VTech Go! Go! Smart Wheels™ Garage Review & Giveaway

My son is all boy...totally. When I had my daughter, I enjoyed the finer things about having a girl...little dollies in swings and strollers, tea parties, fancy dresses and nail polish. When she played, she was gentle and kind; everything was pleasant. When my son was born, he was such a sweetheart. I watched him grow and as he became a toddler, I began to see this rough side starting to come out. He would throw toys across the room and would really only toss them not realizing that they would FLY. His chubby little hands would grasp matchbox cars and crash them into one another. Oh boy oh boy...he is definitely ALL boy. He has a vehement love for all things cars and we have quite a collection of car toys for him. My youngest is also getting very excited about playing with cars and we are now trying to teach Jacob to SHARE.

VTech has been a long time favorite around here and it is probably because all of VTech's toys and games are educational as well as fun. Not only are their toys educational, but they are also appropriate for all ages. I have had children of all ages visit and  they all enjoy our VTech toys. The sounds, lights and music are very entertaining and always hold the attention of every child who plays with them. Well, today I am going to introduce you to the VTech Go! Go! Smart Wheels™ Garage...a fun way to engage your children in active play while learning. Before I continue on with my review though, here is a bit more about VTech...

VTech® is the world leader in age-appropriate and developmental stage-based electronic learning products for children. With a variety of educational learning toys like our award-winning Innotab® 2, InnoTab® 2S, the new InnoTab® 3, MobiGo handheld toys, V.Reader and our transforming Switch & Go Dino collections, 

VTech has an educational learning toy for everyone. For more than 30 years, VTech has been developing high-quality, innovative educational electronic learning products that enrich children's development, through fun and smart play.

I had never heard of the Go! Go! Smart Wheels collection from VTech and was really excited to learn more about them. When I was offered the chance to review the Go! Go! Smart Wheels™ Garage, I was VERY excited! I purposely didn't tell my children as I wanted to surprise them and what a wonderful surprise it turned out to be!

So, for this review I was sent the Go! Go! Smart Wheels™ Garage, which retails for $34.99. When this arrived at my door the other day, my entire family was down with the stomach bug so I tucked it away until the children were feeling better.

Yesterday, my children were back to their old selves and I told them I had a special surprise for them when they finished their dinner. Upon opening the box I was really excited to see that there was minimal assembly required and that I did not need any tools (except for a screwdriver to open the battery compartment). All of the parts are simple to assemble and just snap into place...which made for a super-quick set up.

It took about 10 minutes to totally put this toy together and once it was done, my children could not wait to check it out! This garage comes with a spiral ramp, gas station, traffic light, elevator, parking pad and helicopter landing pad. The Tow Truck already comes with batteries...you just need two AA batteries for the garage itself (which are installed behind the gas pump).

 

This Go! Go! Smart Wheels™ Garage comes with a cute little tow truck that is just the right size for little hands. When you press the windshield, the truck talks, plays music and the best part is that you can turn the truck on and off! There is nothing that annoys me more than a toy that doesn't have an on/off switch.

This fun garage features three light-up buttons that your child can press and these buttons help to teach all about colors and the weather. You can select two different modes that will change phrases and sounds as well. If you are in the music mode, you can hear a fun phrase as well as sing-along songs and sounds. Lights flash to coordinate with the sounds/music...which is fun. I also love the elevator as it teaches opposites...up and down. 

The way the Smart Wheels technology works with this garage is there are 6 SmartPoint locations and when the vehicle is rolled over these points, the vehicle will sing, play music and fun greetings and do other things as well! 

 Since I have given this VTech Go! Go! Smart Wheels Garage to my children, it has provided them with non-stop fun. Seriously, it is the first thing they play with when they get up in the morning and the last thing they are playing with before bed. The only thing I don't like about this garage is that the tow truck gets stuck when going down the ramps...it doesn't roll easily. The other thing I don't care for is the fact that the helicopter landing pad doesn't snap into place so it is constantly getting bumped and falls off very easily. My littlest one thinks it is funny to take it off and run away with it, which upsets his brother. 

All in all, this is a really fun toy. I always love toys that provide loads of fun for my children and that also give them a bit of education in the process. My children are simply in love with the VTech Go! Go! Smart Wheels Garage and cannot wait for their friends to come over and play with them. It is definitely a winner here and I would recommend it to anyone! Be sure to check out VTech on Facebook and also on Twitter.

VTech has offered to give away a Go! Go! Smart Wheels™ Garage to one of you! This is such a cool giveaway...check out your easy entry options!

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Disclaimer: I received no monetary compensation for this post. I did receive free VTech products for review purposes. All quotes and stock photos are from the VTech website and email. Prize is being provided and shipped by the sponsor. This blog is NOT responsible for lost, stolen or damaged prizes. All thoughts and opinions are 100% mine.

Greene Bark Press ~ "Look Left, Look Right, Look Left Again" Board Book Review

I am a huge fan of teaching my children the basics about road safety as soon as they are able to grasp the concept of danger...which is typically when they are still very young. When our first child was a toddler, she was very much an explorer and she loved to wander. I didn't let her out of my sight when we were outside because she could take off in a heartbeat and if I wasn't paying attention, she would disappear. At the time, we had a very short, black-topped driveway but lived on a very quiet street. She loved to go outside and play so most nice days, that is exactly where we would be...out in the front yard playing on all the riding toys. I remember one day like it was yesterday. She was playing on the driveway and I was sitting there watching her. In the blink of an eye, she was racing towards the street as fast as her little legs could carry her and no matter how loud I yelled, she wasn't stopping. I finally caught up with her and carefully and FIRMLY explained that we do NOT run into the road. Ever. She learned quickly with dedicated training sessions in which I would let her go and give her voice commands as to when she should stop. Surprisingly, she learned quickly and didn't enter the road unless I was with her.

Now that she is older, she has begun to ride a bike and we go for long walks in our neighborhood. She is learning the concept of stopping at stop signs, riding on the SIDE of the road rather than down the middle and how to start and stop her bicycle safely. These are all things that she needs to know in order to ride her bike and we have had fun teaching her! Today, I am going to introduce a cute board book to you that will help YOU to teach your child all about road safety and this book is from Greene Bark Press and it is called "Look Left, Look Right, Look Left Again", which retails for $8.50. I was sent this book to read through with my children and wanted to share my thoughts with you today. :)

Oh goodness...this is such a cute little board book! Perfect for children ages 3 - 8, it is full of cute characters, adorable, brightly colored pictures and wonderful lessons to be learned about crossing the road safely. The story line is all about a little duck named Wally Waddlewater, who wants to mail his grandmother a letter...but needs to cross busy streets in order to get to the mailbox.

Packed full of action and scenarios that are perfect for teaching children, this book is very well put together for little ones. Before I had the chance to actually read this book TO my children, they had grabbed it and ran off with it simply so they could look at the pictures! They absolutely loved the drawings and they are good enough, you really don't need words to fully understand what is happening in the pictures.

One of my favorite sections in the book is when Wally Waddlewater was walking and they used the words "Wadda, Wadda" to describe the walking...I thought that was sooo cute! You can use voice inflections to make it seem cuter too...which....*ahem*...I did. :) 

Wally Waddlewater has to wait for many things to come down the road before he can cross (elephants, trains, etc.) and if his mommy was not there to guide and teach him, he would have been badly injured. The good news is that he did learn how to cross the street and was able to get his letter into the mailbox safely.

This book has been GREAT for teaching all of my children about crossing the road. I also love how it teaches obedience...immediate obedience. This is something we strive for in our children and I love it when a book comes along side my teaching and helps to reinforce the lesson we are trying to get across to them. So now, when we go for a walk as a family we always repeat the phrase "look left, look right, look left again" at each intersection, making sure the children stop walking/riding. They all turn their heads in both directions and ultimately, we make it safely across the street.

I would DEFINITELY recommend this book to anyone who is looking to teach road safety to their children. It is a fun way to teach a very important lesson to your child without scaring them or, God forbid, having them get hurt because you failed to teach them. 

So, check out Greene Bark Press' board book, "Look Left, Look Right, Look Left Again" and invest in your children's safety today! You will be so glad that you did. Our family enjoyed this book and hope you will check it out! Be sure to read what my other crew mates had to say about this book, by clicking the banner below.

Family Hope Center ~ Understanding Child Brain Development DVD Review

Have you ever found yourself looking at your child saying, "WHAT were they thinking???" Or, maybe you have seen your child struggle with simple reading activities or games. Since my daughter is still young, she really hasn't begun reading or writing to the fullest extent but I have noticed a few things that are slightly concerning. First of all, she tends to look at a three letter word (very VERY early reading stage) and will read it backwards. This happens very rarely but when it does, I am perplexed. Also, she can swap out letters and add letters that are not there to begin with. She is a smart girl and is really sharp but what is the reason for these small issues? This makes me wonder just what a child's brain development should be and at what pace it should be developing properly.

Today, I am going to introduce you to the Family Hope Center and their DVD, Understanding Child Brain Development. To order the DVD, you can call 610-397-1737 or you can order Understanding Child Brain Development from IEW.  Here is a bit more about their mission...

We Treat Every Child As a Unique Individual In your search to do the very best for your child, how often have you felt that you are no longer in control? Continuously being told that your child will never be able to lead a full-life and that you will just have to do the best you can? Now you can do what’s best for your child. At the Family Hope Center (FHC), we firmly believe that you should be in the ‘driver’s seat’, knowing what to do and how to do it. We also believe that every child is different and deserves individual treatment, which means with our unique diagnostic chart, we design a Program specifically created to develop your child to be the very best they can be.

While Family Hope Center's program focuses on children with disabilities, it is also VERY helpful and appropriate for any family dealing with a wide spectrum of issues. Children can struggle with various aspects of development and those struggles make themselves evident in behavior...sometimes unruly and odd behavior. I love the fact that Family Hope Center focuses on helping parents better understand and "shepherd" their children and they call it their ministry. Their center is an actual treatment center in which they treat and guide families from over 17 countries and they work with children who are comatose, blind, deaf amongst other shortcomings and disabilities.

Matthew and Carol Newell have been married for 20+ years have worked with children with disabilities. They founded Family Hope Center to give people HOPE when it comes to helping their children and they seem like wonderful people!

So, for this review I was sent the Understanding Child Brain Development DVD. As soon as the DVD began, I loved listening to Matt speak about his and his wife's capabilities and skills...they are fully equipped to educate anyone about neurological development. Matt is an exceptional speaker that draws you in and interacts with you...I was able to relate to him within the first 10 minutes.

Some questions that were presented and answered in this DVD were:

• Why do children struggle even though we have such an information-packed society?
• Are all children brain injured?
• Is my child a collection of disabilities and/or syndromes?
• Does my child have a disease? 

Another thing I learned is that I am NOT the problem...I am the solution. My child is not having problems because of me, they were injured at some point in their life and I am here to help them through this period of their life. I can help to restore their brain. One thing that Matt says in this DVD is that we need to focus on what our child CAN do as opposed to what they CAN'T do and stop seeing things as disabilities. Wow. That really struck me. If I can see past my child's issues and see their strengths, how empowering that is for me as a parent.

One thing we need to understand is what wellness is. I learned that the brain alone in a baby is 30% of his weight! So, a baby is ready to learn immediately after birth. That is amazing! Understanding wellness is very important to understanding the development process. Matt takes you through how the brain develops, starting at birth and he very clearly explains how the brain functions at each stage. I found this to be very interesting as I am always enthralled at how babies are so smart at birth. (Mine were, anyway...or was it just because I was a bit partial?? Hmmm....  :)  ) He explains why doctors check babies eyes...they are looking for blindness based on how their eyes respond to the light - reflexes. Another thing relating to neurological development is HOW the baby is born. Another issue Hannah had...when she was born, she was born via Cesarean Section. Her body didn't go through the important process of birth and from what I learned during watching this DVD was that her brain didn't connect with me through the lifting of the baby to my chest and immediate nursing process that most babies experience after birth.

Oh, and did you know that we are the only mammals that put babies on their backs??? Hmmmm. Not good in terms of neurological development. As I was watching this particular section of the DVD, it hit me. Hannah NEVER crawled on all fours. She did an (what I called) "elephant walk", where she put her palms on the floor and put herself in an "A" position and did that instead of crawling. This was very bad for her and is now causing her problems. Jacob is not yet in school but he has issues with responding immediately to me and sometimes gets very involved in his activities and ignores me completely. Thinking back, he never crawled either. Oh boy. He sat on his backside and scooted around the house. His brain development is not where it should be either. So I learned that crawling is ESSENTIAL to proper brain development. Very, very interesting.

Another thing that Matt talks about is the fact that babies are constantly moving in utero but when they are born, we take them off that pathway by putting them on their backs. When they are on their bellies, this can help their digestion, help them pass gas more effectively which, in turn, will equal a baby who does not suffer from colic.  Hannah was also the poster baby for colic. She screamed C.O.N.S.T.A.N.T.L.Y. Babies connecting with their mothers is also imperative to their development.

I was thankful to have the opportunity to review this DVD because it showed me exactly why my daughter and son are the way they are. There is SO much information in this DVD, I couldn't possibly tell you all about it in this single review without going over 15,000 words. :) I would strongly encourage you to check out Family Hope Center and get this DVD. It was encouraging, educating, and presented very well. I would HIGHLY recommend it to anyone, even if you don't have children who are disabled or challenged.

Again, to order the DVD, you can call 610-397-1737 or you can order Understanding Child Brain Development from IEW for $19. Every child has issues in some way shape or form. Learning about the brain and how it works is essential to raising and helping our children develop properly. The brain can be strengthened and restored...how encouraging and what wonderful hope it gives me as a mom. THANK YOU Matt and Carol for your ministry. :)

Check out what my other blogger friends on the Schoolhouse Review Crew had to say about this DVD by clicking the banner below.

BrainFood Learning - Fascinating World of Birds DVD Review

One of the benefits of having a new house that backs up to a field is being able to enjoy nature. Growing up, my dad would always put up bird feeders and we would LOVE to watch the birds come and feed. Now that I am a mommy I enjoy passing along  my memories of bird-watching to my children. We weren't in the  new house a month and we had to go buy a bird feeder. :) My knowledge of birds has been pretty good but I don't know as much as I would like. Sooo, when the opportunity arose to review a DVD about birds, I jumped at the chance...especially since this particular DVD is geared towards children of all ages.

BrainFood Learning is a company that was founded by a husband/wife team who are parents of two small children. Their desire for stimulating and interesting content for children that educates as well as entertains led them to create the "Fascinating World Of..." DVD series. My children LOVE anything that has nature in it and I have difficulty finding material that is educational as well as entertaining...the same problem Bryce and Jennifer Mooney had. As you can see from the DVD cover pictured above, they definitely have mastered the "catch the eye" marketing tactic! I love all the colors and knew that my children would love this DVD.

So, for this review I was sent the Fascinating World Of Birds DVD, which retails for $14.99. As soon as it arrived, I opened my box and was immediately excited for my children. Not only was I excited for them, I was excited for me too!:)  I too have a love for nature films and was very much looking forward to enjoying this with my children.

I love the way this DVD is laid out. There are beautiful and bright pictures of birds, both backyard birds and exotic birds. My children have very little knowledge of anything that is found outside of our backyard and so this was really neat for them to see. Here is a quick preview of this DVD...
I learned some very interesting facts about birds, such as the Ostrich. Did you know that they Ostrich's eye is about the size of their brain? This means that they are NOT very smart. HA HA! I can see why. :) Also, when you hear the terms "bury your head in the sand", this is used in conjunction with what the ostrich supposedly does. They don't actually bury their heads in the sand, they are actually tending to eggs in their nest...turning them to help in incubation. They also have about 2 pounds of stones in their gizzard to help aid in digestion. THAT was something I did not know prior to watching this DVD. My children especially loved the part of the Ostrich racing...it was entertaining to watch these huge birds run around a track with a rider on their backs.

Another thing that was in this DVD that I liked was that they would say a word that wasn't well-known and then would define that word so your child could understand the meaning. This also helped me to better understand different types of birds and some of their features.

The other section that I love is the Review section. This basically quizzes your child on the information that they just viewed on the DVD. My oldest daughter knew most of the answers and she certainly learned a lot about different birds.

Not only can you get the Fascinating World of Birds DVD, but you can also buy the Fascinating World of Mammals DVD as well as the Fascinating World of Insects DVD. For me, I have small children that sometimes need a bit of distraction in their day and I have found that popping in my BrainFood Learning DVD has helped curb some boredom for them.

I love the fact that I am not just sitting them down for some senseless movie watching, but rather I am giving them the opportunity to learn something while enjoying some pictures and scenery of God's beautiful creation. One more thing that I want to note is that you can download a really neat lesson plan for each DVD, including the one I received. Each lesson plan has numerous worksheets that incorporate reading, writing and science, based off of the information found in the DVDs. You can check out those lesson plans by clicking here.

So, when I ask my children if they want to watch the "Bird DVD", they whole-heartedly answer "YES!!!!". This makes my mommy heart happy and I am always more than willing to allow them the pleasure of viewing this DVD. My family and I have really enjoyed getting to know our birds a bit better and hope that you would check out BrainFood Learning for yourself. It is truly a great investment and now that I have the Fascinating World of Birds DVD, I want the rest!!! Discover God's creation in a new and exciting way and watch your children learn and have fun learning at the same time.

Several other of my Crew mates have reviewed this and other BrainFood learning DVD's and you can check out their great reviews below. Thanks for reading!
 

Flowering Baby Review

One of the best parts of being a parent is the fact that they learn from ME. Some things I would rather they not learn (occasional bad attitudes, grumpy moods, tempers, etc.) but most things I am thrilled for them to learn. We just moved to a new house and I now have a dishwasher (!). My oldest daughter, who is 4, is learning to help load and unload the dishwasher. It is really fun to watch her learn how to put away the silverware and line the plates up in the dishwasher. She doesn't do it perfectly, but she is 4. So, she is learning and that is what counts.

I recently was introduced to a curriculum that is geared towards the younger ones in the family and I was so excited to hear about this! When I say younger ones, I am referring to BABIES that range in ages from birth up to toddlers that are five years old. It focuses on helping your children learn and develop their fine motor skills...among many other things. Flowering Baby is a company that was founded by a mom (named Martha Saunders) who decided to home school and, after research, developed her own curriculum that would help her younger children in their development.

Flowering Baby is more than a curriculum...it is a tool. Many times, parents can have a difficult time connecting and playing with their children. My creativity is pretty limited so I am always looking for different ideas on how to keep my children occupied and happy. When my first baby was born, I didn't realize all the things I could actually do with her because I didn't understand how much she could really comprehend. You would be very surprised at how smart babies are.

One of the things that Flowering Baby does is break down the curriculum into age groups. If you have a newborn, than you are going to want the year Birth to One. This will cover developmental activities that will help your infant learn and make them more aware of the world around them.

So, for this review I was sent two DVD's from Flowering Baby and the years I was sent were the Birth to One (for my 9 month old) and Two to Three (for my 2 year old).  I was VERY excited to review these and share them with you!

Needless to say, I dug right in. The first thing I did was research and see what I would need to use this successfully with my children. The DVD opens in Adobe and is very clear on what you are to do in order for this to work for you. I love how each month is broken down within the year and Martha lets you know EXACTLY what you will need to complete each month. As you can see above, for months 6 to 9, you will need the items listed, such as wooden blocks, stacking cups, bubbles, etc. There is no guess work needed - it is all outlined for you. This is the format that all the DVD's follow. If you need supplies, you will be told which supplies you will need. If you need music (which is HUGE in this curriculum), you will be told what type and name of any and all music that is needed.

One thing I had a bit of trouble with was when I looked for the children's books at my library, there were several titles that were the same but had different authors. When the curriculum called for a book called "Hello Baby", I had several choices. So, I just picked the book that looked like the one I would need. This was the ONLY thing I had an issue with when working with this curriculum and it was a very small issue. :)

Once you have figured out what you will need for the program, you can then dive in and begin to play with your baby! This picture above is what your schedule will look like for several days. It tells you how to work with your child each day and what supplies you are using, music you are listening to and ways to play that will intrigue, mesmerize and stimulate your child. Honestly, it takes about 20 minutes a day (or up to 45 minutes depending on what age you are working with) which truly is not much at all. However, it is enough for him.

I was able to play quite a bit with my children while reviewing Flowering Baby and above, you will see some of our favorite items that we used in our daily activities. Isaac is 9 months old and his attention span is zilch right now. So, we go through our activities and it takes about 15 minutes to complete everything. His favorite activity is where I give him two balls to hold...one for each hand. Then, I hand him a third ball and look to see what he does with the other two. Right now, he will hold two of the balls and when he sees the third ball he (and it is SO CUTE!) gets really excited and drops one (or both) of the balls and grabs the third ball. We have a BLAST with this game. The other activity he loves is when I put a gauze scarf over his head and we play peek-a-boo. He has learned how to pull the scarf off his head and gets a huge smile on his face when I say "PEEK-A-BOO!!" Doing these simple things each day has helped him to become so much more animated...I am just in love with what we have been able to do!

Working with my 2 year old was a bit more challenging as he is a slow learner. He did enjoy doing the counting activities and also the color-identifying activities. I am amazed at how he can focus though...Flowering Baby has definitely allowed me to learn that about him. He also loves learning through poetry and one thing that his age-level curriculum does is sing "Itsy Bitsy Spider" alot. This is perfect for him. He loves using hand motions and singing along with me. We make a pretty cute singing duo. :)

My overall opinion of Flowering Baby is that it really helps spark creativity and solid learning tools and methods for me. Interacting with children doesn't seem to come naturally for me some days so it is nice to have a structured program like this to help me. I am also thrilled that my children can be learning and growing at the same time.

The Flowering Baby curriculum DVD's retail anywhere from $30 to $38 OR you can purchase all five years of Flowering Baby for just $132. As a special bonus, Flowering Baby has graciously extended a 10% discount to any of my readers by using the code "Blog10" when ordering.

To read more fantastic Crew Reviews of Flowering Baby, you can click here. Hope you have enjoyed this synopsis of my experience working with Flowering Baby...it truly is a wonderful program and one that I am looking forward to using in the coming days, months and years.

Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this product through the Schoolhouse Review Crew in exchange for my honest review. I was not required to write a positive review nor was I compensated in any other way. All opinions I have expressed are my own or those of my family. I am disclosing this in accordance with the FTC Regulations.