Celebrate Spring With The New Pajanimals Games & Puzzles Giveaway (US & Canada)

We just recently hosted a review and giveaway for the newest Pajanimals DVD, Playdate, which the kids absolutely loved. Not only do they have a new DVD out, but they just released some awesome games and puzzles, too, and we want to tell you all about them!

·       My Growth Chart Puzzle: ($14.99 SRP): Build your own puzzle and measure away, marking your height as you grow.  The Growth Puzzle chart includes 17 sturdy self-correcting puzzle pieces and teaches numbers, counting and easy math principals.  Ages: 3+

·My First ABC Floor Puzzle” ($14.99 SRP): ABC Floor Puzzle includes 27 jumbo self-correcting puzzle pieces to form a 6 ft. long puzzle that teaches ABC’s, matching words and visual recognition. Ages: 3+

·My First Adventure Game ($14.99 SRP):  Follow the path by matching objects and reach finish in this “path” board game designed for toddlers. Featuring two play patterns for extended play, the game develops visual discrimination, sequencing, hand-eye coordination and language skills. Ages 3+

·My First Word Game ($14.99 SRP):  Match the picture tiles and find the objects in the illustration with this matching game for toddlers with two playing levels. The game, featuring 6 double-sides playing boards, 18 picture tiles and a parent guide,develops visual discrimination, early learning word skills and hand-eye coordination. Ages 3+

Don't all of these look fun? I love that they are not only fun for kids, but educational. I wish all products were like this.

How would you like to WIN one of these awesome items?

One Lucky Children Teaching Mama Reader Will Win One of The New Pajanimals Games or Puzzles!! 

Holiday Gift Guide: Carson-Dellosa Pirates Gold and Homework Helpers Review & Giveaway

Isn't it great to have fun when you're learning? Every week at our house we have family game night, and I love anything that will help reinforce the lessons my children are learning in school. Carson-Dellosa, a wonderful educational publishing company, provides books and games and manipulatives to engage children from grades pre-K all the way up to eighth grade.

Carson-Dellosa generously sent us these products to try out: the Pirates Gold board game (retail $14.99), and three Homework Helpers Activity Books (Number Dot to Dot, Alphabet Hidden Pictures and School Skills), which retail for $2.99 each. What a perfect fit for our family! Benjamin, who is in pre-K, was very eager to try out his new workbooks. And everyone, including my husband and me, couldn't wait to jump in and try Pirates Gold for game night.

Pirates Gold is the perfect game to play with younger children in grades 2 to 5. It took us just minutes to set up and learn and our children immediately understood the strategy: gather 6 gold coins to win the game, and watch out for the pirate ship at all costs! The board and pieces are very appealing and brightly colored, and the children especially loved stashing loot in their treasure chests. We usually finish a game within 20 to 30 minutes. That's just the right amount of time for this age group.

The only issue we encountered with Pirates Gold is that the little tavern made out of paper, which is meant to be assembled and used as a "3D" decoration on the board, doesn't fit back in the box unless you take it apart. We had to tape it to keep it together, and I didn't want to remove the tape, so we just keep it in a separate place. We have enjoyed Pirates Gold so much that I am very eager to check out more of Carson-Dellosa's games!

The pre-K activity books were a home run, too. At about 8x9 inches in size, they are a little smaller than your standard workbook; just right for little hands to hold. And that means they fit better in tiny backpacks. The artwork is simple but cute, and the activities are perfectly suited to the target ages. Benjamin has enjoyed the workbooks so much, he wants to do the activities for fun, even outside of home school time.

The selection you'll find at the Carson-Dellosa website is just incredible! There are easily thousands of items for teachers and parents to use for education and inspiration: colorful charts, games, stickers, activity books, posters, maps and more! You can shop by grade/age, by theme or by school subject to find just what you need to engage your child. They offer $5.95 flat rate shipping and a great Sales and Clearance section with items 50% off or more.

If you get stuck and need help, take advantage of their helpful Live Chat.

Connect with Carson-Dellosa online: 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CarsonDellosa

and Twitter https://twitter.com/CDpub

So, are you ready for a giveaway?

One Lucky Reader Will Receive The Pirates Gold Game from Carson-Dellosa!

Funnybone Toys Games Giveaway

I love to play card games. Growing up my mom and I would play rummy all the time – not only did I like playing the game, but I loved the time it gave me to spend with my mom just talking and enjoying each other’s company. Since I love playing cards so much I am always ready to try out a new game and so I was very excited to learn about three new card games from Funnybone Toys.

So obviously I’m not the only one who likes to play games – almost everyone enjoys one game or another, but very few people enjoy the “art” that is also present in their games. Owner of Funnybone Toys, Julien Sharp, and her amazing team of creative geniuses had the brilliant idea of bringing the art forward onto a level playing field with the concept of the game instead of being left in the background. And so they set out to design card games that were not only thought provoking and fun, but also beautiful works of art that are meant to be enjoyed instead of merely looked at which resulted in three Color Series Games: Array, CUBU, and Spectrix. I was thrilled to receive one of these games to try out and so I chose Spectrix.

The reason I chose Spectrix is because it is very similar to my previously mentioned favorite card game – rummy. However, instead of working with numbers and card suits Spectrix is a deck of 96 cards in 12 gorgeous colors plus 6 guide cards. Game play is very similar to rummy with players making either colored collections or sequences – the guide cards are very handy in helping when making sequences to know the exact order the colors need to be played. Plus if a player makes a complete sequence/spectrum they then collapse that spectrum into “white light”which further increases their chance of winning. Check out this video to get an even clearer understanding of how Spectrix is played.

Dustin, my mom, and I had a great time playing this game and figuring out the most ideal ways to play our cards – definitely a thought provoking game!

I love that the concept of this game is simple enough that even an 8 year old can play it yet thought provoking enough that adults of all ages would enjoy it as well. Most definitely a game the entire family can enjoy. Array and CUBU both look like tons of fun too so be sure to check out the Funnybone Toys website to learn more about those games as well!

With the holidays right around the corner one or more of these games would make a perfect gift for a game or art lover in your life. Plus they are reasonably priced at $14.99 each so you won’t break the bank, but the recipient is sure to love the gift – doesn’t get more perfect than that! Check out the list of places that you can purchase Spectrix, Array, and CUBU which include book stores, toy stores, and museums which are definitely the perfect place to display such awesome works of art.

Oh and guess what? One lucky reader is going to win their very own choice of game from the Funnybone Toys Color Series Games. To enter fill out the Rafflecopter entry form below – good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Horse Haven: Own a Horse Farm Without All the Hassle

What child isn't fascinated with horses? I always begged for a horse as a child, but, of course, never received one. I eventually outgrew my love for horses (okay, I still like them a little), but now I have kids! Even my boys love horses and, since there are horse farms all around where we live, we drive past them constantly, making them want one even more. Luckily, we have found a happy medium, a place where my son can play with horses, feed them and even build onto his own farm. One of our favorite game makers, UbiSoft, has created Horse Haven, making it possible for children to finally have the horse or horses of their dreams!

I helped Josiah get started, but the game makes it very easy to begin with a tutorial. Five minutes after beginning, you know exactly what to do and you have goals to work towards for your farm! Here's basically what your farm looks like when you begin and the tutorial that tells you what to do.

It didn't take long before Josiah's farm was growing and thriving. He loves how you must feed the horses, wash them and really take care of them. We added a water well, a petting zoo and even a carrot garden for some delicious horse treats! Here is how we fed the horse carrots:

Josiah had such a great time with this game that we've played it a few times now. It just doesn't get old for him, so I know he'll be playing this one for a while. I have to admit, I'm curious about what is to come. They mention horse shows and even breeding, so it looks like the game just gets more exciting as you go along!

Our day of planning and building came to an end when we ran out of energy. Then, you must wait a certain amount of time before continuing or you can purchase more energy if you don't want to wait. I am hoping this game eventually goes to the iPad because I would love for him to have a more portable version. For now, I have a feeling we'll be on Facebook much more often! Here's what the farm looked like after a hard day's work:

Give Horse Haven a try and let me know what you think!

Thank you to Ubisoft for sponsoring this blog post. Please click here to learn more about Ubisoft. I was selected for this sponsorship by the Clever Girls Collective. All opinions are my own. #UbiChamps

DaGeDar Racing Game Toys Review & Giveaway

My kids love balls, marbles and any kind of object that rolls and bounces. Easily amused? I wish! It takes something colorful and unique to really hold their attention, something like DaGeDar. Created by the same people who brought us ZhuZhu Pets, DaGeDar is a simple game of speed and skill that is sure to keep kids entertained. The game involves oversized marbles that can be shot with launchers and tracks.

Josiah was so excited when this package arrived, all spray painted and looking cool before we even got into it. He knew it was for him! We received a Two Lane Battle Jump Raceway, Vortex Spinner & Collectible Ball, and a Rapid Fire Power Launcher. We put the Raceway together and started playing. Even my husband had to take some turns. This isn't a simple game of just dropping a ball. No, you learn ways to drop the ball, angle the ball, and must use skill and strategy to get your ball to the end of the track first and to win races. 

Discovery Toys Review & Busy Bugs Learning Set Giveaway

When selecting toys for my children, I can be somewhat picky. We don't allow video games in our home, limit tv, and I would rather them play with toys that have some sort of educational value. My oldest son, Josiah (4 yrs), has a very vivid imagination and loves using it when playing with his army men, cars, and pirates. My other son, Liam (19mo) is still learning his basics and loves reading books, learning new words, and playing catch.

Zip Track Ages 5+

Discovery Toys has a variety of products focused on educating and entertaining children from infants all the way to 8 years of age.What I love about their toys is that they focus on skill sets developing at each age and their toys for each age group help improve and enhance those particular skills. For example, babies at 6 months need to work on improving dexterity and coordination while toddler ages are working on their symbolic thinking and more finely developing gross motor skills.

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