Showing posts with label Children's Products. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Children's Products. Show all posts

Tuesday, February 3, 2015

Math Needs To Be Fun Sometimes (Product Review)

This is a sponsored post via USFamilyGuide.
Freemples received product to review, 
but shares opinions & information honestly.


I'm a little delayed in sharing my review of the web-based computer program, Splash Math, with you. If you'll remember, we first introduced you to Splash Math right before Christmas and were looking forward to giving it a try. In this instance my procrastination is to your benefit as I can now say with for certain that the game has staying power...


I should start by telling you that our kids are math lovers.  This is bizarre for my husband and I-we both struggled in math all the way through college-but, hooray, go kids that don't know math isn't supposed to be super easy!  Loving math is not a prerequisite to loving Splash Math, though.  The only requirement for that is being a kid who loves a talking hippo...what kid wouldn't think was fun?
Math lovers or not, as a parent it's hard to tell a child his screen time is over when he's pleading with you, "No, Mom, just let me do 20 more problems!"  

But Splash Math is not just a game, and this is what I love about it.  During set-up, you select your child's grade level.  It was encouraging to find the scope and sequence follows very closely with what my 2nd grader knows how to do and/or is learning.  As homeschoolers, that's been great because I can let him play knowing it's not too easy or too hard.  But if your child is in the school system, it's also a great way to look at what they're learning at school and then give them extra practice on that math topic at home.  Once logged in, you can work from the beginning and go straight through, or pick and choose which problems you want to work on.  

This short video will give you a better look at how the program actually works...



As you could see in the video, there is a game aspect with each question answered correctly earning points that can then be used to purchase animals to play with in an aquarium or the jungle.  Honestly, that's the only part of the Splash Math program that underwhelms me.  My 7- and 4-yr-old love it and race through their 20 questions to get to play with the crabs and giraffes again.  But it's pretty elementary, and I can't imagine it stays entertaining forever.  I especially can't imagine that someone using the whole program, K-5, would care much at all about that part once they were in the upper grades.  Also, our introductory session on Splash Math had a 20-question limit per day.  While I love my kids being able to do as much math as they'd like each time they play, I have to pay more attention that they aren't hurrying through their questions, playing in the jungle, and then forgetting to go back and do more problems.

Overall, we LOVE Splash Math.  I'm certainly not going to be the ones to tell my kids that they're really do school work every time they play.  You should let your kids give it a try!

Product provided for honest review via USFamilyGuide

Tuesday, December 9, 2014

A Subscription Box For Your Little Space Explorer

Freemples received a 2-month subscription
 in order to faciliate this review with USFamilyGuide

A few weeks ago, I introduced you to new subscription box service geared towards the space enthusiasts in your life.  

Space Scouts
After receiving and using the first two month's subscription boxes, I'm prepared to tell you we LOVE Space Scouts and can wholeheartedly recommend them!

Space Scouts
Here is a look at what is provided in the 1st and 2nd Space Scouts shipments...

1st Month: Lunch Box, Poster, Sticker Puzzle, Wiki Stix, Worksheets, Constellation Ring
2nd Month: Magnet, Astronaut Figurines, Stickers & Sticker Puzzle, Worksheets,
 Constellation Cards, Robotic Space Arm

Here are my boys completely engaged with their Space Scout activities...


And here are the reasons I think Space Scouts is a great investment...

Reason #1
 Educational-As a homeschooling parent, I could easily incorporate these boxes into a unit study each month.  They are in-depth with information pages and interactive with worksheets.  The recommended age for is 6+, but I found the worksheets to be a good mix of challenging for my 7-yr-old and also entertaining for my 4-yr-old.  Each month's box also contains a new "Space Plan" to study and a new constellation to learn about.
Reason # 2
     Quality Products-The toys are not cheap plastic that will break the first time they are used.  The poster, stickers, and magnets are durable and meant to be long lasting.  And the metal lunchbox is a fun but sturdy way to contain all the components for a long long time. 

Reason #3
     It's Fun-Being young boys, my kids don't always sit in one place for very long.  The afternoon we opened up the Space Scouts packages, they sat at the table learning and playing for nearly 3 hours.  They loved the bright colored worksheets and activities.  They got along deciding how to apply the stickers and magnets, they used their imaginations with their new astronaut figurines, and calling a generic toy grabber a "robotic space arm" is absolutely genius!  They followed their challenges to accomplish different space arm missions to the letter...



We loved our Space Scout boxes.  I think you would, too.  At $11.95/month it is an extremely affordable way to both entertain and educate.  I thought I might want 2 boxes so my boys wouldn't fight over what was inside, but each month comes with enough items to divide that we didn't have any problems. At that cheap price, though, it wouldn't be exorbitant to order an additional subscription if we decided to in the future.  

One last thing, whether you decide the Space Scouts subscription box is the right fit for your space-loving loved one or not, I highly recommend joining the Space Scouts Facebook page.  They update frequently with current space related news events that are incredibly fascinating. 

Think the Space Scouts Subscription Box would be a great fit for your family?
Use code USFAMILY20 at checkout to get 20% off your initial purchase!

Tuesday, November 25, 2014

Friday, November 14, 2014

Space Scouts: An Educational & Affordable Idea for Christmas

This and future posts may be associated with promotions sponsored by the company.

Is there anyone on the planet who doesn't love the trend of subscription boxes?  If you can dream of it, I'm pretty sure you can find someone out there willing to mail it to your door once a month...for a price...and usually that price is FAR more than I can afford.  That is one of the reasons I am uber-excited to have found this...

http://www.usfamilyguide.com/blogpromos/390/spacescoutsholidaygift640x480.jpg

We haven't received our first box yet, but this is what I know about the program and what we are expecting...

Space Scouts monthly subscription club for kids is a delightful learning adventure aimed at discovering the wonders of the universe! Each month your child will explore a new place in space -- stepping into the worlds of space exploration, space science, and astronomy. Join Roxy and Jett as they scout about the galaxy engaging your child in fun learning activities, hands-on discovery, and exciting challenges. Packages arrive each month filled with fun additions to your collection -- magnets, stickers, toys, and more! 

And best of all they start at only $11.95 per month + $3.00 for shipping.  What other subscription box have you found that is that affordable?  Follow this link to check them out and receive 20% off of your holiday order!

I'll share my review as soon as we've received ours!

Wednesday, March 12, 2014

Love our #Disneyside

I was selected to participate in the #Disneyside blog campaign
and received promotional items to use for free. 
 No additional compensation was received..

I count myself extremely privileged to have been able to participate in the recent "Show Your Disneyside" blog campaign.  One look around the blogosphere, Pinterest, or social media and it would seem it wasn't a small group of people participating, but it was exciting to be chosen to be involved, nonetheless.

There was a huge build-up around the shipping of the party packages, and while there were no dream tickets to Disney World stuck in side, I was ecstatic when it all arrived in a brand new American Tourister carry-on roller bag!  Without evening opening it up, I would have been happy.  Mine is black with red interior, but they have so many fun colors designed with your favorite Disney characters in mind.

Inside the suitcase was EVERYTHING a person could imagine needing to throw a great Disney-theme party.  If you follow me on Facebook or Twitter you might remember me mentioning that we'd already scheduled a cousin's Valentine's day party for the week that my Grandmother died.  What a blessing to have a cheerful reason to be together after many days of solemnity.

Here is a glimpse at how we celebrated our Disneyside:

Yummy Treats

Decorations

 Crafts
These are super cute printable party favor boxes.
Minnie Mouse
Mickey Mouse
We played a bunch of party games and had some dinner, but my favorite part were the Valentine's boxes!  I was so disappointed to find out my son's school doesn't allow decorated boxes so each cousin was asked to bring their own Disney-themed box and Valentine's to hand out for everyone.  



Looking for ways to celebrate your #Disney side?

Monday, December 23, 2013

Sanity for Mom, A Treat for the Kids: Kidoodle.TV (sponsored post)

I participated in a Blog Blast program on behalf of Mom Central Consulting for Kidoodle.TV.
 I received a promotional item and a free trial as a thank you for participating.

If your house is like mine, the next week is going to just be plum crazy.  Preparations, celebrating, entertaining, cleaning up and then probably doing it all again.  I try to avoid getting to annoyed with the kids during times like these, but sometimes all you can do is look for a way to keep them distracted and quiet while your hands are busy wringing, wrapping, and baking. This holiday season Kidoodle.TV has been the source of my sanity...


Let me tell you up front the reason I love this new service: With a parental passcode, I set up an account for each of my kids with the shows I think are appropriate or that they will like.  Then when they sit down to watch, they choose their profile and I don't have to worry at all about what they're watching while I'm busy someplace else in the house.  


Want a few minute breather with your kids in the coming days?  Here are some tips to get you started:
  • You can set profiles for up to 5 kids. 
  • Shows can be filtered by age, making it easy to choose appropriate entertainment for all ages
  • There is no advertising after you are logged in, so no chance kids will accidentally click on anything 
  • HUGE variety of shows:  My kids' favorites have been Sonic Underground, Monster Math Squad, and Zoo Babies.

(Free trial through December 2013) 

Try Kidoodle.TV for FREE and enter by December 31, 2013 to win 1 of 10 tablets or 1 of 10 Kidoodle.TV year-long subscriptions!

To enter, sign up for your free trial and follow the on-screen directions

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