Does anyone ever do something and then decide later it can look even better? That is what I decided with this little tray here. I picked up the from the Target dollar spot for my kids play room. At first I had Pens/Pencils/Unsharpened written on labels. Well my kids ended up putting paint brushes and Scissors in it instead. I decided to change it to what they were using it for. It looks so much cuter.
To do this project I grabbed a Crayola Pearlescent Paint Marker. I decided to go with black because it showed up really well. I thought about painting it, but Paint Markers can write on wood and I would not have to make a stencil. I wrote out the contents of each container. And made the lettering look cute with a border around it. I would recommend waiting for the paint to dry before touching the wood. I did not, but it is going in a kids room. It was a super easy project, but will make the playroom look that much better.
This is the before.
I have teamed up with other bloggers to give some great recycled craft ideas. Check them out.
I was first introduced to the All About Spelling Program in the lovely month of February when I watched a home school video by Tic Tac Toy Family for fun. Let me stress that, I had no intention of homeschooling I was watching it for fun. My son had been struggling on his spelling tests so I vaguely thought about trying out the program. Very vaguely, not enough to pick it up or anything or even go to the website. Maybe I would find it in the summer. How different life was then in February. Sure it was cold and there was lots of snow on the ground, but I could come an go as I pleased. Enter the month of March 2020...things got really crazy really quickly. We had just finished competing in our Odyssey of the mind competition and coming in first place for our division and were talking about heading to the State Finals in April. In little over a weeks time I went from planning a trip to the State Finals to becoming a home school mom. Guess how much warning I had? Oh maybe a few hours.
That Monday morning I woke up completely overwhelmed. What was I going to do? How was I going to teach my children? My daughter had an iPad with access to some school apps so we did that the first day. And then I scoured the internet clicking on over 100 tabs trying to find something that would help us...Anything. I texted all my home school friends and asked what they did. I found that flicker of a memory in the back of my head about the spelling program I had contemplated in February. What was the name of it? I went back to Tic Tac Toy Family and found it aha...ALL ABOUT SPELLING. I looked at the website and decided now was the time to help my son with his spelling. I emailed the company and asked it I could get Level 1 of the program in exchange for an honest review. And let me give you a little spoiler alert...I am so glad I did! Read on to see how this program has become an indispensable part of our now home school day.
All About Spelling: What's In The Box?
The Level 1 materials include a teachers manual and a student packet. The packet includes key cards, word cards, phonogram cards, sound cards, Level 1 progress chart, phonograms tracking chart, and bee stickers to track progress. The kit comes with a Basic Spelling Interactive Kit; letter tiles, magnets, phonogram sounds app, and divider cards. The Deluxe Spelling kit includes everything in the basic kit and then a spelling review box and a spelling tote bag. We use the bag and the box everyday. I would definitely recommend getting the deluxe kit.
All About Spelling: How Does It Work?
I have two kids in home school right now. Their ages are 9 (3rd grade) and 7 (1st grade). My son in first grade was the one struggling with spelling. I knew my daughter could use some help in the area too. She has a photographic memory which serves her well for spelling tests, but I did notice she was not 100% with her spelling when she was trying to write on her own. I tested my daughter and she did not know everything in the placement test so I decided to start her on Level 1 also. I hoped she would not be too bored.
Once we got our materials in the mail we punched out all our cards, made copies of the chart because I was teaching two students, installed the phonograms app, set up our box and I read over the introduction. The next day we started and it has gone really well. I teach the lessons to both kids individually because they are at different levels with their spelling and reading. My daughter is 2 lessons away from being done with level 1 and my son is halfway through the program.
The All About Spelling program uses a multisensory approach to teaching spelling.
Visual-spelling concepts are taught visually, spelling words are written down, and students look at flashcards
Auditory-students review flashcards orally, they segment words, and say sounds as they write them down
Kinesthetic-students write down words, phrases and sentences and build new words with tiles
We start the lesson by my child setting up the letter tiles in alphabetical order. Then we start the lesson. The lessons are set up to review old concepts with flashcards, and sometimes the letter tiles. Then we learn new concepts. If I see my child has mastered that concept we can move on quicker, if I see them struggling we take more time. Our whiteboard is a little small, but it works great for now. We do not want to chance going out the store to get a new one.
One of the great things about this program isI can go as slow or as fast as my kids need.We spent the most time on the first lesson, going over all the phonogram sounds. I could tell my son was getting bored so we moved on a little early, he mostly struggled with the vowels. But because this program reviews all the concepts each time in the form of flashcards he has now mastered all those phonogram sounds. There are twenty four lessons in the first level. My daughter has been moving through them about 1 a day, sometimes we take two days if she she needs. My son was doing two or three days for a lesson at first, but wanting to catch up with his sister most days he insists on doing a whole lesson a day now. That is why this program is so great. The kids can lead their learning and learn at their own pace.
The key to the whole program and the lessons is the word FLEXIBLE. The lessons are not set up in a have to do this mode. They are set up for accommodating to each child. They offer advice if the child is struggling with a certain concept or if they are grasping it fairly quickly. For example there is a list of words to practice after a concept is taught. In the explanation they say if the child has grasped this concept, have them spell a few and then move on, if they have not grasped it, have them use the tiles, segment the words and then spell the word. For now I am having my kids spell all these words. If I see them struggling then I will pull down the tiles.
I have made one change to the lessons. In the lessons it says to grab a piece of paper and have them spell them on the paper. I am having them use a dry erase marker and write it on the board instead. We switched to this a couple weeks ago. It has helped tremendously. Now they are not searching for a new paper and pencil every time we do spelling. And if they need to change a letter they can do so easily with a swipe of a finger. My son likes it too because the tiles are already on the magnetic board and he can look at the letters as he is writing the words.
All About Spelling: What Did We Think?
What did we think? I was worried that it would be boring for my daughter, but it has been the opposite. Yesterday she told me she is learning new things every day. She may have learned them in school, but with the difference with All About Spelling program the concepts are repeated until they are mastered. In a classroom setting 20ish kids are taught the same concept. It is not always practical to review the concepts with each child each day and make sure they remember the previous concept.
My son has really excelled with this program too. It has even helped him with reading. I was worried that he would not get the segmenting concept, in the lessons they teach kids how to segment words into phonogram sounds. He struggled with it and we spent a few days on the concept. Finally it clicked one day and he even uses the concept when sounding out words to read. My kids love making the vowel phonograms sounds. When we had spring break a couple weeks ago they kept saying the phonogram sounds for i and y over and over again.
The only thing I would recommend which we have not done yet is get the app that goes with the program. My kids do not always like to set out the tiles. The app presets the tiles and organizes them according to the lesson the child is on.
I would definitely recommend the All about Spelling program for parents who want to help their kids with spelling. It is good for kids across the spectrum, from kids that are doing well and kids that are struggling with spelling. The program teaches basic concepts and reviews the concepts until they are mastered. I would do the placement test with the child before purchasing a level. If the child does not know everything in the test definitely start on Level 1. If the child is proficient in spelling they will probably go through the first level quickly, but they will learn LOTS according to my daughter. And have a good foundation for the coming levels. We can not wait to do more and my daughter is so excited to start Level 2 soon!
School has been out for four weeks for us. It feels like a different world literally. My kids and I did home school for three weeks and now we are on spring break. The first few days of home school were rough. Home school families have a ton of TIME to prepare for home school. Most are considering it for a while. We got one day. I am soooo glad there are so many resources for parents out there. There are almost too many choices. It has been great. Check out my blog on how to survive home school for tips.
In continuing with the home school theme I have collected 10 STEM activities to do with the kiddos. Some of these are so fun they can even be done after all this is over, which I hope is sooner than later. Check them out and let me know your favorite in the comments.
This painting the Earth and Moon from The Scrap Shoppe Blog looks like a big hit. My kids are currently obsessed with anything that has to do with space.Not only can they paint the world with this activity, they can learn about different phases of the moon and sun, rotation of the Earth around the sun and along it rotating around its axis.
This next activity from Homemade Heather Inspired is just super cute. This Baby Yoda, or "The Child" piggy bank looks super easy to make. And they can learn to count money at the same time too. My kids are obsessed with counting money right now.
This activity from 365 Days of Crafts can be used for the early learners. My 20 month old girl is starting to talk and say lots of words. She is also starting to soak in everything we are teaching her. What a great tool to know how to express the color of items.
We can not wait to make these DIY seed bombs from Giggles Galore. After the kids plant them they could observe the life cycle and talk about different aspects of each step in the cycle.
This scavenger hunt activity from The Scrap Shoppe Blog has my daughters name written all over it. She took us on a scavenger hunt to Easter and was beaming the whole time. She would get a kick out of this one and what a great way to encourage outdoor time.
Like many of you my kids school is closed now. Our school was closed for five weeks due to the coronavirus. The first day was crazy as I tried to make sense of the new situation. I quickly learned what worked and what did not. Join me as I share with you the great resources and lessons I learned in my first week of homeschooling because of COVID-19. Here are my tips from our "homeschool". I do not know how long it will last, but being able to provide my kids some sense of normalcy has been great!
This post contains affiliate links.
My kids are 1st and 3rd grade. These tips can be adapted to any age. If you have questions let me know below. Before I list the tips I have found in my first week I want to address all the many many free resources out there. I am sooooo grateful for all the companies that have opened their apps and curriculum. It has been a tremendous blessing.
1. Pick a routine and make sure to include recess.
I have since learned that elementary kids do not need 7 hours of homeschool. My kids were gone for 7 hours a day, that does not mean I need to do 7 hours of homeschool. Home schooling parents recommend 1-3 hours for elementary. I wonder if they mean instruction.
Here's our schedule (for now):
-Wake up and eat
-Morning meeting
-Lesson from an elective
-Math time/ST Math App-I switch off with the kids. One does the app by themselves and I do instruction for math
-Recess/Break/Snack
-Lesson from an elective
-Spelling/Reading Comprehension/Phonics-Comprehension for the older and phonics for the younger. Spelling for both. I switch off with the kids.
-Chore time-I set a timer for 15-30 minutes
-Lunch time-an hour
-Done for the day!
2. Be flexible
I have a feeling this will change from day to day. Your kids may sleep in or be extra anxious. Go with their lead.
3. See what resources the school has to offer.
My school has a portal we can log into. I was surprised to find their math books. We have lessons from their math books and I can print off math worksheets. This saves me tons of time because I do not have to find where they are at and set up a curriculum for them. The school also has access to a lot of educational electives.
4. Pick some fun electives.
We picked some fun electives to learn about as a family. We all do this and then can do an art project or science project based on what we are learning. My kids choose Renaissance Art, Africa, Astronomy and Music.
5. Take days off.
My sons birthday was this week. The school would have had Friday off. We took his birthday off instead. He got to play all day and not worry about school. We made a cake together and he got play with his presents all day.
6. Send notes and pictures to teachers.
My school has an app to connect with the teachers. My kids have sent them notes and pictures. Our teachers are still working and will send work home shortly to work on at home.
7. Use Apps Wisely
Not all apps are created equal. I like to look at it like on a spectrum. The super serious ones to the super fun ones. The kids do not always like the dry apps or resources, but the super fun ones are not always super educational. I like the ones that tend to the serious side, but are still fun for the kiddos. ST Math, Coding and ReadingIQ are some of my favorite apps for kiddos and here is why.
ST Math-ST Math is a visual program "that leverages the brain's innate spatial-temporal reasoning ability to solve mathematical problems." It uses visual puzzles to teach mathematical concepts. It is usually only available for schools, but it was made available during this school closure.
Tynker Coding-I am super excited for my kids to start this app. They are offering some premium coding courses during the school closures. This app offers all levels and there is no way to differentiate for now. If the kids are small make sure they are not watching python videos...my son was...I could tell he had no idea. We switched to the Hot Wheels course and he did much better!
Readingiq-Reading IQ is pretty simple. It accesses the readers level and from there it provides books in that level for the kids to read. I like that I can change the level too. My son was assessed at a higher level, but I was able to make his guided reading level a little lower. When he is good with that level I will move him up. My kids like there is a weekly leaderboard where they can see where they are at compared to others. I have not decided if I like that feature yet.
8. Take Advantage of all the Web Resources
Here are some of the best web resources I found to help with our time away from school.
9. Divide and Conquer
It can be hard to teach multiple kids at different levels . A few weeks ago I watched a video from Tic Tac Toy Family about homeschooling. Little did I know I would be using those concepts really quickly. One of my favorite tactics she uses was working with one kid and having the other kid do independent activities. For example I work with one kid on math and then the other kid is doing an educational app or reading a book. Then I switch. This concept has been amazing! It has helped me work with both of them and get the attention they need.
10. Pick some grade level programs and workbooks for the kiddos.
Lucy from Tic Tac Toy Family also uses All About Spelling (affiliate link). I was considering this for my son because he is having a hard time with spelling tests at school. I contacted them and they sent us the first level to try. I am so excited! We are going to do this during the summer months for review too, because my kids need some help with spelling.
This is the Deluxe Spelling Interactive Kit. It comes with letter tiles, magnets, phonogram sounds app, divider cards, spelling review box, and a spelling tote bag. I will do a complete in depth post review once we have used it for a little while.
Also pick some workbooks from Amazon or other stores or websites. These can be used after the quarantine is over too for enrichment at home.
I hope the schools did not stay closed for a super long time, but if they do we will stick to homeschooling. My kids and I enjoy the routine for now with all this chaos. I hope these resources help. Let me know what you are doing for school in the comments or if you have specific questions about your kiddos.
When I saw BOTZEES at Toy Fair New York 2020 I fell in love. I named it as one of my top 2020 toys of the year. BOTZEES is a STEM TOY, a robotic coding kit for kids. It includes 130 blocks for construction and building. It pairs with an app for integrated play. I was super happy to receive one in exchange for an honest review. Read on to see what we thought. I will give a hint, my kids could not put it down.
This last weekend I had the opportunity to attend Toy Fair 2020 in New York City. Last year was my first time going. I saw maybe 6 companies. This year I saw around 40 including; Lego, Spin master, Moose, Mattel, Crayola, Basic Fun!, Jazwares, Bandai, Razor and many more! Last year I did a walk-through YouTube video and and blog post of Crayola's booth. This year I decided to make a BEST OF TOY FAIR list because I was there so much longer. I am also going to make a BEST OF TOY FAIR 2020 YouTube Video, Day 1 walkthroughs, and Day 2 walkthroughs Toy Fair on YouTube.
This blog post contains affiliate links.
Now that you've read all that, are you ready for the best toys? I will include the ones I thought were the best and some honorable mentions at the end. I will update this post with links to buy the products on Amazon when the products become available. Some are not out yet. Make sure to check out the YouTube video too, because some of the toys are better in action. I bet all these toys will be a hit at Christmas!
Flying Toothless by Spin Master-Available Now!
He flies for reals need I say more?
DOTS by LEGO-Get these now on Amazon
Can I saw how EXCITED I am for LEGO to 1 enter the craft market and 2 make an open ended by not licensed super expensive that all the collectors want and drive up the prices toy? Now please do this for boys too. :) I know they have the Classic sets, but I would love some open ended innovative toys in that direction. LEGO Pictures courtesy of LEGO.
Hatchimals Pixies Crystal Flyers-Available Now
Fairies that fly? What little girl would not want this toy? I want this toy.
Paper Flower Science Kit by Crayola-Available Now
See the white flowers in the center? That is how the experiment starts. Dye and water is put in the bottom of the jar and the flower wicks up the dye and makes a super pretty flower.
MX125 Razor, available at Walmart.com
An electric scooter for kids? As soon as I show this to my 7 year old, you can guess I will non stop hear he wants this.
Techno Gears by Learning Journey-Available on Amazon
I build it, I mean the child builds it and then they operate it. The cars and robot will drive on the ground!
Moji by Sky Rocket Available 2021
First off the dog is super cute. I would just get it to hold it. But this dog can be trained and obeys commands. It is to die for!
blockaroo by blue marble-available now! on Amazon
Invented by a dad this block works by magnetic attraction (safe for kiddos). They can be used in the bathtub and to make small to super large creations.
Paper Maker by Crayola-Available Now
I used to make my own paper as a child. When I saw this I INSTANTLY connected to it.
3Doodler create+ and Start-Available now on Amazon
See that grabber on the side. It was made from common household goods and the 3Doodler. This is the ultimate stem kit for a child. The possibilities are endless. I reviewed the start last year.
Botzees-Available now on Amazon!
First the child picks a robot to build. Then they can program it to do all sorts of different commands, spin, move forward backwards etc...Great stem activity and early programming for kids!
I love figurines because they encourage free play no matter what. But these alien creature take it up a notch. Each alien is themed after another Pixar character not in Toy Story.
Squeakee by Moose Toys-Available Now
I was BLOWN away by Moose's booth. They have come out with some super innovative toys this year. I wanted to get one of each for my kids. This one was super cute. It is a balloon dog that will obey commands and will not pop. Super cute.
Plum by B4 Adventure
This play set is not in the US yet, but it is coming soon! It is pricier, but most outdoor toys are. My kids would be in love with the tepee, the gold mining center and the kitchen. I love outdoor play.
8 inch on Amazon
I was corrected many times as I am sure many people were. What is his name? What is he doing? Does he have the force? Yes I've watched the Mandalorian series and love it. I can not wait for the next series.
I was so excited to spot "child" Yoda at Mattel. I was in a mad search for him. From Mattel he comes in plush and plastic. Sadly he does not come with his carrier.
He comes in 3 forms from Funko, two are pictured here. They come out in April. Make sure to preorder or stand in line at the store. He will go fast.
LEGO® Star Wars™ The Razor Crest-Available for preorder-launch 9/1-$129.99
This is the ultimate Lego set! So much pretend play can happen with this set if children can snag their hands on it before collectors do.
Not that I want more screen time, but programming is an ESSENTIAL skill. And half of this game is drawing...STEAM! This app works by drawing with the markers on any surface and creating a video game by taking a picture while in the app. The possibilities are endless for game creation!
Gridopolis
This is a 3D checkers like game, but also a construction game. It is super innovative and different which is why it made the list!
The toy works by charging the cars and with the chargers. The child holds it in the charger for a few seconds. Then it goes racing around the track. They have a bigger version, but I like this version because it is smaller, who needs more big toys taking up space in the house? And the kids get the same satisfaction of the cars going around in circles. When they crash they come apart and need to be reconstructed. This game teaches kids how to build and how to supply their cars with power and is super fun at the same time!
Slinky Science by Alex Brands
Taking a beloved toy and adding science to it? I love it! It even makes a cool noise when the slinky is dropped.
From the creators of Shopkins comes GIF. This is super smart of the brand, many of the kids that loved Shopkins will love OH! MY GIF because they are starting to become Tweens (my daughter included)
Catan Starfarers by Asmodee-Available now on Amazon
I have loved Catan forever and have friends that have loved it forever. A new version set in space. Yes please. Kindi Kids by Moose-Available Now
Isn't this doll seriously the cutest? I bet lots of little girls will agree.
Edushape Bath Toy
I can see hours and hours of bath time fun with this one.
Honorable Mentions Shopkins Real Littles by Moose-Available now on Amazon This one should be in the above section. It is so classic. I do not know if it will be as popular as the GIF one with little girls though. That's why I picked the other one. Time will tell. But I LOVE it.
Netflix Stranger Things bikes from Schwinn-Available now on Amazon
This would have made it to the best of category, but they are collector bikes only...they sell out fast and only one is available right now.
Well that is it. What did you think? What is your favorite toy? I'd love to hear from you in the comments below!
