Tag Archives: learning

The Learning Tower, Art Easel, and Toy Tower Review

August 21, 2012Age 3-5, Age 5-7, Education, New postsArt Easel, cooking, doll, kitchen, kitchen tools, learning, The Learning Tower, Toy TowerAlicia

Is your child so clingy that she pulls up a chair up to stand next to you while you’re cooking or fixing your hair?

Then you will love The Learning Tower.

The Learning Tower is a safe, sturdy, and fun platform inside a tower that your child can stand on safely. When standing on the platform my daughter can help me cook, wash fruits and veggies, and if you have older kids, I’ve learned it’s a great place for a child to stand while playing hair stylist. My daughter loves brushing my hair and playing hair stylist and she’s fallen off of the chair more than a handful of times. We keep The Learning Tower in our kitchen now and the kids can move it from one area to another pretty easily.

Before your child gets in The Learning Tower, adjust the platform to one of the four positions that your think is best for your child. Pull The Learning Tower up to the location where you want it and your child can climb in using the foot holes on either side or crawl in through the open space on the sides. No matter which of the four heights the platform is on, your child is unlikely to fall out because there is at least a four-inch ledge around the entire platform.

The Learning Tower - Art Easel dry erase and chalk board — Dry erase and chalk board

The Art Easel

Little Partners also sells an Art Easel that hooks over the top of The Learning Tower. The Art Easel is great for playing school or listing chores or recipe ingredients. A white board on one side and a chalkboard on the other, there is plenty of room for a child to create a fantastic work of art or just doodle.

Here’s a helpful dry erase marker tip: If your child accidentally uses a regular marker on the dry erase board, just go over it again with a dry erase marker and wipe it clean. It may not come 100% clean but it should help considerably.

The Art Easel is available in nine colors and is $59.99.

The Learning Tower Toy Tower — The Learning Tower - Toy Tower

The Toy Tower

Little girls love playing with dolls but that toy high chair you have might not be the easiest thing to carry to Grandma’s house. That’s where the Toy Tower comes in handy. It’s small and light weight and just the right size for any doll. The platform is adjustable just like on The Learning Tower so your child’s doll can sit as high or low as needed. Last night we took Mickey Mouse and The Toy Tower with us to my mom’s house for dinner and he enjoyed dinner with us. On a normal day any number of baby dolls and Lalaloopsy dolls will sit in the Toy Tower wherever my daughter is.

The Toy Tower is $49.99 and is available in three colors.

Assembling the Art Easel — My daughter helps assemble the Art Easel

Assembling The Learning Tower and Art Easel

Assembling The Learning Tower takes about 30 minutes while the Art Easel takes just about 15 minutes to assemble.
If you have a little helper like my husband did then assembly time might be less.. or more.

Both require minimal tools for assembly.

Colors and Cost

The Learning Tower comes in nine colors and is $199.99. It can be purchased online at www.littlepartners.com.

I was sent The Learning Tower, an Art Easel, and Toy Tower to facilitate this review. All opinions are 100% my own.

Young Minds Numbers & Counting DVD for Toddlers + Giveaways!

August 4, 2009Age 1-3, Age 3-5, Educational Toys, New postseducational dvd, learning, toddler, young mindsAlicia

There are times when I feel like I need to let Madelyn watch TV. I try to occupy her through out the day with toys, creative stuff, etc.. but with most of my work needing to be done between 1 and 6pm, I rely on the TV to keep her occupied for an hour or so. However, I hate Sponge Bob and after 3:00 or so, shows are mostly geared for older kids. I try to find the best quality, most educational show on during that time but there is such as a thing as re-runs and just plain yucky educational TV.

Young Minds - Numbers and Counting DVD

I was recently introduced to Young Mind Number and Counting DVD and Madelyn, 3 years old, watched it for the first time today. Her response was adorable and I really enjoyed seeing her reaction and hearing her talk along with and back to the DVD. Here is a short video of Madelyn watching the DVD. I apologize for the sound quality and the camera seems to have zoomed in and out the entire time. Yikes!

MathTutorDVD.com has created the Young Minds series of DVDs to introduce young children to the joys of learning Math at a young age. This DVD in Numbers and Counting teaches young children to count from 1 to 10 by way of engaging classical music, photographs, and video.

Each number is presented with colorful, non-cluttered, large photographs, video, and animation that kept Madelyn’s attention very well. Numbers are animated to fly-in from off screen and show the child how to count by counting objects that they are naturally interested in. Animals such as frogs, horses, jellyfish, sharks, whales, and more are shown to the viewer along with the animal sounds. Colors are also taught by pointing out the color of objects on screen.

DVDs in this area are designed to stimulate young children to take an interest in Math at an early age. The DVD is set to classical music selections from the great composers such as J.S. Bach, Beethoven, Mozart, Vivaldi, and others!

The central idea of this video is to teach children numbers and counting while at the same time teaching them the names of animals, machines, and other objects along with their associated sounds and colors. This integrated learning approach keeps children interested and promotes continued learning.

Learn more about Young Minds and their DVD’s at the Young Minds / Math Tutor DVD website here.

GIVEAWAY!
Thanks to Young Minds we are giving 10 lucky readers a Young Minds Numbers and Counting DVD!

To enter leave a comment below telling us why you want to win a copy of Young Minds Numbers and Counting DVD.
For 2 entries, click the green ‘retweet’ button to Twitter this post to your friends and then leave your Twitter ID in the comments below.
Entries accepted until August 31st.[tweetmeme]

ItzaBitza Educational Reading Game for kids + giveaway – this game is so much fun!

February 17, 2009Educational Toyscomputer game, educational, game, itzabitza, kids, learning, softwareAlicia

This is one of the most entertaining game I've played in a long time. Yes, I admit I played ItzaBitza. My kids weren't even around. The concept of ItzaBitza is awesome..I've never seen anything like it.

ItzaBitza promotes reading comprehension, artisitic and imaginative creativity and provides an exciting gaming experience for kids ages four and older. I was amazed time and time again by how the game responded to my drawings and made them come to life.

Here are just a few things you can do in the first ItzaBitza scene:

Draw a tree, apples grow on it.
Draw a moon and stars light up the sky and your Sketchie goes inside the house you drew, goes upstairs and goes to sleep.
Draw an envelope and your Sketchie takes it to the mailbox.
Draw a cup and watch your Sketchie drink out of it.

The Sketchie your child chooses at the beginning of the game (a boy or a girl) asks your child to draw things, including a house and a tree, then the drawings become part of the animation and story. An example would be when I drew a tree with leaves, the game added apples to the tree. You can see my award winning drawing (ha!) below. Click on the image to view the larger version. I didn't draw the flowers. When I drew the sun, the flowers grew! How cool is that?

Through out the game, the Sketchie gives you ideas and little games to play via a little word bubble that pops up when you click on him or her. If your child has trouble reading a word in the bubble, all she has to do is move
the mouse over the word and it is sounded out for her. Great reading practice!

There are several scenes that can be unlocked as your child progresses in the game including a camping scene and a naunted house. You'll have to buy the game to find out what happens in each of the scenes!

Buy a copy of ItzaBitza at Amazon.com for $17.99 (current price) OR buy and download the game here.

Giveaway details are coming soon but until then you can subscribe to our updates and you will be notified with giveaway details as soon as we get them up!

UNRELATED ADVERTISEMENT

Mrs. Goodbee Doll House

October 29, 2008Toysdoll, dollhouse, educational, goodbee, learning, toyAlicia

Mrs. Goodbee Dollhouse Caring Corners "Mrs. Goodbee" Doll House is a toy dollhouse, talking dollhouse, and furnished dollhouse all in one. What more can a little girl ask for?
Caring Corners Mrs. Goodbee Doll House interacts with children as they play. With over 400 playful activities, songs, words and sounds, eyes that open, a mouth that lights up and a voice, this doll house truly comes alive keeping kids entertained for hours at a time.. that's a really good thing. If a child places a crying baby in its cradle and rocks it, he or she will be rewarded with a lullaby. This 12 room dollhouse promotes caring and sharing, good manners, and responsibility around the house.

Fill the doll house rooms with over 12 fun doll packs including a 'family fun night' doll pack and a 'fix it fun' doll pack for the little brother that wants to join in on the fun!

Share the joy of giving with your child by participating in the Carton of Caring^TM Donation Program. Fill the dollhouse box with gently-used toys or laundered clothing and take it to any Goodwill location in the U.S. or Canada.

Age recommendation: 3+

Available at Amazon.com: Caring Corners – Mrs. Goodbee Interactive Dollhouse