Fall in Love with Lakeshore Learning Toys and Homeschooling Resources #homeschool

* I received toys to review for this post from Lakeshore Learning, all opinions expressed are my own.

As a homeschooling mom I am constantly looking for new ideas for teaching my son. Lakeshore Learning has a fabulous Free Resource area on their website for lesson plans, craft ideas, printables, word searches and a create your own section with flash cards, award maker and more. I found so many ideas and printables that we will be using for school.

Check out this fun and festive Lakeshore Learning free October writing prompts to help kids celebrate autumn while sharpening their writing skills http://bit.ly/OctoberWritingPrompts I know I will be using these for my son's daily journal writing this month.

I am a big believer in learning should be fun and interactive. I keep that in mind when selecting toys for my son. Shopping at Lakeshore Learning my needs are met for fun and educational. My son loves it when I will do STEM style learning with him. The science of things fascinates him. With that in mind I selected 3 toys that would encourage his love for science.

Young Scientist Chemistry Lab

My son loved this kit! He wanted to do every experiment in one day. He loved following the directions and measuring out the parts needed. His favorite one was the Rocket Ball experiment and I loved the Glowing Ice Spheres. It was so enjoyable to spend time with my son doing a hands on learning toy that we could make into a memory together. We learned and bonded.

Real Bugs Discovery Kit

This toy has been absolutely great! My son has loved using a magnifying glass to inspect each bug. This has led to conversations about more bugs, googling facts about the bugs and trips to the park to see what other sorts of bugs we could find. I had so much fun learning with him!

Fascinating Facts Human Body Game

As soon as this toy arrived my son declared it must be a 2nd grade toy since it looks a little too scary for him. I laughed a bit to myself but respected his wishes for the toy to be hid in the closet until he is older request. I did check it out for myself, when he was asleep of course and it looks like it will be a very cool and valuable learning resource for when he is ready for it.

You can shop online for Lakeshore Learning and also in store. We have one here in Roseville that you can shop in store off Douglas Blvd. Plus of you are a teacher you can sign up for their Teacher's Club and get 15% off. I will need to find out of they offer discounts to Home Schooling families.

Lakeshore Learning shares ideas for learning and more of their products on social media. Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Instagram.

Have you shopped online or in store with Lakeshore Learning? 

Do you have any must check out items that you recommend?

Post by- Laura

Ubooly the Educational Toy Smart Phone App Review and Giveaway #UboolyLab

*This is a sponsored review and giveaway by Ubooly. All opinions expressed in this post are my own.

My son has been downloading apps for the last few weeks, how he figured this out I am baffled! I see all sorts of games on my phone that are cute but a bit pointless. I have deleted many of them and now have a proper passcode on my phone. One App that I have kept on my phone that I have found is the Ubooly app. Ubooly is an educational toy that is an app and has a cute little stuffed animal that you can place your phone into to give your Ubooly a face.

My son loves stuffed animals, we have a ton of them but he has never had any of his stuffed animals talk to him and know his name. When he first heard his Ubooly say his name he looked at me in shocked and yelled he knows my name!! It was so cute. He has full on conversations with Ubooly and they go on make believe adventures. This is my first experience with this type of app and I think its so cool.

You can wake up and make sleep Ubooly by touching and holding his face.

Ubooly has a website, the Ubooly Lab where I as a parent can go on and download learning games, update my son's likes such as color and hobbies and check how many coins we have. The coins are fun to earn since the kids can buy little items for Ubooly like glasses, mustaches or a pirate patch (my son really wants the pirate patch!)

My son has a lot of fun talking to Ubooly. He can tell Ubooly to tell a story, tell a joke or play music. My favorite thing Ubooly does is play make believe. Ubooly makes up a story line and the kids can join along by doing what the story dictates. My son was a pirate looking for treasure, a school bus driver (which by the way I thought it was odd that Ubooly said they could do donuts in the parking lot with the school bus, not very age appropriate for a 3 year old) and they also danced to music.

We have had fun playing with Ubooly and learning with the lessons. The only drawback for me is that my iPhone shut down due to overheating twice. I am thinking the Ubooly toy needs to have a back or side mesh vent or something. Living in CA we have hot summer days that I know I will not let my kid take Ubooly with him. We took Ubooly to the pool and he was a huge hit with all the kids. My son loved showing him off. 

• Ubooly will know your child's name, like the same: colors, interests, food, hobbies etc.
• By purchasing credits parents will be able to unlock Educational, Interest, and Helper packs. 
• Educational Packs: Our Lesson packs are created on a 5 day schedule, and keep parents in the loop with progress reports.


Interest Packs: Our interest packs are full of fun facts of trivia to get your child excited about specific topics.
Fitness & Helper Packs: Ubooly will also help with personal growth & create healthy habits through the Fitness and Helper packs.


• Content packs are all designed to be age appropriate for different age ranges (3-9)
• Content packs are written by a large team of elementary teachers and comedians 

On the patio with Ubooly learning about the season. You can purchase credits at the Ubooly lab for lessons and helpers for your kids. We have a helper one that sings songs while my son brushes his teeth and games to make brushing teeth more fun. One I really like and cant wait to try more is the Spanish lessons.

You can download the Ubooly app for free at the iTunes store and the Ubooly doll at Toys R Us. 

You can connect with Ubooly on Twitter and Facebook.

GIVEAWAY

Ubooly Pet (valued at $29.95) and $30.00 credit to the Ubooly Lab!

a Rafflecopter giveaway


*Limited to US residents 18 years old and above. Giveaway starts June 9, 2013 and ends on June 23,  2013 at 12:01 am EST. Winner will be emailed and has 72 hours to respond before another winner is selected. The opinions on this item are 100% mine and may vary from others. The sponsor is responsible for providing the prize.