This morning I went to Toys ‘R Us for their “Skylanders Event”. Signs have been up for two weeks that all your favorite Skylanders would be restocked on March 21st. Well, there were a bunch of them in stock but nothing new even though today Zook and Lighting Rod were supposed to be out today. It was disappointing because those figures appeared in other Toys ‘R Us stores in other places. Luckily I had Twitter to chat with other people about it. I also met some people in line who know where to get hard to find figures for non-scalper prices. Continue reading Please Stay This Way Forever→
Eva and I received a copy of the new PBS Kids iPad App: Dinosaur Train All Aboard. This is an app that let’s kids put dinosaurs of different sizes into train cars. Kids need to estimate the sizes of the dinosaurs against the train cars. I like this app because it helps kids learn about spatial relations. I personally have always been good about putting things together in the best way possible. For example, when I clean up the play area I find the best way to fit everything in its proper place. I can visualize how to do this easily. An app like this can help kids think about how things fit into place and take that skill outside of the game.
Eva was very happy to play this game. I left her to her own devices with the iPad and she played this game over and over even after I stopped playing. The game does have a two player mode so that I can play with her as well. There are a few levels and the game gets progressively more complex with dinosaurs that may or may not be of equal size and kids need to think more critically about what they are seeing. Eva did really well playing this game and we enjoyed playing it together.
In the All Aboard the Dinosaur Train! App (pictured), the Dinosaur Train is getting ready to leave and needs passengers! The problem is that dinosaurs come in different sizes, so children need to match the passengers with the right train cars, challenging them to problem-solve by estimating dinosaur sizes and comparing them with the train cars’ capacity. The PBS KIDS app was developed in partnership with the Corporation for Public Broadcasting as part of the Ready To Learn Initiative.
