Owner: The Opinionated Parent URL:http://www.theopinionatedparent.com Join Date: Sun, 04 Mar 2007 10:58:07 -0600 Rating:0 Site Description: Giving you the goods, parent to parent. Product reviews, recommendations, roasts, giveaways and more. TOP is 'the new black" of parent review blogs. Site statistics:Click here
A Trainload of Fun for Pre-Schoolers 2007-05-17 20:00:55 Award winning developmental game guru Briarpatch has added two new Thomas & Friends games to their offerings.
In Mix n’ Match Bingo, pre-schoolers roll 3 dice creating a one of a kind picture. They have to match the images of Thomas, Toby, Harold, James & Spencer on the bingo board to the picture created by the dice. There are four developmental levels of game play included so this game grows along with your child from ages 3 and up. (Though I know a certain Thomas addicted two year old who would have no problem.)
Making Tracks is a super fun game for 2-4 players aged 4 and up. The object of the games is to help Thomas and his friends Molly, Percy & James lay combinations of curved & straight tracks (which insert into holes in the board - very cool) from their sidings to the main line so that they can travel over the bridge and into the train shed. The first engine to make it home wins!
Check out all of the other great Thomas and Friends games from Briarpa
Jackpot! 2007-05-17 12:00:23 Jackpot!, one of the newest games from Briarpatch, is a great tool for kids aged 7 and up to develop sequencing & observational skills while they think they’re just playing a fun game. It’s flashy like Vegas, but like all of the Briarpatch games, it’s a developmental learning tool too.
Created for 2-4 players and requiring no reading skills, the Jackpot! board features 9 squares which get covered randomly by 8 fruit tiles leaving 1 space blank. Each player is dealt six cards with a 3 fruit combination on each. The object of the game is to turn over one of your cards and create the pattern in as few moves as possible. Roll the dice to determine how many moves you can make before having to add cards to your hand. Beat the odds and create the pattern in fewer moves and you get to discard cards. The other player(s) must be paying close attention because if they spot a winning combination first, they can call Jackpot! The first player to get rid of all of their Read more:Jackpot
The Making of Men 2007-05-16 12:00:42 Welcome to today’s stop on the Mother-Talk blog book tour for my new favourite gift for boys!
The Dangerous Book for Boys by Conn & Hal Iggulden is a package of excitement from the moment you take it out of the box (or pull it off the shelf, if you’re the old fashioned type). The bright red cover is thick & hard & reminiscent of something you’d find in Grandpa’s library. I couldn’t wait to open it.
The inside of the book, if you were to flip really quickly, looks like nothing special. No colour at all. However, as soon as you stop flipping and start reading, this book is totally awesome! Even for me - a girl! My husband liked it just as much and our son will now grow up doing lots of the crazy & fun activities in the book (if I ever let them get it long enough to actually accomplish anything.)
It contains detailed instructions on so many things that simply say “childhood.” Not boyhood, necessarily, unless you’re a f
Do You Look Like Your Dog? 2007-05-15 20:00:57 That’s not a question I’ve ever been asked (thank goodness), but the game by the same name from Briarpatch will have kids asking this outrageous question over and over again.
In Do You Look Like Your Dog? players match dog to owners and owners to dogs, then vote on who has made the best match! Players have 30 seconds to state their case and bury their bones. What a hilarious way to practice persuasive arguing! Each game comes with 20 owner & 20 dog cards, 8 ‘Go to the doghouse’ cards, 24 bones, 4 tokens and a game board. (And, of course, the rules if you choose to read them.) It’s played by 3-4 players aged 7+, and no reading is required.
Check out this You Tube video and if you think you really do look like your dog, submit your photo here. Whether you’re tall & long-faced and own an Afghan or big & bearded with a Newfoundland dog (and even if you don’t own a dog at all) this is a fun game for the school-aged set that’l
Making Science Cool 2007-05-15 12:00:40 Not that it wasn’t cool already, but with the Young Scientist Club, even the least scientifically inclined kids will be enthralled.
The Adventure Science
Kits are designed as a continuous learning experience and they not only build upon each other but are also interlinked. For example, the child makes a compass with kit 3 (magnets) which then will be used to study wind direction with a self-made weather vane from kit 4 (weather station). As a teacher, I know for a fact that this continuum based learning is much more easily retained than isolated lessons. There are currently 8 kits available and they’re designed for ages 5 and up. Many of them can be used individually and parents have the option of starting at kits other than number 1 with older children. They work on a subscription basis - either once or twice a month, and the site has some great links to accompany the kits. The kits are also available individually from several stores, including Amazon.
The Volcano Madn
Cowabunga! 2007-05-18 12:00:09 Honestly, I’ve never really seen the appeal of mutant turtles named after artists who live in the sewers of Manhattan. However, almost all of the boys I know love them so there must be something there.
If there’s a game that can be made from something kids love, Briarpatch is on it. They’ve recently added a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Joining Forces game to their lineup.
The goal is to help Leonardo, Donatello, Raphael, and Michelangelo “join forces” to defeat Max Winters (the supreme villain of TMNT) and his alien army. Two to four players aged 6 and up can play. The game contains a “capture board,” 40 see-through vinyl (cool!) TMNT cards, 10 alien cards and, of course, the rules.
We’ve got a TMNT game to give away! To enter the random draw, email theopinionatedparent@gmail.com with TMNT in the subject line and the correct answer to the following question: What other TMNT product is available from Briarpatch? Contest closes at mid
It just makes cents. 2007-05-23 05:00:07 Atlanta moms Caryn Boxer and Gail Duner were each looking for a way to teach their kids to manage money responsibly. The Learning Cents Bank is the fabulous result of their collaboration.
It’s a piggy bank with the benefit of a financial education. Money is a very abstract concept and most kids think it either grows on trees, in ATM machines or miraculously appears in mommy’s purse. I thought that until I was about 24. The Learning Cents company has made it their goal to help you help your kids & grandkids learn to be money savvy from a young age. Separated into three compartments marked ’spend,’ ’save’ & ‘give,’ the Learning Cents bank has several great features. Kids can label the bank to make it truly their own with the included letter labels, and each lid has a dry erase label to keep track of totals and/or goals as kids accumulate their wealth. The lids are hinged so the money is easy to get in and easy to access at Read more:makes
Greetingflix 2007-05-22 05:00:38 The Opinionated Parents have been reviewing a new “alternative to cheesy e-greetings” site called Greetingflix. Here’s what we thought:
——————————
By Michelle
Tired of sending the same electronic cards to family and friends? Want to try something different? Something with a little more “oomph” to it? Then try Greetingflix! It is the new way to send e-greetings; like you’ve never seen before. Upload your photograph, chose your category, and voila! Your greeting instantly becomes a captivating, pre-edited greeting “flix.”
The creators describe Greetingflix as “a blend of e-greetings, photo-sharing, and Hollywood magic.”
I found the site very easy to use and navigate. It was simple enough to upload my photos and create a greeting using one of the pre-made “flix.” They don’t have very many categories to chose from right now, but I’m hoping that w
I Spy With My Little Eye…Some Really Fun Games! 2007-05-21 05:00:47 We’ve got a straggler from games week. I was saving the best (in my grade one teacher opinion) for last and then the Victoria Day long weekend arrived and…well…now it’s Monday! We’ve got lots more great goods currently under review, games and not games, so stay tuned and visit daily!
The Scholastic I Spy books are a huge hit with the pre-school and school aged crowd. I keep at least 10 in my classroom library and they’re always some of the first off the shelf at free reading time. Briarpatch has again jumped on a popular trend and turned it into games that engage children of all ages as they search for and find every day objects hidden in plain sight.
For the younger set (3+), I Spy Seeing Doubles consists of 48 cards, 4 picture dice and an action die. Kids roll the dice and race to spy the objects that match their card. A more difficult game level is included for older children, but no reading is required for either.
For the worldly 5+ group Read more:Games
Preparation without the H is the best kind. 2007-05-25 05:00:30 As drivers, we’re never prepared for a collision of any kind but as soon as we become parents our run of the mill anxiety can turn into complete panic as we worry about nothing more than the safety of our babies. It’s easy to leave the scene of an accident without gathering all of the information you might need when you need to get your child checked out by a doctor, buy a new carseat or two, call the insurance company and who knows what else.
Buttoned Up, a great company founded by four women to create great organizational products to help you get & stay “buttoned up,” has created a tool that every parent should have in their vehicle. The Collision.Kit, pictured above, includes pre-printed cards to capture vital information for all parties, a pen, a clipboard, and most importantly, a flash camera - because a picture is worth a thousand words when it’s yours against theirs.
The Collision.Kit is $14.95, weighs only 1 pound and fits in your glove
True Learning 2007-05-24 05:00:45 A couple of opinionated parents have been reviewing a great site called True Learning
. Here’s what they thought:
——————————
By CPA Mom
True Learning, founded by JinheeAhn Kim in 2003 is an at-home preschool curriculum. It consists of “24 True Learning Modules that span 6 core subjects over 4 levels of advancement: True Math, True Literacy, True Thinking, True Motor Skills, True Art, and True World.
Each True Learning subject consists of 4 levels of advancement. Each level systematically builds upon the skills presented in the previous levels. The content is created to ensure success and mastery. Every concept is introduced in an intuitive manner, then reinforced and built upon in successive levels. Regardless of your child’s age and ability, True Learning will challenge and stimulate your child at each level.”
People, that is over 3,000 workbook pages! My first tip? Don’t download and save them all a
Post Bath Luxury for Little Ones 2007-05-29 05:00:23 Bathing a slippery newborn baby can be slightly terrifying, and it’s made worse when you have to wrap them in a towel and hope they don’t kick out of it and freeze while you chase a toddler around the house with pajamas in hand. While I love hooded towels for the toddler set, as soon as you’ve got a big and a little to bathe they’re no longer the perfect post-bath accessory.
What is, you ask?
The gorgeous terry velour bath sacks from Bambini Carini, an upscale company devoted to manufacturing and distributing boutique style baby accessories for the discerning shopper.
Available in 13 exquisite designs including my favourite ‘melrose‘ (pictured at right) the bath sacks are luxuriously soft, hooded for warmth and feature turned cuffs too keep those tiny hands warm. The bathsack retails for $52.00 USD.
Bambini Carini products are available at select retailers. All of their products are available all prints.
Enter to win a luxurious melrose pattern Read more:Luxury
I feel Giddy, oh so Giddy! 2007-05-28 05:00:16 I’ve always loved doing little girls’ hair in baubles & braids, and the great clips by investment analyst turned crafty mom extraordinaire Teri Dimalanta of Giddy Giddy make it even better! (And far less frustrating.)
Each adorable felt design is hand made and the clip is sewed securely inside so there are no painful snags and they stay on even the finest of baby hair. She designs clips in three categories - flowers, animals and food, and each category has clips for the little and the big girls in your life.
There are so many things to love about Giddy Giddy clips. They’re adorable; they’re not bows; they stay in - really; they’re not choking hazards; they don’t leave semi-permanent indentations in those precious little baby heads; and they’re made by a mom! I see no reason not to make these your hair clip of choice.
Giddygiddy clips area available at several online and retail locations.
We’ve got a set of Giddy Giddy clips to se
Making moving suck a little less. 2007-06-01 05:00:33 I hate moving. You hate moving. I’ve never met anyone who likes it. Sure, the new place is great once you’re unpacked & settled in, but the whole process, quite frankly, sucks. We’re on the horizon of moving with a one year old, which is even less of a party.
The Moving.kit by Buttoned Up won’t make moving fun but it sure will make it easier & more organized!
The kit is contained in a cute (because that’s important) red binder that will guide you through the process of moving step-by-step including closing up your old house, planning the move and getting you settled in your new home. Every detail is covered. It included six tabbed sections (At Your Fingertips™, Movers, 2 Months To Go, 1 Month To Go, Moving Days &Settling In), pre-formatted estimate forms for moving companies, change of address tracking forms, delegation lists (YES!), labels for your boxes and much more.
The binder retails for $24.95 but who are we kidding?
An organized m Read more:little
Eco-friendly babies make an eco-friendly world 2007-05-31 13:00:19 My Conservation Baby is a new online venture for conservation enthusiasts Ellen & Michael McNeill. They offer hip and upscale onesies, onesie sets and toddler tees with conservation-inspired messages like Stop Global Warming and Protect the Environment in both organic and conventional cotton.
Since our babies are the ones inheriting this great earth from us, it’s important that we teach them to respect it and protect it from the very beginning. By using the tips from the website, setting an example at home and wearing socially responsible clothing like what’s available from My Conservation Baby you’d be heading in the right direction.
Like any socially responsible company, My Conservation Baby has a great selection of organic offerings. I was struck by how thick and soft the cotton was before it was even washed. The natural onesie set pictured at right is the perfect baby gift for the eco-conscious parent (and really, shouldn’t we all be?) along with t
Immedium 2007-05-31 05:00:32 A few opinionated parents have been reviewing children’s books from Immedium. See what they thought below:
by CPA Mom
Nicole graciously asked me to be involved with another review - and as a mother of a 2 and 4 year old, I was eager to help her out on this one. She forwarded me copies of books from a publishing company called “Immedium.” Just from their description of themselves on their website, I knew these were not going to be your ordinary children’s books. And I was not disappointed.
The first book we (my children and I) reviewed was the first one they published: Wonderbaby from A to Z by Oliver Chin, Illustrated by Joe Chiodo. Right away, this was not your ordinary board book. The first four pages, which introduced “WonderBaby,” kind of lost me a bit. We’ve read this book several times now, and I’m still not sure what a “loco” mole is supposed to be! However, the alphabet section is one of the best I have ever s
Diapers? Who’s Carrying Diapers? 2007-05-30 05:00:47 As a mom who is so much more than just that, a traditional diaper bag isn’t always a viable option even when the bag I’m carrying contains not much more than Pampers & sippy cups. When I don’t want anyone to know, I carry my Cara Tote from Kipling. An international handbag and luggage company, Kipling has introduced an entire new line of totes featuring colorful patterns, durable materials and current styles that look nothing like a traditional “diaper bag.”
Being newly back to work mom, I love to use my Kipling tote for all of my school goodies. The straps are strong & sturdy enough to easily hold my piles of marking & books and the washable liner is perfect when I forget to remove my son’s half eaten PB & J sandwich before tossing my work back in. Not that I’ve done that. Ahem. The main inside compartment is deceptively huge. When even an early primary teacher doesn’t fill it, you know it’s big! It’s got conv
Because the fecal matter of strangers and kids don’t mix. 2007-06-05 05:00:42 I have a strange fascination with germs and the studies that show their concentration in various areas. Almost all of them show germs from fecal matter
in the strangest of places. One of the grossest to the mind of a paranoid mom? The shopping cart. When I see people place their babies & toddlers directly in their carts I feel an overwhelming temptation to have a conversation with them that goes something like this:
Me: Would you let your baby lick that man’s butt? (pointing to a random stranger)
Her: No, of course not!
Me: You might as well be doing that when you let him touch the handle on that cart because you know he’s going to put his hands in his mouth. You need to use a Clean Shopper.
Instead, I usually just cringe and am thankful that I have one and am aware enough to keep the majority of strange fecal matter away from my kid. I keep my Clean Shopper in my vehicle at all times, which is a good thing most of the time. Except when it has food and other
Discipline Doesn’t Have To Be Scary (for us or the kids) 2007-06-05 01:00:31 I’ve been reading The No-Cry Discipline
Solution: Gentle Ways to Encourage Good Behavior Without Whining, Tantrums, and Tears by Elizabeth Pantley as part of the latest Mother-Talk blog book tour. I will admit a slight parenting book addiction, though I rarely follow any of their advice and just do what comes naturally and what works for us. I like to read and talk about as many strategies as possible so that I have a large bank of things to pull from in all aspects of parenting (and teaching) though most of what I do is instinctual and also based on the way I was raised. (Yes, I want to be just like my mommy!)
In our house our parenting leans toward attachment and very gentle discipline & distraction as well as logical consequences. With a background in early childhood education I can be quite critical (via internal dialogue only) about the parenting techniques of some people because I’ve seen first hand what continuous punishment/yelling/insert ineffective parenti Read more:Scary
My house is officially one huge baby gate 2007-06-04 05:00:12 But this time, I think I’m in love. I’ve got one of those kids who never sits still and rarely sits down - especially in the tub. I have to have my hand around his arm at all times and every 3.4 seconds I hear myself say “Sit down!” We have an oversized grippy bath mat which helps to prevent most slips & falls but does nothing to prevent him from his favourite bathtime hobbies of playing with the taps, chewing on the faucet cover and pulling on the detachable shower head hose. I must admit it drives me slightly nuts to have to nag at him the entire time.
No more. With the arrival of the
Baby Bath Gate on my front doorstep my bathtime sanity has returned. It’s so simple and yet so brilliant. Invented by Susan Solan, a mom of three and municipal court judge, it’s a vinyl coated mesh “gate” with metal rods at the top & bottom and specially designed grippy ends (not suction cups, so they actually work) that grip the sides of th
Button Up Your Life 2007-06-08 05:00:17 By nature I’m a type A organizational freak, but having a baby threw me for a loop. I can’t even imagine what it would do to people who are organizationally challenged.
Need to find the health cards? I dunno - they used to be in my wallet but I took them out at the hospital and haven’t seen them since. Financial records that didn’t get refiled after I tried to pay bills with a baby attached to my boob? Not a clue.
The Life.doc system by Buttoned Up gives new parents (or old ones, I suppose!) an easy system to organize their newly insane lives. It consists of a lovely cloth covered binder (bright red & easy to locate like all of their products) with 120 pages and organizational tabs. The pages can be filled out by hand or you can use the included CD Rom to enter your data on your computer, and feed the Life.doc pages into your printer. Easy as pie! With categories for finances, insurance, health records, caregiver information, legal papers and more, i
Toddlers & Restaurants Can’t Possibly Be Convenient…Or Can They? 2007-06-07 05:00:52 My Precious Kid has some awesome baby gear and family safety products. We’ve been reviewing their Table Toppers To Go, a tool for parents who like to…leave the house! If you’re like me, no matter how well you plan in order to be home for the next meal something often throws a wrench in the plans and you end up having to eat out.
Table Toppers are disposable and easily portable kids dining sets that sell for only $6 for a 4-pack! Each pack is enclosed in a hygienically sealed sippy cup (brilliant, I must say) and contains a disposable stick-in-place placemat that won’t be thrown to the floor, a disposable bib and a disposable baby-safe fork and spoon. There’s so much I love about the Table Topper, and convenience is at the top of the list. A set fits easily in my diaper bag so I’ve always got one handy and, other than the food, it contains everything I need. The placemat really (like, really) sticks to the table but comes off without too much Read more:Toddlers
, Convenient
LunaPads (Not gross at all, actually) 2007-06-06 05:00:50 by Reesh
Back in my theatre days I did a lot of touring. There were often 5 of us traveling in the same van and up to 3 of us sharing a hotel room each night. You had no choice but to become intimately involved with every little aspect of your touring mates’ lives, and you had to be okay with the things you’d rather not know about otherwise it was just going to be a painfully long tour.
So when Melanie got her period, we all learned about Lunapads. We had little choice as they were hanging in our hotel bathroom to dry 7 days of every month. Needless to say, by the time the next tour rolled around, it was me who was drying my Lunapads and educating both male and female about the wonders of cloth pads.
Many people when they hear that I use only cloth pads think that it’s too much work for them. After 4 seasons of touring, never being in your own bathroom, but having to greet Aunt Flow once a month regardless, I can honestly say that using Lunapads is a piece of cake.
Lunapa
Havins Originals - Vintage for the Picky 2007-06-11 05:00:39 Havins Originals is an Orange County based company that produces vintage-look children’s shirts. The designs of founder & designer Vikki Havins are influenced by southern California culture and inspired by her love of vintage design and rock n’ roll. I’m not always a fan of vintage. If I want my clothes to look worn, I’ll wear them myself thankyouverymuch and I’m not big on the “looks old, doesn’t last, pay more” phenomenon that often accompanies the vintage trend. But this isn’t the case with the Havins Originals brand. These shirts are amazingly soft. They feel like an old favourite right out of the bag! Yet they wash & wear well, are super comfortable and seem to be very well made. The prices vary depending on where you buy them so I’d suggest a little shopping around for the best deal.
Check out the way cool fall 2007 collection, available soon at retailers or online.
With shirts for boys, girls and babies Read more:Vintage
Flyaways No More 2007-06-14 05:00:21 Founded by Canadian mom Janet Beatty, Sugar and Spice is my new favourite online source for little girl bows. While I don’t have a daughter of my own at this time, I have nieces and several friends with daughters who I love to shop for. (And if the baby I’m currently manufacturing is a girl, look out Visa!)
Bows are tricky, though, because many of them are either ugly, huge or they fall out. Janet’s Grippy Clippys are the alterna-bow! She hand makes each one and puts a special soft gripper strip inside to make them really grip even the finest and thinnest hair.
Even the fanciest of fancy bows is only $6. (That’s Canadian, so our American readers can count on paying even less.)
We’ve got a bow holder complete with a pair of Grippy Clippys for one randomly selected T.O.P. reader. To enter, email theopinionatedparent@gmail.com with GRIPPY in the subject line and tell us one of the non-Grippy Clippy items available from the Sugar and Spice site. Cont
Oompa Loompa Doompadee Doo, I’ve got some cool toys for you! 2007-06-13 05:00:06 Oompa Toys is a fab online toy store that carries some very unique toys that you won’t easily find anywhere else. They also have a great selection of the most popular kid goods all in one place that you’d normally have to hit several stores to find (and pay several shipping charges, when Oompa Toys offers either cheap or free shipping depending on your order!)
My favourite so far are the Creanimaux (which retail for $45.99). The set consists of 52 pieces can be used to assemble a hippo, lion, tiger, rooster, zebra, elephant, giraffe, crocodile, rhino or bear. But that’ll only last so long until the kids start to mix them up and create funny, unusual creatures!
The big, chunky pieces are easy for toddlers and preschoolers to hold and stack. The designs are great - child-friendly without being too cutesy. The deep, saturated colors are even and superbly applied to each smooth, wooden block. The pieces are made of solid wood with completely non-toxic, child-friendly p
Just Like Magic! 2007-06-12 05:00:24 I love to scrapbook and make cards, but now that I’m a working mom I rarely make the time to do it. (Um, not once since I’ve returned to work, actually.) Now that I’ve found Magic
Mesh, though, I can hardly wait to get back into my craft room!
Magic Mesh is a self-adhesive, repositionable decorative craft mesh that adds dimension and texture to any page or project. The mesh comes in a variety of weaves, textures, widths and colors with a range of over 50 products. (The metallic is especially gorgeous!) It’s pressure sensitive, which is very cool for the indecisive and distracted crafter - it sticks where it’s placed but is very easy to reposition if you feel the need and the paper underneath doesn’t lift at all. I even tried it on delicate handmade paper and that didn’t lift either. It’s also trimmable & punchable ~ you can trim it with scissors, punches, die cuts, laser die cuts or any other cutting system of your choice. It&r
Cull The Post-It’s 2007-06-15 05:00:28 I used to have literally hundreds of post-it notes around my house. They were on the table, on the counters, on the fridge, even on my daytimer and my PDA. I’m a note person, but it’s next to impossible to keep them all in one place when you’re as busy as I am. Since I’ve been using my CrossItOff.List from Buttoned Up I’ve cut way down on the extraneous pieces of paper and have a central place to consolidate all of my notes. It’s a unique take on the To-Do list, with lots of room for your own lists as well as a section of duplicate sticky notes for tasks you need to delegate. I love the duplicate idea ~ it helps me to remember to check up on my husband and see whether he’s actually done his jobs!
At less than $10, it makes a great gift for the organizationally challenged and an inexpensive tool for any home.
We’ve got one to give away! Simply email theopininonatedparent@gmail.com with CrossItOff.List in the subject line and tell us
Recommend Site To A Friend
