Homeschoolingmama

We received these super Learning Resources GeoSafari Jr. Kidnoculars to try and review from Learning Resources. I was in the midst of trying to work out which binoculars would be best suited to buy for the kids when we received the Kidnoculars - so as you can imagine I was elated. Firstly, I love the take on the name- a great use of kid and binoculars to come up with a funky name that sums up the product! Kidnoculars offers screen free play and exploration for hours on end. The outdoors has so much to see and discover and Kidnoculars allows children to explore the wild with ease. Little person has thoroughly enjoyed using his Kidnoculars, using them to search for insects, birds and much more. The endless adventures have been great, allowing lots of outdoor fun (and some good old fresh air). Kidnoculars is focus-free 2x binoculars; and I must admit I have thoroughly enjoyed getting a chance to have a quick peak using them. I haven't come across a 'toy' o...

We recently purchased FReNeTiC game after some deliberation.  As a guidance the game is aimed at those 8+ (but this depends entirely on child and ability-you may find your 6 year old enjoying the game). How does it work? Initially I was in two minds about purchasing another words game. We've thoroughly enjoyed our Bananagram game (see blog post here ), and therefore didn't want another game that was very similar. However, even though word building is involved, this game is has a completely different structure and style.  The game board is the periodic table (symbols and atomic numbers), and alongside the board you use the tiles. There are 96 tiles with symbols and atomic numbers.  The rules of the game are simple, you can play in teams or solo, and using the timer it is all about word building.  At that start of play, the first player removes 8 tiles fr...

I thought a review of this board game would be nice, it’s not like the adult version and hard to tell whether it’s too difficult for children by reading the short descriptions on seller websites, so we hope this review helps those who are thinking about buying.  Cluedo junior is all about catching that naughty person who ate the cake! I love the fact that it’s a completely original and funny concept (it would be worrying if it was a murder hunt).  Contents   The game consists of  Gameboard  6 character pawns 6 furniture tokens  7 white bases 7 yellow bases Notepad Die Label sheet Game guide  How to play Set up is quite simple, which is always a good thing, kids don’t have too much patience!  Some of the yellow bases have drinks under them and some of the white bases have times under them, and one has crumbs under.  A yellow and white piece are selected randomly (without looking at wha...

When little person started working on fractions, I was wary how I was going to make fractions, decimals and percentages fun. Without this topic being fun, I knew he wouldn’t understand, and without fun it automatically becomes ‘hard.’ So it was time to invest in books and other items to make this a more enjoyable. I have written a post about ‘Fraction towers’ so today I wanted to talk a little bit about ‘usborne Fractions And Decimals activity book.’ On my search for books, I found lots of generic books, and workbooks that were definitely good, but I needed a little bit more colour. However, when I read stickers were involved, I had to buy! I wasn’t too sure how good the stickers would work, and whether little person would even enjoy the concept, but I was very pleasantly surprised!   The book has three main sections, fractions, decimals and percentages. ‘Usborne Fractions And Decimals activity book’ covers all areas of each topic, so it would work well for prima...

We received a copy of the Anorak magazine to review. Upon opening the magazine, I couldn't help but giggle at the following in the editorial: ' They are mysterious, mythical beings that have filled our imaginations for millennia. Sometimes they are heroes. Other times they are mean and terrifying. What are these fearsome creatures? Politicians? No, DRAGONS of course?' - you thought politicians too right?! The first piece in the magazine is all about having fun. Some good old fun, the kind of fun people had before iPads, phones and PS4s. The piece is full of excellent ideas, such as sailing the world (use the sofa in your lounge as a boat), a game of spot - choose a letter and write down everything you spot with that letter in the house. It's great to see two pages dedicated to get those imaginations jogging - from jumping to flying.  'Nature is Fun' has been an absolute eye opener for me! Little person was surprised to find that I was not aware clow...

We received dot. magazine to review. Dot. magazine is 'The happy mag for preschoolers'. We received issue 14, the theme of issue 14 is friendships. The magazine has been well received by my 3 year old. She has had ever so much flicking through pages, colouring and reading with me. We've completed a maze, did some counting, spotted the odd one out and did dome alphabet work. Alongside that, the magazine is full of simple stories, stories with great morals. Three year old loved listening to 'Let's all be friends', a wonderful piece describing best friends, and ending with a space to draw your best friend. She also thoroughly enjoyed 'Fun with friends', which is full of excellent ideas for what to do with friends, things like 'play a card game, share an ice cream' and 'splash in puddles'. Each section ends with a lovely space to draw something relevant, such as a favourite thing to share with a friend, favourite game...

This blog post has been written by little person himself, we hope you enjoy reading his review of ' Step-by-step Drawing book '.  'Step-by-step drawing book' The “ step by step drawing book ” has a lot of fun ways to draw cities, houses, cars and more great things with lots of space for your drawings. By the time you finish the book, you will be a master artist. The book goes  step by step by breaking the picture into one line at a time so you do not get confused in the steps. I enjoyed using the book and I also liked how it shows you how to change the original picture with a small change that makes a big difference (e.g. curved roof car to straight lined roof car). The book doesn’t just tell you how to do it, it teaches you how to draw it, and get’s your mind thinking on how to draw a picture based on what you learn. The book is suitable for all ages; it’s easy for beginners, children and adults.  I personally think th...

After enjoying reviewing 'First Wonder Box, Rainforests' we subscribed to 'First Wonder' subscription boxes. You can read our first review here. The next box we received was all about bugs! With the warmer weather it was the perfect box. What's included? This fab box comes jam packed with A bugs activity book Bee sewing craft kit Ladybird racer toy (pull back racer) Bee pencil with honey bee eraser Small Magnifying glass Two collectable cards Stickers Dice Activity book We love the activity books that are included in each 'First wonder' boxes. The activity book includes word searches, colouring, dot to dot, mazes, lots of facts, design your own bug and much much more. It's also great to see the mini challenge at the end of each booklet. Once completed the children fill in the certificate at the back and can happily cut that out to stick on the wall/fridge.  Toys Each box comes with a toy. The toy is relevant to the...

We were kindly sent 'Dare you to Doodle' book published by Carlton Books. From the title, you may have the impression that this is simply a book with lots of pages to draw/dooodle on. Now, as much as it does focus on drawing/doodling, there is so much more. Little person was absolutely awestruck with the content!  So, what makes it different? We have a few drawing books, and they are essentially that, books with pages to draw or doodle following simple steps. With 'Dare you to Doodle' the difference is that it really gets children thinking.  To give an example,  there's the beginning of a drawing, and you're asked whether you see a duck or rabbit. The task is to complete what you see, and once you've done that, doodle something else! It is the 'twist' to simple tasks that has made this book very different to others we have (and far more enjoyable!). Little person has enjoyed filling his treasure chest with treas...