Touch of Home Learning - Review and Giveaway!

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I'm a sucker for all things "education," especially if I think they might be fun!  There are subjects that I can navigate totally on my own even without "curriculum," and then there's science.

Now, don't get me wrong.  I'm not bad at science, I just tend to have a bit of trouble thinking of science projects and experiments on my own that will have any relevance...or make any sense to children!  For this very reason, I was really excited when I was offered the chance to review 60 Quick and Easy Science Experiments with Everyday Items from Touch of Home Learning!

60 Quick and Easy Science Experiments with Everyday Items is a downloadable ebook for children ages 3 to 7.  My kids and those I care for (aside from the babies) are all between the ages of almost 3 and 5 1/2.  We've done several of the experiments in the book and they LOVE each one of them!  The book advertises that the experiments can be done with everyday items, and they can!  With few excepts, I have already had all the supplies in my house, and when I haven't have the exact items prescribed in the book, I have been able to

We're currently working on a Transportation unit, and I was thrilled to find that there is a section entitled "Big Trucks, Simple Machines!"  It is a perfect fit to our unit!  Today we did one of the experiments.  The kids loved it!  It is nice enough to go outside today, so we took our cars and a broken shelf and went outside.

We raced our cars and discussed which went furthest and fastest and why.  We talked about whether it was better if we put the edge of the shelf leg up on the step or left it on the ground.  We decided that cars go faster if you give them a little push on the way down, and that gravity pulls them down the slope!  We had a great time, and they didn't even know they were learning!

Here's another project we've done from the book:

We didn't have the black tissue paper the book called for, so we used blue.  That meant we got to see what astronomers see when they look at the daytime sky rather than the nighttime sky.  The kids didn't care one bit, and it made for some great conversations about stars and clouds and why the sky changes from blue to black!

As you can see, we have a lot of fun with the 60 Quick and Easy Science Experiments with Everyday Items book!  We really enjoy using it to supplement our different units!  I'm sure you'd enjoy it as well.

You can buy 60 Quick and Easy Science Experiments with Everyday Items here on the Touch of Home Learning blog OR you can win your very own copy right here!  This contest will end and a winner will be drawn at 11:59am EST on February 29, 2011!

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I was provided with a copy of this book by the creator for review.  The opinions in this review are entirely my own.

Pick and Draw Review

You'll remember that a couple weeks ago I was sent the game Pick and Draw to review.

 

We have been playing this super fun game a LOT!  It's definitely a favorite right now!  Little Lou (I promise I'm done changing her name now!), our 5-year-old, absolutely loves the game.  She asks to take it with us when we go to anyone's house.  :)  Bugsy likes it too, even though he's just 3 and doesn't draw as well as his big sister just yet. 

The day we got Pick and Draw in the mail I couldn't wait to try it out!  I really wanted to drop everything and go pick up Little Lou from school so we could play right away, but I didn't figure that was a good excuse.  (Can you imagine that phone conversation?  "Um, yes, I will be picking Little Lou up from school early today because we...um...well...uh...we have a new card game at home I can't wait to play...")  I was so glad she didn't have homework that night!

We got it out right away and it kept 2 five year olds and the 3 year old entertained for over an hour!  (The 2 year old didn't stay interested nearly as long.)  The premise of the game is so simple.  You have 5 cards, each representing a different part of the face. 

 

You flip them over one card at a time and draw what you see!

We love drawing the pictures and comparing them to see what we draw the same and different.  

It's really fun to see what kids at different ability levels will do with their pictures.  The pictures above were done by myself and the 5-year-olds.  The ones below are drawn by myself and a 2 year old and a 3 year old:

Even though they all draw at different levels, they all love playing!

Little Lou insisted on taking Pick and Draw to dinner with Nana and Poppy the night we got it.  She also told Mammaw and Pappaw all about it just yesterday, but we ran out of time to play it.  She LOVES the game!

This morning I had an unscheduled "adventure" with the 1st-6th graders at church.  We're talking about Samson this month.  Samson was super strong until Delilah cut his hair!  We started our lesson by playing 3 rounds of Pick and Draw!  We drew our characters and then compared and contrasted them.  Then we discussed how God made us all similar and different, which led nicely into talking about gifts God's given each of us.  It was a smooth transition, then, to talk about the strength that God gave Samson!  I can see that we could apply this game to so so so many different Bible stories!  The kids really enjoyed the game!  They were sad when we ran out of time to play again at the end.

One of my favorite aspects of the game itself is that there are SO many shapes involved!  What an excellent way to help instill not only shape recognition, but also the pre-writing skills associated with drawing different shapes!  As a reformed preschool teacher, this really appeals to me!  There's also a huge aspect of following directions involved.

I would highly recommend Pick and Draw to anyone with kids of just about any age as well as to teachers, particularly of children pre-k through elementary age!  The kids love it and it is so very beneficial!

Oh...and about that surprise I promised to tell you about...Rich Davis, the creator of Pick and Draw, adds a special treat on the very back card of the pack.  He shares about Christ to all of his players!  What an amazing way to give testimony and ensure that all who play Pick and Draw have a chance to hear the truth!

Thank you, Rich Davis, for creating such a fun and educational game...and for being an excellent witness!