Teaching Children about Insects with Bright Minds

[Ad- gifted product] The sun is out, the birds are tweeting each day, and everything seems a bit warm and bright during the day. Now that the weather has gotten better, children are out playing outside, in nature. Bright Minds has tons of nature toys to help children better interact and even learn from the world around them – a much needed break from screens and always being in front of video games. Kai, actually, started playing a Roblox game all about becoming an ant and living in an ant colony. As he had this new fascination with ants, we wanted to bring that interest to the real world, so we decided to get Kai a starter ant farm. He’s quite excited about having a “proper” ant farm (IE, one with a queen ant) but those last for 30 years as an active farm, so we figured a starter farm would be better for him. To get ready to get ants, we actually picked up three items from Bright Minds.

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Battle the darkness with a T-Rex Head Torch

[Ad- gifted product] Darkness is something that most kids feel they are afraid of. Often, it’s just a phase, but dealing with fears can be a challenge, especially if your child really, really doesn’t like the dark. There can be a fear that somethign is hiding in the darkness or that the darkness is full of unknowns, which can be unsettling for children. Items like the T-Rex Head Torch can stop the fear of the dark, as it puts a child in control of a torch, that they don’t even need to hold.

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On the hunt for Cats vs Pickles plush toys | Review

[Ad- gifted product] Kai, Amelia and Robin do really love cats. We have two cats and a large mix of stuffed cats already, but when the kids got a hold of Cats vs Pickles, they were excited for the fantasy cats with all these different patterns. Kai had previously put on videos of cats doing funny things, so we already knew that cats were afraid of cucumbers. Cats vs Pickles, made by Cepia LLC, takes this concept – cats being afraid of cucumbers and thus afraid of pickles, and turns them into collectible, adorable cats with their own youtube show and mobile game!

Cats vs Pickles Toys

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Creating a moving 4-Cylinder Engine with Machine Works | Review

[Ad- gifted product] Earlier this week I built a moving 4-Cylinder Engine, part of the Machine Works range with my eldest son. It’s a fascinating kit, perfect for those who are mechanically minded, or who really enjoy building models. There are a lot of different people out there, and as such there’s a lot of different hobbies out there. I’m not actually very mechanically minded; I struggle with instruction booklets and normally ‘process of elimination’ my way through troubleshooting things. However, I’m really like seeing how things work, from microchips through electronics to machines. The 4-Cylinder Engine kit is a safe, accessible way to learn the core of how an engine works, and comes complete with a manual full of extra information, as well as an AR-based App.

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Taking a look at GirlTalk Magazine | Review

[Ad- gifted product] Whenever I look at the magazine section at Tesco, I feel overwhelmed with toys, colors and unsure of what exactly I am looking at. Many magazines have toys attached to them, when they are aimed at children, and it’s always got me wondering if the magazines themselves are well worth it, beyond the toys? When it comes to GirlTalk, I was curious how Amelia and Robin would both react to the magazine itself, as young girls who don’t have the biggest grip on pop-culture.

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