Stuff Parents Need

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

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

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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. 

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

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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.

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

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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. 


Letter Construction Activity Set Review and GIVEAWAY!!!


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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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$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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ChildUp Counting Flash Cards Review and GIVEAWAY!!


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I think most every parent works with their baby and toddler on learning ABCs and counting from 1-10. But beyond recognizing the numbers, are you doing any work on teaching math fundamentals? I think its a common perception that a young one’s brain isn’t meant to understand concepts like addition and subtraction, at least not until they reach kindergarten, so why worry about anything beyond counting?
		
		
			
			
		
	


NOT TRUE, my friends! Our little ones are totally able to grasp these concepts, and we have an excellent opportunity to get them comfortable with math from a very early age. We have been reviewing some fantastic flash cards from ChildUp that are designed to do just that.


We reviewed the Teach Your Child to Count to 10 series, as well as the Teach Your Child to Count to 20 series (which teaches 10-20). They are AWESOME and unlike any other counting flash cards I have ever seen. Here are some of the features you will find in these particular flash cards:


•    Includes 48 Child’s Cards to learn to count while discovering four different series of 10 popular animals.

•    Includes 16 Parent’s Cards presenting the 1st and 2nd parts of the ChildUp Early Learning Method, with practical early learning and parenting advice.

◦    Helps parents to teach:

▪    Numbers from 0 to 10; 10-20

▪    Numbers as quantities and symbols

▪    The first steps of addition

◦    Helps develop the child’s:

▪    Math and logic skills

▪    Learning an


d cognitive skills

▪    Listening and memory skills

▪    Attention and concentration skills

▪    Language and social skills

I think it is easier to see how these cards really stand out from the crowd by taking a look at them.



		
		
			
			
		
	


I think the fact that they use different animals when coming up with the number is so clever, as that helps a child understand addition, and not to just think of a number as something abstract.


We have been very pleased with these cards, and Darah really seems to enjoy playing with them, as well. I highly recommend them to any parent of a child who hasn’t yet started kindergarten. This really is work you can do with them now; there’s no need to wait! Each set of cards retails for $9.99. While you are checking out the cards, be sure to peruse the rest of the site, as they have lots of fantastic articles and resources about early childhood learning.


Finally, don’t miss out on the iCount to 10 App that is available for the iPhone or the iPad. We’ve checked this out, too, and I think it is a FANTASTIC use of $1.99! I love the fact that this app offers more detailed information for the child about the various animals that are part of the virtual flash cards. That will draw in any child who loves animals (and what child doesn’t?!).


Win it!: One lucky Stuff Parents Need reading is going to win the following:

1. one pack of Teach Your Child to Count to 10 – Math & Logic #1 cards

2. one pack of Teach Your Child to Count to 20 – Math & Logic #2 cards

3. iCount-to-10 app code

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