Review of Skullduggery Cast and Paint Trex Casting Kit with BloPens

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This was great for my 5 yr. old daughtres bday party, she's into it! and after it casted (easy out too) colored it, then coated with sealer, she uses in sandbox for scavenger hunts, and as a puzzle just don't get it wet or it will deteriorate! Can also make more with extra plaster of paris (party give-aways to take home & decorate with paint)

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This is so great and easy to use. I am gluing the mold to some paper and putting it in the bottom of a bin with sand on top for my son's dinosaur themed birthday party. It is perfect for a dino dig in the backyard. I hope the kids have a blast doing it.

Buy 4M Rocket Race Car Kit

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List Price: $19.99
Sale Price: $14.24
Today's Bonus: 29% Off

My son and his best friend have had a great time with this rocket race car. They're 10, wanted (and needed) no assistance with assembly and have had hours of fun with the rocket thus far. I'll probably pick up a couple more for emergency birthday presents -the boys have demonstrated that this is a fun, durable toy.

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I was surprised that my son, age 11, wanted something that did not need batteries. But he put it on the Christmas list. Great toy, easy to assemble. So far, it has been very durable. Like that is teaches Science, even though he does not realize it. Would recommend!

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Had a really fun time with this race car. The only problem is the metal bar the holds the wheels on bent after a few times. I think the reason it bent was because I used my air compressor to make it work. I should have used a foot pump, but that would be no fun. Also seems to have a hard time rolling on cement or any pavement. Either way, this thing is really fun.

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It's worth the money, maybe an afternoon's worth of fun. My 9 year old niece is a pretty smart cookie and it kept her entertained.

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For when the grand boys come. Always want to try something different and this was a fun choice.

Reasonable price too.

"Risk Simulation and Queuing" taught by Dr. Cliff Ragsdale - 4 week Reviews

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I took the course for the sole purpose of becoming proficient in the use of the Frontline "Risk Simulation and Queuing" software. I thought that my academic background in optimization theory provided me with a strong enough understanding of risk analysis and queuing concepts to easily apply the spreadsheet programming steps provided by the course. Fortunately not only did the course satisfy this requirement but in addition I was pleasantly surprised at how well the accompanying book by Dr. Cliff T Ragsdale added to my understanding of how to properly design a multitude of spreadsheet applications. Dr. Ragsdale demonstrated how to apply the power of the software to a wide range of real world situations from manufacturing and inventory control applications to capital financing and investment issues which require optimizing the utilization of time, capital, labor and materials.

I would recommend this course to anyone interested not only in how to use the software but also desiring to expand their understanding of practical spreadsheet design for use in solving complex real world problems. For me it was time and money very well spent.

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Buy Solar Dancing "DAISY" Flower (3-Pack) in Bubble Packages

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Great product. I keep it at my desk at work and every time I look at it makes me smile. I love it. Thank you. Good price. Fast shipping too.

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Nobody can see these little things in action and not smile. Dealer got them to me in record time and I'm now sharing with others that need to smile.

Review of Snap Circuits PRO SC-500

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Very much to the manufacturer's credit, the manuals that come with most Snapz products are online as pdf files. See and click "User Manuals."

If you examine the manuals for this "Snapz Pro" product -which is apparently called the SC-500 on the manufacturer site -you will find that the entertainment value should be fairly high, there are a lot of whizzy gimmicks you can build. However the educational value -in terms of learning anything whatever about electronics -is about zero. All you do is match the color and shape of the components to a picture and snap them together. There is no attempt to differentiate the components other than by color and shape -the relative meanings and functions of, for example, a "resistor" versus a "capacitor" versus an "FM radio chip" are simply not explained. It's just so many brightly colored units that are to be connected in a directed pattern.

The projects are not graded from simple to complex, the first ones in the manual are quite elaborate but simpler ones appear later on.

The same company also offers electronic training courses using the same components but with teaching manuals that are graded from simple to complex and do teach the meanings of the components, but this is not one of those.

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I just played with this (Snap Circuits Junior) for the first time and came looking to buy one for my kids.

In response to the person who said the manuals have errors, see the web site (and also as mentioned below.) In particular there is a page that gives corrections to all the manuals: .

Another concern I had is which kit to buy: Junior, Pro, etc.? On the snapcircuits web site they have a price list for replacement parts and upgrade kits. For the difference in price between the kits you can upgrade from one to the next so this takes some of the worry about of the purchase (for me at least).

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My eight year old son loves this toy, BUT...

The book is full of errors. I'm afraid that a child would quickly become frustrated without someone around to troubleshoot the mistakes. I estimate that about 50% of the projects contain some sort of error. They're all minor problems, but the projects won't work until they are corrected.

It's really amazing how many different kinds of problems seem to crop up. Examples are: Missing parts from diagram, wrong parts specified, circuits that no longer "fit" together because mechanical design was changed, some component values seem to have been changed causing some circuits to need adjustment, some illustrations make it impossible to tell which component they are using, etc. The manufacturer just needs to sit down and build each circuit and update the book.

I should stress, once again, that my son and I love this toy. If you have the necessary skills, you should definitely get it. It's just not something you can give a kid and walk away from.

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This is a great toy! It is very educational, the direction books are easy to follow (our kids needed a 30 minute lesson before we left them on their own to make their discoveries), the snaps are a super idea (some of the other electronic sets I looked at which required twisting wires together), and it is FUN!

We gave it to our 8 year old for his birthday and he has been playing it ever since. His 10 year old brother is very jealous and wakes up early in the morning so he can play with it before his brother wakes up, however the experiments can get a bit noisy so he ends up waking all of us up with them. They both love showing off what they have made to us and their friends and they are learning about how electricity works.

Due to the nature of the toy a few of the pieces (such as light bulbs) have potential to break if not cared for properly so be sure when kids are finished playing with the set they put them away properly so they don't get stepped on.

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This is definitely a fun and creative toy, and by this virtue alone, it might be worth buying. That said, for a kit aimed at older children (8-10 years), it really disappoints when it comes to the educational value.

The included project booklets do virtually nothing to explain, in even the most rudimentary terms, the basics of electronics, and provide no narrative to explore with an adult. You are simply told to stack color-coded blocks in a particular order the blocks are often not even called by their proper names, and their function in a circuit is not explained in most cases. Schematics are not included, so when you genuinely want to understand how things work with the help of external resources, you actually need to go through some extra hops.

Then, there is another problem: the choice of electronic components in the kit is odd, and clearly aimed at cheap thrills. For example, you get just one NPN transistor, one PNP, and maybe five resistors which really is not much to experiment with; but no fewer than three different "mystery" IC modules that make funny sounds (!); one completely self-contained voice recorder module; and one self-contained FM radio, with integral "scan" and "reset" buttons. The internals of these units are not discussed, and they have *absolutely* no educational value. Connect batteries and watch the magic happen? Something perhaps acceptable in a toy for 2 years old kids, but that's about it: putting batteries in an MP3 player is about as much of a learning experience.

Because the number of general-purpose electronic components in the kit is fairly low merely around 30 you shouldn't expect to be able to build that much. Although the included booklet lists about 500 projects, most of them are just variations of a simple noise-making circuit ("space war sounds", "police car", "fire fan", "whiner", "lower pitch whiner", "hummer", "hissing foghorn", "siren", "steamship", "doorbell", etc). There is also an 8-segment LCD display in the kit, but all you can do with it is display a single pattern there are no ICs to implement a counter or anything else of that sort.

Bottom line is: if you want your kid to just have some harmless fun with electronics for a week or so, this kit may be OK for you. If your kid is genuinely curious about electronics well, a good book, a breadboard, and a handful of assorted components may be a better (and cheaper) option in this age range.

Buy Teach My Baby

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List Price: $49.99
Sale Price: $38.63
Today's Bonus: 23% Off

First the design and organization of this is great! I love that things are seperated into categories. I follow the instructions that come with it and only do one lesson a day. I also do as the book suggests and I made a fun song and clap my hands to it when I bring the box out. He knows the song and crawls to the box and starts going crazy. Once he learned where the box stays he constantly is pulling it out and going crazy over it! So cute! I got this when he was 6 months old and he is doing really good with it.

The quality of the product is medium. I would expect higher quality for the price, but overall I say just the organization of this kit is well worth the money.

As for the other review with the words "shoes" and counting only to 10.... I have to remind people this is for BABIES!!!!! NOT TODDLERS! There is a seperate kit for that. My baby does not like to wear shoes or socks, but the words are still in the book because it's common everyday items that they come into contact with. They don't ride planes everyday either, but I think it's good that they have included those words. They need a variety and I honestly think they did a good job picking out first words. As for the numbers.... again this is for BABIES! This means under 12 months. This is to get them familiar with the numbers, orders, and sounds. Which you do not want to confuse them and go up to 10 just yet. You can do that later... such as in the Teach My Toddler Kit. This is not ment to teach them to count verbally, again just to get them familiar with numbers, sounds, and order. I don't know any baby under 12 months that can count.

The only NEGATIVE thing that I can say about this kit is that in the Animals section there is a picture of goose and they call it a DUCK and they say it goes "Quack". That drives me a little crazy because I grew up on a farm, but I don't think my 11 month old knows the difference. LOL!

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I received Teach My Baby as a gift when my daughter was 11 months. At 16 months she has mastered most of the box except for the counting, so I am going to purchase the Teach my Toddler.

I like that this provides an organized method to try and teach my daughter parts of the face, first words, counting, and animals/textures. To keep my daughter interested I only do one section a night. She will go and point to the box and try to drag it out so we can play with it. As noted in other reviews, the quality isn't perfect. But overall this is a great item.

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My son loves learning and wants to use this kit every day. It has great illustrations and a verity of items. The pop out puzzles bend easy and are a little hard to get some of the pieces out. My son bent a couple of them and the card board has torn a little but it is still very useable. The plastic pouches that hold the material have already tore also. I purchase teach my toddler (this one has more durable parts and is easier to organize) also and they work very well together. My son has a lot of fun and it has helped to accelerate his vocabulary already. Over all the product is great and I would recommend it they just need to be reinforced a little.

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I first got this when my daughter was 5 months old and was impressed with how fast I received it. I opened it up and loved how organized it was and how it was put into different categories, I honestly dont any complaints about it. I didnt get to start doing the kit until my daughter was 7 months because my daughter was just meeting her father for the first time as he just got back from deployment. Since she was so young and still learning how to control her movements and I didnt want her to be putting the books or the cards into her mouth, I would put her in her little bumbo and I would sit in front of her and go through everything with her holding it in front of her so she could touch it and see it. I did what it instructed me at first, making songs, doing it only 20 minutes a day but my daughter enjoyed it so much that we started to do it every morning and every night. Shortly after she turned 1, she knew everything in the box. I kept going until she was 18 month like the box instructed and to make sure she had everything down 100%. She's now currently using the Teach my Toddler kid and is learning everything from that. I would recommend this, I have a few expecting friends who plan on purchasing this item when the time comes. Like some of the people mentioned, this kit is for babies from 6-18 months. In order for it to work you need to make it fun for your child and do it everyday.

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For the price you'd think the would be higher quality. The face recognition (nose, mouth, tongue, etc..) are poor quality and slightly blurry (like they were blown up too much for the picture quality). The puppets are useless because they don't stay on your fingers. They're individual puppets for each finger and are just sleeves (no elastic to hold them onto your finger) so unless you have really thick fingers, they won't stay on your fingers. So they puppets are useless unless you sew them onto a glove. The pictures and the textures they used for animals were okay but I like the First Words brand much better. I'll keep using these but more as a back up to the other ones I purchased.

Cheap Lauri Toys Lacing and Learning Opposites

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Great for those capable of the matching consepts...bought these for my mother with Alzheimers but she couldnt comprehend the matching part or consepts...too complicated for her

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Review of Family Pastimes / Mr. Troll - A Co-operative Adventure Game

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This is a useful, cooperative game because it is simple, allows childrent to communicate to achieve their goal, and is a nice companion the the 3 Billy Goats Gruff folktale. I use Family Pastimes games in language therapy regularly. Mr. Troll will be a new favorite.

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Best Blue Ocean Relief MOVA World Globe Deals

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I looked into the levitating globes and chose this instead. It doesn't levitate, but its slow rotation, without batteries, is soothing and fascinating. It just keeps spinning with no intervention...just like the real Earth! It is too small to use as a reference globe, but it is a fine size for a desk ornament. It takes some thinking to figure out how it could possibly work, thus it makes a good conversation piece.

I liked mine so much that I ordered one as a Christmas gift for a tech-savvy friend. He appreciated his as much as I did mine.

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This video shows the MOVA 4.5" globe I've just received. I've placed a CD in a case just behind and beside the globe for a sense of scale (it's slightly larger than I imagined it would be).

I first placed the globe about two feet from a desk lamp with a CFL bulb. The globe would move about a quarter of a turn, then stop and move back an inch or two, and then start turning again. The manual that came with the globe indicates that flourescent lighting is not optimal for powering the globe. Luckily I get some indirect sunlight from a window across the hall, which seems to work like a charm.

I'd read another review mentioning the seam where the two halves of the globe's outer shell are joined. It's a relatively subtle seam, and it is straight and regular around the circumference, so placing the seam at the equator effectively hides it from view.

The manual also mentions a sealed hole where the fluid is introduced, and that this should be at the bottom of the globe. I was not able to find this irregularity.

Granted, I've only had this globe for 30 minutes or so, but my concern about the expendature is gone. If the globe continues to function as it does now, I'll be completely happy with this purchase.

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This was a present to our family from some girls that stayed at our house for a week. I love love love it. Our sits by the window and smoothly rotates from the light. I have never had it next to a regular house light before but outdoor lighting it is beautiful. I love how the blue pops from the ocean color. I am buying one for a friend too.

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I was amazed when I first saw one of these a year ago. The clear outer shell was invisible making it look like it was floating in air. I bought one for a gift and I can plainly see the seam between the two halves of the outer shell. If I line the seam up with the equator it is less noticeable. Without the seam this would definitely get five stars.

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I have had this globe for about 6 months now and I really like it. It doesn't levitate, but it rotates inside of a plastic sphere when exposed to light. Mine seems to rotate at a really good speed even in relatively dim light from the window, although at night it spins very slowly because the light bulb in the room is really low. So far I have had no problems with it at all.

Discount Safari Ltd Trilobite Fossil

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My son is a big fan of see creatures and has recently discovered pre-historic sea creatures. We bought this trilobite because we have many other injection molded creatures from Safari Ltd and knew this would be indestructible. Our son loves this trilobite and takes it everywhere and shows it to everyone who asks (or doesn't ask).

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I love the Safari products! I have used them, mostly the animals, in my Montessori classroom. They are true to life in detail and very well made!

LeapFrog® Crammer Case Reviews

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What a cool case for the money. It has a caribeaner that my son uses to attach to his backpack. You can also use crammer when it is still in the case by flipping up the front cover. Small and Slick design Leapfrog!!

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Reviews of Hoberman Expanding Mini Sphere Toy

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When looking for a gift for a child with autism or sensory issues this is one item that is sure to delight. Also suitable for an office buddy. This might pinch little fingers though.

Some may say they have a difficult time finding items for special needs kids to give for holiday gifts or birthday presents.

This will expand from 5 ½" to 12". The texture is very different and actually not pleasant for me due to having eczema on my hands. I feel it irritates my skin, but luckily both my sons have played with the Hoberman® Mini Sphere™ since I introduced it to them.

The Hoberman® Mini Sphere™ consists of black and neon green hubs. They can be snapped in place to keep the circled shape so you can roll it along the floor. We enjoyed the glow-in-the-dark effect by entering the bathroom and turning off the lights to see the magic.

The Hoberman® Mini Sphere™ almost resembles a miniature holiday tree in the upright position. This will stand flat and returns to this position after being opened. I had my non-verbal autistic son sit in front of me on the floor as I demonstrated the opening and closing sequence to the Hoberman® Mini Sphere™. This is quite mesmerizing to watch and it has a sound effect of the hubs flicking one another during this process.

This is a great stress buster for your desk at work or the home office and a fun crowd pleaser at a party. Since this is also glow-in-the-dark it would be good for outdoors in the summer time.

My older son liked to place his hand inside and twirl the Sphere around. The price is a bit steep, but it has stayed in great condition thus far.

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We have 4 kids in our house and every time we saw this in a toy store, they played with it. I gave it to them on a Friday and by Monday night, it wouldn't collapse any more. They did have fun pulling on it and rolling it around, but it is not made to handle the tug of war games my 3 and 4 year olds put it through. It's fairly expensive for a toy that just opens and closes and isn't very durable. I don't see how people can say it's educational except to teach colors. It's like saying a ball or a slinky is educational. I wouldn't recommend this toy to a family with active children.

Review of Magnet School

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This toy is OK, but when I put the magnets on my fridge, some of them just slide off. My daughter (14 mos.) enjoys standing on the box and putting the letters back in. Overall it's fun, but not as great as I expected.

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I really wanted to like this toy, for I like most Parents brand toys, but I should have read other reviews first. First time out of the box and about 6 of the magnets slid down the fridge. My son did like finding the magnets that fit on each card (puzzle-concept), but there is no excuse for a magnet school with several magnets that are faulty! I will probably write to the manufacturer and get the faulty magnets replaced, but for the same money or a few dollars more, my son has really been enjoying the Parents animal hospital toy, with lots of pretend play...if you're wavering, get that. Oh, and it's true that it's hard to fit all magnets and cards inside the box.

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The magnet school was a hit with both my children and their friends. I bought this set as a gift for a friend who really enjoyed playing with it. My only complaint was that it was a little difficult to close once all the cards and magnets were inside.

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My daughter, who is 4 and speech delayed, absolutely LOVES this toy! It really help her with her speech. I wish this toy would become available again!

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I got this for my son when he was about a year old and for the first year or so his favorite way to "play" was to just scatter the pieces everywhere. Fun, huh?

But now he adores this set. I turn the cards over and we play it like a game, he picks a card and tells me what letter it is and then we search for it. He knows almost all his letters already thanks to the work we've done with this!

We've never tried the magnets on the fridge because he has another set of fridge magnets but it would have been awesome if the cards did have magnetic strips in the impressions of the letter so they'd stay attached to the card. But they're still plenty fun the way they are!!!

Reviews of Lauri Toys Early Learning Center Kit- Math Discovery

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List Price: $29.99
Sale Price: $21.38
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I read the description and didn't see any reviews, so I wasn't sure what to expect. This is fantastic, though, and I'm so impressed that I'm trying to decide among the literacy sets to have one more preschool homeschooling tool like this set.

The cardboard box with drawers is well-made, though the top of ours drooped a little after our 15 pound cat used it for a nap. :) The drawer is help it regain its shape, though, so the droop is almost gone now.

Inside, you'll find:

*Tiles, made out of durable foam:

--Ten yellow and ten blue foam number sets (both 0 to 9) that come in all blue/all yellow and then you switch to blue background with yellow numbers and vice versa. Or, if you want your child to feel each number's shape, you can omit the background. The numbers have a nice texture to them, which also helps for sensory input.

--Ten white tiles with number names in lowercase letters in a black sans serif font (one-ten)

--Ten varied and colorful picture cards representing numbers one through ten (one heart, two carrots, three drums, four pears, five frogs, six balloons, seven kites, eight mushrooms, nine basketballs, ten stars)

--Fifteen apple cards (two each of one apple, two apples, three apples, four apples, five apples; one each of six apples, seven apples, eight apples, nine apples, and ten apples)

--Fifty foam circles that can be used as counters or in patterning. Each has a smaller circle in the middle which can be removed my daughter likes to do that, so it's a nice fine motor skill building activity that I didn't anticipate!

*Activity cards, which are all reversible and made of sturdy cardstock with a finish that you can use dry erase markers on:

--The purple ones (4x8 the size of a lot of Christmas card photos people send out) you see on the upper right of the picture are for patterning. They have a series of colors in a pattern with a few white spaces for your child to put the colored foam circles to replicate the pattern. Some are simple (yellow, red, yellow, red, yellow, red, followed by three white circles for your child to fill in), while some are a little more complex by adding more colors or pairings (red, red, blue, red, red, blue...). My three year old loves these, and a precocious two year old might be all about them too.

--The flip side of the pattern cards are yellow cards with white boxes for blanks and operational symbols (+, -, =, ). You can see them in the picture on the right middle, although the foam numbers are on top of the white squares so you can't see them. I use this to model mathematical functions with her now, and she is starting to be able to do the less than/more than cards already. Once she is older, I'll be able to set up problems for her, performing basic algebra by leaving a square blank. Or she can do her own. The other nice thing is that you can use the number cards, word cards, or picture cards (which have different numbers of apples on them) here. We'll be starting with the picture ones soon.

--The blue cards (4x8) are almost the same as the yellow one, except that they already have some numbers (on one side) or apple pictures (on the other) plugged in with only one white blank square (or two in a couple of instances).

--The red cards (4x8) allow children to compare different representations of the same number. Each has one square filled in as well as the coordinating number of circles. Children can then find the other cards that match and get the right number of counters to fill in the circles. For example, for the number two card, she can find the foam number 2, the card with two apples, the card with two carrots, the card with the word "two", and two counters. She can't do it all on her own yet, but we do it together.

--One large card (about 8x10) with pictures on one side, each with a blank white square under it. For example, the first one is one red wagon with a box underneath, followed by two bees with a box underneath, and so on (3 ants, 4 pigs, 5 butterflies, 6 pizza slices, 7 oranges, 8 penguins, 9 beach balls, and 10 baby chicks). In the blank squares, children can put any of the matching cards the matching apple cards, the matching other picture card, the word card, or the foam number. There isn't enough room for all the counters for the larger number. Once kids are writing numbers, a dry erase marker could be used to write them too. I may do that to help her learn which foam number matches each in the beginning.

--On the opposite side of that card, the top is just like the yellow cards described above: blank white square + blank white square = blank white square. Once again, the apple cards, number cards, or word cards can be used. Underneath each box is a larger box in which the child can put the matching number of round counters. This is shown in the upper left corner of the picture.

--One two-sided card (also 8x10) provides instructions for the different activities, much like many of the details I shared above.

I know this is a long review, but I took a long time before I purchased this because I couldn't find any detailed reviews. I think these are great for preschools, daycares with older children, or families at home. I haven't gotten any other kits yet, but I have my eye on a few. I definitely recommend this one! We're using it a lot now, and she'll grow into using it more and more in the future far more interactive than workbook pages and far more comprehensive than any other kit I've found!

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The product is as what it seems. It is durable but it is best to laminate the cards in order to last for a longer time. It is an excellent game for young children.

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This review is after playing with it one time. These are my first impressions. Well thought out, designed, executed. The rubber is thick, doesn't feel like it's going to tear. The cards are a laminated/coated paper that should hold up well If you have a rough kid though, they WILL bend, but not under normal use. There are an assortment of different rubber cards with pictures, number, words on them. There are foam puzzle pieces with the numerals on them. There are cards with blanks/pluses/equal signs/ etc, and you put the correct numbers into the blanks to make the sum, etc. You can mix and match. For instance, you can use 2 apples+3 apples=5 apples, or you can then take away the 3 apples and have them put in the cards with 3 balloons. When they're done couting the pictures, have them put the correct numeral underneath so you have both numerals and pictorials showing the same equation. It's fun. My 4-year old had a good time playing with it. It comes in a little box with 2 drawers, which makes it convenient, but I might take them out of that anyway. I think it's a tad pricey for what you get. Any determined parent could probably make a set like this for super cheap out of cardboard, print out some different pictures, draw plus signs and blank squares on a sheet of paper, and you're done. Or spend a few dollars and buy wood planks and glue everything on top. Knowing how cheap it is to make a few sheets of rubber with pictures on them, perforate them into squares, and laminate some blank cards I think this product could be about $10 cheaper. I'll update in a few months once I determine durability and staying power.

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We have had this for several months and it is a great activity to fill about half an our with. I did make some little cards to go with it for when you add things that are 10 to 20 as the set doesn't come with them. There is so much to do we get the box and he pics whichever activity he wants. When he was about 3 and 3 months the patterning was too hard but there were other things he could do. He will be 4 in 2 months and. He can do about 3/4s of the activities. I did worry that it's not a "game" but he enjoys it. I've used cheese cubes or blueberries as "prizes" for the one who c completes there puzel first (me or him) which makes him more motivated. It gives some practice with letters because of the spelled numbers (I spell the number he is looking for and he finds the card) I think we use this about 2 hours a week from when I bought it and have a lot of fun with it still so I think it's worth the money despite not having numbers up to 20 (which are only needed in 1 activity) and my box was a little squished too.

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The kit comes with counting foam pieces, counting cards (which I think are a great idea to get your child to recognize that the symbol "1" represents one item), addition/subtraction cards, and a custom card. Overall a very well put together set.

Cons: The box was a little smooshed down in the middle, making it slightly difficult to close the top drawer, but it still worked.

I really was hoping that there would be some more materials for things that my son is struggling with counting by 2s/5s/10s, and understanding very basic set theory (i.e. "20" is "2" sets of "10"). I feel those are important concepts to understand rather than just memorizing counting to 100, but I'm not sure how to teach them on my own, and it's possible my son is just too young to learn these concepts (he's almost 5).

Overall I'd recommend the set, although I do feel it's pricey for what you get