Mama Bzz: books and products for 3's and 4's

Showing posts with label books and products for 3's and 4's. Show all posts

Tuesday, September 8, 2009

* 3D Think and Blink, #'s and Shapes, Flash Cards

3D Think and Blink, #'s and Shapes, Flash cards
by School Zone Publishing Company
Ages 3 - 6, Retail $7.99

I have a confession to make. These flash cards fascinate me and I'm a 34 year old woman. :-) Usually flash cards that change from one picture to another as you move them, tend to blur the two pictures together. Not these cards . . . .

. . . these cards have two distinct pictures on them and I'm not the only one fascinated! My 22 month old loves them and continually moves them back and forth to watch the picture change.

Think and Blink Numbers and Shapes flash cards are more than entertainment however. They teach numbers and shapes. The number concept is taught with the actual number being one picture and a certain amount of objects for the other picture. Shapes are taught by an entire picture scene, which when moved, brings out only the shape.

The colors are bright, the card material sturdy. This is a great way to teach numbers and shapes to your small child and is worth more than the $7.99 you will pay for them.

Saturday, August 29, 2009

* Kumon First Steps Series *

* This review done by Melissa J *

Kumon First Step Series

As a homeschooling Mama and a child-care provider, I am always on the look out for activities for toddlers.

Fun that holds their attention is necessary. Teaching skills is an added bonus. Kumon Publishing provides me with both, with their First Steps Series, geared towards children 2 to 5 years of age.

There are several books in the series, each helping young children to develop fine motor control skills through activities such as coloring, folding, pasting, and cutting. Each workbook retails at $5.95, which to me, even on a tight budget, it a great price for the number of worksheets I get with each book!

The entire series is as follows:

Let's Color!

and More Let's Color!

Let's Fold!

and More Let's Fold!

Let's Sticker & Paste!

and More Lets Sticker and Paste!

Let's Cut Paper!

and More Lets Cut Paper!

This is a series that thrills me as a Mama and delights my daughter and day care kids even more! Thank you Kumon for delivering such great products.

To see more of the broad selection of resources that Kumon offers, visit their website.

* Hands-on-Learning Flash Cards, Colors and Shapes *

* This review was done by Melissa J *

The Scholastic
Hands-on-Learning Colors and Shapes Flash Cards

Some people think I'm a bit over the top, but I'm starting preschool at 22 months with my daughter. She loves to learn and I just happen to love to teach! Scholastic makes our teaching - learning times fun and easy with their Hands-on-Learning, Colors and Shapes Flash Cards.

Specifically geared for ages 2 - 5, the entire box contains 12, two-sided cards. These cards contain bright pictures with texture, to help teach each color and shape. For example, the color brown is taught with the picture of a rabbit, which has brown soft fur inserted into the picture. Below this rabbit are three additional pictures - - chocolate, a kangaroo, and wood - -to show the color brown.

Yellow is shown using a lemon that has a textured peel to it. Below this are three additional pictures of bananas, sunflower, and the sun.

The cards that contain shapes also have a cut-out of that particular shape in the top of the card.

Twenty four cards in all, counting the front and back of each of the twelve cards. My daughter thinks they're nothing but fun. She hasn't learned yet that learning is boring, thanks to these! (Hopefully, she never will!)

These cards are not stingy in size and are made of a very durable cardboard that will be difficult for even the most active toddler to destroy. The retail value of these cards runs $9.95 and is worth the investment so much, I also went ahead and bought the ABC's, Hands-on Learning
cards

and the Numbers, Hands-on Learning cards.

Check out Scholastic.com for more incredible learning and teaching tools for you and your child!

* Crayola Beginnings Tadoodles *

* This review was done by Melissa J *

What a fun way to introduce your little one to the world of art! Crayola Beginnings First Marks BUV was worth every penny I've paid and to my amazement, hasn't run out yet - - though it has been used regularly in our household.

Put out by Crayola, these little paint animals are big enough for little hands to grip and manipulate. With a simple press on the paint pad, the paint flows and eager hands can smear the colors as much as they please. Chances are, they'll get it on them as well as the paper, but it washes off easily enough.

Color names are all a part of the fun, with fun tags like "Yes, Yes Yellow", "Bouncy Blue", "Oopsie Orange", "Buddy Black", "Patty Cake Purple", and "Please Pink".

Fun names aren't all there is either. Yellow is a baby chick, blue is an elephant, orange is a cat, purple is a hippo, pink is a pig, and black is a penguin that will bring a smile, even to an adult's face.

Each of these Tadoodles come in a little cart with wheels, so when your child has tired of painting they can continue to develop their motor skills by pushing the cart around. And trust me, they will! For hours!

The only issue I had with these, is that the paint is thin, if my toddler pressed down too hard, alot came out. With a small piece of thin paper, this made for a bit of a mess. I found that large sheets of poster board or finger painting paper was better to use, than a traditional letter size piece of paper. Still, as stated before, the paint was easily washed off and the issue was one I could deal with.

For similar resources for little hands, check out Crayola's Crayola Beginnings TaDoodles Easy Stampers BUV