Host a Game Night with NEW Games from @WinningMovesUSA

A product was given for review for my honest opinion. No other compensation was given.

We are huge game fans in our house! We love to play games with each other, with family and with friends! We host game nights often at our house and we always like to have a new one to try out on those nights!

So when I am itching for a new game to play or a classic game we don't have, I turn to Winning Moves USA. They always have a great selection of classic and new games like Rummy Tiles, Rubik's Tower, Pente Deluxe, Clue Suspect Card Game, Monopoly Advance to Boardwalk, and Monopoly Card Game.

Winning Moves USA (WMUSA) is a leading maker of board games, card games, and puzzles. Since WMUSA's first year of operation in 1995, the company has forged a close relationship with one of the world's largest game companies, Hasbro, Inc., owner of Parker Brothers and Milton Bradley. WMUSA also has a great relationship with Seven Towns, Ltd. (the owners of the Rubik's brand). As a result, many long-lived Parker Brothers and Milton Bradley games & Rubik's puzzles are now marketed by WMUSA!

WMUSA proudly markest best-selling titles like Pass The Pigs®, Rubik's® Cube, Scattergories® Categories, Rack-O®, No Stress Chess®, and hot new sellers like The Rubik's® Void Puzzle®, Pass The Pigs® Big Pigs™, and Classic Rummy Tiles™.

This time around we chose Pictureka and Classic Rummy Tiles to try out on game night!

I gave Pictureka to my daughter for her recent birthday and it has been a hit for our family game nights ever since!

Perfect for families, friends and parties, Pictureka! card game is great fun for all ages. There are 4 different ways to play and they vary in pace from calm to high-energy! It is a fun game with silly pictures that makes our family laugh every time!

Classic Rummy Tiles is a game we got into a few months ago and my husband and I love to play it together or with others! We are so excited to have a second set to bring to the cabin and play! If you love the card game Rummy, you will love Rummy Tiles!

Stadium style racks that “step up” give each player a good view of their personal set of tiles. The easy-to-read tiles, with large, bold-printed numbers in Black, Blue, Green and Red, add to your enjoyment! Make sets or runs with your tiles and go out first for the win!

Buy It:

You can purchase all games from the Winning Moves website.

*  Disclosure - This product was given for review for my honest opinion. No other compensation was given.*

Must-Have for All Summer Road Trips: @finditgames #Giveaway

A product was given for review for my honest opinion. No other compensation was given.

Can you spot the red cape, red fur or red & white shirt? That’s the challenge for kids this season as they venture on a treasure hunt to search for loveable characters from Captain Underpants, Sesame Street Jr. and Where’s Waldo? They needn’t go very far as everything is contained in the hand-held adventure game.

Parent company Identity Games is pleased to announce its 2017 collection of Find It® Games (starting at $19.99) have just arrived on store shelves. These puzzling adventures in a tall clear tube follow the hottest licenses including Captain Underpants, now an animated summer blockbuster from DreamWorks. Based on the children’s books series, this Find It game is filled with items from the whimsical storyline about two fourth graders, Harold and George.

I love that they offer these Find It Games for all ages! I got the Where's Waldo for my older children and my preschooler LOVES the Sesame Street Jr. Find It game!

Big Bird, Elmo and Ernie star in this Sesame Street Jr. Find It game that boasts larger-than-usual pieces. It makes spotting a yellow rubber duckie just a little easier! Cookie Monster, Bert and the rest of the gang are hiding in plain sight. Go find them!

My LOVES Elmo and he likes to find things so I knew this Find It game would be perfect for him. He instantly started finding everything in the game and I like that they list everything in the game right on the top so my son can know what he is looking for!

This was great for keeping him occupied in the car on our many trips to the cabin!

And for my older school-aged children, I got the Where's Waldo game. They love the different games they can play with this and it also keeps them busy in the car and at home!

Where’s Waldo? already had a reputation for blending into the scenery. Spotting him takes a keen eye. Waldo sports a distinctive red-and-white-striped shirt, knit cap and black glasses. In the newest edition of Find It, search for 40 Waldo items in a sea of colored pellets.

If you’re looking for summer toys, travel toys, or educational products, Find  It is for you! They really promote concentration and focus and can keep children content and occupied in the car on all your summer road trips!

Buy It:

You can purchase all Find It games from their website.

Win It:

Find It Games is generously offering (1) of the three Find Its to a lucky winner!

Enter here for a chance to win:

(1) Find It Game
(choose from Where's Waldo, Sesame Street Jr or Captain Underpants)
a Rafflecopter giveaway

* Thank you to Find It Games for their product for review! Disclosure - This product was given for review for my honest opinion. No other compensation was given.*

Host a Game Night and Try NEW Games from @WinningMovesUSA!

A product was given for review for my honest opinion. No other compensation was given.

One of our favorite nights of the week in our house is Family Game Night! We have so much fun playing games in our house together as a family and we also love to host game nights with family and friends! But sometimes the same old games get repetitive and we look to revamp our Game Night with new, fun games!!! This summer, we are having a blast with new games from Winning Moves Games!!!

They have such a wide variety of games including Tile Lock Scrabble and Yahtzee and new games like Cadoo and Scattergories Categories!!

Check out some of our favorite NEW games from Winning Moves!

Cranium Cadoo

The original version is back by popular demand and todays kids will be puzzling, sketching, sculpting, acting and code-cracking with the Cranium Cadoo game.

This is a great game for our Family Game nights and it has quickly become a favorite!

Scattergories Categories

If you love The Game of SCATTERGORIES, then SCATTERGORIES CATEGORIES is the next game you will want to play! It's a great twist on your favorite. Keep the fun coming with this fast-thinking categories game.

We are HUGE fans of the original Scattergories, so when we saw this new version, we were so excited to try it with family and friends! IT was a HUGE hit and now people ask to play it every time we host a game night!

So this summer, make sure to slow down from your busy schedules, plan a fun game night with family and friends and have a blast with fun games from Winning Moves Games!

Buy It:

You can purchase all these games featured above from the Winning Moves website.

* Disclosure - This product was given for review for my honest opinion. No other compensation was given.*

Gift Ideas from @staples

A product was given for review for my honest opinion. No other compensation was given.

Looking for last minute gift ideas? Head to your local Staples and grab a great gift for any child on your list! They have toys & games (Monopoly Empire anyone?) to adult coloring books & the cutest photo sticks you ever did see (swooning over the wire heart shape) to games - there is something for everyone, all under $40!

Check out some of my favorite children's gift ideas from Staples this year:

ViewMaster

View-Master has a fresh new look and now offers even more 3D fun with larger and brighter images! See amazing images come to life through awesome, eye-popping 3D! Includes one Viewer and two Discovery Kids reels. All reels are compatible with current and older model View-Master Viewers.

Bounce-Off

Race to recreate the pattern on the challenge card by bouncing balls into the grid.
Ready for a Bounce-Off™? It’s the ultimate head-to-head competition game for young adults and families. Flip over a challenge card to determine the pattern. Then, race to recreate the pattern by bouncing balls into the grid. The first to complete the pattern wins the card and the first to earn 3 cards wins the game. Includes 9 challenge cards, 16 balls and a game grid.

For 2-4 players. Ages 7 and older.

Steel Works Micro Kits

They’re dandy little 37-piece (mostly) steel model kits of two different racers, a biplane or a helicopter, from Steel Works. Finished models will be a couple of inches long, and a tiny tool for assembly is included. We’ll pick one that will be just right for you. Ages 8+.

Pie Face

The hilarious Pie Face game is filled with fun and suspense, and somebody's bound to get surprised! Players load the arm with whipped cream (not included) or the included sponge, then take turns sliding their heads through the mask and spinning the spinner. But, watch out! The game unit could go off at any time giving someone a face full of whipped cream! (Whipped cream not included.)

• Ages 5+
• 2+ Players
• Hilarious, family fun
• Pie-throwing arm could go off at any moment
• Players score points every time they avoid getting whipped cream in the face

Buy It:

You can purchase all these items and so many more from your local Staples store

* Thank you to Salba Chia for their product for review! Disclosure - This product was given for review for my honest opinion. No other compensation was given.*

Give Fun AND Educational Gifts this Holiday Season!

A product was given for review for my honest opinion. No other compensation was given.

As a preschool teacher and mom, I always have my eye out for the best EDUCATIONAL gifts for the holidays! To me, I don't just want to get my kids (or nieces or nephews!) gifts that just entertain - I want them to educate my children too!

This holiday season, check out my favorite educational and FUN toys for all the children on your list this year:

Space Wow 22Pc Set

Build spaceships and rockets with Magformers Space WOW 22Pc Set. Beginner builders can blast into space with the new astronaut character! Add antenna and wheels to create a space buggy or search for extra-terrestrial life by building a space station. Great for young minds to learn about constructing cube nets, patterns, shapes and colors!

MSRP $59.99

School Zone Get Ready for Preschool Learning Set

School Zone Publishing is proud to introduce boxed bundles of fun - set up a pretend classroom at home! These packages come complete with School Zone’s award-winning workbooks and flash card sets, as well as coloring pads, stickers, crayons, lotto boards and more for endless hours of educational entertainment. The Learning Box Sets are available exclusively at Toys ‘R’ Us. 

MSRP $19.99

Fire Station Playset

Spark imaginative play with the Green Toys™ Fire Station! This playset has everything your little firefighter needs to save the day, including a fire station, fire engine, firefighter cat characters, rotating water cannon, command center, and stackable bunk beds. Open and close the doors to both the front and back of the station, help the cats slide down the fire pole, and race to the rescue in the fire engine, all while helping to develop fine motor cooperative play skills. 

All pieces fit inside the fire station, so clean-up and storage is a breeze, and the built-in handle makes it easy to take all the fun on-the-go. Made in the USA from 100% recycled plastic with no BPA, phthalates, or PVC. Dishwasher safe. Packaged with recycled and recyclable materials printed with soy inks. 

MSRP $49.99.

Stack Up!

Spin the Spinner and Get Stacking with Stack Up from Peaceable Kingdom!

Can you stack 12 blocks before the Stack Smasher gets to the tower and topples it? Spin a color and stack a block. Spin a Challenge and add a tricky task like stacking while singing “Happy Birthday!” Spin the Stack Smasher, and you’re one space closer to the big topple! Ages 3-5, 2-6 Players

MSRP $19.99 Available at TARGET

Playroom Prep

Playroom Prep is an innovative new, hands-on, dry-erase, activity book designed for one-on-one use between an adult and a child. This activity book is easy to use and features simple instructions that detail suggested practices that reinforces discussion and practice. Each activity follows a set sequence: the adult demonstrates, the child and the adult try together and the child repeats the steps alone. As a result, Playroom Prep helps cultivate concentration, fine motor skills, letter sounds, writing skills and important face-time with mom or dad.

MSRP $18.99. Buy it on Amazon or PlayroomPrep.com.

*Disclosure - This product was given for review for my honest opinion. No other compensation was given.*

STEM Robot Mouse Coding Activity Set from Learning Resources & Giveaway

A product was given for review for my honest opinion. No other compensation was given.

Coding is fast-growing focus in elementary education and Learning Resources, known for their award-winning hands-on learning toys and games, has created one of the first hands-on introductory coding sets for the age 5+ crowd.

Studies show when we use our hands to learn – by writing, by hands-on touch experimentation, etc. – we retain the information much better and I have definitely learned that my children love learning this way! So when I saw the NEW Learning Essentials™ STEM Robot Mouse Coding Activity Set, I knew that it would be so educational for them and loads of fun too!

This set introduces the concept of step programming and challenges children to create, program and problem solve in a simple, exciting way. My children have spent hours playing with this activity set and it is fun and educational every time!

How to Play

You first start by picking the shape of the maze you want to use and then building the maze. Then children use the coding cards to create a step-by-step path for Colby, the Programmable Robot Mouse. Then you program the sequence of steps, push go and then watch Colby race to find the cheese!

This deluxe set includes 30 double-sided coding cards, 10 double-sided activity cards, cheese wedge, and Activity Guide to provide the perfect hands-on introduction to coding concepts.

There are endless options for creating the path using the 16 maze grids to create a 20" x 20" maze board, 22 maze walls, and 3 tunnels for endless possibilities.

Colby lights-up, makes sounds when the cheese is found (and when Jack (sold separately) and Colby meet nose to nose), and features 2 speeds along with colorful buttons to match coding cards for easy programming and sequencing.

My 6 year old asks to play this every day and even my 4 year old has gotten an early start to coding watching his brother play! It took my son a couple tries to figure out how to use the card and code Colby but it was great learning for him using trial and error until he got it right! I loved watching his face every time he was successful in getting Colby through the maze!

If you have a child who has an early interest in coding, computers or programming, then this STEM Robot Mouse Coding Activity Set is perfect for them! It will definitely provide hours and hours of educational fun for the whole family!

Buy It:

You can purchase the STEM Robot Mouse Coding Activity Set for $59.99 from the Learning Resources website

Win It:

Learning Resources is generously offering (1) STEM Robot Mouse Coding Activity Set to a lucky winner!

Enter here for a chance to win:

(1) STEM Robot Mouse Coding Activity Set
from Learning Resources
(Worth $60!!!)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

* Thank you to Learning Resources for their product for review! Disclosure - This product was given for review for my honest opinion. No other compensation was given.*

@SchoolZone's Little Scholar Tablet & #Giveaway

A product was given for review for my honest opinion. No other compensation was given.

If you’re tired of your kids stealing the iPad, then Little Scholar is the perfect solution! Eight inches of educational fun, the tablet combines all of School Zone’s rewarding knowledge into one 21st century ‘anywhere teacher.’ Learning does not have to end when your kid leaves the classroom, and kids will not want to put this tablet down. It is equipped with over 200 uniquely fun preloaded apps, books, songs and videos.

Nearly 40 years in education have produced the world’s best in parent-trusted, teacher-approved learning materials. That legacy and expertise now deliver the best in mobile learning: Little Scholar®. Bursting with great content, this tablet is uniquely designed for children in preschool, kindergarten, and first grade! Playful, powerful, and packed with learning, it will build readiness skills to last a lifetime. Kids will have a blast mastering math, reading, spelling, and more, with over 200 preloaded apps, videos, e-books, and songs. Progressive challenge combines with playful creativity. For example, both parents and kids will enjoy learning and singing 87 original, toe-tapping songs.

The learning—and the fun—continue with one-of-a-kind video programming. Enjoy family time with Charlie & Company™, a new, interactive, educational video series with live action and animation. It stars Charlie the Golden Retriever and his best friend, Miss Ellie, who embark on educational adventures. The show also features performances and original music by Brian Vander Ark of The Verve Pipe.

With Little Scholar, you avoid the risks and inconveniences of so many other e-products. The positive "no's" include: no registration or credit card required at start-up; no apps to download; no upsells for buying more apps; no need to connect to the Internet; no expensive cartridges to lose; no lite or partial-version apps; no advertisements, and no worries about kids accessing objectionable content.

Turn on Little Scholar, and let the learning adventure begin! It’s ready right out of the box and comes with a 100% money-back guarantee. Shipping insurance is included automatically with your order.

Fun Features & Big Benefits

• Over 200 preloaded apps, videos, books, songs, and games.
• Exclusive, interactive, educational video series: Charlie & Company.
• Original content, in a kid-safe environment, with no additional costs.
• A+ Report Card app for viewing dynamic graphs and reports of children’s activity with each Little Scholar program.
• Audio praise and feedback.
• Rear- and front-facing camera.
• Durable construction designed for little hands and rigorous use.
• 100% money-back guarantee!
• FREE protective bumper included.

There are so many unique and great things about this Little Scholar tablet that really sets it apart from others I have seen! First I LOVE that it comes with over 200 educational apps, books, songs, and videos so children never get bored and are always learning!

Plus, I love that I am able to track and guide learning, measure performance, and view which apps are being used so I can always keep an eye on what my child is doing on here and what they are learning!

What my daughter loves most is that she can be just like mommy and take pictures! The Little Scholar captures special moments with the front- and rear-facing camera and she can save all her favorite pictures!

If you are tired of having your child steal your computer, tablet or phone to play on or if you are looking to expand your child's education, then the Little Scholar tablet is a must!

Buy It:

You can purchase the Little Scholar for $129.99 from the School Zone website.

Win It:

School Zone is generously offering (1) Little Scholar tablet to a lucky winner!

Enter here for a chance to win:

(1) Little Scholar Tablet
(Worth $129.99!!!)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

*  Disclosure - This product was given for review for my honest opinion. No other compensation was given.*

Quick Cups Game from Spin Master & Giveaway

This post is brought to you by Spin Master. All opinions are mine.

In our house, we LOVE family game night! We are always looking for fun, new games to play together and we recently learned about Quick Cups from Spin Master. This a great game where kids can outperform their parents if they have a quicker eye and hands! It’s a game for everyone to play and ANYONE can be the winner!

Check out the amazing new Quick Cups video from Spin Master!

Then make sure to enter the great giveaway below for a chance to win 1 of 3 grand games packages including Fibber, Moustache Smash, Boom Boom Balloon, Shark Mania, Rapidoodle, and Quick Cups! Also - 10 Fantastic Runner Up Prizes of the Quick Cups Board Game!

Win It:

(1) 1 of 3 grand games packages PLUS 10 Fantastic Runner Up Prizes!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

*This post is brought to you by Spin Master. All opinions are mine.*