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.

The set-up for Rapelli takes only a few moments, the two halves of the cylinder snap together, and then the 18 caterpillars get stuck into the cylinder. The directions are easily understood – choose 2 or 3 caterpillar colors (2 if 4-6 players, 3 if the game has 2 players) to be yours for the game, then roll the dice, and follow the directions on the dice. First, find a caterpillar that matches the color on the first die, then either pull it out or push it in 1-3 segments based on the arrows on the second die. Your goal is to collect as many caterpillars of “your” colors as possible. If having players choose colors and sharing colors becomes confusing for some children, you can instead play with the goal of collecting the most caterpillars regardless of color.

We brought Rapelli to our homeschooling coop a few times, and it was enjoyed by the pack of 4-5 year olds there, in addition to being enjoyed by our family. When our family played, we followed the original directions, and while that was fun, there were certain individuals who had a hard time with the idea that their chosen color was someone else’s chosen color as well. So, when there were four 4-5 year olds playing, I tried using a variation on the directions, just collecting whichever caterpillars you could pull out. This worked much better for that age group, and while no one was happy to lose, there were fewer tears.

I am very impressed with the quality of the materials used in Rapelli, as well as the thought behind the choice of using bamboo. The game itself is fun, but several kids were confused by “pick a color” and then rolling the dice and having a color they didn’t choose appear on the die. However, once we made “house rules”, the game went smoothly, and was chosen frequently. There are 22 pieces in Rapelli, and 20 of them are relatively small, so it isn’t a game for chewers, babies, or people who always lose pieces.

I knew Rapelli was a hit when there was a chorus of “not fair!” when we had to start picking up at the end of coop. While the box says ages 4-99, it was enjoyed most by the 4-6 year olds, and they enjoyed it a lot. A combination of eco-friendly, well-made, lovely, and fun make Rapelli a winner here!

We thank Parent Bloggers Network for the opportunity to review the Discovery Store game Rapelli, We give it 4 spotlights out of 5, as the original directions were very brief and confusing to the kids, though the game was lovely enough to inspire creating “house rules”.

(This entry would usually have some great pictures of the kids playing the game, but unfortunately my camera broke)

Kinzin works independently, or in conjunction with Facebook as a social networking site that allows you to personally invite and restrict individuals access to pictures of your kids. In addition, you can make books that are grouped around a certain child, an event, or anything else. Our current “book” is filled with spring pictures of the girls. Additionally, you can tag your kids with what they are currently doing, just as you do for yourself in other social networking sites.

The Kinzin interface is easy to use, you simply add a page to a book, and there’s a pull-down menu for importing an image from your computer, flickr, or a couple other places. Selecting from flickr was easy – I just chose a flickr set and clicked – the title and caption were brought over, too! It’s really handy to have all our spring pictures in one place that is easy to browse! If you want to share your pictures online only, without the automated mailing, Kinzin is completely free, and happily without ads!

Once you have added pictures to Kinzin, check out your “outbox” and make sure you delete any duplicates (I forgot to do that the first time, oops!). Then you can sign up to have Kinzin deliver 10 pictures to any address for $2.99/month. Right now, if you add a 3rd address, it’s free! Who can resist a bargain?

We sent pictures to my grandmother in Connecticut, my husband’s parents & grandparents in Texas, and my father and step-mom who live about an hour away. All 3 were very impressed with the pictures – they are beautifully printed, and come in a nice envelope. My grandmother lives in an assisted living place, and her pictures came at breakfast, and she was the talk of the dining room! She was so proud to show off her great-grandchildren!

The one problem I noticed is that I am used to viewing images online rather than having them printed. So, there needed to be some black framing on a few images because I didn’t crop them for printing as a 4×6.

Overall, I really like Kinzin – it’s easy to use, a fun and safe way to share pictures online, and the automated photo-mailing means that your relatives will really get your pictures, rather than just your intentions to mail pictures!

We happily give Kinzin 5/5 spotlights, with a few added beams from our very pleased family members who finally received long-promised prints!

I worked with BG to choose an invitation (this one) and a picture (this one). It was remarkably easy to enter the invitation and choose the image on tiny prints. The hardest part was really narrowing down the invitation – there were so many great choices! There was a problem with how the image would print on our invitations, so the tiny prints folks contacted us and made it very easy for us to upload a new image (this one), which wouldn’t be grainy. The customer service folks were friendly and very helpful, and we fixed it quickly. (The pic of the invite is before the change)

Once we had the invitations ordered, they shipped quickly and arrived here a day or so before they were expected! We were very impressed with the quality of the paper and the sharpness of the image, text, and design. These are beautiful invitations that people will enjoy putting up on their wall/fridge! BG is thrilled with the invites, and loves the attention.

We weren’t going to need the minimum order of 25 invitations, but because the invitations are lovely, we decided to send a few to out-of-state family members as well as children we were inviting. It was a great way of making the out-of-state folks feel very included. Even if they can’t attend, they know they were wanted.

The responses about the invitations have been overwhelming. It really catches your attention, and people loved seeing a recent picture of BG. While I’m not sure our budget could allow us to use these invitations for 3 parties a year, they are very, very special, and perfect for a milestone birthday such as BG’s 10th or for another special occasion.

After navigating the website, ordering, and receiving invitations from tiny prints, I highly reccomend them. Great quality and wonderful customer service. We give them 5/5 spotlights!

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.

Hosts “Handy Sam” and “Miss Angela” (as well as Kibbles the dog) lead a group of four children through activities and songs. Each activity helps children with their emotions and building their skillset to cope with emotions and recognize emotions in others. Throughout Kibbles Rockin’ Clubhouse, Miss Angela and Handy Sam demonstrate, sing about, and talk to the children so they can learn how to cope with anger, frustration, and other emotions. We really liked the song refrains of “use your mouth to ask for things”, “take 3 deep breaths and count to 10″, “I’m OK when things don’t go my way”, and “I can accept no as an answer”!

In Kibbles Rockin’ Clubhouse, there is also a segment called “Kibbles World”, in which Kibbles the dog can talk, and helps the kids identify emotions, and work on their “use your words” skills. Kibbles also adds some activities that are interactive – Kibbles gives you a problem, and goes through the options, and the studio audience chips in with the answers. My girls were quick to chime in with the answers as well, and always love talking dogs. Using a style that is reminiscent of “Elmo’s World” and “Blue’s Room”, Kibble’s World engages the children and almost tricks them into participating.

I really liked the messages in In Kibbles Rockin’ Clubhouse, and thought that they were well-executed. There were examples of “good” and “bad” ways of dealing with anger, meeting people, and coping with strong emotions. Some DVDs only show the “good” way of dealing with a situation, which doesn’t feel realistic to me or my kids. The songs are very well integrated into the action, and the songs are fun and very, very catchy, yet not overly sweet. I was happy to find a fun, song-filled DVD that is aimed at helping children with life skills.

Regardless of how I feel about Kibbles Rockin’ Clubhouse, it was important what my daughters thought of the DVD, they won’t watch DVDs just because I like it. All three enjoyed the songs, and were up dancing for each one. They all agreed that this DVD gave them tools to help them through problems. While some of the tools mentioned in Kibbles Rockin’ Clubhouse were strategies I had already discussed with the girls, somehow it sticks better when it’s on a DVD with a great soundtrack! When Kibbles Rockin’ Clubhouse was over, the girls were upset, asking “is that all there is?” We quickly found the “Special Features” section, which includes a bonus Kibbles World episode, and a karaoke option for the songs inside Kibbles Rockin’ Clubhouse. They were also thrilled that there is a sing-a-long CD we can play in the car, too. As the parent who has to listen to most of the songs, I can safely say that these songs are much better than most childen’s music, and the fact that they have a message makes them even better – catchy and fun without being insipid.

While it’s too early to say if the strategies presented in Kibbles Rockin’ Clubhouse will make lasting changes, it did help recently when my oldest daughter got frustrated at the beach. We were able to work through her anger, and get to the root of the trouble rather than just patching up the surface issue. I’m crossing my fingers that this DVD will help reinforce the messages I’ve been teaching, and it will be in our “to watch” stack for the foreseeable future! If you are looking for a Social Skills DVD, Kibbles Rockin’ Clubhouse is the one to get!

If you want to check out Kibbles Rockin’ Clubhouse vol. 1 Expressing Yourself
for yourself, visit the Kibble’s Rockin’ Clubhouse website to check out a video. Check their website again soon, NoteAbilities will have kid-focused printouts and activities on their website, plus further information for parents.

We give Kibbles Rockin’ Clubhouse 5 spotlights out of 5, with a special extra bonus points for engaging kids in our house from 4-10, and conveying messages without turning preachy and insipid!

Skill Building Buddies is a DVD by Mazzarella Media aimed at kids ages 5-12 with language or autistic spectrum disorders. If you have a child in either of these categories, you will definitely want to check it out, as it helps teach a positive way of working through transitions. Even if you have a child without any labels, but one who has trouble with transitions, you’ll want to read on to learn more about Skill Building Buddies!

The strategy for staying calm throughout transitions in Skill Building Buddies is “Look” “Listen” and “Stay Calm”, and the DVD comes with cards that can be used to remind kids of these three tips. There is a pattern of cartoon explanation, live-action demonstration, then cartoon. After two live-action segments, there’s a song break. This pattern can be comforting to children, especially when they are children who prefer patterns and dislike change!

In Skill Building Buddies children are presented with an expected or unexpected change/transition. The cartoon characters show hosts Mikey and Mandy introduce each live action character’s issue, and discuss how they handle it. The children’s changes include needing to watch TV in a different room & chair, not having your favorite snack, needing to move from clay to reading, having to stay inside for recess, and when your friends want to change games. Each live-action character’s change is a day-to-day issue, something that isn’t life-shattering, but children can relate to as a source of frustration/anger/sadness. The theme song sings “when things change, you’ll be ok”, a great message for everyone!

I really liked the message in Skill Building Buddies, and the way the DVD reinforced a coping strategy that could be used in a wide variety of situations. Look at the person, listen to what they are saying, and then stay calm and move on – that’s a great coping strategy for everyone. In the segments, the children asked questions a few times, showing their frustration, but they all went along with the change. I would have liked to see one segment where the child did not go along with the change, and instead threw a tantrum (as a what not to do), but I know that there would be children who mimicked the tantrum rather than the coping strategies.

My 4 year old really liked Skill Building Buddies, but my 7 year old thought there were too many singing breaks. That said, she was singing the song days after watching the DVD, and called it “catchy”. My oldest (almost 10) has some learning differences, and she was upset that the DVD didn’t pay attention to the different ways children responded to the change – some just accepted it, some asked questions, etc. I think she wanted reassurance that it was OK not to like the change, but you needed to cope with it anyhow. My oldest also pointed out that the majority of scenes took place in a school, and since we homeschool, she didn’t relate to them as much. Finally, she was upset that in a DVD about change they didn’t change up the format (segment, segment, song). She did admit that the coping strategy might be helpful, and she’s willing to try it to see if it’s useful for her.

If you have a child diagnosed on the Autistic Spectrum, I strongly recommend picking up Skill Building Buddies. Watching the DVD multiple times will help reinforce a positive coping strategy for dealing with change. Changes and transitions are hard for all children, and we can all learn more ways of facilitating positive interactions despite our frustrations. We recommend Skill Building Buddies to anyone who needs help with transitions and change. We look forward to seeing additional titles from Mazzarella Media, and give Skill Building Buddies 4 out of 5 spotlights.

Have you and your kids had a chance to watch Hip Hop Harry: Move Those Feet or any of the Hip Hop Harry shows on Discovery Kids? We hadn’t caught the show, but since my girls love to dance and rhyme, I was excited to be able to review Hip Hop Harry: Move Those Feet for the Parent Bloggers Network!

All three girls (almost-10, almost-8, 4 1/2) sat in rapt attention when I started Hip Hop Harry, and even the older girls quickly started repeating after Harry, “I say ‘hip hop’, you say ‘Harry’! ‘Hip Hop’”, “Harry!” Hip Hop Harry’s main character is a human-sized teddy bear who leads the children through activities in this live-action show. Unlike the bear in “Bear and the Big Blue House”, the bear in Hip Hop Harry doesn’t have a moving mouth, but that didn’t seem to make any difference to the kids at all. In the picture on the right, I caught them during one of the few moments they were sitting down. Harry quickly had them on their feet, dancing and rapping with him.

I’m not a big fan of rap music, but the songs were fun and catchy enough that I occasionally find myself humming them. With songs like “I love to learn!”, they are a fun way to teach concepts and encourage kids to sing, rhyme, and move. One segment I really enjoyed was when the kids learned to exercise using a hula hoop, showing them that any time you move your body, you are exercising, and exercising can be a lot of fun! I have very active girls, my kids spend all day moving, so getting them to exercise isn’t top on my list of parenting issues, but it’s great to reinforce early that exercise doesn’t equal something distasteful.

Here’s a little video of the girls dancing around with the Hip Hop Harry: Move Those Feet DVD. It was rather hard to make even this short of a video, as the girls were up and down and all around with their moves, so keeping them in the frame was tricky!

Hip Hop Harry: Move Those Feet gets 5 spotlights out of 5 from the Gaggle of Girls! It’s a great way to get kids moving, plus there’s a lot of thinking and learning. A great combination. This was enjoyed by all 3 girls, ages 4-10, and they think that kids a little older and/or a little younger would also like the DVD as well. We’re going to try to check out the show on Discovery Kids and pick up the second DVD, Hip Hop Harry – Fun with Friends!

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. The DVD also includes a new song about our new friends the “Narrow Gauge engines”, and it is catchy and fun enough that I don’t mind having it stuck firmly in my head. Each of the DVD’s episode tells a story that includes useful morals, yet the stories are entertaining enough that the kids don’t notice that they are learning.

We really liked meeting Madge the truck, who was strong enough to carry James! She was also strong enough in character to deal with James when he was being rather snotty. We are very enthusiastic in the Gaggle household about strong female characters, and had been thinking that Thomas was rather lacking in that department. In Thomas & Friends – Engines & Escapades, we meet several new engines and friends on the Narrow Gauge line, and are very happy to see spunky females!

In Thomas & Friends – Engines & Escapades, there is a mix between the “old” engines (Thomas, James, Duncan, etc) and our new friends on the Narrow Gauge line who are even smaller than Thomas, yet work really hard. If you have a younger sibling in your house who feels like they need to be bigger, this set of episodes is a great way of reinforcing that little trains and little kids can do big things! Thomas has always been a good example that a little train can be as important as the bigger trains, like Edward, but meeting useful trains that are even smaller was great for my littlest one!

The Narrow Gauge engines have their special Narrow Gauge track, and they also have their own person in charge, just as Thomas and the larger trains have Sir Topham Hat. Mr. Percival works hard with his trains, and it is refreshing to see a new person’s face in addition to the new train faces.

Our family had two minor complaints about Thomas & Friends – Engines & Escapades:

1. The DVD is on auto-play, so it starts itself, which makes it difficult to select favorite episodes

2. We don’t see a lot of Thomas and Percy. We like the new engines, but we miss our old favorites!

With those two minor exceptions, we really enjoyed watching Thomas & Friends – Engines & Escapades, and we’ll be watching it again and again and again… This is a good DVD to pick up for any young engineers you know, there’s a great variety of characters and episodes that will enchant kids and entertain adults, too.

We give Thomas & Friends – Engines & Escapades 5 spotlights out of 5 – go pick it up!

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.

BG continues to have a fascination with tools (she was in second heaven yesterday when the carpenter was working on our floor!), but at 9 1/2 she has outgrown Bob & Wendy. Er, mostly. We have watched the DVD a few times, now, and I’m sure we’ll watch it many more! The Building Bobland Bay DVD includes some new machines, episodes my girls had never seen, as well as some episodes from two other much-loved series: Fireman Sam and Fifi and the Flowertots. Fifi is a big hit here, so knowing we had a Fifi show made the DVD all the more exciting. I’m glad that the folks who put together the DVD didn’t exclude a “girly” show from a construction DVD!

LG at 4 1/2 was eager to watch the DVD with me, and loved every second. BG and MG (9 1/2, 7 1/2) didn’t sit down originally, but once they joined us, they didn’t get up. The storylines on Bob the Builder are really engaging, and because the stories on Building Bobland Bay are linked, once you start watching one 15 minute episode, you don’t want to get up until the DVD is finished, you want to know what happens next! It’s fun watching “Bobland Bay” grow, and the characters are so much fun it’s hard to get up and walk away. Each of the machines has its own personality, and they really are endearing.

Bob the Builder – Building Bobland Bay is focused on Bob and the crew’s next project; now that Bob and his team are finished building houses in Sunflower Valley, they are building a place for fun near the sea. Mixed in with the construction are some new machines, morals about doing the right thing, trying your hardest, and playing fair; Bob, Wendy, and his crew do a great job of mixing machines and values so kids pick up on the ideals without pounding it into their heads.

As I mentioned earlier, my girls have always loved watching Bob and Wendy, so I didn’t think there would be much of a difference when we watched the DVD with a 3 1/2 year old boy. I had noticed earlier in the day that he was fascinated with the trains and trucks at the local museum, so I was glad we had brought the DVD over for a trial run. I don’t want to be stereotyping, but WOW. He totally enjoyed the DVD on a different level than my girls. Sure, he was engaged by the characters and the storylines, but he was thrilled by the different machines, jumping up and down, and pointing at them. It was a very different experience than watching with my girls who want to listen quietly so they don’t miss any of the dialog.

Our gaggle of girls loved Bob the Builder – Building Bobland Bay, and think it would make a great gift for anyone in the 2-5 age range, but after seeing a real live boy watch the show, I’d have to say that I’d wrap it up as a present for a boy really quickly. And maybe add some pretend tools, or real ones, too.
We give it 5 spotlights out of 5. Our only minor hesitation in giving the stars is that the stories are linked so much that you’ll probably end up with a tantrum if you don’t watch the whole DVD in one sitting.

This review is part of a ParentBloggers book tour.

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.

Read the rest of the review

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…