educational games

Curious World App: Great Books, Games and Videos All in One Place

November 30, 2015 · by Tiffany Merritt · Leave a Comment

Special thanks to Curious World and One2One Media for partnering with me for today’s post. All thoughts and opinions are my own, as always.

Can I make a confession? My kids play with tablets often, but I’d say 80 percent of their screen time is spent watching videos instead of playing with apps. Sure, we own some apps, but I’m not an avid consumer of them because, quite frankly, I’m overwhelmed by the selection and I’m weary of all those in-app purchases that seem to beg kids to click on them. I am unsure of what apps are best to buy, and so by and large, I just don’t buy any.

So I am really grateful for the app we downloaded earlier this week called Curious World, which works on iPhones or iPads (Android compatibility is on its way!) and is ideal for kids in the 3-7 range. There is a free version of the app, but if you are like me and don’t care for in-app purchase stuff, I’d recommend skipping over that and taking a closer look at their subscription options. You can pay a monthly fee of $9.99 or you can pay a yearly fee of $80.

Does that seem expensive for an app? Of course! But I want to emphasize that this isn’t just an app, but rather a subscription, and what you get in return is pretty darn incredible.

Curious World contains a very robust collection of books, videos and games (over 500 at this point, and growing) that are fun and that promote learning. Specifically, there are 8 areas of learning that the Curious World app focuses on, and even tracks!

While children are exploring the curated list of videos and activities, the app tracks the amount of time being spent online and how that breaks down by content type (books, videos or games) as well as how it breaks down by developmental area. So as a parent, you can see what is interesting your child and what you can continue to foster, as well as note areas that aren’t getting as much attention so you can see if you can help engage them more in that area.

If you have more than one child who would enjoy Curious World, you simply set up multiple profiles so that their interests can be independently tracked. Furthermore, the content that will be presented your child will be age appropriate, so your 3-year-old isn’t going to have the exact same offerings as your 7-year-old.

I noticed my youngest going for the videos first, which is not surprising given how she is used to spending her screen time, so I did devote some time to showing her some of the games and other activities so that she would feel more comfortable trying those out. I think it’s a great idea to spend time with your child when you first introduce him or her to the app to ensure an understanding of the great variety of options.

Get Offline

Perhaps one of the things I appreciate the most about this subscription service, though, are the offline activities that are suggested for parents and children to do together. I found this information on the Curious World website, which you can log into with the same username and password that you use for the app. The offline activities you complete with your child can be tracked by learning areas, as well, which I really love! There are times when my child asks to play with me and my brain turns into a pile of mush when I try to come up with something we can do in a fairly short period of time. I can turn to Curious World to help me come up with fun new ideas that are also educational. Yay!
curious world app 1

As a parent who is overwhelmed by apps, I find this one to be a winner. I would recommend signing up for one month (you can get a month FREE!) and seeing how much use you and your children get out of it. If it seems to be very popular, it might be worth springing for the year subscription to Curious World. There’s a lot to be said for knowing that there’s a safe place online where your kids can have fun and grow their minds without stumbling upon something questionable (I’m looking at you, YouTube…).

A Concentration Game We Love: Robot Face Race

October 4, 2014 · by Tiffany Merritt · Leave a Comment

Product provided for consideration from Educational Insights. All thoughts and opinions are my own, as always. Affiliate links may be included; I only promote what I love.

My little ones (ages 5 and 2) both really love to play board games, but finding something that is entertaining and challenging for them both is quite tough, as you can imagine!

robot face race concentration game 1

Robot Face Race is a game that can work for both of my girls if I tweak the rules just a wee bit, and I really love how this concentration game helps both of my girls practice focusing.

Here’s the concept: “A crazy inventor has built dozens of robot bodies and he needs your help finding the perfect heads. Shake the Robot Randomizer to reveal a robot’s features. Scan the robot heads on the board until you find the match. Find it first and collect a robot scoring token. The first player with five tokens wins. For 2 to 4 players. Ages 4 and up.”

Ok, so when we play this game, I have Darah shake up the robot randomizer to determine which robot we are seeking. It has 5 potential colors but only 4 features, so at any given time there is one color not in play (one of the holes is deeper than the others so that 1 color ball isn’t showing, if that makes sense).

At this point, I usually have Darah looking for two or three of the attributes (for example, purple face, green mouth, yellow nose) and I will have Layah just look for one, such as green mouth. When someone finds what they are looking for, they place one of their game tokens on the board. The person who puts all their tokens down first wins, though we aren’t focused on that part of the game just yet.

What I really like about the game is that you can have players with a wide variety of skill and concentration levels playing at the same time, as long as you give those players slightly modified things that they are seeking. A 10-year-old could easily play with a 5-year-old this way. It’s also quite challenging, as there is only 1 corresponding robot face for every combination of 4 colors on the board. This makes it really entertaining for older kids who may be totally over the likes of Candy Land. Yet it can still be fun for the younger crowd if you tailor it to the challenge level that is appropriate for them. At $19.99, I think it’s a really fun choice for a new board game! We are thoroughly enjoying it!

Robot Face Race can be purchased at Educational Insights or at Amazon.

Building Words with Word Construction (Giveaway!)

February 10, 2014 · by Tiffany Merritt · 33 Comments

Darah is starting to read, and she enjoys spending time looking at letters and figuring out how they might sound when they have been put together. I’ve been on the hunt for games for early readers, and of course, I found one at Learning Resources.

Learning Resources is one of our favorite places to find educational activities that also foster the imagination and are lots of fun for kids. We were sent Word Construction, a new game for 2014.

Word Construction comes with 6 bolts that can each hold up to four nuts, and the nuts have the letters on them. You simply turn the letters, and make new words. It’s really fun for kids to see how swapping out just one letter can create an entirely different word.

My only complaint about the product is that the nuts seem a bit difficult to get onto the bolts. There is a special groove that needs to be properly aligned in order for them to slide on and off easily. My 4 1/2 year old definitely struggles to successfully do this herself. With that said, I also witnessed my 21-month-old do it herself. Just a heads up that it may not be an easy task for every kid.

And I’d be remiss if I didn’t share with you the first word my daughter proudly built. She was all smiles (and blissfully unaware) as she showed me this:

Thanks a lot, kid.

Win it!: One lucky Stuff Parents Need reader will win Word Constrution.

Be sure to enter my other current giveaways, found on the sidebar of the page.
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Primary Science Plant & Grow Set Review (and Giveaway!)

September 25, 2013 · by Tiffany Merritt · 91 Comments

Learning Resources, one of our very favorite online shops for educational toys, recently sent us the Primary Science Plant & Grow Set to review, and I’ve really been looking forward to telling you all about it!

It comes with lots of great (and sturdy!) tools to use for various experiments, all related to plants and watching things grow. This is a topic of much interest for my 4-year-old, which has made this set a real hit with her.

I especially love the cards that contain several different experiment ideas. Last week, on the way home from preschool, we stopped by our local grocery store to buy some carrots so we could do a really fun and easy experiment together.

We filled up our observation jar about halfway with water, then added 10 drops of food coloring. We cut all but an inch off the carrot top and cut the bottom tip of the carrot, as well. The we put the carrot into the water and waited. The waiting part was tough for Darah, since we needed to wait 2 whole days!

This experiment teaches about how root vegetables get their nutrients, and how water travels throughout the vegetable. After two days we could see blue food coloring at the top of the carrot, as well as on the inside. It was very cool!

If you know of a child who is interested in plants, or who just loves a good experiment, the Primary Science Plant & Grow Set, available through Learning Resources, is a terrific find! After all, the best learning happens when kids are having a lot of fun!

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

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Visual Learning Meets Critical Thinking: Snapshots Photo Cards (Giveaway)

July 25, 2013 · by Tiffany Merritt · 63 Comments

A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words

Thanks to Learning Resources for supplying a copy of Snapshots for review. All thoughts expressed here are my own.

One of my favorite educational toy companies, Learning Resources, has a fantastic new game out that is absolutely perfect for little ones who are visual learners, or who love telling stories.

We’ve been playing with Snapshots over the past week, and it has inspired a whole lot of conversation, critical thinking, and storytelling! Snapshots is a set of 40 laminated, double-sided cards. One side has a picture on it, like this:

The other side has some starter questions for you to ask your child about what is happening in the picture, like this:

These questions help the child practice using context clues, drawing conclusions, and using her imagination, in addition to sharpening her eye for detail.

We’ve also used the cards to make up stories about the people, animals or places in the picture, and to talk about times when we have done similar things.

I like Snapshots because it is travel friendly, encourages discussion and awareness, and is quite a bit of fun, too! Snapshots can be purchased at Learning Resources, as well as on Amazon (on sale right now for $13.95!).

Win it!: One lucky Stuff Parents Need reader will win their own copy of Snapshots!

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

$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.

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!

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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

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.

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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.