Category: Products for Children

July 21, 2014

Peas and Hambone versus Flesh Eating Zombie Gorillas

Peas, a ten year old boy, and Hambone, a dog who can also talk and walk, sneak into a zoo one morning only to witness a terrifying sight. A mad scientist had turned all of the gorillas into flesh eating zombies! Peas and Hambone know that they need to save the world before it is too late – but how do they do that?

A fun and entertaining read for young readers. My son who is nine had no problem reading this novel. It has roughly 120 pages and well spaced with a large enough font for young readers. It has a fun tone throughout the book that relates to younger readers well. It was fun, full of action and the perfect amount of yuck in it that kept my son turning the pages. While the title may seem like it would be a bit scary (flesh eating zombie gorillas) it is the exact opposite and focuses on the silly actions of Peas and Hambone.

Todd Nichols earned his Bachelor’s degree in cardiopulmonary science (wow!) in 1993 and went on to receive a Master’s in Education. He teaches elementary school students which you can completely see throughout the book as he has the ability to relate to young readers so well!

Peas and Hambone versus Flesh Eating Zombie Gorillas will be the perfect read for your young reader – boys and girls alike!

Rating: 5/5

You can find this book on Amazon here.

Disclosure: I received a free copy of this book in order to facilitate this review. All opinions expressed are my own.

July 18, 2014

Squiggle Monsters #review

Looking for a fun way to keep the kids entertained in the car or even at the field watching a sibling play a sport? Or even just looking to have some fun while waiting for a meal or to beat the rainy day boredom?

Squiggle Monsters is a self contained activity kit for children that comes complete with activities, washable markers and a dry brush. The activity kit was perfect for our youngest to work on at his big brother’s soccer games. The size of the book is small enough that it can be held on his lap perfectly and he can use the dry brush to erase what he made and make another monster. It is the perfect activity to keep him entertained while his brother plays.

Using both his imagination and the spinning wheel he created his own little monsters and then gave them their own character traits to help bring them to life. A true lifesaver!

Squiggle Monsters was developed by Random Line to help encourage creativity through doodling – pretty awesome right? Who doesn’t love to doodle away – I know that I still find myself doodling away at work. You can check out their full line of products here.

How do you like to encourage creative play with your children?

Disclosure: I received the above mentioned products free of charge in order to facilitate this review. All opinions expressed are my own.

June 20, 2014

Little Champion Reader 3-Level Reading Kit

Reading is one of the most important skills we can teach our children and also one of the hardest. We want to ensure they are challenged but that they are still having fun so that they do not become discouraged. There is nothing worse then a discouraged child when it comes to reading. You want them to know that reading is important but also fun too!

The Little Champion Reader 3-Level reading kit has everything that you could possibly need to ensure a successful introduction into reading. The reading kit combines phonics, sight word memorization and whole language to help young readers get off to a great start. If you have looked into each technique they each have a wealth of advantages as well as disadvantages. The perfect part about this kit is that each one overlaps to ensure your child has the best opportunity to learn.

The kit comes in it’s own box that is easy to carry which is perfect because our eldest son wanted to help out his little brother (and siblings can be the best teachers!). It also keeps everything together so that nothing becomes lost or broken – and as a Mom to two boys this happens more often then not! The kit comes with three DVDs designed to introduce the learning session to your child at the beginning. The DVDs set up for your child what they will be learning without the pressure of being given a list of words to learn.

You then follow up those lessons from the DVD using a combination of phonics books and sight word cards. We love the books! They have beautiful, large and bright photos with an interesting story line. This is actually what sparked our eldest son’s interest to help his brother. The stories were just so funny and cute that he could not resist helping read them aloud!

If you are familiar with sight word cards (or even made your own like me) you know how easily they can be lost, ripped or ruined. These sight words cards are made from a thick material that will not easily rip and are thick and stable for little hands. I also love that they include a slide out picture to help children if they become stuck on a word.

The Little Champion Reader 3-Level reading kit is the perfect resource material to have in your home as your child begins their reading journey. It is easy to use, full of a variety of activities and extensive background research that went into the developing stage combine to bring you one of the best reading kits out there. It is also a PTPA award winner and definitely well deserved.

What did you use to help your child on their reading journey?

April 16, 2014

Racing Action with AnkiDRIVE #review #giveaway

I love race cars and everything racing! We love auto shows, race tracks and playing racing video games with our children. We love the fast pace, quick decisions and excitement of choosing cars and winning.

When I was given the opportunity to test out Anki DRIVE how could I resist? This looked like one of the most exciting video games ever brought to life. Anki DRIVE uses artificial intelligence to deliver a racing video game in the real world with you in control. Pretty amazing, right? I had too literally take it away from my children in order to set it up they were so excited.

Anki Drive comes with a starter kit starting at $199 – which may seem expensive at first but once you open the kit and begin to use the cars you can fully appreciate the technology behind the system and appreciate the price.

Each kit includes:

the racing track (roughly 8.5 feet by 3.5 feet)
three car charger
two cars with charging pods
start up information.

The Anki Drive app is free to download at the Apple app store and the game is compatible with any of the following: iPhone 4s or newer, iPod touch 5th generation, iPad3 or newer or iPad mini. Anki Drive is suitable for all ages capable of using an iOS device (our two year old had no problem!). You can also purchase additional race cars for additional cost.

Set up is incredibly easy – I was actually expecting it to take long but was pleasantly surprised.

Physically you have to just unroll the mat in a clear and flat area, ensuring the cars are fully charged before you can begin to play. The game will work best on a smooth and flat floor but we also played on the carpet in our children’s toy room and had no problem as well.

The app took less then two minutes to download – which was perfect for my impatient family members who could not wait to start playing. This also surprised me because apps can sometimes take quite a bit of time to download.

The technology in Anki DRIVE is jaw dropping – literally. The moment you set them down on the race track they sense the track’s every curve and line. The cars speed around the track, gliding through every curve and avoiding each other. It is incredible watching the cars race each other. Our boys were screaming in excitement. Using blue tooth the cars report back to the app on the IOS device. You control the speed, turns, maneuvers – all through the app. The app also has a great starting guide that walks you through on how to control the car so you don’t have to worry about not understanding how to play.

As if this was not cool enough – the cars battle. Yup you heard that right – they sense each other and can battle their racing opponent. This has been a fantastic game for our whole family to play and has provided hours of entertainment for all of our family and friends that have come over to visit.

Anki DRIVE and PTPA are now giving you the chance to win your own starter kit – the perfect gift for any car enthusiast in your house!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

This giveaway is open to residents of the US and Canada.

Don’t forget to follow Anki on Twitter and Facebook to keep up to date on important news and information!

March 30, 2014

Oddsoks for Storypanda #Review

“Where did the Oddsoks go?…”

How many times have we put our socks in the washing machine to only have one come back out? It is almost a weekly occurrence in our home!

But where do the Oddsoks go?

The Oddsoks app for Storypanda is the story of Jimi who loves his fabulous socks! But one day half of his socks are gone leaving him with one sock from each pair. He receives a letter from the Oddsoks explaining the whereabouts of his socks. The Oddsoks are creatures that power the washing machine and love odd socks. They love odd socks so much they have taken them on an adventure.

Our family fell in love with the adorable Oddsoks and their adventures with the socks. The boys loved to be able to re-create the story using their own ideas which also provides hours of extra fun. The Oddsoks app also has some pretty awesome sound effects as well to go along with the story which our boys fell in love with and copied themselves.

Want to meet Jimi and the Oddsoks yourself? You can purchase a copy of the Oddsoks on Apple for $2.99 CDN here.

Disclosure: I received a copy of this app to provide feedback. Regardless the opinions and thoughts expressed are my own.