Stuff Parents Need

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

Building Words with Word Construction (Giveaway!)

· by · 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.

early reader games: word construction 1

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:

early reader games word construction 2

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.
a Rafflecopter giveaway

Primary Science Plant & Grow Set Review (and Giveaway!)

· by · 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!

primary science plant & grow set

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.

carrot experiment learning resources

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!

carrot experiment 2 learning resources

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!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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

· by · 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. 


Letter Construction Activity Set Review and GIVEAWAY!!!


 · by  · 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!

 [Read more…]