Good practice for youngest; fond memories of fun times learing for older siblings of when they used it
593385
All 3 of my children have enjoyed the Jump Start __ Grade series over many years. The 3D graphics in the newer versions are cool, but I find the mandatory internet linking in some of the newer JS games to facilitate their marketing & data collection objectionable & annoying if internet is out & you can't use product. The older versions did not have your 1st grader clicking out to the internet while have engaging problem solving & learning challenges that they all loved. My college age kids still remembered some of the songs & animations, fondly singing along with their younger sister, "Hey Joey, You are a noun!" & even looking them up on YouTube.
1674906
One of my nieces had a similar Learning Block Book for her daughter of two.

I found it very interesting and helpful for little children to learn about different colors, etc.  That is why I bought this book for my cousin of 9 months so he can get a jump on other children.
3751396
Goof format for getting little people interested. Liked it.
2927571
Great fun, brought back memory's of a simple time, my students loved it.
4737533
My niece (7) and nephew (5) often ask me what  they were like before they were born and "when they were little". They delight in stories of  how they kicked and hiccupped before they were born and what everyone was  doing on their very birthday. This book does just that in simple fun terms  that are not too technical or given to too many leading questions. They  love the pop-up views of the baby dancing, growing, bored during the  pregnancy and what was happening in the world around them before they  arrived.
3615962
Considering that my kids are homeschooled, Im always looking for crafts for them to do.  They don't have that constant push from a classroom to do, do, do and so I have to find avenues for them to express themselves, hobbies for them to pick up.  I was kind of excited when I saw this because I remember when I was a kid my mom getting these sets for my sister to do, and we enjoyed them.  This particular set is a nice starter, although it really will only work for one child, and I have two (well, two at the age able to enjoy this)so that caused a slight problem.  The instructions are easy enough to follow, and the patterns provided are fun.  I do love that they explain how to cut your own yarn and cut and mark a canvas, so that you can expand on your newfound hobby.  Its not a perfect kit, slightly limited, but it is a nice starter for peeking interest or discovering it.
539733
For parents that may have a child with fine motor development issues, Hasbro's classic board game Operation may be an appropriate and fun activity.

Children that need additional therapy for fine motor skill development often undergo somewhat repetitive activities that exercise certain motions.  Parent's will quickly become familiar with terms like pincer grasp, thumb opposition, tripod grasp, hand-eye coordination, bilateral coordination, and midline integration.  The game Operation encourages the child in many of these areas in a silly way that children almost always appreciate.

The modern game is much like we remember it as a child  (I don't remember removing a cellphone from the poor patient).  The quality is reasonable.  The smaller pieces must be punched out of a solid piece of plastic before play and a screwdriver is needed to install the (not included) two AA batteries.  It would have been nice if there was some sort of container to store the many small pieces in after play, but a small zip lock bag does the trick.

Overall this is a nostalgic timeless game that has many healthy benefits for certain children.
4337575
Among the simple joys of childhood are the summertime activities reserved for the lazy days. Planning a vacation; interacting with a pet; playing outdoors with friends; attending sporting events--on the surface, these activities are fun time-wasters,butunderneath they build a child's language and math skills; executive function, social skills, andemotional intelligence.

In the third book of Ellen L. Buikema's adventure series, Charlie spends his summer learning new skillswithout even realizing it. And isn't that the best kind of learning? He must make all kinds of accommodations to include the family pet, "fish-tastic" Freddie, in the fun. He discovers that tools like maps and compasses help the familyfind their campground without getting lost. And good communication can keep friendships from souring.

Theillustrations by Elizabeth Engel, simple line drawings with vivid colors and telling details that fit the text, presentwell in the ebook version that I read. The suggested the activities after some of the chapters have the potential to easily engage children.

As summer approaches, consider making young Charlie and his pet fish, Freddie, part of your child's summer reading program. Good prep for the summer vacation or ball games on your calendar.
2971722
My family enjoyed this game, and it was fun because even though we vary in ages, we were still all able to compete.  My son, who is 9, did struggle with coming up with trigger words throughout the game, so my suggestion would be to perhaps instruct them to create more than the suggested 3-5 words before starting play.  Other than that, we had a great time, and it is clearly something we will play often in the future.  It was also fun to intersperse the challenge cards with the regular gameplay.
3967737
Picked this up for $10 at Walmart. Worked well for teaching myself and my twin 6 year old boys how to play. We did the step by step demo twice, then tonight we shuffled the cards and played 4 games. They beat me three times, but in my defense I think water is at a disadvantage against electricity! This game gives you damage counters (but we also like using dice to track damage) a heads and tails coin, and a fire/ poison coins. Also 2 mini decks of 30 cards each, a box to store the cards, a playing mat to show where cards go and has all the rules in it. The demo booklet helped tremendously. After running through the demo twice they knew what to do, although they did need occasional reminding to draw and power up. It is definitely helping with math. They are in first grade and working on adding to 10. This has a lot of practice of that in the form of adding tens places. I thought they wouldn't be old enough to grasp it, but although they need a little assistance, it is perfect for this age group. Smaller decks lets them memorize each ability as their reading skills are still weak. We will be staying with this training deck for a while, then work on expanding our collection. I watched some YouTube videos on how to play before starting, and they just were not adequate for teaching. Now that I get the idea I can use YouTube videos for pointers.
1614813
I found it useful however maybe for older kids eg. 3 & 5 year olds can't do the activities but we compromised but so far so good
2531862
My Gifted and Talented students (grade 3,4,5) have been enjoying Palabra since 1997.  There are so many fun ways for strategizing and gaining points.  It includes word creation, adding, multiplication and pattern power.  Smiles always come to the group when we play.  The most I have in a group to play is 6 and I facilitate to keep things moving at a fast pace.

I also typed the rules out in large print so the kids can refer to them easily.  When they first start, there is a lot to remember, but these kids love the challenge.
4324062
This has been a great tool for teaching my elementary aged children about word roots. I have not been using it long, but have already seen their understanding of where words come from and what the mean expand. We have had some fun discussions about Greek and Latin! My copy is pretty old, and not in great shape, but the content is still wonderful. It would be nice to have some expanded activities for younger kids.
880985
In over 200 pages, there are lots of original and fun learning games for children to play.  Reading, writing, math, science, music, art and global activities are covered.  These have easy and free games you can make and play together.

For example, for learning letter sounds, draw a bunch of colorful fish in chalk on the pavement.  Write a letter sound in each fish.  Give your little ones squirt bottles - when someone says a letter sounds, they squirt the fish with the sound written inside.  Then you could think up words which begin with that sound.  What a fun game to play on a sunny day in the summer.

For a writing game, one child draws a picture of something on a piece of paper and hands it to another child or an adult.  They draw something.  Then they think of a sentence which includes both objects in it with a subject, verb and object.  The parent or teacher could then write the sentence on the paper or a white board to read out loud.  That would be a fun game to play in a classroom, too!

Another short vowel word game, is to write short vowel words with permanent marker on beach balls: cat, rat, hat or pig, wig, big etc.  Toss the ball and the child reads the first word they see.

For a math game, play monster eyes math.  Give child playdough to make a monster head.  Then give them 10 googly eyes.  Hold up a card with a number on it and they put the correct number of eyes on the their monster head.

This is well formatted and has engaging photos for many of the activities to show how to make or play an activity.  It will inspire ideas for parents and teachers. I have taught children from 16 months through college age, and spent many years as a preschool director and kindergarten teacher.  There were some new and fresh ideas I hadn't seen before. 4.5 stars
4197481
I enjoyed this "toy" when I was very young, (some time ago). I got this for our grandson this year. It even comes with pens! A package of 500 sheets of printing paper for a few dollars and what else do you need? It brought back some memories and tempted me to buy two.
2032546
I am an aunt whose four-year-old niece is coming to see her for Christmas.  I wanted something for her to do, so I ordered this book.  There are a variety of different types of activities in it, enough that any child should be able to find something that interests them.  Plus, there are stickers at the back of the book. She will enjoy those, unless her younger brother takes off with them.  The sections in this book are:

> 123s
> Phonics
> Vocabulary
> Shapes and Colors
> Sorting and Matching
> MY World
> Science
> Fun and Games
2512943
This is a really fun game for young kids and is one of the few games that we find easy to play among siblings of different ages.  The game is labeled ages 3 and up, probably because of the letter identification.  But because there are also pictures to match, I think it would also word for slightly younger children as well.  It also works for different sized groups, from as few as two players to up to 8.

It is small and portable, and comes with a tin storage container, so is a good game to take on the road.  Overall, a fun product that will get a lot of use in our family.