclosure: I received a complimentary product for review purposes. All thoughts and opinions expressed here are strictly my own.

Filed Under: Giveaways Tagged With: educational games, educational tools, games for preschool, games for preschoolers, giveaway, learning resources, preschool sorting games, review, shape sorting, shape sorting presents, shape toy, shapes and games, shapes toy, sorting game, sorting toy

So Many AWESOME Discounts from Educational Insights and a GIVEAWAY!!!

July 26, 2012 By Tiffany Merritt 53 Comments

Educational Insights has got to be one of the very best online destinations for educational materials that kids will really love.

I’ve mentioned before Hot Dots and how much Darah enjoys playing with them. Thanks to these cards, she is learning logic, patterns, sequencing, letter recognition (uppercase and lowercase) and basic science. I’m so excited that there are so many different types of Hot Dots cards for her to use as she gets older and is ready for more complex concepts. We recently snagged some cards that I’m going to keep in our game closet for about 6 more months before trying them out with her. I haven’t even told her about them, because I know she’d want to give them a whirl right away if she saw them! But since she is still working on mastering her sets that are already open, I think we should just stick with those, for now.

Educational Insights has a really impressive selection of Hot Dots cards, and I very highly recommend them for kids. We have certainly enjoyed the Hot Dots, Jr. sets, and look forward to continuing to use the Hot Dots sets as she grows. And before you know it, Layah will be using them, too!

I also want to point out that Educational Insights has a Pinterest page, and it is loaded with great ideas for kids educational activities. In the future, they are going to be holding Pinterest exclusive giveaways, so be sure to follow them there so you don’t miss out!

But wait, there’s more! You can earn $10 off an EducationalInsights.com purchase just be filling out a SUPER short (4 questions!) suvey here: http://www.educationalinsights.com/category/id/119977.do

May I suggest what you put this fabulous credit towards? Some Hot Dots! Now through August 11th, you get a free Hot Dots pen with the purchase of two card sets! That’s an $11 value! Enter code HOTPEN at checkout!

Win it!: One lucky Stuff Parents Need reader will win the Hot Dots pen as well as two card sets of your choice!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Be sure to enter my other current giveaways, found on the sidebar of my page.

Disclosure: I received complimentary products for review purposes. All thoughts and opinions expressed here are strictly my own.

Filed Under: Giveaways Tagged With: alphabet cards, edu games, educational abc games, educational games, educational insights, educational insights games, educational toys, educational toys and games, educational toys for kids, giveaway, hot dots, kid learning games, learning game, learning games, review

Sorting Game for Preschoolers: Attribute Apples Review and GIVEAWAY!!!

July 19, 2012 By Tiffany Merritt 87 Comments

There’s a new game we have in our home, and Darah asks me to play it with her every single day. It’s called Attribute Apples, and it is available at the online store I love and have highlighted several times before, Learning Resources.

The game is designed for kids ages 3-8, and it is basically a bucket full of 27 different apples with different attributes (3 different sizes, 3 different colors, 3 different physical characteristics such as having a worm, having a leaf, or having a stem).

The purpose of the game is to work on classification skills, and my child really loves the challenge. It keeps her engaged for a long time, and she does a lot of good critical thinking every time she plays.

The bucket comes with a removable divider so that you can put your apples in 3 different sections in the bucket. Darah loves to use the bucket to sort her apples, and as soon as she finishes, she dumps them out and starts over!

Her very favorite apples to find are the ones with the worms in them. While she is hunting for those, she ends up sorting out the ones with leaves and the ones with stems in the process.

Once your child masters color, size and characteristics, there are also other, more advanced things you can do with attribute apples so that the fun can continue. One example is to use the apples to make patterns. This is too advanced for my child at this point, but over time we’ll be able to use the apples for this purpose.

This product is very simple, but is getting played with VERY frequently. I think it is well-designed and really captures the attention of little ones. I highly recommend it! It retails for $21.99.

Win it!: One lucky Stuff Parents Need reader will win Attribute Apples!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Be sure to enter my other current giveaways, found on the sidebar of my page.

Disclosure: I received a complimentary product for review purposes. All thoughts and opinions expressed here are strictly my own.

Filed Under: Giveaways Tagged With: attribute apples, color sorting game, educational games, educational tools, games for preschool, games for preschoolers, giveaway, learning resources, preschool sorting games, review, sorting game

Learning Resources: Primary Science Magnet Set Review and GIVEAWAY!!

May 31, 2012 By Tiffany Merritt 101 Comments

The hits just keep coming from Learning Resources, folks. I’ve already introduced you to a few of their great products that make learning fun. Check out my reviews of the Letter Construction Activity Set, the Gator Tweezers and the Primary Science Mix & Measure Kit, all of which are used frequently at my house.

Our newest product that has been giving us experiment ideas is the Primary Science Magnet Set. It comes with 10 activity cards, and also has 10 more activity cards on the site that you can download! Darah has been learning about attraction and repelling thanks to this set. She’s been asking a lot of questions, and trying out different combinations of magnets to see how they come together or stay apart from one another. She especially finds the fact that they can repel each other to be really fascinating!

This toy recently won the Oppenheim Toy Portfolio Best Toy Gold Seal Award, so Darah’s certainly not alone in her enjoyment of it! It’s designed for ages 4-12, but with adult supervision, 2 and 3 year-olds can also certainly have fun with it and learn a lot at the same time!

I absolutely love that Darah regularly asks me if we can, “do science” at home, and Learning Resources products have played a large role in opening her eyes to the world of experiments. They are a resource I would recommend to anyone looking for fabulous toys that teach.

Win it!: One lucky Stuff Parents Need reader will win a Primary Science Magnet Set!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Be sure to enter my other current giveaways, found on the sidebar of my page.

Disclosure: I received a complimentary product from Learning Resources for review purposes. All thoughts and opinions expressed here are strictly my own.

Filed Under: Giveaways Tagged With: construction toy, education resources, educational games, educational resources, giveaway, learning resources, learning resources games, magnet set, motor skills activities, preschool motor skills activities, primary science magnet set, review, teaching resources

Letter Construction Activity Set Review and GIVEAWAY!!!

April 27, 2012 By Tiffany Merritt 93 Comments

One important concept of the Montessori philosophy of learning is that children require true hands-on experiences with everything. They need to be able to engage many different senses when learning a concept. When it comes to learning pre-writing skills, children not only look at letter, but they trace them and they touch them. This is critical to the mind mapping taking place in their heads!

Learning Resources has an excellent resource that can give children that hands on experience that they need as they prepare to learn to read. Check out the Letter Construction Activity Set! It comes with a variety of pieces that children can use to literally build the alphabet. There are instruction cards that show children the materials needed to make upper case and lower case versions of each letter. This product helps children with hand-eye coordination, problem solving, and of course, letter recognition. I absolutely love it. If you are a teacher, know that there are enough pieces included so that four children can build the exact same letter at the same time, so this also makes for a great small group lesson.

Learning Resources is a fantastic destination for play items that develop critical skills for children as they grow and learn. I very highly recommend this set for your pre-reader, and I highly recommend the site for all your educational needs!

Win it!: One lucky Stuff Parents Need reader will win a set of Letter Construction Activity Set from Learning Resources!
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Filed Under: Giveaways Tagged With: activities for letter recognition, alphabet letter recognition, alphabet letters, capital lowercase letters, construction toy, education resources, educational games, educational resources, giveaway, learning resources, learning resources games, letter construction activity set, letter recognition for kindergarten, lowercase alphabet letters, motor skills activities, preschool motor skills activities, review, teaching resources

$50 Gift Card to Educational Insights GIVEAWAY!!!

April 5, 2012 By Tiffany Merritt 106 Comments

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!

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

March 10, 2012 By Tiffany Merritt 93 Comments

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!