Guidecraft ~ Block Mates Review {giveaway}

Guidecraft has amazing wooden blocks. Recently we were sent a set of Farm Animal Block Mates along with the 5 Piece Hardwood Unit Block Set.

  

All 3 of my children LOVE these!  Here you can see them in their “barn”

Soon after the barn was constructed, a pasture was built using our Rainbow Blocks, complete with hay made from Learning Links

Feeding & watering troughs too…

Ladybug has been VERY impressed with these too…

  

The following photos were taken weeks apart from the ones above…

Check out what he built, again…

Apparently these animals are hungry!!! I HIGHLY recommend Block Mates, even though I didn’t really “get it” at first.  Seeing my kiddos interact with them has converted my thinking.  They truly LOVE them!

BUY IT!

You can purchase the Farm Animals Block Mates and the 5 Piece Wooden Block Set on the Guidecraft site.  They also sell them on Amazon: Farm Animal Block Mates.

WIN IT!

Jodi from Granola Mom 4 God is hosting the giveaway this month! Head on over to enter to win.

This product was given to me for review purposes, and I do not have to return the product to the vendor. I was not paid for this post. All opinions expressed in this post are mine.

Color Squares from Little Bits ~ Giveaway CLOSED

Congratulations #356 Your Impact Matters ~ I have sent you an email!

Many of you probably already know the story behind Little Bits, but for those of you who don’t, you are welcome to read this post I wrote on my blog awhile back. Little Bits is still going strong and is one of our main sources of financial donations for our mission work. We are faith-supported missionaries, which means we don’t have an organization paying us. We get paid all through donations and Little Bits is one of our main sources! We are SO grateful to my mom and the hours and hours of work she puts into Little Bits to help earn money for us and God’s work.

You may have seen these adorable Color Squares on my blog recently…

They have become a fast favorite of all 3 kids, especially Ladybug.

Even Krash enjoys them, especially when they act as color coordinated pillows and blankets for his Battle Force 5 guys.

We also use them for all sorts of other activities. They are about 3”x3” and are each padded inside with batting to make them like mini pillows. They are lightweight so we can even play catch with them inside.

On the Little Bits site, you can purchase a set of 10 {1 of each color} for $10.00 or a set of 20 {2 of each color} for $18.00.

My mom has offered to give away a set of 10 colors, 2 of each color, to one of my readers!!!

BUY IT & support our mission work!

If you’d like to purchase a set of Color Squares or any other Little Bits, you can do that here! The best way to purchase something from Little Bits with the desire to support our mission work is to select something from the premade section. My mom makes these items in advance so they are already done and ready to ship. You can see all premade items available on the Little Bits blog.

MAKE IT

If you know how to sew, just cut squares about 3-4” in size and fill with a tiny bit of batting. Sew edges together and then trim with pinking shears! Pretty easy for someone who actually knows how to sew a bit {NOT me}.

WIN IT! CLOSED

Mom has a set of 20 color squares all ready to ship to one special winner!

Mandatory Entry…

Visit Little Bits and tell me one other item that you like after you browse around the site a bit. Leave the name of the item in your 1st comment!

After you do that, you can gain some extra entries by any of the following, remember to leave an extra comment for each item so they will count as entries...

1. If you Follow/Subscribe to 1+1+1=1, give yourself an extra entry.
2. If you already own a Little Bit already OR buy a PREMADE Little Bit during this giveaway, give yourself an extra entry as a thank you for a previous purchase!
3. If you have no clue how to sew anything {like me} give yourself an extra entry!

This Giveaway is open for USA only.

I will select a winner using Random.org, so be sure you leave a separate comment for each entry, I will also be moderating comments to check that your entries are valid-please be honest!

Contest ENDS March 6, 2011. Winner will be announced here, and emailed (your email MUST be in each comment/or enabled in blogger). Winner must reply to my email within 48 hours or another winner will be chosen.

Guidecraft Nesting Cubes & Cylinders…Review {& giveaway}

Guidecraft has amazing wooden toys. Recently we were sent these…

 

I have been wanting this particular wooden toy for years and I don’t know why I never bought it.  When I heard we were getting BOTH sets to review I was thrilled!  I hoped my kids would enjoy this awesome open ended toy and I was thrilled to see that they did!  Ladybug is especially in love with this toy.

 

It provides so many learning opportunities, a great example is shown below as she was trying to fit the cylinders inside one another.  She tried 2 that were the same size and then tried one that fit.  She did this all independently and I know her little brain was just soaking in the knowledge of what she was learning simply by playing with a neat toy.

  

She is also enjoying when her brother shows her something new to do with the toy. Although, I never allow this at first because I like the younger ones to explore freely without an older child “showing” them everything.  When I first bring a new Tot School toy out I always allow my youngest to explore freely without any interference from an older child.  After this time period is over {usually just 5-10 minutes} I allow group play.

These photos were taken soon after that period of time, Pac Man was dying to get his hands on this new toy, he loves stuff like this!

 

Pac Man also enjoyed playing with this toy on his own ;-), here he made a pattern to show Krash, who sadly wasn’t very interested.

Daddy joined in the fun too with Ladybug-she loves showing him her toys!

I am SO glad we own this awesome Tot School tool, I love it! 

BUY IT!

You can purchase the Guidecraft Nesting Cylinders here on the Guidecraft site, or the Nesting Cubes we reviewed here on the Guidecraft site.  Both are also on Amazon : Cubes, Cylinders.

WIN IT!

Xenia from Thanks Mail Carrier is hosting the giveaway this month! Head on over to enter to win, now through 3/11/11.

This product was given to me for review purposes, and I do not have to return the product to the vendor. I was not paid for this post. All opinions expressed in this post are mine.

Pick and Draw ~ Giveaway! CLOSED

Congratulations #254 Keya...you won!

We were sent Pick and Draw awhile back to review and I am excited to share it with you! This is such an wonderful, yet simple game. For a non-artist like me, it is just perfect!

There is an awesome tutorial on their website that walks you through the entire game step by step. You can even play a round using the sample!

Did my kids like it? YES!

Up until this particular night, I had only played with Pac Man and hadn’t taken any photos. Krash decided to join us and I was surprised with how well he did! I used our mini pocket chart to hold the cards…

Here are 2 of our “results” {I played too}…

{left-mine, middle-Krash, right-Pac Man}

Quite proud artists

After we finished 3 drawings we each chose 1 to color. The boys were giggling together as they looked back through their drawings together.

Krash’s final drawing was awesome. He even had me write details on it. He had me write…”Extremely Dangerous Hair that can Zap You” as a label for the red hair. His official name was “Red Peach Bad Guy”. Oh how I love this silly kid.

Rich Davis, the creator, also has an awesome blog, which we have used to draw “Doodle Bugs.” Be sure to visit this amazing free resource!

BUY IT…

You can buy Pick and Draw here on their website for just $10.00!

WIN IT…

Mandatory Entry…

Just leave a comment saying you’d like to win this and who it would be for.

After you do that, you can gain some extra entries by any of the following, remember to leave an extra comment for each item so they will count as entries...

1. If you Follow/Subscribe to 1+1+1=1 give yourself an extra entry.
2. If you follow Rich Davis’ blog, give yourself an extra entry.

This Giveaway is open for USA only.

I will select a winner using Random.org, so be sure you leave a separate comment for each entry, I will also be moderating comments to check that your entries are valid-please be honest!

Contest ENDS February 20, 2011. Winner will be announced here, and emailed (your email MUST be in each comment/or enabled in blogger). Winner must reply to my email within 48 hours or another winner will be chosen.

Education Cubes ~ Review & Giveaway! CLOSED

Congratulations Jamie, you won! I have sent you an email!

My long time blogging friend, Jenn from Mama Jenn has launched an awesome new learning idea!! I am thrilled to be a part of her Grand Opening Celebration this month for her new site, Education Cubes. You have probably already seen me feature the Education Cubes in action on my blog and I am excited to share more and giveaway a membership to one of you!

To see ideas already on my blog, click on the images below to be taken to the blog post featuring the idea…

Jenn has added many new inserts recently and I haven't had a chance to print much lately. Here are my favorites that are on my list to prepare…

AND…she made an entire set all based on my Raising Rock Stars Preschool program! I will be printing the 2nd review unit for Krash this week!!

At first glance the idea of cubes and inserts seems simple-but remember that simple is often AWESOME! Just the addition of a cube can turn a once boring review or learning activity into something completely new for a child. As an adult, I could care less if it’s in a cube-but for children, there’s something about the cube that makes it more fun. All 3 of my children love our cubes and our inserts, I highly recommend adding this learning tool to your homeschool!

Learn all about joining Education Cubes here! The membership is only $10 right now! Remember this is not only a membership but also a way to support a fellow homeschooling mom. Jenn is so generous and talented, I am honored to call her friend!

Want to win an Education Cubes membership?

Mandatory Entry…

Visit www.EducationCubes.com and tell me a set of cube inserts that you like after you browse around their site a bit.

After you do that, you can gain some extra entries by any of the following, remember to leave an extra comment for each item so they will count as entries...

1. If you follow/ subscribe to 1+1+1=1, give yourself an extra entry.
2. If you Follow/Subscribe to Totally Tots give yourself an extra entry.

This Giveaway is open for anyone.

I will select a winner using Random.org, so be sure you leave a separate comment for each entry, I will also be moderating comments to check that your entries are valid-please be honest!

Contest ENDS January 30, 2011. Winner will be announced here, and emailed (your email MUST be in each comment/or enabled in blogger). Winner must reply to my email within 48 hours or another winner will be chosen.

Guidecraft Construct-It Review

Guidecraft has amazing building toys. We were sent the Construct-it Early Builder set back in the fall and my kids have been enjoying it ever since!

Once again, the child this toy would normally be intended for {Krash} liked it the least. He definitely likes it, but not as much as Pac Man and Ladybug. The age recommendation is 4+ which means it is perfect for both boys. I don’t doubt for a second that this will be a toy Krash grows into.

Pac Man is my “builder” and seems to naturally enjoy open-ended toys like this. He will follow the plans included sometimes, but mostly come up with ideas of his own, like this wagon…

He comes up with some very interesting creations, my favorite being a beach chair for Phineas ;-).Phineas also got a car…

Ladybug enjoyed playing with {and eventually destroying} all of the creations.

While Pac Man was playing I asked him to give me his thoughts for my review. I asked him to tell me what he liked the best about this building toy, he said that the pieces go together easily and aren’t frustrating to hook together. I also asked him to tell me what he didn’t like about it. He hesitated a bit {because I think he really does like it}, and said that sometimes the pieces fall out and he didn’t like that. He demonstrated how some pieces slip out and then some don’t. I too noticed this and it was a bit frustrating for me also. I wondered if maybe I was “using it” wrong. We are still exploring the set and overall we really enjoy it. I am actually anxious to read the other Guidecraft Moms reviews to get more ideas!

BUY IT!

You can purchase the Construct-it Early Builder set we reviewed here on the Guidecraft site, or here on Amazon.

WIN IT!

Jenn from Mama Jenn is hosting the giveaway this month! Head on over to enter to win, now through 1/21/11.

This product was given to me for review purposes, and I do not have to return the product to the vendor. I was not paid for this post. All opinions expressed in this post are mine.