Donald Winnicott

You don't understand how excited I was when Team Mom notified me of the opportunity to review the all-new Sesame Street Building Sets by K'NEX!  First off, my son absolutely adores Sesame Street...particularly Play With Me Sesame.  Secondly, my son loves to take things apart and try to put them back together...yes...even at his young age!  So when I opened the package and pulled out the Ernie Building Set, it was out of my hands before I could give it a second look (toddlers are grabby that way and everything is "mine").  We have had a lot of fun over the past week playing with the building set...me putting it together...him taking it apart and then trying to put it back together again.  

As my son gets older, I find him getting bored easily with toys and gravitating towards books more and more.  He'll take a book, place it in my hand, and sit in my lap, expectantly waiting for me to read to him. I have had to be creative about the types of toys I buy for him.  I wholeheartedly believe that toys should be fun and educational and the Sesame Street Building Sets do both very well.  The sets come in characters that children are familiar with and that is what sparks their interest and curiousity.

The Sesame Street Building Sets promote physical, social-emotional, cognitive, and language development. The sets can be played by your child alone or with someone else and it's actually encouraged that he/she do both.  The sets are designed for preschoolers ages 2 and up.  

Our set came with 15 pieces, a set of stickers, and an activity sheet detailing ways to engage in active play. The Ernie storage canister is handy for keeping the pieces from getting lost behind the couch in one place.  The Sesame Street Building Sets retail from $10.99-$31.99 and can be purchased directly on the site or a local retailer in your area.  

Thank you Team Mom and K'NEX for this review opportunity!

I am so excited to have been chosen to do product reviews by Team Mom.  This month's review is of a Sesame Street Building Set.  The one I received just happens to be my favorite Sesame Street character ever - Oscar the Grouch!  Sesame Workshop, the non-profit educational organization behind Sesame Street, has teamed with K'NEX, an international leader in the construction toy industry, to create the first collection of Sesame Street-themed building sets for preschoolers, ages 2 to 5.  This creative building set includes fun stickers and an educational "Play & Learn" activity sheet for parent & child to do together - build & learn about vehicles with Oscar! When playtime is over, store the parts in the canister for a quick and easy clean up. Includes 14 pieces, including KID K'NEX rods, connectors and blocks plus unique parts like specially-designed character hands, eyes and even Oscar's pet worm Slimey!  Check out all of the fun Sesame Street Building Sets available here.

These adorable sets would make a great Christmas gift for a child you love!

Visited the Maryland Science Center on Sunday before our membership expired for the year, and got the chance to see the new traveling exhibit, K'NEX Thrill Rides, which is free with the price of admission. While I wouldn't advise making a special trip just to see this exhibit, it's great added value for a day trip to the center and the Inner Harbor.

Besides cool moving displays of roller coasters, carousels, ferris wheels and more (pictures from the MSC site are shown), the exhibit lets kids build their own K'NEX contraptions at three stations -- two for older kids and one for children ages 3 to 5 years. If you're particularly enthralled with your child's creation, you can even purchase it. First you'll have to get it weighed, as they charge for every 4 ounces in increments of $3. So toys up to 4 ounces cost $3, up to 8 ounces is $6, up to 12 ounces is $9 and so on.

Again, it's not a huge exhibit, but it may inspire your kids to dig up their own K'NEX pieces at home and create something fun!

Here are some more 'Creative' resources for The Romans.

A series of make and do activities for your class. All should prove to be great fun and all provide opportunities to develop skills across the curriculum.

Celtic Roundhouse

K'Nex Ballista

Face Pot

Jewellery

Knucklebones

Roman Clothes for a Doll

Roman Recipes

Soldier Costume

Writing Tablet

They aren't all my own work! (Although I did put them into Word!) They are from this site which has loads of good quality resources.

http://museums.ncl.ac.uk/reticulum/funstuffSub.htm

Hope these are useful, and if you know of any good sites for the Romans - please let me know!

(I also make this picture into a 6ft Roman Soldier using Block Posters, it looks awesome!)

Mr W.

This is what 9 built this afternoon as I finished the last of my catching up. It's a London Bridge K'Nex! I've had the song in my head ever since he decided which bridge he wanted to build.

A quiet day, for the most part. Rainy. Bleary. Bleah. Got the kids signed up for all their summer sports, except one series of golf lessons. I have to go to the pro-shop itself to sign up for the Junior Series and I just didn't feel like going out in the rain. Also got myself signed up for a July series of lessons for beginning women golfers. I'll miss the last one because of RWA SanFran, but that's okay. At least I get three lessons!

Did an hour of yoga tonight. It was a video, but it was the beginner one. Yikes! I must be really out of shape. I knew I wasn't flexible in my shoulders or back anymore, but i-chee-wawa did I struggle through some of those poses, especially the twisting ones. Holy tamoly. When you were supposed to be looking at the back of the room, I was looking to the side. But I did it. I did the best I could, I kept my cool, I didn't get frustrated. I was sweaty and tired at the end, but I felt good. I'm so proud of me!

I'm definitely going to our one-stop shopping place and get a better mat. I used one of the camping mats, but it wasn't nearly long, nor wide, enough. And it was dirty. Dusty. Ick. But I couldn't practice on the carpet, my feet slipped. So a new mat it is.

I'm thinking of sticking with this episode until I'm more comfortable (that's my little hyper-retentive heart...need to master something before moving on), but I'm not sure if that's the way to go. I think I'll also make a point to get to the yoga studio in town next week to work with a real, live person.

I know some of you who read this blog practice yoga, so I have a question for you: Should I stick with this episode until I'm more comfortable with the poses, or should I try other episodes and other poses and just trust that facility will come?

Nice article about Meccano, a great scientific/mechanical invention, out of Liverpool.

The modern plastic stuff with all the wrong types of dedicated, non-standardised parts, in wacky zazzy colours, is just not gong to do what we want.

Here are the "Giant Blocksetting Crane", and the "South Shields Assymmetric Blocksetting crane", both famous models, realised all over the world, for decades.

OK, OK, OK, we can pay Chindia to build real ones for us, but we lose stature as a people if the knowledge of how to make one is no longer present as embedded in the culture, not as folk-memory but as something which people are proud to know.

When I was a boy, probably about aged 9 or so, I overheard a converstaion between my parents and my maths teacher, Mr Roberts, en ex-WW2 RSM. He was advised by my father that I was building fairly ambitious structures out of Meccano, but said that...

"Well, Mr Davis, here in the school, we don't really recommend science toys in which the young boys are presented with pre-fabricated metal parts - it kills their initiative, you see. They should learn how to machine the parts themselves!"

Oh well, at least there's K-Nex. It's a good toy, but not really a patch on Meccano...

I often think about Mr Roberts, who fought all the way across North Africa, and up Italy, until he fetched up as a maths/Scripture/current affairs teacher at my prep school. If he had seen what was coming in the guise of "education, education, education", in his nation, I can't predict his reaction.

Gisteren zijn Anneke en ik er aan begonnen en ik moet zeggen, het ging goed vooruit. Op het moment van schrijven staat ongeveer 75% van de baan al recht. We wachten vol spanning op het moment dat de eerste balletjes weer omhoog getakeld kunnen worden en vervolgens aan hun ritje naar beneden beginnen. Nadeel is wel dat K'Nex niet vriendelijk is voor de handjes. Na een tijdje bouwen begin je dat wel te voelen. Maar dat moet je er maar voor over hebben zeker?

Weer eens even het kind uithangen is een goede voorbereiding voor de examens die er voor de laatste keer staan aan te komen (als je een tweede zit niet meerekent). Ehsal (HUB) heeft de gewoonte om er altijd redelijk vroeg aan te beginnen. Zo komt het dat ik gisteren mijn laatste dag les had en op 20 mei reeds begin aan de examenreeks. Ze is boeiend, ik houd jullie zeker op de hoogte!

When I was kid, I was an addict on Lego toys. Many years ago (about a decade or so), there was used to be a Lego exhibit at Ontario Place in Toronto. There were lots of Lego exhibits and sculptures and kids got an opportunity to build everything Lego in the play area. Well, everything has evolved over the 50 years for Lego.  There are many sets such as SpongeBob Squarepants, Star Wars, Harry Potter and many others. There's the little kids version of Lego called "Duplo" and for mostly older children, there's the Bionicle line.

The Lego Maniac commercials were very popular in the late-80s to mid-90s. I also like the most recent one for the Bionicle line. The All-American Rejects song, "Move Along" was featured in a Bionicle commercial (you can see this commercial and the Lego Maniac commercial below). As for the actor who played Zack the LEGO Maniac, he may be gone for some time, but his "legend" is never forgotten.  If you have a kid who really likes LEGO toys, give him a second thought on what knowledge he will encounter as he/she gets older. Note to LEGO: develop a new Lego set dedicated to the 2010 Winter Olympics/Paralympics in Vancouver!

Zack the LEGO Maniac:

Lego Maniac - Dragon Masters:

Bionicle:

References:

www.lego.com 

www.bionicle.com 

Duplo 

http://www.collegehumor.com/article:1723750 

http://blog.wired.com/geekdad/2008/01/lego-celebrates.html 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/cbbcnews/hi/newsid_7210000/newsid_7212300/7212306.stm 

http://www.canada.com/edmontonjournal/news/opinion/story.html?id=04c35601-6d33-4bfd-9157-61ab077e6f79 

So as an adult it wasn't lost on me that my "job" was now to test toys. I'm always amazed by the number of toys that don't do what they say they're going to do. How could someone spend so much time making and marketing a product that doesn't deliver?  So many of the products we see each year never get beyond this point.  We're also big on directions. If the directions aren't clear to us, how can anyone expect an 8 year old to follow along?

So when we started, I decided to take on a building set. Could I follow the directions for a Lego kit that had hundreds and hundreds of pieces? Well it took me until 1 o'clock in the morning the first time--but I did it! And I loved the experience. In fact I recommend trying a building set as an adult. It's fun and very satisfying. I know lots of people feel that way about cooking something (I didn't get that gene). I've always wanted to have a Lego building party for grown ups--and see what people would come up with. Kids have no problem getting started--they just build. I have a sense that a group of grownups would be more guarded if they were given no set plans to follow.  The sets we have on our Platinum List this year--really do require two sets of hands. Both Ferris Wheels from Lego and K'nex make great projects for two--but I'm suggesting a smaller set that you can do on your own. So next time you're walking down that aisle, try a set.

First up is a 400 piece box of K'nex. I am a big fan of K'Nex. My teenaged boys have pretty good collections that they sometimes share with the younger ones. But now I have the beginnings of a collection for my 9 year olds too. When it comes to building toys, we will always love Legos. But one thing that K'Nex has over Lego is the ability to build BIG stuff. My guys have made awesome space ships and cars and a variety other things. The creations snap together firmly enough that you can play with them without worry about the thing falling apart. The firm snaps do cause preschoolers to need some help with creating, but overall K'Nex are an awesome toy for a broad range of ages.

Next are a couple things from Parents Magazine. I got a really awesome fruit and vegetable puzzle made of wood. I love wooden puzzles for durability. I also love that the puzzle included some of the more unusual fruits and vegetables along with the normal apples and carrots. We eat a lot of variety at our house, but our 3 year old will still learn something new from this puzzle.

The other really neat Parents magazine toy that I received is a bucket full of pop beads. My five year old daughter is going to just love these. Actually, I had to sit down and play with this for a little while when we first got them, they are that fun. These pop beads have way more variety in shape and style than the 'old' kind of pop beads that my now-17-year old adored playing with as a preschooler. I am pretty sure that my 3 year old will also be able to work them, though of course I'll have to keep an eye on her so she doesn't taste them. They are rated for age 3 and over.

Next on the list of fun items is an environmentally friendly bug. You've probably seen those crank flashlights that don't need batteries. Well, how about a TOY that doesn't need batteries? (Is that cheering I hear??) SEE Toys has created a variety of fun 'creatures', including a dynashark, dynatiger, dynacar, dynadolphin and the one I got, the dynafly. These toys light up and make sounds-- the dynafly giggles and has lightup eyes. Given the fact that my kids LOVE dad's crank flashlights, I think they will enjoy this toy too. I would guess that the target age range for this particular toy is around 3-7 years or so.

Finally I got some samples of a new line of toys called Baby Jamz. Baby Jamz is a hip-hop/rhythm inspired toy line for babies, toddlers and preschoolers. First on the list is a fun boom box/shape sorter. The songs are familiar songs--"Wheels on the Bus", "Hip-Hop Buckle My Shoe", "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" -- but with a fun new twist on the rhythm. The toy is appealing to the eye, and the sound didn't grate on my ears. Kids will like that you can push buttons and add your own sounds into the songs. This toy would probably be most interesting to kids in the 1-2 year old age range.

The next item is a dance mat for toddlers. The toy features 30-second clips of three different songs -- "Bingo," "Mary Had a Little Lamb" and "This Old Man". There are seven different spots on the mat so kids can dance to create their own unique rendition of the song. My three year old is really going to like this, since she loves to dance. I haven't subjected it to extensive testing, but I am, hoping it will be sturdy enough to tolerate being tried out by older kids too.

And finally, my giveaway item is a really cute cell phone for toddlers. Kids always love to play with cell phones, and this one can play one of three different songs by pushing buttons. The phone opens and closes which toddlers will also find interesting. This item is probably most interesting to one year olds.

You can enter the drawing for this cell phone by commenting here and mentioning this post on your blog sometime between now and Monday morning. I'll be conducting the drawing on Monday morning. Hopefully this will allow enough time to get the cell phone to the winner by Christmas.

http://www.5minutesformom.com/2610/knex/

10,000 free Pogo tokens when you sign up

free sample Knex Building Bricks

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