We have teamed up with the Parent Bloggers Network and the Discovery Channel Store on two prior occasions, reviewing Paz’s liftoff rocket and the game Rapelli. Both products were big hits in this house, and continue to be well-loved. Our newest collaboration is for the Solar Science Lab, a kit for children which explores different methods of harnessing the sun’s energy.

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We are a family which loves to play games. Card games, board games, outside games, and other games that seem to defy description. When Parent Bloggers Network was looking for someone to test the Discovery Store game Rapelli, we were happy to give it a try. The Rapelli Game is a 15 minute game which is part of the Discovery Store’s new line of bamboo products, and is designed for kids ages 4+.

Bamboo is a renewable resource which has become popular for creating everything from sheets to flooring. Bamboo grows and matures quickly, making it easy to harvest and then plant another crop, unlike slow-growing trees. Bamboo’s versatility is well-utilized in Rapelli, the pieces are multi-sectioned caterpillars, dice, and a cylinder, all of which look just like wood. Discovery has a pop-up window which explains more about their eco-friendly products, the natural materials, and environmental sustainability. Usually the consumer is torn between wood, which is natural but requires cutting down trees, and plastic, which could contain any number of chemicals, but doesn’t use up the forests. Bamboo offers a third choice which combines the benefits of both, without the negatives of either. Bamboo grows well in China, and the Discovery Store collection of bamboo toys are made in China in conjunction with several agencies.

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I spend a lot of my time with my girls and pups taking pictures, which we post in blogs and on flickr. The joy of digital cameras is that you can delete the bad pictures, and crop the images so that the pics you select are exactly what you want to share with your friends and family. There are a lot of programs and websites where you can share pictures online, but there aren’t many where you can choose who can see the pictures of your kids OR sites that easily mail your digital images to someone who might not have a camputer. Kinzin is a program that allows you to limit who can view your pictures, and will mail 10 pictures to any address once a month. With out of state family and great-grandparents without computers, (and far too many unfulfilled promises about mailing prints) we were eager to review the service for PBN.
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We have always tried to make our birthday party invitations stand out a bit. We’ve made collages out of construction paper, and customized invitations made using theme-appropriate clip art on the computer. However, since BG was turning 10 this year, we were thrilled to team up with PBN to review birthday party invitations by tiny prints.
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We are continuing our reviews on Social Skills DVDs (check out our previous review of Skill Builder Buddies) in partnership with the Parent Bloggers Network in recognition of April as Autism Awareness Month. Our oldest daughter lives with Sensory Integration Disorder and other related issues, so we have spent many years focusing on social skills awareness, and scripting how situations will play out. Leave a comment on the Parent Bloggers Network Blog for a chance to win both DVDs!

Kibbles Rockin’ Clubhouse vol. 1 Expressing Yourself is a DVD from NoteAbilities, which is aimed at children ages 2-7 with Autistic Spectrum Disorders and other associated issues. If you’ve struggled with helping your child understand how others are feeling, you might need more tools to help your child recognize emotions in others and cope with their own emotions. Kibbles Rockin’ Clubhouse is a great way to add tools to your toolbox and to your child’s toolbox in a fun way with catchy songs.

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April is Autism awareness month! Parent Bloggeers Network is hosting two concurrent blog tours about edutainment DVDs for children with special needs, especially children with speech/language or autistic spectrum disorders. You can win a copy of the DVDs by commenting over at PBN.

Skill Building Buddies is a DVD by Mazzarella Media aimed at kids ages 5-12 with language or autistic spectrum disorders. Even if you have a child without any labels, you’ll want to read on to learn more about the positive coping strategies in Skill Building Buddies!

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Our family has loved Thomas the Tank Engine for years, and we were very happy to be included in the Parent Bloggers blog tour reviewing the new DVD Thomas & Friends - Engines & Escapades! Thomas & Friends is one show I love watching with the girls. I love the stories about the different engines, and love the gentle messages. The wonderful British accented narrators don’t hurt, either! We like Thomas & his friends enough that we named our (late) green car Percy, and my little blue medical scooter (at right) is named Thomas, as he’s little, reliable, and has a horn that goes “Peep Peep” like Thomas!

Thomas & Friends - Engines & Escapades is a DVD with six new episodes about the engines on the Island of Sodor.

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We were happy to receive a copy of the newest Bob the Builder DVD, Bob the Builder - Building Bobland Bay in collaboration with a Parents Blogging Network blog tour. Our family started watching Bob the Builder when it was first on TV and BG was a toddler. BG had always had a fascination with tools, and she adored the show. I was happy to have her watch the show, as it kept her engaged and it included Wendy, a female builder in addition to the eponymous Bob, and we quickly ended up with Bob toys and video tapes.

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I, um, wrote this review a couple weeks early, but wanted to feature it today as part of a ParentBloggers book tour. Visit ParentBloggers for a chance to win a copy of The Sky Isn’t Visible from Here!

The Sky Isn’t Visible from Here: Scenes from a Life is the newly released memoir by Felicia Sullivan, creator of the Writers Revealed podcast, among other projects. I have been lucky enough to work with on Writers Revealed, and which piqued my interest in her memoir. This is a book about Felicia living through her mother’s addictions and relationships, surviving a very difficult childhood, and then struggling with her own addictions. I have seen friends and family members struggle with addictions, and it was amazing to look into Felicia’s life and read a brutally honest account of living with addiction.
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This book review is part of a PBN blog tour, and was received from the publisher

I remember the personalized books that some of my friends had when I was younger. They had all the type in a plain text, and then the child’s name was in bold, and a bit out of sync with the other text. The people in the books never quite matched my friends, either - the hair/eye/skin color would be different, and the pronouns never completely matched up.

I had read other Parent Bloggers’ positive reviews of the new personalized books for children, but I quite honestly didn’t quite believe them. The Print-a-Kid website says they have text designed for preschoolers, and some for grade-schoolers, but I figured I was best off getting a preschool version one for LG (4), as she would like it no matter what - her older sisters are a bit fussier about books. Read the rest of the review…