DoodleBlog

Here is one of my favorite reviews of Puzzleball Globe balls because it gives you an honest look at this blogger’s son’s initially frustrating experience with a Puzzleball Globe but of course it has a happy ending.

“I love Timberdoodle’s stuff, so I was pretty happy when the company offered to send me their Puzzleball Globe so that I could try it out with my 6-year-old son. Adam insisted that a couple of his stuffed animals had to watch if he was going to put together a new puzzle.

The puzzle frustrated us a bit at first. With a 6-year-old’s motor skills, Adam had a hard time holding the round puzzle up and fitting the pieces in at the same time. The puzzle came with a base, but he had to be able to see the pictures, so the first several pieces had to be done while being held.

We also discovered pretty quickly that the pieces themselves, many of them a blue ocean, were a bit challenging for him. But perhaps Timberdoodle foresaw that problem, because they labeled the back of each piece with a number. That proved easier for Adam. He started with number 1 and went through 96, figuring out how to fit each piece in as he went along.

Adam liked the large, child-friendly graphics on the globe, pointing out pictures of kangaroos and penguins and the like.

He became distracted about halfway through, when he quickly realized that half of a globe made an excellent house for some of his plastic dinosaurs! But eventually he got back to work and finished the globe completely.

Because it was challenging for him, I was a little surprised when it quickly became one of his favorite toys. He took it apart and put it back together several times over the next few days. He also enjoyed carrying the globe around and playing it while it was put together. I was also surprised to find that his 14-year-old brother and 17-year-sister each asked to take a turn putting it together!

One of the great things about this globe is that the pieces are plastic and, once put together, the globe holds up beautifully to the abuse of young boys. I know this because at one point Adam and his brother decided to make a game of seeing how many times they could drop the globe on the hard kitchen floor before it came apart. Surprisingly, they had to drop it several times, harder each time, to get it to come apart!

Puzzles can be educational in so many ways because they stretch your child’s brain and improve the way his mind solves problems. While he’s solving a puzzle, he’s really teaching his brain to work in new ways. As your child solves a geography puzzle he is mentally drilling himself with physical facts, such as what country goes next to the one he has just completed. Unconsciously he is making a number of associations as he searches for the next piece.

Oh, in case you are wondering, this is a true puzzle. No glue required!

Price: $12.75

Put out by: Timberdoodle (Publisher: Ravensburger)”

Here are some other bloggers’ thoughts on Puzzleball Globe including some great pictures!!

From Mel and Melissa J at MamaBuzz

Granola Mom

Angie at My Four Monkeys

Candle By Night

Shauna at Treasure Seekers

Titus2Homemaker

And a Timberdoodle Video

This review of Police Blockade is by Millicent, a blogging mom of 3:

“I was so anxious for the mailman to bring our latest review product from Timberdoodle. I knew the kids would be thrilled when they opened it, and I couldn’t wait to play with it myself!

Police Blockade is a really cool game that requires lots of strategy and patience! Wyatt ripped the box open and immediately went to work on the first puzzle. You are given a setup (in picture, so it’s easy) of the buildings and the ‘bad guy’ in the red car. The object is to block him in with the police cars. Sounds simple, right? The first few challenges aren’t too difficult, but after that the kids and I were definitely working together to solve them! There are 60 levels to conquer, so you’re guaranteed hours of fun.

This game is so much fun! Natalie (5.5) did seem to lose interest pretty quickly, but Wyatt (8) couldn’t get enough! He has a very logical way of thinking and this definitely kept his interest. As a homeschooling mom, I love that this has the kids really focusing and problem-solving. This game certainly makes learning fun!

Police Blockade would make a great Christmas gift for boys (and girls) of all ages!
Thank you, Timberdoodle, for allowing us to review this game!
Police Blockade costs $17.75 at Timberdoodle. Below are more details from their website.

Police Blockade
Sirens screaming and tires screeching, there is nothing like a little police action to liven up a road trip. Police Blockade lets you keep it legal but is just as exciting.

Your Job: Block Him An elegant red sports car has been stolen and the police force is scrambling to jam every escape route. As police chief, your child will be asked to coordinate all available units in order to prevent a getaway. His career is on the line; can he block the perpetrator’s escape and avoid unnecessary bloodshed?

60 Challenges!With 60 fast-paced easy to expert challenges he will have plenty of chances for a “do over”! For 1 player. Includes game board, clear plastic lid, one red sports car, six police cars, and four sets of buildings, game booklet, and a nifty elastic band to hold it all together.

Logic, Thinking Skills, Visual Perception…This one-player game develops logical reasoning, builds higher cognitive thinking, and strengthens visual and spatial perception. It is self-contained, includes solutions, and makes an ideal travel companion. Plus, it offers an amazing amount of fun for all ages!

Game includes:
· Game board
· 60 puzzles with four levels of difficulty
· One red sports car
· Six police cars
· Four sets of buildings
· Solution booklet

**Disclaimer** This is a Mama Buzz review, and the product was provided by Timberdoodle for this review”.

Some more reviews of Police Blockade from other families like yours:

MamaBuzz

BusyMom

Melanie

Danielle

Sarah

Saidah

Have the winter rains arrived at your house yet? Here, we have experienced heavy deluges of rain on and off for the last week, we have even had some heavy hail!

If your family is likewise experiencing the winter blues, you may be desperate for activities to occupy your toddler indoors during homeschool time. Look no further.

We love these Big Skill for Little Hands activity books for toddlers and now we are especially happy to bring you some real-time reviews from other moms who have just tried out I Can Trace with their toddlers.

Esmé’s Mom in Oregon says:

“Esmé’s Mommy here…

My philosophy on educating my child is pretty simple:
• I should set (realistically) high expectations,
• I should provide lots of opportunities for learning, and
• Learning should be fun.

I Can Trace!, a Big Skills for Little Hands book sold by Timberdoodle, is EXACTLY the type of thing that fits my philosophy! It builds early writing skills in kids ages 2-6 by walking them through 75 fun, colorful tracing activities that progressively lead up to actual number and letter tracing.

Esmé has had tracing opportunities since she turned two, and lately has started practicing her letter tracing quite a bit. She’s pretty advanced for a 31-month-old, so I wasn’t sure how she’d take to this book. She LOVES it! So far everything she’s done has been well within her capabilities, but it’s giving her extra practice in different types of motions, and she’s creating colorful stories with her mazework and tracing! She loves reviewing the pages she’s already completed, and she’d keep working through the book indefinitely if we let her!

The high-quality pages are printed on one side and perforated for easy removal – a big plus for keeping Esmé on task with one page at a time rather than rushing through the book.

My main regret is that I didn’t discover this book sooner. Up to now I’ve mainly been pulling freebie tracing stuff off the internet, and it’s been nowhere near as fun or as logically-flowing as this. And the book provides lots of helpful tips that I wish I’d had sooner – I’m starting to pay more attention to how Esmé is holding her marker and the direction in which she forms her writing.

If you have a toddler who you think might take an interest in tracing and ‘writing’ soon, I HIGHLY recommend using this book to get started. Not only does it provide a fun introduction to tracing, it comes with bonus activities and lots of educational information for parents.

I know I say a lot of good things about a lot of books on this blog, but I can’t emphasize enough what a great deal this book is! If you’re serious about homeschooling your preschooler, this is definitely worth the investment – at $10.50 it is the best buy I’ve seen out there in terms of workbook-type activities for the younger preschool set. I am all prepped up to buy the next books in the Big Skills for Little Hands series…

In addition to the book, we received a set of 12 Prismacolor Colored Pencils. I haven’t had much luck with colored pencils in the past – we had a set of Crayolas that were nice and bright, but they broke a lot, especially while I was trying to sharpen them! These Prismacolor pencils seem more durable. I had one that broke twice while sharpening, but that was it. And Esmé enjoys writing with them. She particularly enjoys the bonus Art Stix (woodless colored pencil core) that came with the $8 set.

The pencils don’t show up very well with the tracing activities. The book is so colorful that the pencil markings get lost, even though we use a blunt tip. So Esmé has been using her markers for tracing.

This is a Mama Buzz review. Thanks to Joy and Timberdoodle for the review copy of this book and pencil set.“

What other moms thought of I Can Trace and Prismacolor Pencils:

Melissa J and Mel at Mama Buzz

Melanie at Reviews From The Crib

Becca at Nutmeg Knitter… in a nutshell

Jessica at Life As I See It

Misty at The Newsome Family

Elizabeth at Life’s Journey With 6

Have you heard of Upturn? This game is a favorite at our house, especially on Community Group nights. The youngsters who attend our Community Group, ask us repeatedly to play this game again and again with them. But we didn’t want to be the only ones saying so, so we asked moms like you to review Upturn and give us their honest feedback. Here is what Nancy from South Carolina says:

“Recently I was given the opportunity to review the game Upturn. My son loves family game night, so he was really excited to try this new game. Upturn is a game for ages 7+ (or sooner if your children know double digits) and it’s for 2-4 players. The game includes 106 tiles and 4 playing racks, there is no game board, you just use a table. Also included is a a pouch to keep all the tiles in. I was surprised by how heavy the tiles are, they really are a great quality. They are also curved to fit into each other better. That keeps them from falling apart like some other games.

To begin, players each take 7 tiles and place them on their playing racks. Then, you place a tile to start the game. The first player gets to decide if play will be up or down. The object of the game is to get rid of all your tiles before the other players. You place tiles in numerical sequence, either up or down, depending on the way the game is going. There are also action tiles that can change the course of the game, make players take extra tiles, and skip players. My son had lots of fun deciding who would get the extra tiles he got to give away. When you only have 1 tile left you have to yell Upturn, so other players will know.

It took a couple games before we could really remember the rules, but after that, we had so much fun! My husband even wanted to play with us, over and over. It’s a great game for children who need help with numerical order to learn which numbers are greater or less than the previous numbers. My son, who is 12, loved the game as much as my husband.

Upturn sells for $25, because of the quality of tiles, I think this is a fair price. You can purchase the game from Timberdoodle. It would make a great Christmas present, especially for kids who already have everything.

Upturn was provided to me for free to review by Timberdoodle and Mama Buzz.”

Here are some other moms’ thoughts:

Heather at Sit A Spell

Mel and Melissa J at Mama Bzz

Joyce at Joyfull Living

Tracy at Higher Education

Dear Friends,

Moving out at eighteen is a fairly recent, definitely cultural idea, one which regardless of the spiritual implications makes no economic or ecological sense. Does every eighteen-year-old need his own stove and refrigerator? How many square feet of housing are wasted on a solitary individual when the more prudent solution is to share? Why are some people getting their knickers in a knot over the emissions of cows while ignoring the massive impact this exodus of young people has on carbon footprints?

There seems to be a campaign afoot among relatives and friends to boot our adult children out of our home. Apparently living at home makes them half child, half adult. Forget that these same “quasi-adults” have been working for Timberdoodle since they were old enough to toddle down the aisle and stock the shelves. With those Timberdoodle paychecks, they have engaged in some very adult-like behavior, such as purchasing all their clothes, sports equipment, and gifts. They have managed a mini-farm and funded the construction of several outbuildings and the installation of chain-link fencing. They have paid their share of every family vacation, bought their own furniture, contributed to numerous family projects, financed the building of fresh water wells overseas, and purchased and given us over five acres of timbered land. They have bought cars, managed their own cell phones, invested in CDs and stocks, and even bankrolled the family food budget. Aside from their jobs at Timberdoodle they are also trained EMTs and respond to over 400 emergency calls a year, ranging from false alarms and fall injuries to amputations and gunshot wounds. These are not coddled kids.

But unlike many of their peers who are living away from home, these adults are kept accountable. Our opinion is that young adults who spend huge amounts of time living alone tend to cater to the flesh, and those who cut off family accountability will have a harder time serving a spouse when the time comes. On the other hand, those adults who choose to remain in the home will always have more than enough opportunities for sanctification.

Because we are so clearly made for community, David, in Psalm 68, celebrates that “God settles the solitary in a home.” We love our kids and know that our responsibility before God does not end when they turn eighteen. As we rub shoulders at the warehouse and share laughter at the office, we know we are blessed to have the opportunity to enjoy each other every day. This Thanksgiving, may your family enjoy the richness of a community life that is unique to families.

Dan, Deb, Joy, Hope, Grace, Abel, and Pearl

P.S. Not surprisingly, this is an issue that can raise a very good discussion. For instance, we all know adults who live at home simply to avoid responsibility and sponge off Mom and Dad. (I hope it’s obvious that we are not advocating that!) But what do you think? What is your family’s approach? If you haven’t faced this situation yet, what are your plans? We encourage you to comment below and join the discussion!

Reviewed by families for families!!

If you have been eying the game Rapelli but are still not sure if this game will work for your family, then you’ve come to the right place. Recently reviewed for us by six different families, you can now know what other families thought of Rapelli. Follow the links below to find your questions answered!
From the ladies at MamaBuzz
Denise at Sunflowers, Chocolate and Little Boys
Erin at Home With The Boys
Serena at The Hermit Of The Southern March
Deborah at Sonidos Serranos and B1G1