Science lovers rejoice with a science kit that is not only really cool on it's own but it includes so many scientific topics to observe that it won't get stale. The MudWatt™ Microbial Fuel Cell (MFC) Classic Kit includes everything you need to get started: the anode, cathode, vessel, blink and clock circuits, instructions, nitrile gloves, and free access to the MudWatter teacher's guide and the free MudWatt Explorer App. All you need to provide to get started is a soil sample that you can grab from your own backyard. Most kids would look at you like you're crazy if you told them that you could generate electricity with some dirt. Using the MFC, a bio-electrical device, you can witness the microbes produce electricity when they release their energy. How do they get the energy? Microbes essentially eat the sugars and other nutrients they can find in their environment in this case that would be the soil. Like humans, they use their food as fuel and their fuel happens to be … [Read more...]

Spy Code has an entire line of tabletop board games that are heavily influenced by basic spy skills that you may have seen in the movies. They are the perfect line of games for the entire family especially if your family loves to solve puzzles. It's truly a match for wits when it comes to memory, spy skills, and just a little bit of luck! The game, Safe Breaker, includes a safe stuffed with treasures that you have to crack the number code on to access what's inside. Players are working to collect five golden coins or two diamond coins before anyone else in order to win. Each turn you pick a card and input the safe combination to see if it's a match. A match opens the case and drops some coins, while an incorrect number indicates you need to use your spy gear to listen for a clue about the correct combination. There is no hypothetical safe breaking in this game, which makes it great! Everything is hands on and a real life problem to solve making your successes, setbacks, and … [Read more...]

It is hard to remember that far back because I am 500 years old, but I went through puberty once-upon-a-time. I do remember the big school gym divided in half as the girls were on one side and the boys on the other. Gym teachers were showing both groups sex education videos (different for each group). I remember the horror at watching that black and white outdated film! They showed belts that resembled carters but the straps hung in the front and back. The clips on them were to hold the pads that we would soon need because they made it sound like we would bleed out like a soldier on the battlefield. Us girls looked around at each other with huge eyes and tried not to panic, only to learn at home that an adhesive strip was placed on the bottom of the pad for attachment to the saddle of the panties. The belted sanitary napkin quickly disappeared during the early 1980s, thank goodness. No one mentioned PMS. Miss Sarah has endured the movies over the last few years and is stepping up … [Read more...]

SmartMax My First Animal Train is ideal for any little child that loves animals and trains. The moment Eli saw the SmartMax My First Animal Train, he was excited to see it. I was excited to play with it with him! As a grandma, I love the colors it has. It really is fun for him to tell me his colors as we put them together. SmartMax My First Animal Train is easy to play with. When it came time to build the Animal Train, Eli was able to do it after we showed him how to do it. He is also two years old. The train is held together with magnets that are in a silicone covering. Each piece is in two-pieces. You use the connecting rods with the magnets in them. Once you have them put together, you use a round metal ball to connect the train. This cute little train has wheels that allow it to move. Your little one can put the train in any order they want. It allows their little imagination to grow as they play with it. The animals help your child to learn not only … [Read more...]

Miss Sarah and I were invited to the local traveling exhibit, The Curiosity Cube when it stopped at Milwaukee, Wisconsin for a visit this July. Put together by the good folks of MilliporeSigma, this retrofitted shipping container is traveling the United States and sharing STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) concepts with the munchkin set in easy to understand mini lessons. Having a very limited size to work with, we were amazed at what the volunteers were able to share with us. The kids were able to run an experiment and see their DNA, play with a virtual reality human skull and even a 3D printer. Miss Sarah loved looking at the pieces of a brain under the microscopes…even if it was “gross”. Tour after tour of little people filed through and a definite path was followed to maximize the efficiency of the space. Local volunteers were stationed just outside to entertain the little people who were eagerly awaiting their time to enter. The fun didn’t stop there … [Read more...]

Let me start by saying that I was compensated for this post - but still, I would have written about British Soccer Camp even if I wasn't, simply because of our experiences with it. Miss Sarah is now 11 and has only played soccer in her phys ed classes at school. The first day of camp, the kiddos were all playing with their balls before things started and she kind of stood off to the side, doing her own thing. One coach, Luciano, stopped to chat with her a few times and show her a technique or two. Then, the teams were set, by age and kids were told to head to their newly assigned coaches. She came to me and started crying... she was afraid to make a fool of herself, felt she was the only one who wasn't on a ream (outside of camp) and wanted to go home. The head coach, Mark, came over and talked with her. Luciano was closes by and said "Sarah, come over to my team" - and with a few more kind words from Mark, she dried her tears and joined a younger team. I stayed for about … [Read more...]