Guidecraft Educator Review #7 ~ Flower Match Garden Patch & Animal Train Sort and Match

by Carrie Wells, Ed.D. 
This month, the Guidecraft Educators are reviewing some great manipulatives for preschool-age children: Flower Match Garden Patch and Animal Train Sort and Match.

           

To use these sets, you place a magnetic board vertically in a slot in the wooden box. Then, you choose a card to copy by placing small plastic pieces on the board. The great thing about these sets (as with many of the Guidecraft toys) is that you can follow the directions OR be creative. Lydia is now 2 1/2 years old. I tried to demonstrate how to follow the picture card to make identical flowers, but this was pretty challenging for her to complete independently. Instead, I allowed her to play freely and make her own rules. Lydia loved combining different pieces to make all different types of flowers.

Lydia creating her own flowers.

Here are some other ways these sets can be used:

~Sort the different pieces by color in color-coded bowls.

~Sort the pieces by shape.

~Use the pieces as stencils to trace your own flowers or animals. 

~Lay the pieces directly on top of the cards on a flat surface (instead of creating them vertically on the peg board). 

~Place the pieces under paper and do crayon rubbings. 

Both of these sets would be great for children with fine motor delays or for occupational therapists to work with their clients on visual performance and object manipulation. They would also be great in a manipulative center in a preschool or kindergarten classroom.

BUY IT! You can purchase the Flower Match Garden Patch (RV $40) & Animal Train Sort and Match (RV $45).

WIN IT! What's great about this Guidecraft Educator group is that each month, one of us will be hosting a giveaway of the product that we have all reviewed. Visit Mommy Moment for a chance to win a Flower Match Garden Patch & Animal Train Sort and Match for a special child in your life. This contest is open to the US and Canada. 

* I received the aforementioned product for free to review. The opinions expressed are honest and provided without monetary compensation.

Guidecraft Educator Review #6 ~ Multi Match Sensory Discs & Balance Base

Happy New Year! What a great way to start the year - with a review of some awesome Guidecraft products. This month's products are Multi Match Sensory Discs & Balance Base.

I gave Lydia (age 2) the box of Multi Match Sensory Discs so we could play with them together This set of discs comes with an activity guide with great ideas, but we decided instead to make up our own games.

First, we counted the shapes on the large discs and lined them all up in order.

Next, we worked on one-to-one correspondence. This is a really great skill to target when working with 2 to 3-year old children. We placed one object on each shape on each disc. The objects were small animal and people toys.

We then cleaned up the small objects and worked on number identification. We placed the correct number of discs on each disc. For example, we placed three small number 3 discs on the big disc with three triangles. The only problem with this activity was that there are only four small discs of each number/color, so we had to leave one empty spot when we got to number five.  

Then, we talked about the colors, shapes, and sizes. Lydia enjoyed telling me which discs were big and which were small. We matched the small discs to the large discs according to shape. 

We played lots of other games with the discs, too!  Lydia and I built a tower, and of course she knocked it down. 

She counted each disc as she walked across them. 

And we even worked on patterns.

I gave the Balance Base to my nephews (ages 5 and 7), and they came up with some great active play ideas, too! They experimented with standing on both sides of the base. They played with it barefoot, with shoes, in the house on tile, on a rug, and in the garage. They tried kicking a ball while standing on it, playing catch with one ball, and playing catch with two balls. They actually carried it around the house all night New Year's Eve. Clearly, this was a hit! They both play on youth soccer teams - this Balance Base seems like a good way to work on some of the skills necessary to play soccer well.

Both the Multi Match Sensory Discs and Balance Base would be great for pre-k and elementary school physical education programs, for children who are typically-developing and children with special needs.

BUY IT! You can purchase the Multi Match Sensory Discs (RV $70) and Balance Base (RV $60)

WIN IT! What's great about this Guidecraft Educator group is that each month, one of us will be hosting a giveaway of the product that we have all reviewed. Visit Mamanista! for a chance to win a set of Multi Match Sensory Discs & Balance Base for a special child in your life. This contest is open to the US and Canada. 

* I received the aforementioned product for free to review. The opinions expressed are honest and provided without monetary compensation.

Guidecraft Educator GIVEAWAY ~ Three Sets of Blocks

I am so excited to be hosting this awesome giveaway just in time for Christmas! This giveaway is for three different sets of beautifully-colored wooden blocks:

Sand Blocks (RV $32)     Rainbow Blocks (RV $25)     Crystal Bead Blocks (RV $32)

The blocks come in a variety of shapes and colors. They can be used together as they are all about the same size. We often divide toys into "girl toys" and "boy toys," but classic building blocks are perfect for boys and girls! Blocks are great for preschool classroom use and home use. Playing with these Guidecraft blocks allows your children to explore their creativity while working on critical fine motor skills. Children can create different patterns. They could collaborate to build a structure together or play independently. Block play also allows children to incorporate lots of other toys. Blocks can be a farm for small animal figures, a castle for princess dolls, or a fort for soldiers. Young children begin to understand cause and effect relationships as they build different structures and knock them down. All three sets of blocks are durable and can easily be stored in a large lidded container for easy clean up.

Lydia loves to build structures and knock them down!

Lydia built a house.

She added different people & animals.

She loved knocking that one down...

...and starting all over!

But Lydia's favorite thing to do is use the rainbow blocks
as colored glasses!

BUY IT! You can purchase your own set of Guidecraft Blocks for your home or classroom. Guidecraft also sells mirrored blocks and shimmering water blocks.

WIN IT! What's great about this Guidecraft Educator group is that each month, one of us will be hosting the giveaway of a product that we have all reviewed. I am hosting the giveaway this month. Just look at how you can quickly enter below!  (This contest is open to the US and Canada.)

 * I received the aforementioned product for free to review. The opinions expressed are honest and provided without monetary compensation.

Guidecraft Educator Review #4 ~ Little Lectern

by Carrie Wells, Ed.D.
This month, the Guidecraft Educators are reviewing the Little Lectern. Made of walnut-stained birch plywood, the lectern stands 40" tall, has a shelf inside to hold presentation items, and comes with a carpet-covered riser that can be stored inside the lectern. It is for ages 3+. With each review, I like to provide practical suggestions for home and school, and this product really asked me to 'think outside the box' because it is unlike any other product I have reviewed before!

When I was in elementary school, I participated in a public speaking program called Toastmasters. We had to learn to respond to different topics, to engage in debates and rebuttals, to summarize the information provided by both sides...but most of all, we had to learn to get in front of our peers and talk about something that may not be so familiar to us. This was not easy for me, especially since I was one of the smallest kids in my class and had some self-esteem issues. I remember we had to stand in front of the class at the end of a table. Everyone could see if my hands were shaking or my legs were 'antsy.' If I had this Little Lectern to stand behind, no one could tell that I was so nervous, which may have given me the confidence to be a better speaker!

So first and foremost, the best use of this product is for teaching children to be more confident public speakers. This would be really important to practice at home with children who have speech-language disorders since they often feel self-conscious of their performance in front of peers.

Beyond the most obvious use, I thought of a few others:

• Schoolwide competitions ~ This would be a great way to practice school competitions, such as spelling bees, math competitions, science fair presentations, or any other academic events, either at home or at school. 
• Extracurricular activities ~ This little lectern would be great for activities outside of school, such as Boy Scouts or Girl Scouts. Children can stand at the lectern to present minutes from the previous meetings and important announcements. 
• Pretend play ~ Have the children dress up and pretend to be different types of professions that may speak at a lectern - the president of the United States, teacher, lawyer, college professor, etc. Be creative!
• Be really creative ~ Decorate the lectern to be a lemonade stand, host a magic show at the lectern, or do a pretend cooking demonstration. The ideas are endless!

BUY IT! You can purchase your own Guidecraft Little Lectern for your home or classroom for just $200.

WIN IT! What's great about this Guidecraft Educator group is that each month, one of us will be hosting the giveaway of a product that we have all reviewed. Visit Simply Stacie to enter and win. This contest is open to the US and Canada.

*I received the aforementioned product for free to review. The opinions expressed are honest and provided without monetary compensation. 

Guidecraft Educator Review #3 ~ Universal Book Display & Storage

by Carrie Wells, Ed.D.

This month, the Guidecraft Educators are reviewing the Universal Book Display & Storage. This two-sided bookcase has storage space for standard-sized board books, paperback books, and hardcover books on one side and storage space for big books on he other side. What I love most about this book storage is that it is not just a traditional bookcase where you just see the binding of the books. This book storage allows you to display the entire cover of the book, which is a great way to entice early learners! They love to look at the colorful illustrations on the front of each book.

The Universal Book Display & Storage is constructed of sturdy birch ply wood and weighs 40 pounds. It took approximately a half-hour to assemble. This book storage goes very nicely with the Guidecraft Nordic Rocker I reviewed in August. Here are some pictures of our library.

I like to change the books in my children's library each month based on the season/holiday or a given theme. This month's theme is Fall/Halloween. I was able to display 22 books. Next to the book storage, I placed two bins of themed items to explore before, during and after reading. One bin has synthetic fall leaves and wiggly creatures (plastic bugs and spiders). The other bin has some Halloween plush characters, like a wizard, witch, and frog. Because of the neutral design and color, I am able to 'dress up' the book display & storage to go with the theme as well. We are going to add some spider webs later.

BUY IT! You can purchase this well-designed, two-sided Guidecraft Universal Book Display & Storage for your  home or classroom library for just $200.

WIN IT! What's great about this Guidecraft Educator group is that each month, one of us will be hosting a giveaway of the product that we have all reviewed. Visit Mommy PR for a chance to win a Universal Book Display & Storage for your child. This contest is open to the US and Canada. 

* I received the aforementioned product for free to review. The opinions expressed are honest and provided without monetary compensation.

Guidecraft Educator Review #2 ~ Eco-friendly Manipulatives

Imagine my surprise and amazement when all of these beautiful eco-friendly Guidecraft manipulatives arrived at my front door! These toys represent all that my blog is about - "green" products for young children. Some of the most notable features are: minimal packaging used to contain the toys, they are made from eco-friendly rubberwood, colored with low VOC aniline dyes, and contain distinct shapes and colors. Each toy comes with an activity guide with multiple activities. At just $25 - $30 each, these toys are a great investment for parents who want their children to learn through fun, colorful, and engaging activities. All seven toys state Ages 2+ because the pieces are large (not choking hazards), but the skill sets required to appropriately manipulate the toys and understand the cognitive concepts vary greatly. This also makes them great "green" toys - they can be used for years, not just one particular stage of development.

Lydia is just 2, so I decided to open up the 3 toys that I thought would be most appropriate for her developmentally: Gradient Sorter, One to Four Sorter, and Shape and Color Sorter. She was so excited to see each toy, she completed each one multiple times, asking for "more" each time we finished.

Here's Lydia completing the One to Four Sorter independently:



Here's Lydia completing the Gradient Sorter independently:



These toys are appropriate for older children as well. Here's my 10-year old niece Kayla using the Fraction Cups to solve math problems that require her to add fractions:

Here are a few suggestions I have for teaching children to use these toys:

~Place all of the manipulatives in a small basket or surface to the left of the board/base. Because we read from left-to-right, this is a good way to prepare children to work in that direction.

~Refer to the activity guide for suggestions beyond just completing each activity independently.

~Feel free to modify activities based on your child's interests and developmental abilities.

~Toys such as these are great for incorporating language. Instead of having your child complete each activity, have your child take each activity apart. Here are some examples. For younger children, you may ask "Can you take out the green triangle and put it in the basket?" or "Can you hand me the red heart?" For older children, you may ask "Can I have a shape that has 4 sides, but is not a diamond?"

~Frustration often leads to learning. We frequently intervene as soon as our children look frustrated with a situation, but then they may not learn to manipulate each piece properly. Allow your child to explore 'wrong' answers to figure out where each piece really goes independently.
~To make things more challenging, place multiple puzzles in one bin together. Your child will have to sort the pieces and then complete each individual puzzle.

BUY IT! You can purchase any of the Eco-Friendly Guidecraft Manipulatives for just $25 - 30 each.

WIN IT! What's great about this Guidecraft Educator group is that each month, one of us will be hosting a giveaway of the product that we have all reviewed. Visit Teach Preschool for a chance to win a set of Eco-Friendly Guidecraft Manipulatives for a special child in your life! This contest is open to the US and Canada. 


* I received the aforementioned product for free to review. The opinions expressed are honest and provided without monetary compensation.

Guidecraft Educator Review #1 ~ Nordic Rocker

This is my 100th post - A time for celebration by doing something extra special ~ Introducing my readers to an amazing group of bloggers I am so excited to be a part of, the Guidecraft Educators, each of whom I know will bring a different perspective to reviews of products we have been generously given. As co-director of a nonprofit organization for children with disabilities and mother of a toddler, my reviews will focus on how each product can be used with children with special needs and/or toddler and preschool-age children. 

The first product we are reviewing is the Guidecraft Nordic Rocker.

This is a wonderful seating option for children with special needs. Some children have difficulty with sensory integration. Simply put, they are unable to organize all of the information their bodies are receiving. The interesting thing about our sensory system is that we actually have seven components, even though we only really learn about five senses.
 
Five commonly-taught senses:
1. Tactile (touch)
2. Sight
3. Sound
4. Taste
5. Olfactory (smell)

Our two other senses:
6. Proprioceptive (being aware of where our bodies are spatially)
7. Vestibular (movement)

There are a number of sensory-related activities you can try with a child - some may be calming, some may be alerting. Some may help a child to concentrate better, while some may be distracting. The great thing about the Guidecraft Nordic Rocker is that it allows children who crave vestibular input (movement) to move while still being seated safely. However, unlike most rockers, the Nordic rockers have flat bases (not curved bases). This allows for some rocking movement, but stops the child from tipping the chair over or rocking excessively.

Fabian (left) and Ryan (right) are enjoying circle time at school. They are able to move to the music while safely seated in their Guidecraft Nordic Rockers. 

These are great for large group activities when some children are sitting on the floor or small group activities when children are sitting at a table. The birch ply wood construction can accommodate children of different heights and weights, as well as different physical abilities and limitations. 

In addition to being used as a seating option for children with special needs, these are great in a reading area at home or in the classroom setting. The chairs are comfortable, colorful, and great for relaxing with a good book. Overall, this is a wonderful product for special education classrooms, general education classrooms, and children's bedrooms or play rooms. 

BUY IT! You can purchase a Guidecraft Nordic Rocker for just $70.

WIN IT! What's great about this Guidecraft Educator group is that each month, one of us will be hosting a giveaway of the product that we have all reviewed. Visit Katie's {Little Ones} Learning Lounge for a chance to win a Guidecraft Nordic Rocker for a special child in your life! This contest is open to the US and Canada. 

* I received the aforementioned product for free to review. The opinions expressed are honest and provided without monetary compensation.