Educational Insights: The Riddle Show

 

                

Knock, knock! Who's there? YOU, hosting your very own comedy show! Friends and family will laugh, giggle, snort and guffaw as children share 140+ jokes, riddles and tongue twisters with this talking electronic microphone featuring pre-recorded content, music and sound effects. Press a button for a joke or riddle, then another for the answer, or try a tricky tongue twister-just don't get too tripped up! Ha-ha-larious fun for everyone!

   

Aidan is the little comedian in our family. He is always trying to make people laugh by being silly. I knew when I seen The Riddle Show that it would be perfect for him. It is an electronic toy shaped like his very own microphone. At the push of a button, it tells an assortment of jokes, riddles, and tongue twisters.

 

The microphone approximately has four buttons that serve the following functions: (1) Tell a riddle, (2) Tell a riddle joke or tongue twister, (3) Answer, and (4) Repeat. He played with this for longer than I thought he would, he loves it. He thinks the jokes are funny, and the riddles require thought.

The riddles are a set of clues for everybody to try and figure out. Such as “I am long and curved. I have smooth yellow skin- you peel me to eat me, what am I?” (answer: banana) If you didn’t hear it well the first time, there is a repeat button, which I like about it. To get the answers, there is an answer button below the repeat button.

Jokes are things like “When does the moon stop eating?” (answer: when it’s full) “What do frogs like with their hamburgers?” (French Flies) The microphone also works without the joke or riddles, so that he can make up his own or sing a crazy song. He loves it. The microphone just lets them hear their own voice a bit louder, which is pretty cool.

The Riddle Show works with 3 (AAA) batteries, which come with the purchase. Aidan has used this many times and it still hasn’t shown any indication of it running low on battery power. More bang for your buck. As a mom, I love that he isn’t only having fun but that he is also learning at the same time.

Shh… They’re Learning!

• Increases listening comprehension skills
• Enhances critical thinking skills
• Builds vocabulary
• Increases self-confidence and self-esteem

The Riddle Show is the perfect fit for his (and my 5 year old daughters) hands. They can hold it very well and push the buttons without it slipping out of their hands or falling. There are 4 buttons (besides the on/off and volume buttons). Buttons: Riddle, Joke, Answer, and Repeat buttons.

It is made very well with a durable, sturdy plastic. I’ve always been a huge fan of Educational Insight toys, and this just added to my list of reasons WHY I love them so much. Who wouldn’t? Fun while learning is the best way to learn in my opinion. He seems to love when the spotlight is on him and he can make people listen and laugh for long periods of time.

He loves making people smile, but his jokes were limited since he’s only 7. Now he can tell jokes or riddles for as long as he wants, because he doesn’t have to think them up himself. This toy actually HAS him thinking up new jokes now. We might have a future comedian here, lol.

You can get The Riddles Show at the Educational Insights website which has the playful promise. This is a 365 day risk free guarantee, and I’ve NEVER seen that with any other toy site EVER!

You can also shop by age, or whether you want to shop toys or games. I love when kid websites let me shop by age, so I know what is in the age-range of my kids.!

Connect with Educational Insights:

Website. Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest

 

 

 

Toy Review: LeapFrog Read With Me Scout #HolidayGiftGuide2013 #ReadWithMeScout

Reading is something that is VERY much enjoyed in our home. I LOVE to read myself and it is something that I wanted to pass on to my kids. We go to the library all the time and I let them choose their own books. We read them, re-read them, and then I try and get them to re-read the books to me.

There are times when I am super busy and have to get something VERY important done and would love to read to them but can’t. That’s where the Read With Me Scout by Leapfrog comes in. She can patiently sit down and play with him and have him read to her while I wash dishes, clean, or cook supper. I can then sit down and join her after we’ve ate supper, I’ve washed the dishes, and they’ve had their baths for school the next morning.

Adisyn absolutely adores her Leap Frog Read With Me Scout. He comes with 5 color coded books that are also numbered. The books are hardback books and very durable for small hands. (This is a HUGE plus because she tends to still sometimes slightly tear pages on accident). So them being board books make a HUGE difference.

Scout makes reading very interesting and interactive, even for a Preschooler! When you turn the switch “ON” on Scout’s collar he will say something like “pick up the blue book and pat my head when you are ready.”

He will then read the book to her, commenting on the book, and asking questions as he goes. This is awesome because it builds comprehension skills as well as helps them pay attention to what is being read to them. It amazing how much he engages her in the book and makes reading that much MORE fun.

Scout has 5 different interactive spots (cheek, both paws, head, and back) that respond to her touch. She can kiss his cheek and he will tell her that she’s his best friend, she’s friendly, and he likes her. His left paw produce songs, the right produces random responses (high five, yeah, it’s nice to see you, let’s play). His back responds “You’re my buddy, I like that, and I love you” etc.

The 5 colorfully illustrated board books teach:
    1) Rhyming—helps children learn about the sounds of language and build phonological awareness,
    2) Learn-about—learn about the world through reading and recognize how print carries meaning,
    3) Narrative—learn about how stories are put together, with characters, settings, and a sequence of events,
    4) Pattern—learn with rhymes, refrains and repetition to predict what comes next, and
    5) Concept—explore concepts like colors to label and classify new information.

Adisyn love to carry Scout wherever we go, no matter where it is. To the post office, the Doctor, and even to the grocery store. She even wanted to pack him in her backpack to take to school. She loved showing all our friends and family how much of a big girl she was by trying to read along with Scout.

Scout was a tremendous help to me on Friday. I had a doctor appointment for 11 because I ‘d been having severe migraines and felt “stuffy” for a few days. I thought I had allergies, so I made the appointment. We went in (Adisyn doesn’t have school on Fridays) and sat there until 2:30. It was ridiculous, but at least we had Scout to keep her entertained, occupied, and from flipping out from sitting there all day.

He teaches comprehension, early vocabulary and book and print basics. The more words a child sees, the more words they will eventually be able to use. The more a child is read to, the more they will LOVE to read. They will definitely love interacting not only with their book, but having a buddy that talks!

This is the perfect holiday gift for any child ages 2-5.

Get YOURS: Read With Me Scout by Leapfrog $34.99 $29.99

Stylish Southern Mama received the product free as part of a promotional program with LeapFrog and MomSelect.

 

Jessica Renee

Toy Review: Educational Insights- The Sea Squad™ Puppet-on-a-Stick™ #HolidayGiftGuide2013

Meet The Sea Squad: Flipper the anglerfish, Dipper the octopus, Chomper the shark, and Bob the clam. Their googly eyes, vivid colors, and hilarious expressions will inspire all sorts of creative play in an instant. Children will flip over these silly creatures from the sea as they dive into worlds of dramatic play, while developing communication skills and practicing real and imaginary dialogue!

Pretend play and puppet shows become a splash with these comical marine friends and story time is transformed into an adventure. Our kid-approved, patent-pending design marries an easy-glide child-sized thumb lever and a chunky, secondary knob, giving kids (and adults who need a good giggle) two ways to articulate each puppet’s mouth.

Built to last through many childhoods, each puppet’s soft-touch molded body reinforce our hallmark Educational Insights quality standard. Take a swim with The Sea Squad! Grades Pre-K+ -

• Go fishing for fun; Meet Flipper, Dipper, Chomper and Bob

Aidan and Adisyn had nearly jumped out of their skin with excitement when they seen the box for the The Sea Squad™ Puppet-on-a-Stick. They fidgeted and bugged me until I opened the box and gave them their sea creature stick puppets.

The box comes with 4 stick puppets; 1 clam, 1 shark, 1 octopus, and 1 angler fish. They have an easy-glide thumb lever that fits perfectly to child sized fingers. They are very easy to push down and don’t require much hand strength.

They also have a chunky, secondary knob that gives the kid a second way to operate the puppets mouth. These puppets have already seen tons of play time in this house. The kids have re-named the puppets and create little stories and plays for them to star in.

These puppets are perfect for numerous things; story time, plays, imaginative play, etc. They are made of extremely durable plastic and bigger than I imagined they would be, which I love. They’ve already been through drops, being accidentally run over by Aidan’s scooter, and much more and are still going strong!

They are brightly colored and definitely attract and keep the attention of kids. Even my ten year old stepson Alex couldn’t resist joining in on the fun when he came for the weekend. They played well over an hour just the first night that Alex was here.

I love the fact that they aren’t only growing their imagination but learning as well. These would be perfect for any Pre-K or Kindergarten classroom. They would make an awesome addition to any Under the Sea lessons.

I am definitely thinking about buying a box for Adisyn’s class. They have different “learning” weeks. One week will be Zoo week where they learn about the animals that are in the zoo, one week is firefighter week where they learn about firefighters and their jobs. I would definitely like to see an Under the Sea week, how cool would that be.

This would make an awesome present for any kid or teacher! Get yours!

The Sea Squad™ Puppet-on-a-Stick $39.99

Connect with Educational Insights online:

.Facebook, Twitter, & Pinterest

 

Jessica Renee

LakeShore Learning: Let’s Play School Review & Giveaway

I remember when I was a kid, I loved to play school. I was the oldest out of my sister Brandy and cousin Sara, so of course I was always the teacher. I loved to teach them their ABC’s, numbers, shapes..etc. I’d give them quizzes and tests, grade them, and give them back. It was tons of fun!

When I was given the chance to review an item from Lakeshore Learning, I was immediately drawn to the Let’s Play School Play Set. I wanted to give my kids the love of learning that comes form playing school.

The Let’s Play School Play Set is absolutely brilliant. It comes with all the amazingly fun supplies that any kid would need to pretend play. I would have loved this when I was a kid. It contains over 65 pieces which include a 21’ chalkboard, chalk, eraser, pens, whistle, bell, American Flag, Reward Charts, Stamps, tests, roll book, and so much more.

I was truly amazed at how much stuff came with the set. Lakeshore Learning really thought of everything when it came to what teachers need and have inside their classrooms. They even added desk decor) (an American Flag)! How cool is that?

My daughter Adisyn was the only one home when the package was delivered, my son was at school. Preschool here didn’t start until 2 weeks after the rest of the grades, so she got to have first run of the activity set. She was absolutely thrilled!

I loved seeing her beautiful gleaming smile light up the room. She was absolutely delighted when she looked in the box. She just kept pulling out more and more of the toys. The look on her face was “More?” with a gigantic smile.

The quality of the products are nothing short of exceptional. You can tell that Lakeshore Learning really appreciate their customers and enjoy what they do. They want your children, grandchildren, or godchildren to be able to play with their products for a very long time! They make them with nothing but top quality!

I love the fact that we can use the Chalkboard to continue learning at home. My daughter is in preschool and has been learning her ABCs, Numbers, shapes, and how to write her name. My son is in preschool and has spelling words and is learning to add.

I can write whatever it is that they are learning for the week on the board and have them practice. I can either have them trace what I’ve written or write it underneath what I’ve written. It really helps with math, counting, and shapes because we can do unlimited number of problems.

Not only does the chalkboard have space for Word Math Problems but it’s nice to be able to save paper. He will get math problems that say “Draw 4 circles, 3 squares, and a triangle and add them together.” He is a good artist but he draws pretty big, so I’m glad that there is adequate space for him to learn.

When school starts every child gets a name badge. This helps the “students” to learn how to write their names. It also has shapes, colors, color names, and number on the name badge as well.

The first thing a teacher does after morning announcements and getting settled in the classroom is roll call. I think it was pretty neat that they include a real roll call book that they can write in! I also like the fact that they include attendance awards for “being” in school everyday! Pretty cool!

Of course a teacher has to have all this, right? They have to give spelling tests, it’s the most compelling thing about teaching. So, when they included an entire pack of spelling tests, reward stickers in a variety of colors and designs, and a report card!

America please! No teacher is complete without an American Flag sitting on the desk, right? What about the famous “United States map?” I love the fact that I can take the puzzle apart and help my kids learn about the wonders of American and all the beautiful states that we have!

My son has been learning how to tell time on a regular clock. He already knows how to do it on a digital clock, but he had been having issues with the big/little hands on a round clock. I love that I can now help them learn their time! Also, Aidan learned his days of the week last year, but Adisyn doesn’t know them yet. This will help them learn the days of the week, month, and year!

More rewards? Of COURSE! There are written words for reading, being a super star, dynamite job, god work, and congrads! BUT—what do kids like even more than a card award with their names on it so big and bright? TOYS of course? Inside the Lakeshore Learning Let’s Play Kit is a Reward cup AND the “prizes” that go inside it! AMAZING!

Last but not least is the Teacher tools. This is what makes a teacher a teacher (besides the fact that they teach, right? lol). It comes with the hall pass, teacher pen, teacher pencil, marker, stamps, bell, pointer and whistle. Let them feel special and amazing and check out the Let’s Play School kit for yourself! Doesn’t this look amazing? I know my kids have had a BLAST!

Buy IT: Let’s Play School Play Set $49.99

Connect with Lakeshore Learning online:

Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, & Youtube

The Lakeshore Story: A Simple Beginning

Our story begins with Ethelyn Kaplan—homemaker and entrepreneur. In 1954, this courageous mom took a chance and opened a supply store for parents and teachers. Fast forward to today, and Lakeshore is still a family-owned business and education industry leader with catalogs, a comprehensive website, and dozens of stores coast-to-coast!

Win IT: One Lucky Stylish Southern Mama reader will win their very own Let’s Play School Kit.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Thanks,

Jessica

Crayola Dry-Erase Activity Center- Put Fun Back into Learning! <Review>

Crayola has always been a huge part of my life. When I was in school I loved getting fresh new giant boxes of Crayola crayons. I loved that there were so many amazing colors to choose from, and a blank paper had the potential to be made into so many things. I’m pretty sure Crayola started my craft obsession.

I wanted to pass this onto my kids. No matter what brand of crayons you buy- they WILL never compare to Crayola! So, when I got a chance to review the Crayola Dry-Erase Activity Center- I was all over it. My kids love to color, write, and draw. Now that they are both in school, I was looking for something that we could use again and again for practicing.

The activity center is eco-friendly because it doesn’t require any paper. It has a clear writing/drawing surface that works with any dry-erase product; dry-erase markers, dry-erase crayons, and even dry-erase colored pencils. SO it saves paper from being thrown away, just let them write their heart out and then erase it and let them start all over!

My daughter started preschool this year and is learning all the essentials; alphabet, her name, shapes, and numbers. I was glad that the Activity center had more than 25 games and activities that we could use on a daily basis to help her learn!

It’s an activity center that comes with 4 dry erase markers (red, black, blue, and green), an eraser, and 5 front/back cards. The cards help with alphabet, numbers and counting, words and stories, and building their imagination as well.

When you open the Dry Erase Activity Center box inside is a little pamphlet that helps you show your kids even MORE ways to have fun with the center. It shows you little learning games that make it even better. If you go on the Crayola website, they even have hundreds of Dry-Erase activity sheets here that you can add to the collection!

Just the short amount of time that we’ve had it has already made a big difference. She has been doing so well with learning how to spell her name, her alphabet, AND shapes. We are solely focusing on those for right now. I don’t want to throw too much at her at one time. I want her to fully comprehend what she’s learning before we move on to something else.

I love the fact that they added in a blank page. This has the potential for so many different things. You can write directly on the dry-erase sheet and insert it under the clear plastic pane so they can trace it! This is what has been helping her with her shapes and name the most!

The grid sheet can be used for many things. Lower or upper case alphabet, numbers, or even greater and less than. You can have them color 5 blocks on one line black for instance and then 7 blocks on another line green and tell you which is greater.

It is extremely durable, it has withstood being dropped on our floor a couple of times and didn’t even crack. I love the fact that we can re-use it time and time again. We didn’t have to buy the pre-printed school paper for her to learn! Just in the short time we’ve had this, my daughter has already made tremendous progress learning her letters and name!

My son loves to use it to draw on. He has been getting pretty detailed and awesome at drawing. He has been practicing drawing trucks, helicopters, cars, and rocket ships! It’s been awesome to see them play with something longer than 20 minutes. They will draw, write, and color for hours! This would be awesome to take on a long road trip to keep them occupied, of course I have to buy another one so both kids can have one!

Get Yours: Crayola Dry-Erase Activity Center $16.99

Connect with Crayola on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest for inspiration and sales!

Jessica Renee

Review: Giant Microbes Rotavirus Toy- The Loveable Germ.

Whether you’re a teacher, a science lover, or a parent who wants to teach their kids about germs.. I have something amazing to tell you about- Giant Microbes.

These little furry creatures come in a variety of sizes, shapes, and germs. They have everything from Athlete’s Foot to the kissing disease. You might be asking yourself “what exactly are Giant Microbes?” They are cute little plush germs that represent your favorite or NOT so favorite germs!

They are so cute and loveable that they make the perfect “learning” toy for kids! Each germ comes with an informational card that tells what the virus is and exactly how it is spread between people.

The GERM that we received was Rotavirus, which is also commonly referred to as the “Stomach Bug.” It is now known that most kids get Rotavirus before the age of 5. Worldwide- more than 450,000 kids die from this disease yearly, although in the U.S. it is known and treatable with water mixed with a small amount of salt and sugar (because of severe hydration).

Countries that have the Rotavirus vaccination have less hospitalizations and infections. I love that this not only teaches kids about germs, but it also taught ME! I didn’t know how severely this could harm children and that most countries don’t have the vaccination.

Giant Microbes have so many different cute little stuffed germs that they are hard to resist. Adisyn thinks her “Rotavirus” is a kitty though.. I have NO idea why— Kids!

Here are some other cutesy Giant Microbes:

The Cavity

The Brain Cell

Mono- The Kissing Disease

Be sure to follow Giant Microbes on Twitter!

Be sure to Like Giant Microbes on Facebook!

Buy It!

Here is a link to Giant Microbes full catalog where you can find the entire Giant Microbe collection.

 

Jessica Renee