Stuff Parents Need

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

My New Go-To Birthday Party Present: Three Little Piggies Logic Game

· by · Leave a Comment

Thanks to SmartGames for sending along a complimentary copy. All thoughts and opinions are my own. 

Do you have a gift closet in your home? We don’t have an entire closet full of gifts, but we do have dedicated space in one of our closets to gives we like that we want to share with others. It’s quite handy when birthday party invitations come our way, as well as when it’s time to make final gift decisions for all the cousins (10, so far!).

Sometimes I’ll stock up on something that my own kids particularly enjoyed playing with, and today I want to highlight our newest find. I’ll be buying multiple copies of Three Little Piggies in the near future because this logic game rocks in SO many ways. I really enjoy playing it as an adult, and it is also quite fun for both of my girls (almost 4 and 6 1/2). It’s hard to find something that can entertain young kids as well as adults, but Three Little Piggies does just that!

3 little piggies game

So the game comes with a blue board, some figurines, some houses with attached “grass” and a book with 44 different puzzles to solve. Half of the puzzles involve figuring out how to place the houses in such a way that the piggies are all outside of them. These are the day time puzzles. The night time puzzles involve the wolf and you have to figure out how to place the houses so that each pig is safe inside and the wolf is outside. Pigs and wolves cannot be moved. It’s quite a lot of fun, really!

3 little pigs toys

And perhaps best of all, this game is intended for just one player. This is fantastic for only children, but it’s also nice for anyone who just wants to play alone for a spell. By playing Three Little Piggies, your child gets to practice working on logical reasoning, spatial perception, strategic planning and mental agility. Not bad for just one game, right?

3 little piggies

I have also just found, through observation, that this game really can hold a child’s attention. This is especially true for my 6 1/2 year old, who will go through challenge after challenge after challenge, all in one sitting.

Overall, I give this game two very enthusiastic thumbs up! As I said, I plan to buy a few more copies to give as gifts because my whole family thinks it is a winner. You can purchase Three Little Piggies from SmartGames for $24.99.

 

 

Gift Suggestion for the Smartphone Aficionado: Powerslayer

· by · Leave a Comment

Product provided for review purposes. All thoughts and opinions are my own, as always.

If you have a millennial on your holiday gift list this year (and chances are that you do!) then I have a great gift suggestion for you based on the fact that this generation LOVES their smartphones.

Check out the Powerslayer.

powerslayer 2

This is a kit that comes with a device that does three very cool things. By plugging the Powerslayer into the outlet, and then plugging your phone into the Powerslayer, you are protecting your phone from any power surges that may occur. A power surge has the potential to completely ruin your phone, and replacing a smartphone is VERY expensive.

Second, the Powerslayer can help you save energy. It can tell when your device is fully charged, and at that point it stops pulling energy from the outlet. This helps with power bills that seem to creep higher and higher each month thanks to all the electronic devices we all have these days, and the fact that so few of us remember to unplug them from the charger once they are fully charged.

powerslayer 1

Third, the Powerslayer actually helps protect the battery of the smartphone. It’s not ideal for a fully charged battery to continue to receive a charge due to simply still being plugged in. The Powerslayer keeps that extra energy from forcing itself on the battery, which could help it have a longer life.

Our phones are actually due to get upgraded this month. We have had them for 2 years, and we leave them plugged into the power source all the time. At 2 years old, I can tell you that they don’t hold a charge very well anymore, so I’m really excited to use the Powerslayer for our next device; hopefully it will help keep the phone in better shape for longer!

powerslayer 3

Additionally, I like that the Powerslayer comes in a cool design (there are 4 color options) and that it comes with a coordinating usb cord. Millennials also like their stuff to feel customized and unique, so this is a really nice touch.

We took our Powerslayer with us on vacation this past week, and it performed beautifully, as expected! You can purchase the Powerslayer device by itself for $39, or you can purchase a kit which comes with the charger, the travel case and the cable for $79.