Zephyr Hill

A Family Blog

Learning Resources Educational Toys & Manipulatives

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Learning Resources offers educational and games so that parents and teachers can enrich the educational experiences of children.

I’m going to focus today on two fun products we received from Learning Resources to review: the Beaker Creatures Alien Experiment Lab and a set of Cuisenaire rods.

Interlocking Plastic Cuisenaire Rods Set:

Some of the simplest tools are the best. I use these stacking cubes daily to illustrate math concepts for my elementary-school children. There are 10 of each color, so they coordinate perfectly with the base 10 system. Use the cubes to count, add, subtract and divide.

Visual learners can understand math concepts in a concrete way. For example, here’s the number 6 expressed as three different sums:

Retail Value: $12.99, ages 5 and up

Beaker Creatures Alien Experiment Lab:

There are lab kits, and then there are alien lab kits. That’s what Beaker Creatures is all about! Children can learn to make slime and clay, mold their creations, and watch strange creatures from other planets emerge from fizzing pods. It’s a really fun spin on the traditional lab kit.

We all know children love to play with slime, but it’s even more satisfying to make it yourself. Samuel and Benjamin (9 and 11) had a bowl full of it within 10 minutes using the easy step-by-step instructions in the booklet. Ingredients are all readily available from your pantry. With food dye, you can make multiple batches in different colors.

The 20-page, full color instruction booklet contains interesting science facts sprinkled throughout like “Slime is made of polymers or tiny chains of repeating molecules. You can find different kinds of polymers in everything from plastic to rubber to paper.”

Children can also make clay and compare the properties of both compounds. The addition of a Slime Extruder and mold offer more tactile activities with clay and slime.

Ben and Sam’s favorite part of the Alien Experiment Lab? Reactor Pods! These round colored balls hold a mystery alien figure inside; children can use the beaker, sieve and grabbing tool to watch a weird little creature emerge from fizzing water. The tiny little aliens are fun to collect, and we’ve already purchased more Reactor Pods for the boys to “hatch.” The Alien Experiment Lab booklet also teaches children to make their own reactor pods from pantry items.

And how about combing aliens and slime together? This kit has so much entertainment value!

Retail value: $19.99, ages 5 to 10

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Back to School Educational Toys: a Review & Giveaway

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Imaginative play is such an important part of early learning, so I always make sure to have educational toys on hand for my homeschoolers. My boys especially loves sets that allow you to build and create. Two great examples are Magformers and the science kits from Thames & Kosmos. I’ll share our experiences with these toys, and then you can enter a giveaway from our sponsors!

You can also enter more “Back to School” giveaways in this hop, organized by Review Wire Media and Chatty Patty’s Place. Just look below the entry form for more participating blogs.

Magformers Amazing Sets

Magformers are a magnetic construction toy that offers endless creative possibilities. The newest AMAZING sets allow children to dream about becoming a firefighter, a police officer, and construction worker as they build vehicles and structures.

Perfect for ages 3 and up, the magnetic pieces click together and are both colorful and sturdy. You can create over 50 projects with the follow-along booklet or build your own adventure. Even better, all of the pieces from different Magformer sets can be pooled together for even more fun possibilities. They are a great investment and will last for years! Our children are still playing with Magfomers that we bought over 6 years ago. Magformers Police Set Retail Value: $59.99   

All through August, you can get 40% off the basic Magformer rainbow sets!

Air-Walker

How about a robot that defies gravity? That’s what you get with Air-Walker, a four-legged bot that uses a physics-based system of suction cups and pumps to crawl along smooth, vertical and horizontal surfaces like windows and tables.

Air-Walker is easy to assemble; my boys had theirs up and running in under 20 minutes. The bot worked best on flat tables and our sliding glass door. It can go forward or turn around. However, the boys did have some issues with it going forward on a vertical glass surface; it took some tweaking of the air hoses, but even then there wasn’t much forward momentum.

The included directions guide you through four different models, and will teach your children about suction and air pressure. It’s a great way to reinforce STEAM concepts at home or in the classroom. Air-Walker is geared towards ages 8 and up. Air-Walker Science Kit Retail Value: $39.95

Giveaway: One lucky reader will receive a fun prize assortment from our sponsors, which includes:

  • Glitter Ooze Slime (courtesy of Thames & Kosmos)
  • Rabbit’s Hat Magic Tricks (courtesy of Thomas & Kosmos)
  • Nintendo Switch Wireless Controller and Carrying Case (courtesy of Ematic)

Open to US residents only. Use the entry form below and be sure to enter the other giveaways (listed below) in the hop! Here’s how you can follow our sponsors on Instagram:

Thames & Kosmos
Magformers
Ematic

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Links to More Giveaways!


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Imhotep Board Game Review + New Dynasty Expansion!

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I caught the Ancient Egypt bug in childhood, and blew through countless books and resources in my quest to learn all I could about this fascinating civilization. My little sister and I even created our own board game. Thames & Kosmos did, too, and that’s my family got to review in June! Today you can read all about the Imhotep board game and see if you’d like to give it a try, too.

Some quick background: although little is know about the Egyptian builder Imhotep, his fame reached legendary proportions in the years following his death. He is famously credited with designing first step pyramid, which is no small feat.

In the board game which bears his name, each player gets to be a builder. In six rounds of game play, players must carry stones from the quarries by boat to their construction sites. The goal of Imhotep is to fashion five monuments and take your place as Egypt’s preeminent master builder.

The game includes stone cubes, ships, a scoreboard and rule book, construction site boards, a market board, and round cards. Up to four people can play:

GAMEPLAY: As a player, you do one of the following four actions on your turn: procure new stones, load them on a ship, row to the building site, or play an action card. The goal is to get the most stones into construction because this is how points are counted. Sounds easy enough, but since everyone’s vying for top dog position, they can thwart each other at nearly every juncture. Strategies include loading ships with more stones of your color, timing the delivery of stones just right, and sailing ships to a destination that benefits you and not your opponent.

The turns move quickly, so that eliminates thumb-twiddling. Younger players will especially appreciate that aspect. For each round, new cards are turned up at the market, offering more opportunities to earn points.

Imhotep successfully combines strategy with luck, the former being more important and the latter making a small (but sometimes surprising) difference. Additionally, the construction site boards are double-sided, offering more building options for future games.

Ultimately, if you get your blocks in the right place, in the right order, at the right time, you will become Egypt’s greatest architect!

AESTHETICS: With the stone cubes and movable ships, Imhotep has appealing tactile elements. And the artwork is beautiful. I have passed on many otherwise appealing games because of poorly done graphics. Imhotep gets 5 stars in this area, with high-quality, authentic graphics that capture the mood and mystery of ancient Egypt.

And the building aspect is not just theoretical; you actually use the cubes to build miniature structures!

A New Dynasty Expansion
Once you’ve got a couple of games of Imhotep under your belt, it’s easy to add the expansion. There are new tools in the market, new site boards, wooden figurines, and 5 styles of tokens (scarab, obelisk, tomb, coin and scaffold). All the additional elements give you over 1,000 ways to play Imhotep. A game guide is also included in the expansion. Our favorite component? The chariot figures that you can race around the arena for bonus points!

SUMMARY: Imhotep did not disappoint, and I’m so happy since the Egyptian theme is so dear to my heart! Although suggested for ages 10 and up, our 8-year-old Samuel picked it up with no problems in just a few rounds. All of us love the steady pace of game play and the fact that you’re constantly keeping an eye on what other players are doing. Everyone’s actions can effect each other, adding some really good tension. The visual appeal of sailing ships around and watching the monuments grow stone by stone is undeniable. The double-sided boards add yet another welcome addition, in that you can choose to play with your favorite monuments. And finally, we can wrap up Imhotep in 30 or 40 minutes, making it ideal for family game nights. Oh, and we found that it’s definitely much more fun with more than 2 players.

AWARDS & HONORS
2016 Spiel des Jahres Nominee
2016 Toy Insider Holiday Toys Award
2016 Parents Choice Gold Award

Shop for the Imhotep game and expansion kit
on Amazon

Retail Price: $36.95

Have you tried Imhotep yet? Are you a lover of ancient Egyptian history, too?

Piper Computer Kit Review

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Computers drive our digital age, so it’s natural for today’s child to ask “how do you build them?” That’s what Piper’s Computer Kit is all about: bringing hands-on STEAM learning to children who are curious about computers and coding. They can actually build their own computer and then launch an exciting Minecraft mission to save Earth from destruction.

The Piper Computer Kit kit comes with everything you’ll need for the project from start to end; it’s all housed in a sturdy, protective wooden box.

Working as as team, with 16-year-old Joseph supervising, the boys got started using the blueprint as a guide.

What’s in the box?

  • 50+ hardware pieces
  • 20+ electronic components
  • 9″ LCD display with HDMI cable
  • 7800 mAh rechargeable battery
  • Integrated speaker
  • 16GB MicroSD card
  • Raspberry Pi 3 Model B with quad-core 1.2Ghz processor
  • Phillips-head screwdriver
  • Wi-Fi Software Updates
  • 8 square foot laminated blueprint
  • USB Mouse

Everything is clearly labeled and separated:

The majority of the assembly work involves putting together laser-etched wooden pieces. (Oh, and before you even get started with that, go ahead and charge up the battery!)

And then come the electrical components. Some of the wires and pins are very intricate, so younger children might need some assistance getting the circuits plugged into the correct holes.

And finally, the moment of truth arrives! With the core completed, it’s time to launch the mission. Minecraft provides the backdrop, and will walk your engineer through a series of tasks like creating functioning buttons, controls and switches.

The 9″ LCD screen pairs well with Minecraft visuals and adds a lot of value to the finished product.

All the tasks are geared towards preventing an asteroid from making contact with Earth. And once the mission is complete, children have the freedom to explore and create in the world of Minecraft. Melding a fixed blueprint with limitless creative possibilities makes the Piper Computer Kit really stand out as a tool that teaches and inspires.

There’s a lot of building involved to get the Piper computer humming, and my boys loved that. Hitting a few roadbumps in the assembly and programming process taught them valuable lessons. Within the program itself, your child can visually see when connections are successfully made; a blinking line shows the electrical pathway is live and functioning. And everything is color-coded to further reinforce the connections.

There’s a balance that has to be reached with educational toys; you don’t want to give everything away, or children won’t learning anything new. You also want to encouraging independent thinking and problem-solving. Piper’s Computer Kit certainly reaches that balance. My boys told me “We didn’t know it took so many different parts to make a computer run!” They even figured out some workarounds, like plugging in our (larger and easier to use) wireless mouse using the USB ports.

We didn’t encounter any bugs or technical problems with the kit, but one drawback is that once it’s built the software is limited and you won’t be able to use this for other typical PC functions. Some of the controls are not ideal either: the mouse is tiny (which is fine for an 8 year old, but not so much for a preteen) and the buttons are not as smooth as those on a standard keyboard.

The Piper Computer Kit is an ISTE 2019 Best of Show Award winner. Ideal for ages 8 and up, it retails for $299.00.

Shop online at PlayPiper.com!
Follow Piper on Social Media
Do you have a child that’s interested in electronics, engineering or coding? Let me know what you think of Piper’s Computer Kit in a comment!

 

 

Edushape’s New Wooden Toy Collection + a Giveaway

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I think most of us probably played with some type of wooden toy in childhood, and so they are undeniably nostalgic. But those days aren’t gone, because many modern parents are turning to classic wooden toys for their little ones to grow up with. That’s why I’m so glad to share with you that one of my top picks for children’s toys – Edushape – has introduced a new line of products.

We received Edushape’s Sort-a-Truck and Dilly Dally Snail to review and share with you this month.

Sort-a-Truck is three toys in one: shape sorter, pull-along and a set of blocks which fit into specially shaped holes. The set also includes a driver in uniform and measures approximately 7x5x6 inches. There are nine pieces in all and it retails for $21.99.

Designed for ages 2 and up, it’s colorful and cute, and we’ve found that it offers lots of play possibilities for Mary Kate. When she’s done sorting shapes, it’s fun to pull around by the string. Sometimes she just enjoys dumping all the blocks out, taking off the lid and dumping them back in again.

Dilly Dally Snail’s a simpler toy that aims to please toddlers who are independently walking. His body is jointed and he rolls along on smooth wood wheels.

Young children who are just taking first steps might need some assistance in keeping the snail balanced.

Dilly Dally Snail also retails for $21.99.

Safety is always a priority at Edushape. Here is their statement: “We have independent labs test our products, considered by many to be the best scientific laboratories in the world. All products meet and or exceed CE and ASTM toy safety standards. Each Edushape toy is the result of a team effort involving designers, psychologists, teachers and at times parents who have a great concept, working in conjunction with those who manage sourcing to ensure that all materials are safe and durable.”

Do you like classic toys, too? What was your favorite thing to play with as a child?

Giveaway: Edushape is giving away the same two classic wooden toys that I reviewed! Enter the giveaway using the form below. It’s open to US residents only. Good luck!

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