Feel and Find~Guide Craft Review

I have some good news and some bad news.  First the bad news, this is my final month being a member of the Guide Craft mom bloggers.  To say that this makes me sad is an understatement as being a blogger for Guide Craft has brought me and my children great joy.  The good news is, at the end of this review, you’ll be able enter a giveaway to win your own set of Feel and Find World Icons.

Have you ever played with anything like this before?  Even before being a Guide Craft Mom Blogger I recognized the value and benefit of this kind of sensory toy!  Inside the roomy cotton bag are 20 tiles and 20 shaped blocks.  They are made from Eco-friendly rubberwood, stained with low VOC aniline dyes. 

                   

When I first introduced this sensory toy I just let Laffy Taffy match up the shapes with the tiles.  We talked about what the different shapes were, what the different colors were.  This was like a puzzle and he really enjoyed it.

Then, so as not to overwhelm him, I would pick one or two colors of tiles and put only those corresponding shapes in the bag.  I would tell him reach into the bag and feel around, find a tile and then have him tell me what shape he thought he had.  About half the time he was correct.

Some shapes have very similar outlines, others are more obvious.  A lion and a hippo don’t feel that different initially, neither do a turtle and a leaf.  But that’s the whole idea of this sensory toy, to get them seeing with their hands.

                

This sensory toy is safe for children 3 and up, but I wouldn’t hesitate to let a 2 year old or even a little younger than that, give it try with supervision. 

All matched up and sorted by color.  You could also sort by categories:  animals, shapes, etc. 

Guide craft sells this fantastic learning toy for $30.00.  You can also find it selling on Amazon for a little bit less.  This is definitely one of those things that would be a great asset to your preschool no matter what your teaching philosophy!

To win your own set, visit Xenia over at Thanks Mail Carrier!

Joyfully,

Mrs. Taffy

Disclaimer-I was given the Feel and Find World Icons in exchange for my honest review.  All opinions are my own, I was not paid.

Guidecraft Blocks~Review

It’s that time of the month…the time when I get to share with you another of the great products from Guidecraft.  This month we reviewed:

 Shimmering Water Blocks and

Crystal Bead Blocks.

Oh what a great addition to our growing wooden block collection!

The thing my children loved most about these wooden blocks are the half circle blocks.  They add a new dimension and challenge to their building that they really enjoyed.  They also loved to try and balance the other blocks on top of the half-circle blocks.

I really love how the Shimmering Water Blocks reflect the sunlight.

Jolanthe over at Homeschool Creations is giving away a set of each blocks!!  So Fun!  Thanks Guidecraft for keeping our block building playtime so colorful and exciting!

Joyfully,

Mrs. Taffy

Disclaimer:  As a Guidecraft Mom Blogger I was given these blocks in exchange for my honest review and opinion.  I was not paid.

Fraction Action and Fraction Cups~Review

As a Guide Craft Mom blogger, June’s review are these great Math Toys: Fraction Action & Fraction Cups

Besides the obvious use, teaching fractions, we also found some other fun things to do with this math toy.

Here, Laffy Taffy, age 3, is tracing the different shapes that make up the Fraction Action board.  The pieces are nice and sturdy made from Eco-friendly rubber wood and stained with low VOC aniline dyes.

The first few time Laffy Taffy played with the Action Board, he had a little trouble with the Hexagon Shapes, but after a few tries he had it down!

The Fraction Cups are ADORABLE.  They just feel nice to hold and they even smell good.  Laffy Taffy played with these a good long time and eventually we pretended to cut the pieces while talking about fractions.

First, cut them in half.

Then, cut them in thirds.

And finally, cut them in fourths.

Now put them all back in.  He enjoyed this activity so much!

Both math toys come with an instruction booklet to give you even more ideas for math play.  Each math game is designed for learning in children ages 2 and up.  Guide Craft sells them for $25.00 each or on Amazon for $21.00.  Guide Craft is graciously giving away a set of Fraction Action Cups and the Fraction Action Board, visit Mama Jenn to enter! 

Thanks Guide Craft for another high quality educational toy!

Disclaimer-As a Guide Craft Mom Blogger I was given these math toys to review, I was not paid.

Hide Away Country Kitchen~Review

Guidecraft has designed the best play kitchen ever, it’s called the Hide Away Kitchen.  The name describes what it does…it hides away!  If you are like me and you love big chunky toys, but every once in a while you want to be able to put away some of those big chunky toys, you’ll see the value in this cool design. 

You need to know that you have to assemble it.  That’s a slight draw back.  And for me personally, I had some trouble…

This step here is where I got stuck and these pictures show the solution, so if you get stuck, just look at these pictures and you’ll be able to get that front onto that back without any trouble!

Here’s the fun part!

Playtime!

This kitchen is the perfect height for the 2-4 crowd.  A little short for the 6-8 crowd, but they don’t seem to mind!

You  can see that there’s lots of space to put kitchen stuff:  hooks, shelves and cupboards.  The knobs make a nice clickity clack sound when they’re turned too.

With the removal of a small bolt right in front of the kitchen it can be folded up and stored away, the new depth is 6”.  You can put it in a closet or under a bed!  Brilliant!

While the design is brilliant and the quality top-notch, it does sport a pretty hefty price tag at $200.00 (you can find it for $40 cheaper on Amazon).  Still, I can’t help but think that it would the perfect kitchen to have at Grandma’s house!  She probably wouldn’t mind the price and she would definitely LOVE being able to put it away after the grandchildren left!

Thanks Guidecraft, for another high-quality, creative and practical toy!

Joyfully,

Mrs. Taffy

Disclaimer-Guidecraft gave me the Hide Away Kitchen to review in exchange for my honest opinion.  I was not paid.

Twisters and Curves Review

As part of the Guidecraft Mom Bloggers Team I got to review a fascinating new construction toy called Twisters and Twisters Curves.

            

Wow, did my children have fun with these!  These construction toys have probably been the kid’s favorite so far, Bubble Gum (6) was especially drawn in and captivated by them.

Here they are checking them out for the first time.

                  

Even Laffy Taffy (3) could create with this construction toy, he made “DONUTS!”  This construction toy was created with children ages 3 and up in mind.

The twister set came with an idea brochure.  Blue-Raspberry is trying to build a lizard.  He got a little frustrated because every time he tried to pick up, some part would fall off.

This one didn’t get frustrated though.  She made donuts and puppies and babies, and beds for the babies.  This construction toy really clicked with her in a way that I haven’t seen with other construction toys.  Her initial play time lasted 4 hours!

         

The baby and puppy.

I thought these were really beautiful in their own way.  Is it a star, a spider, a sun?  Anyway you look at it, it’s creative construction at it’s best!

A great big thank you to Guide Craft for another high quality, imagination inspiring construction toy!

Guide Craft sells each set for $25.00 and you can find them at a deeply discounted price on Amazon as well.

As usual, Guide Craft is giving away a set of each Construction toy to one lucky winner.  Visit Carisa at 1+1+1=1 for a chance to win!

Joyfully,

Mrs. Taffy

Disclaimer-As a member of the Guide Craft Mom Bloggers Team I was given Twisters and Twister Curves to review in exchange for my honest opinion.  I was not paid.