Discount Shake, Rattle, & Drum

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List Price: $39.99
Sale Price: $39.97
Today's Bonus: $0.02 Off

We purchased the Shake, Rattle, & Drum for our twin 1 year old boys and they absolutely love it. We know that this is recommended for ages 3 and above, but they have been pounding on everything they could get their hands on so we figured they'd love it. At their age we only let them use it with adult supervision because they want to put everything in their mouth and we figure that isn't prudent because of them ingesting the paint. The red rattle is a little loud so that may only come out for special occasions. I'd recommend this for budding musicians that like to pound on things.

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I didn't want to buy any of the plastic drums and instrument sets so I was happy to find this. The drum is very sturdy and makes a lot of noise :-) Our daughter (2 years) loves it. The drum has a handle attached so all the instruments can be stored in it when you turn it upside down. Perfect to teach clean up, too! The shakers are the only ones that are not very loud, they could be a little louder as they can't really be heard when you play all instruments together. Overall, the best choice out there, couldn't be happier.

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We bought this for my son at four months. This is a truly great product that has already lasted for 9 months and counting. Early introduction had produced a little one who loves music and find the beat really enjoying musical activities ahead of his peers. My son wore out the rope int he clapper, but that was easily threaded with a new piece of material. I would recommend this as a great investment for your child or a great gift for someone else.

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My almost three-year-old grandson loves this set, especially the drum. The drum has a good sound satisfyingly loud for him but not annoyingly loud for grown-ups. His nine-month-old brother enjoys accompanying him on the maracas, which are a good size for little hands. The drum, drum sticks, and maracas seem sturdy. However, when banged together, the painted tambourine stick and the painted castanets chip badly. Thus, the tambourine stick and castanets shouldn't be used to make music by banging them together, which is exactly what a small child would be expected to do with them! This would be a better set if the manufacturer made the tambourine stick and castanets out of unpainted wood or heavy plastic.

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We bought this drum set for my daughters 1st birthday and she absolutely loves it!! She walks all around the house shaking the maracas and then brings me the drum to beat (she also beats the drum too). And she loves the other shakers too. The age recommendation is 3 years, but is perfect for younger ages too. My nephew also has this set (also 1 year old) and we gave it as a gift to another 1 year old girl. Have fun making music together!

Cheap Learning Resources Giant Magnetic Insects

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Bought this for a coworker's child's birthday. Kid absolutely adored it, learned all the insects quickly. This was after a few days of giant insect magnets decorating our lab fridge though, haha.

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3B Scientific Glossy Paper Human Skull Anatomical Chart Review

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I had to trim this down slightly to fit it into a frame, as it is about a quarter of an inch longer than advertised. I won't hold that against the product, though. After all, I really didn't expect an anatomy poster to be so nice that I would feel compelled to frame it!

It's a great study aid, and it's nice-looking to boot. Highly recommended for students, teachers, and medical professionals.

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Cheap Learning Resources Time Tracker Mini

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I purchased this item to help my Autistic son with waiting. The biggest draw back is that it can ONLY be set in 5 minute incriments. The dial does not move to indicate how much time is left. And if the start button is pushed more than once (Kids) it resets the timer. I never saw the light change to yellow. Only blink red when time was almost up. Hope this helps. I am returning it to the store.

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We purchased the Mini due to other reviewers commenting on how confusing the larger one was to program. We wanted the timer for our son for this morning school routine (dressing, eating, etc). Now let me say that I am an engineer and reasonably good at problem solving. However, this timer, which has only a green and yellow adjuster really perplexed me for about a week. I eventually sat down with a stop watch to figure this thing out because it does not come with directions. For all of the other parents out there, here is how it works.

The green band sets your total time. If you only want 5 min then the timer will go from green directly to red after 5 min no yellow. For 15 min, the green band is on 15, etc.

That's not so bad, I would have thought that the green band set the time of the green light but nope, green band is the total time.

The yellow band sets the duration of the green light. So illogical, but if you want 10 min of green and 5 min of yellow you have to set the green band to 15 and the yellow one to 10. Rather than the yellow band setting the duration of the yellow light, you have to do the math and subtract the green band which is really the total time from the yellow band which is really the green light to get the yellow time. Confused? Yep, we were too.

I hope this helps lessen the confusion, it really is a great tool and works wonders, but is so frustratingly illogical to use. I'm happy to have it but wish it were more intuitive.

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This timer is very easy to set. Simply twist the green band to the amount of total time that the timer will run, and twist the yellow band to how long after the timer starts that you would like it to show the yellow warning light. The volume is adjustable, which is perfect for a loud/busy classroom or a quiet space such as the library. One of my students does fabulous with transitions when he can see the lights change.... when it turns to yellow, he'll tell me that he only has a little left, and when it turns red, he just gets up and follows the group. Without the light there are arguments and negotiations for more time! Works GREAT! LOVE IT!!!

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Though the Time Tracker Mini seems to do exactly what it's supposed to, it doesn't do the one thing I wanted it to do. It DOES count down the time and at the alotted setting, the yellow warning light turns on to indicate the "5 minute warning" or whatever you set the yellow dial to. I wish it counted down the time so that, as the adult, I would know EXACTLY how much time is left. My son loves it though. I would suggest on the next update of this product to have it show how much time is left. All and all, it serves it's purpose.

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We were constantly struggling to get our 3 boys ready in the morning. I got so sick of reminding them to get dressed for 45 minutes straight! Now we set the timer, with a warning when there is 5 minutes left, and they are on their own. If the timer is up before they are ready, they will go to bed 15 minutes earlier that night since they are obviously too tired to get dressed. We do the same for breakfast when the timer goes off, breakfast is over. You can mess around all you want but you're going to be awfully hungry until lunch.

Agree I wish it wasn't automatically 5 minute increments but it works great for us. The reviews I read for the original time tracker seemed like it was hard to program but this one is a piece of cake. Definitely recommend!!

Black and Decker Outdoor Tool Set - Leaf Blower Review

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I bought this leaf blower for my son for his second birthday. It is a very nice toy. He likes it a lot. It has not broken or needed the batteries changed after 2 months. It makes a reasonable sound that is not too loud. The only thing I don't like about it is that it doesn't blow ANY air. Not even the slightest bit. My son always tries to blow a leaf or piece of grass and is disappointed that it doesn't move. Why can't they make a toy leaf blower that actually blows a little air? I can't find one anywhere.

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My grandson absolutely loved this leaf blower. He did not want to put it down after he opened it. It is durable and provided hours of fun.

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Granson loves this toy set. Very good to keep him busy. Can get a little loud at times. Best for outdoor use.

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2 yr old grandson loves this. Follows dad when he blows leaves and helps! Light weight and easy pull tirgger

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My 2 yr old loves it and plays with it almost daily. He doesn't seem to mind that it doesn't actually blow air.

Buy PopZolo Creative 3D Sculpture Crafts - Curious Toys

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This toy is smaller than we anticipated. It is really adorable, and we have enjoyed playing with it, but think that the tiny pieces will not be the greatest yet for our grandchildren. The 7 year old will probably do fine with it, but the 4 year old will not be able to play with these little connectors. The little pieces will be easily lost, so will keep it back as a special toy with supervision.

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Discount LeapFrog Twinkle Twinkle Little

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My daughter has the larger "Violet" Leap Frog toy and I purchased this cute mini version (I have the purple violet one... only difference is the color) for a long car trip. She LOVES this and it's her new "nighttime" toy. The little moon lights up. It has three buttons off, a "short" little song such as ("Naptime's here, my eyes, they close...") and then either 10 or 20 minutes of lullabies or nighttime music. The little "Blankie" is removable/washable and threads through the moon to stay put. My daughter is 10 months old. She puts the blanket up to her face and uses it to soothe herself to sleep. Highly recommend! (FYI you cannot customize your child's name like the bigger Violet/Scout).

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this doll enables us to drive for up to twenty minutes without my four month screaming. she hates the car. she has hated all other cars, the three types of carseats that we have used, having people ride in the back, and every other type of distraction. i put this in with her and her screams of outrage turned into song. now she sings with the puppy on every trip (that last less than 20 minutes).

thank you whoever created this. thank you from the bottom of my heart.

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My son got this for his first birthday and we all love it! He has the bigger Scout so was excited to see a familiar face when he opened his gift and pulled out this adorable mini Scout. It plays music, the moon lights up, and the blanket is removable and washable. I would recommend it to everyone and it will be a new favorite thing to give at baby showers. Too cute!!

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Love Little Violet, my two girls had Glo Worms and neither one was impressed with them. I personally didn't like its hard face and fact that it played music for such a short time. Little Violet is much better, longer playing (10 & 20 minute settings) and is soft. My 7 mos old baby girl loves her naptime & settling in on car trips. My friend is having her first daughter in a few weeks this is what I'll be gifting her. Recommended.

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Small kids like to push buttons and 3 buttons are too much for a child in the middle of the night. The sleep button is hard for my 20 month old to find when she is trying to turn it on herself while sleepy yet, the power button is in just the right place to turn the the sounds off as soon as she tries to cuddle it. The play time/nap button is the button seems to be the easiest to access.

When you push the sleepy time button it doesn't play the music or the nature sounds immediately. Instead it is a woman's voice says "10 min of lullabies, (press again) "20min of lullabies", (press again) "10 min of nature sounds", (press again) "20 min of nature sounds" before playing any music or nature sounds. I'm not sure if my daughter is repeatedly pressing the button trying to find the music and nature sounds because she is only hearing the woman's voice or if she is just pressing buttons.

The low volume is still a little loud but it works and I suppose it drowns out any other background noise that is happening in the house.

I like that it will play for 20 min. I like that it has the option of lullabies or nature sounds. I like the songs it plays.

Overall I am thinking of getting another seahorse for this second child since it is so easy for them to turn on by themselves, i just wish it had nature sounds.

Review of Learning Resources Learning Resources AC Adapter for Games

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I ordered this because a student in my class broke the power supply for my Time Tracker Tags (the one with the three colors). I didn't know if it was the right power supply for this product since it wasn't specifically listed in the directions. However, I plugged it in, replaced the batteries in the tag, and now have a functioning set of Time Trackers. Thank goodness!

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GARANIMALS FUN SHAPES PULL-ALONG CAR Review

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Great toy both our daughters like playing with it both under 2. My only problem with it is there is no on/off switch or volume control on it and it is very loud sometimes. But it is a very good toy :)

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Buy Learning Resources Snap-n-Learn Shape Butterflies

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List Price: $19.99
Sale Price: $11.99
Today's Bonus: 40% Off

I am very disappointed in this toy for the following reasons:

-Most of the wings do not actually snap onto the bodies of the bugs and as soon as my toddlers try to play with them, they fall-off, which is very frustrating for them and me.

-The heads are difficult to press into the bodies.

-The toy is a little confusing for my toddlers as they instinctively match the heads and bodies by color and are frustrated when the same color of wing doesn't fit.

I actually contacted Learning Resources about my frustration that the wings don't stay on, in the hopes that they would send me replacement parts. The best they could do was to suggest I return the kit to Amazon.

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The colors are bright and the materials seem very sturdy. I didn't deduct a star for it because it was probably just my bad luck, but due to a packaging error (not Amazon's fault), we had an extra "square" wing and no "heart" wing which caused my toddler much frustration and confusion. The butterflies are adorable and it's a really nice spin on the classic puzzle. The carrying case is very convenient for storage. This is great for working on colors and shapes and would be fun to use in the bathtub even. I recommend it but I also recommend doing a careful check to make sure you have all the right pieces in your set before letting your child see (although my guess is this was just a fluke on my end and probably not the norm).

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This is a favorite at our house. My only negative criticism is that the wings are not a tight fit, so they tend to fall off.

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Really cute! My 2+ grandson has found many ways to play with these guys! We have lots of meetings, fly off together, collect nectar together and of course, all the butterflies are "friends"

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My 2 and a half year old really likes playing with theses almost daily. It teaches color, shapes and motor skills. It also is easy to pick up with the storage bucket it comes in. It is simple, no noises, no complications just fun.

Best Disney Princess Light Up Diary Journal Belle Tiana Cinderella Deals

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List Price: $24.99
Sale Price: $13.42
Today's Bonus: 46% Off

My daughter enjoys this journal, she really loves Disney princesses. The great thing about this journal that I didn't know when I bought it, is that it is a refillable journal. When the current pages are filled, just buy another paper journal filler and put it in.

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Review of 4D Vision Frog Anatomy Model

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List Price: $25.99
Sale Price: $23.99
Today's Bonus: 8% Off

This model was a good alternative to dissection for my 12 year old girl (homeschool zoology). Looks good, anatomically correct, sturdy, reasonably well built. Takes some dexterity to put together, but wasn't a problem for her. Materials that came with it were good, including basics of major organs, plus a great labeled diagram of a frog skeleton. The "Uncover a Frog" book was a good companion to the model.

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Gave this to my 9 year old daughter for xmas she stopped opening presents so she could put it together! She loves it and takes it apart and puts it back together because she is fascinated by the anatomy of the frog. Super cool. And her little sister (age 7) got the shark. I would recommend this puzzle to any one who wants to get a kid excited about biology and anatomy.

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It's bigger than it looks!

Although my daughter is only 6, she wants to be a vet so this was right up her alley. Her 8 year old brother had to help with some of the construction though.

Very good product and well made

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If you want this for a one to two time use...perfect. If you want to be able to put together and set on counter if it gets bumped etc. it falls apart. My daughter became frustrated because she couldn't close it once she put all the peices together. She had to leave one out to get it to close and then the leg and arms kept falling off. If you want to treat it like a mister potato head toy this is cool and fun.

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This frog model is a wonderful! It is an easy to use model and great for kids. I recommend this to any age.

Review of 15" Hand Held Silver Telescope w/ Leather Case - 12x Magnification

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List Price: $43.95
Sale Price: $29.95
Today's Bonus: 32% Off

I have always enjoyed hand-held optics(binoculars, monoculars, spy-glass-type telescopes). I didn't have a great deal of hope for this one, as the price seemed a bit on the low end for anything that would be truly effective.

I was, however, delightfully surprised when I received and (admittedly, after a false start) figured out how to use the unit.

Needless to say, you won't see the astronauts' boot-prints on the moon. You will, however, bring ill-defined but visible objects within range for clear observation. I have been able to use it to find the livestock on my own and neighboring ranges, as well as evaluate wind-storm damage to trees that might possibly endanger said livestock (cattle, horses).

Also, when stabilized in a microphone stand (I am a professional performer), I have been able to do some limited astronomical observation.

The unit is more than worth the price I paid for it, and I cannot recommend it highly enough. Enjoy!

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As a wearer of glasses, I am not a big fan of binoculars. I don't want to take the time to remove my glasses when I just want to take a quick look at something, and I don't like trying to hold the binoculars off my glasses. My wife and I do spend a good amount of time hiking and biking, and I had made a joke a while back (I think after riding Pirates of the Caribbean at Disney World) about wanting a simple spyglass so that I could see things in the distance. Well, fast-forward to our anniversary this weekend, and I was quite surprised to receive this telescope as a gift. The leather case is nice, the straps on the case are kinda third-worldish (aka flimsy), but the spyglass itself is really nice. It has a good weight to it, it slides very smoothly in and out, and it's clear and easy to focus (for the noobs, you focus it by making the whole thing a tiny bit shorter). I was very impressed by the looks, quality and usefulness. I'm also sure it will be a head-turner when I pull it out on the trail. It's so much quicker to sight things through this than through a pair of binoculars, I'm really surprised that spyglasses such as this one aren't more popular.

As an added bonus, this spyglass in it's case fits perfectly in the side water holder on my Avenir Excursion Rack-Top Bag (830 Cubic Inches).

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The telescope itself is great, my son loved it. But the leather case it comes with was in really bad shape. It was falling apart and all rusted wherever there was metal. No big deal to my son who just wanted the telescope though.

Honest reviews on 15" Hand Held Silver Telescope w/ Leather Case - 12x Magnification

The telescope works and is fairly easy to use..........however, this is a gift for my 6 year old granddaughter and the musty smell coming from the leather part of telescope as well as the carrying case is HORRIBLE!!! I can't possibly give it to her like it is. I have cleaned it, put it over an a/c vent for circulation, put it outside in the fresh sunshine, etc, etc. Nothing has worked. PlLEASE HELP ME!!! I only have 4 more days until her party and this is what she wants ----BUT, I can't possibly give her such a SMELLY GIFT!

Discount SmartLab Toys ReCon 6.0 Programmable Rover

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Great product! 12 yr twins each have one and they love it. Very educational and fun. We received one that the voice/speaker didn't not work very well on. Notified SmartLab and they responded quickly to let us know that item was on backorder, but as soon as they received one, they would send it out and include prepaid postage for us. We received a call earlier than expected letting us know they would be sending a replacement out. We received the replacement w/n a week. The replacement had been tested to assure it was working properly. They also told us to keep the old one. Great company to work with SmartLabs will definitely be ordering from them again. The great customer service they provided is hard to find these days. Was very impressed with the company.

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My children were excited to try out the ReCon Rover. We have found no flaws with it. It works as advertised. My sons only complaint is that it is slow. The kids enjoy taking turns programming it to move around the house. My son is 14 and was able to work the ReCon Rover on his own. My only issues it that the neatest has worn off and I have not seen my children use the toy again.

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I really wanted to like this product. It seems to be riddled with bugs. If you don't remember to power it down with the switch underneath the robot it will eat through batteries in less than a day. Took me 2 sets of batteries to figure that out. Our 9 year old son still doesn't have the habit. The screen also blanks out randomly while programming. I don't think the one I received is defective I just think it has some bugs. Too bad because it's really cool looking and my son was excited to received it as a gift. Maybe they will fix the bugs with version 7.0 but right now I would not recommend this product to anyone. Ours just sits on a shelf.

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I thought this was something my 7 year old boy could do himself. It requires heavy programing and adult assistance. My son thought it would be all voice and remote control activated. He wants to do it himself, but it requires a lot of reading of codes and too many instructions--I even got overwhelmed. I made my husband help him. I think it would be better for an older computer programing loving child.

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Customer review from the Amazon Vine Program

When I was a kid I had a phase where I absolutely convinced that I needed a robot. I wasn't sure how a robot was going to help me, but I just KNEW that having a robot would make my life better. I thought a robot would be a nice alternative to a dog... with less mess.

The Smart Lab Recon 6.0 Programmable Rover is a pretty slick robot it takes a bit of time but it can be programmed to do a variety of tasks. It is not a perfect robot it is a bit slow and cumbersome to program, but for any science savvy kid will have a field day!

Notes-

Programming The Recon 6.0 must be programmed directly from a touch pad. Programming requires you to scroll through a series menus and saving settings... in some ways it is kind of like programming an old VCR. A remote control would make the process much simpler or possibly an ipod/iphone/ipad interface.... but we are left the touchpad... it seems circa 1999.

Batteries Requires 3 C batteries. I say this because C batteries seem to be going extinct and I didn't have three C batteries in my entire house (this is surprising because we use lots of batteries).

Speed The Recon 6.0 is not exactly fast you can see it in the video

Driving ability the plus is that it works well on carpet, rugs, and all surfaces the negative is that doesn't seem to always track correctly. You can see it in the video that the Recon 6.0 isn't always precise in its turns.

Educational Value The educational value is pretty high.... in many ways... it will help kids lean to map out routes based in inches, feet, and turning angles. It also helps children learn the iterative process required for programming. One step leads to the next... and so on. The programming can be a bit of a challenge but if the child has a little persistence they should be able to master it.

Other features the Recon 6.0 can be programmed to turn on its lights, speak voice commands, and even deliver soda cans!

Final Verdict At this price point I do expect a few more features, and I wish it was better calibrated for turning (right out of the box), but any technology savvy child will really enjoy the Recon 6.0 by Smart Lab

3 1/2 Stars