Preschool Gift Guide 2011

Imaginative preschoolers need to balance time between imaginative play and using screens to help them practice developing skills. Interactive apps and digital devices help engage and encourage reluctant learners but there's a whole world to explore and my picks are designed to do just that!  

GIVEAWAY: LeapFrog My Own Story Time Pad ($29.99)— Designed for ages 2-4, the Story Time Pad provides stories and activities through personalized play for beginning readers. Children are greeted by name upon turning on the Story Time Pad and kept engaged with cute black and white illustrations as they listen to stories and songs. This durable device is the perfect size for young hands and features large buttons for little fingers.  While the keyboard isn’t standard QWERTY, the layout is designed to help young kids learn the alphabet and recognize letters through game play.  Comes in pink or white.

Crayola Color Studio HD App & Crayola iMarker ($29.99)— Coloring goes digital and turns your iPad into an interactive coloring book with the Crayola iMarker that features all the colors from the 64 count crayon box.  I love the vivid colors and the way the iMarker can be used to mimic the look of crayons, markers, paints, and colored pencils as young artists free draw, play games, and create their own coloring pages.  Purchase of the iMarker includes the free ColorStudio HD App download.

GIVEAWAY: A Little Book About Feelings ($12.95) and My Feelings ($12.95) books by Ruby’s Studio— I happen to love when a client’s vision mirrors my own parenting style and it’s no secret that I adored Ruby’s Studio by The Mother Company even before I became their social media coordinator.  Just last week The Mother Company launched two new books. The 32 page A Little Book About Feelings helps children explore their feelings through age appropriate text and beautifully designed pages that fit in the style of Ruby’s Studio: The Feelings Show DVD.  My Feelings allows children to be the authors as they fill in information about themselves, their family, and their feelings by writing and using included stickers.  Both books measure 8.5 x 8.5, making them the perfect size to fit in little hands.  Win a gift set featuring A Little Book About Feelings, My Feelings, and Ruby’s Studio: The Feelings Show DVD valued at $37.89.

Disney Pixar Cars 2 APPMates ($30)— Disney’s Cars Appmates work with an iPad app that allow car lovers to place Mater, or any of the other 3 available characters, on the iPad’s surface to roll along the ever-changing scenery making it the perfect gift for iPad loving kids who enjoy taking cars with them wherever they go.  Available in 2 packs featuring Lightning McQueen & Holley Shiftwell or Mater & Finn McMissile.

GIVEAWAY: Peek-A-Shoe Octopus ($29.99)— Young children (ages 9-36 months) will enjoy playing hide and seek with balls as they learn about numbers and colors and enjoy songs as they play with this darling interactive octopus.  Kids drop the balls in one of 3 chutes located in his hat and arms and then lift the feet to find the balls.  And when the balls have rolled away and hidden themselves in the far recesses underneath the couch or are residing in mystery spots in your child’s room, order a spare ball set from the LeapFrog site.

Hot Wheels Wall Tracks Starter Set ($32.99)— If the floors are littered with toys, start building on the walls! With Hot Wheels Wall Tracks, favorite cars are sent along tracks that attach to the wall with removable 3M Command Strips for vertical play with endless building potential for kids ages 4-6.

GIVEAWAY: Little Pim ($29.95 for the intro set) — Little linguists will enjoy learning a foreign language in a fun way.  Give the gift of Spanish, Italian, Chinese, German, Japanese, Arabic, Russian, and Hebrew, or French with the Intro Gift Set that features a DVD, CD, and 8” plush of the adorable panda character that guides learning, all packaged in a see through Little Pim tote bag for learning on the go. Win a Little Pim gift set in the language of your choice by entering below.

Colonel Purple Turtle by Rocknoceros— Northern Virginia based Rocknoceros has been a favorite of our family for years.  Having attended their first show when Captain Computer was just a baby, we’ve been following the progress of this band as they have grown in popularity and continued to produce music that is fun, easy for the whole family to listen to thanks to the variety of different genres featured on each CD, and educational at the same time.  Colonel Purple Turtle is the band’s 4^th CD and it is as wonderful as all their previous ones.  Little Miss Techie is quite happy that its out because she has been waiting for Colonel Purple Turtle, a favorite song, to come out on CD for years! This CD is definitely a must for your listening library and don’t be surprised if you find yourself singing along even when the kids aren’t around.  Other Rocknoceros CDs include Pink, Dark Side of the Moonbounce, and the debut CD, Rocknoceros.

GIVEAWAY: Once Upon a Monster for Xbox Kinect ($49.99)— Sesame Street has partnered with Xbox and Kinect to create an interactive game that fosters literacy and movement in young children.  Through the game, kids get the opportunity to join Cookie Monster, Elmo and other Sesame Street characters as they explore a living storybook titled Once Upon a Monster.  Children and parents become part of the story adventure as they dance, jump, fly, and turn the pages together. Rated “E” and great for preschoolers through age 8.

Looking for more than the one time gift that will provide your child with pleasure throughout the year?  Here are my picks for gifts that give all year:

• Foster a love of reading with the gift of age appropriate magazine subscriptions such as Thomas and Friends, Animal Baby, and Ladybug.

• Foster a love of art as your child creates with Kiwi Crate ($19.95/month)—With a single crate or deliver of crates monthly, Kiwi Crate delivers a crate full of materials to inspire your preschooler to explore, imagine, and create.  No more running to the craft store to get the items you need for a project.  Kiwi Crate deliveries are something to look forward to each month!

• Foster learning in an interactive way through a safe online environment on PBS Kids Play- Read my in-depth review here.

Enter to win one of the items above for your preschooler!  

Leave a comment sharing one thing that is on your preschooler’s wish list and what giveaway item you’d like to surprise them with.  Entries must include your email or Twitter handle to be valid.

For extra entries, leave the required comment and complete any of the following:

• Tweet this daily and leave a link to your Tweet in your comment: I entered to win (insert giveaway item here) featured on @TechSavvyMama’s #Preschool Gift Guide: http://bit.ly/PreschoolGifts2011 #giveaway (1 entry per day)

• Subscribe to Tech Savvy Mama via RSS or email and let me know in your comment (1 entry)

• Follow me on Twitter and share your Twitter handle through your comment (1 entry)

Fine print: Winners will be selected from valid entries on Friday, December 9 and must reply with a U.S. mailing address and phone number within 24 hours or another winner will be chosen.  Leticia- Tech Savvy Mama and companies supplying giveaway items are not responsible for items lost, damaged, or delayed during shipping. 

Disclosure: Product samples were received to facilitate the above review.  Relationships with clients have been disclosed above and do not influence my opinion of the product.  Amazon Affiliate links are included in this post.