Archive for category: Toys

“Tag” could be a great learning device for your not-big-on-reading child.

It’s essentially a wireless, electronic pen. When you poke a special “Tag” book with it, the book talks. Kids can hear the story, listen to the characters speak, play games and identify words.

You have to use the Tag books, and currently there are about 20 of them including Click Clack Moo – Cows that Type, The Little Engine that Could, Diego, Spongebob Square Pants, The Little Mermaid, Cars, and my favourite – Olivia.

The system is a lot like LeapPad, which is being phased out. My son grew up on LeapPad, and to this day says things like, “Ginko leaves have been around since the dinosaurs.” He learned that from LeapPad. Tag is like LeapPad except it’s wireless.

Tag is also intuitive. Kids just poke the pen anywhere on the book to get the information they want. And, if this system is developed like LeapPad, there will soon be many more titles and games to choose from.

Tag is $59.99 (Canadian) at Toys R Us online.

It’s also great because it works for a wide range of ages, from very little children (parents just have to make sure they don’t rip the book), up to about grade 1. LeapPad also had books for older kids, and I’m hoping the Tag line will extend to higher grades as well.

No, not really – it’s for candy and for zombies.

But in the midst of our Hallowe’en party today, I managed to sneak in some learning. We had hidden “eyeballs” (bouncy balls with corneas printed on them) in the backyard. Each child had to find five with their initials on them.

As I was telling them about it, I realized that not every child knew what “initials” were, or what their personal initials were. So I told them about how initials could be just for the first name, or for the first and last names.

And then we went through each person’s name and shouted out their initials. So not only did they have treats, but we taught them a new trick.

This is a picture of the punch we had at the party. It had a hand in it. Fun.

There are so many great ways to enjoy the library.

This post is the first of many, as I share with you a love of libraries. Being enthusiastic about libraries rubs off on children, and the library can become a place where kids feel comfortable and empowered.

When my son was about three years old, I was, like many new mothers, exhausted. I wanted to go to the library, but how? My son didn’t want to go (and I didn’t need a war on my hands), and I knew that it would just end up being work for me, as I reshelved the books he got down – never mind finding time to browse.

Here’s how I solved it. The library has computers! And they have a half-hour time limit. So I would tell my son, “Let’s go to the library.” (Screaming, whining.) “You can use the computer for a little while.” (Zoooom! – coat on, shoes on.)

He always understood that when the computer shut off, that was it, time to go – I never gave him “another” half-hour. During that 30 minutes, I could browse the children’s books to my heart’s content. He would go on the very kid-friendly and educational TVO website. The added bonus was that he got to use a computer – but not mine.

And after the library computer shut off, I would let him pick out some books, and we would check them out together. He got familiar with the people and the layout of the library, and began to understand how it all worked and to feel like it could be his place, too.

We also do a ton of other things at the library, so there’s not much danger of my son seeing the library only as his “computer arcade.” Still, I respect other parents’ views on computers and not allowing their kids to use them until they’re older. I’m just saying this was something that worked for me. I welcome your comments!