Curious George Curious About Me App Review

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I have three kids (8,6,4) and my littlest is dying to read like the big kids!

The Curious About Me app is a wonderful way to get the non readers and new readers like him to write their own story. And THEN the app reads the story back to them. It reads them the story they just wrote. Cool!

Curious George and the man with the yellow hat walk you and your child through a series of questions all about them. How much do kids like to talk about themselves, right?

They get to draw pictures, take pictures and videos, record their voices, and use pictures available on the device they’re using. They can use all these mediums to tell their story.

My 4yo got such a kick out of hearing his own voice and seeing his pics and videos in the story with Curious George. He can’t wait to go back and rewrite his story and to create new ones.

From Houghton Mifflin:

Developed for preschool-aged children, the app enables learners to star in two unique stories—Curious About Me and Day at the Zoo. By helping children communicate their personal experiences and interests through drawings, activities, and photographs and recordings of family members, the app promotes social interaction and collaboration and builds a foundation in language development essential for success in reading and writing.

“For generations, Curious George has brought together parents and children in the spirit of learning and imagination,” says Sanj Kharbanda, SVP of Digital Markets at HMH. “Curious About Me provides an opportunity for parents and children to laugh and play together while also giving young learners an engaging digital outlet in which to create and communicate through words and illustrations.”

You can get the app here!

This post (as well as my sharing on social media) was inspired by my participation in a compensated program initiated by Houghton Mifflin.

First bike ride! (also Glider Bikes RULE.)

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So this happened over the weekend!!

WooooooHoooooooo!

She had never tried to ride a bike until 10 minutes before this moment! I give all the credit to me (I have ninja bike riding teaching skills) and glider bikes.

Glider bikes are bikes with no pedals and no training wheels. You just glide along on them. When my third baby was born we brought home 2 gliders bikes as well as their baby brother! The kids got a new baby and new bikes.

This Strider Balance Bike is for the littlest of the littles maybe 2-3 years old. My youngest son has been riding it like crazy for two years. He just turned 4.

My daughter didn’t want any part of her glider bike until she was 5. She rode it all last year.
She tried a bike with training wheels but always came back to this glider. She seemed scared on the training wheels. But always seemed to be having fun on the glider.

When we took the bikes out this year I had her ride it for a few weeks watching her closely. I knew she had found her center and she’d be able to ride a two wheel pedal bike no problem. So off we went to the park. The story was almost identical to my older boy’s first bike ride story except he did it a year earlier.

I have no doubt that if I put my 4 year on a pedal bike he could ride it. I’ll keep you posted if I do. But he’s have so much fun on his new ‘big” glider (the one my daughter just moved out of) that I don’t want to take it away from him yet.

The “big” glider is a Glide Bikes Mini Glider. It’s just a bit bigger and has posts to rest your feet on, as well as a hand brake.

So if you want your kiddo to learn how to ride a bike super easy first time out have them start on a glider bike. We couldn’t love them more!

Glider Bikes Rule! And so do pedal bikes with no training wheels :-)

You can see all kinds of Glider Balance Bikes at Amazon! at Amazon!

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Disclosure: Amazon links are affiliate links!

New year, new camera.

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I got a new camera!! I got a new camera!! A Canon EOS T4i. We had the very first rebel and loved it. I still had a tape (albeit HD) video camera. So, it was time. This new camera is ah-mazing.

Expect much more video from me this year. Maybe I’ll even start vlogging ;-)

This is a test shoot. It’ll only get better from here.

The Tea Party

Fisher Price-apalooza

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When the kids and I go to the Nana and the Papa’s houses consecutively, as we often do for conveneince, we call it NanaPapalooza.

A couple of weeks ago I went to two Fisher Price events in a week! So…

Fisher Price-apalooza!

The first event was put on by Mommy Niri called Tots and technology. We all let the kids play with the i’s. You know, the iPhones, the iPads, the iTouches :-)  Well Fisher Price makes these handy little covers that not only keep your devices safer but make them a little more kid friendly (as if that’s necessary). My 2 year old loved the iPhone cover and the 6 year old loved the iPad cover because it made it more portable – a carrying handle.

Cute, no?

Then Charlene Chronicles had little bubby and I over for a Fisher Price playdate. She had lots of toys for the kids to play with that were really fun! Our favorite was the Little Peoples Wheelies Swoops and Hoops Amusement Park – FUN!

With three kids we’ve had tons of toys pass through this house, lots of them Fisher Price. But it’s always nice to be reminded that new toys come out all the time and I should keep my eye out.