Product Review & Giveaway - Potty Target

~ Posted on Saturday, March 17, 2012 at 11:13 AM ~

I came across this wonderful product while I was surfing around the Net looking for pictures on potty training (I was in the midst of writing up a blog post about Ben's potty training) and immediately decided to ask whether they are OK with international bloggers, and my oh my, they are happy to provide me a product of my choice from their website for my review!  So here goes my review for the "Potty Target - 12 Pack":

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Description from the product page:
"Our goal at PottyTarget.com is to make the world cleaner one bathroom at a time. This simple product helps kids to go where they are supposed to and creates laughs along the way. Give them something to aim for and you will be amazed by the results. "

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I requested for the Potty Target 12 packs for my review. It has 3 of each: Boat, Duck, Tree, and Target Decals. The stickers came with an easy to understand and follow instructions to apply the stickers.

The designs are cute and eye catching.  

At the moment, Ben is still using potty and has yet to migrate over to using toilet seat. I am not in a hurry to rush this process as I am trying to train him to hold his pee longer and in the meantime, look out for a suitable and sturdy step stool so that he could stand on it when we decide to let him try peeing into the toilet seat.

So this review is based on the application of the decals on Ben's plastic potty. Ben immediately chooses the Target design (maybe because he likes red?) and he is excited with the idea of trying to pee to hit the target sticker!

On a few occasion, I caught him peeing into his potty and trying to aim hard at the Target sticker. Normally he pees into the potty and look elsewhere. So far there has been very minimal incidents of him accidently splashes out some minor trickles but I think the idea of a sticker in his potty for him to practise his aim is good!

I will be keeping the rest of the sticker and try it out on our toilet seat when we are ready for him to use the toilet seat later.

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You can get these stickers at Potty Target's website.

I am so excited to be able to hold this giveaway for my lucky blog followers and readers! FIVE of you lucky people are going to win this awesome product! You will absolutely love it! Now, let's read below for the giveaway terms and conditions OK?

Please note that this giveaway is only available for US and Canada residents. (apologies to the rest, please don't get mad, OK?)

To enter the giveaway, kindly read and follow the instructions as stated in the Rafflecopter form below.

  • You can enter either via login through your Facebook account or just key in your name and your valid email address.
  • Please also leave your valid email address in the post comment so that I can contact you if you win this giveaway.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

I'm a full-time mummy

I received no monetary compensation for this review, I was provided with the product by Potty Target in order to facilitate my review. All opinions expressed in this post are my own. Please do your own research when purchasing products, as your opinions may differ from mine.

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iPad App Review & Giveaway - Smart Speller English

~ Posted on Wednesday, March 14, 2012 at 8:50 AM ~

I received an email from Olha, the marketing manager of this fun app as they were looking for ways to spread the word about their wonderful mobile application for kids. I replied that I would be delighted to review the app myself if they don't mind since Ben is not into spelling stage yet. Anyway, my review as below...

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* Title: Smart Speller English
* Price: The free version comes with 1 puzzle category (Vegetables), full version for iPad app: $2.99
* Category: Education
* Updated: 06 February 2012
* Version: 2.1
* Size: 29.7 MB
* Language: English
* Seller: Lemberg Solutions Limited
* Rated: 4+
* Requirements: Compatible with iPhone, iPod touch and iPad.Requires iOS 4.2 or later

Description from the product page:

"This simple to use and effective interactive learning game was created by parents for parents to help their children learn to correctly pronounce and spell words and letters. Thanks to its three levels of complexity (with hints, without hints and with extra letters), SmartSpeller will be exciting for kids to complete over and over again, moving to the next level as they grow up and learn. "

I'm a full-time mummy

Although Ben is not into spelling stage yet, I am delighted to review this app because I am a bit of a spelling nuts fan and love games that require puzzle solving! Hey, at the end of the day, I keep all the good educational apps on my iPad so that I can let Ben use it when he's ready!

Each wooden fence represents a category and the colors of the rainbow

The app comes with 80 original pictures across 7 categories (numbers and colours, fruit & vegetable, vehicles, farm animals, shapes, body parts) and the game is played by tapping a moving object and then completing a word puzzle.

What's good?

* I love that we can also touch the objects on the screen and the narrator tells you what it is!

You drag the letters to the bottom to spell out the word

* I like the difficulty levels which correspond appropriately. Easy level allows you to see the spelling of the word, Medium level test you on the spelling without any hints and the Hard level has an additional letter to test and trick your knowledge to see whether you are confident with your answers.

* Upon solving each category, you will see the colors for the category appearing as rainbow so it gives you something to look forward to as a reward for solving all the categories.

* There are different language versions of the Smart Speller app! (FYI, there are 10 language versions available on the AppStore and 13 language versions on the Android Market)

Room for Improvement?

* I would love it if the letters being spelled out (upon solving) to have other colors instead of the current darker brown which is not so eye catching.

* I wonder whether it is possible to animate out the object image after spelling correctly, for example after spelling the word 'one' correctly, the app can animate out 1 ball bouncing around the page or something.

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You can purchase the "Smart Speller English" app from the iTunes App Store.

I am so excited to be able to hold this giveaway for my lucky blog followers and readers! FOUR of you lucky people are going to win a copy of this awesome and educational app! You will absolutely love it! Now, let's read below for the giveaway terms and conditions OK?

To enter the giveaway, kindly read and follow the instructions as stated in the Rafflecopter form below.

  • You can enter either via login through your Facebook account or just key in your name and your valid email address.
  • Please also leave your valid email address in the post comment so that I can contact you if you win this giveaway.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

I'm a full-time mummy

I received no monetary compensation for this review, I was provided with the promo code by the sponsor to redeem the application for free from iTunes Store in order to facilitate my review. All opinions expressed in this post are my own. Please do your own research when purchasing products, as your opinions may differ from mine. And if you'd like to read my previous iPad Apps reviews, you can do so by reading this post of mine called "My iPad App Reviews"

I'm a full-time mummy

iPad App Review & Giveaway - Montessori Revolution

~ Posted on Tuesday, March 13, 2012 at 10:26 AM ~

I've always been intrigued and very much curious with Montessori methods and am very happy I get to review an app for Montessori learning for my child. Anyway, my review as below for the "Montessori Revolution" app...

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* Title: Montessori Revolution
* Price: $0.99
* Category: Education
* Updated: Jan 25, 2012
* Version: 1.0.2
* Size: 27.6 MB
* Language: English
* Seller: MEDL Mobile, Inc
* Rated: 4+
* Requirements: Compatible with iPad.Requires iOS 4.0 or later.

Description from the product page:

"The Montessori Revolution iPad app carries the rich and world-renown heritage of the Montessori method into the 21st Century, allowing you to bring home the time-tested techniques and methods that your child experiences at school. Developed hand-in-hand with a team of trusted and experienced Montessorians, This powerful Montessori pro-tool amplifies your child’s learning by marrying cutting-edge technology with the hands-on, discovery-based education system of the Montessori method.

The app employs several multi-sensory exercises to improve your child’s cognitive abilities in a variety of areas, including arithmetic, hand-eye coordination, spatial awareness and problem solving.

DISCOVERY OVER DIRECTION
Montessori Revolution taps into your child’s natural abilities in order to reshape their learning process. By promoting a learning process based on active discovery instead of passive instruction, Montessori Revolution gives your child the best head start on their journey through life.

CURB THE LEARNING CURVE
Six dynamic hands-on exercises highlight your child’s natural abilities, playing to their strengths while identifying and improving areas of challenge.
– “The Moveable Alphabet” grows your child’s basic phonemic skills using audio-visual cues, drag-and-drop screen gestures and several levels of difficulty.
– “The Pink Tower” teaches your child scale, direction perception skills, concentration and order by building a tower from several sizes of blocks.
– “The Pouring Exercise” develops your child’s hand-eye coordination and spatial awareness by transferring beans back and forth between two containers.
– “The Short Bead Stairs” builds your child’s arithmetic and direction-following skills through a drag-and-drop game
– “The Canvas” introduces your child to the world of art and color through a free-form drawing tablet.
– “The Globe” teaches your child geography through an interactive rotating globe with clickable continents.

TRACK YOUR CHILD'S GROWTH
Watch and monitor your child’s growth with the in-app progress tracker. You can keep track of everything, from time spent on each exercise to individual lesson scores.

TWO EXERCISES
As part of your purchase, you get two free hands-on exercises: the Canvas exercise to get you started, and a bonus exercise of your choice. Each additional exercise is only $0.99

PROFILES FOR MULTIPLE STUDENTS
Easily create and manage profiles for multiple students. You can add as many students as you would like, and each profile allows you to upload a photo."

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Montessori Revolution

There are 6 exercises on this app but this review is based on 2 of the exercises available which are: “The Moveable Alphabet” and "The Canvas".

(*Note: You get 2 exercises as part of the purchase, the other 4 are in-app purchases, each costs $0.99)

What's good?

* I like the varieties of exercises on this app.

Montessori Revolution

* Although Ben is not at the spelling stage yet, I did try out the 1st exercise which is “The Moveable Alphabet”. It is an interesting approach to teach spelling and I'd like to go over this again when Ben is at the spelling stage one day.

* I got Ben to try out the 2nd exercise which is "The Canvas" and we have some fun time just doodling and drawing!

Montessori Revolution

I drew the orange octopus on the top right.

Ben drew his version on the bottom left.

Montessori Revolution

To my surprise, Ben drew Spiderman's eyes!

(* In case you don't know, it's on the left)

Room for Improvement?

* I would prefer if all the 6 exercises are made available in this app, perhaps 2 of them are fully accessible (as per the current settings) and the other 4 allows us to try out a basic or simple activity so we can have a feel of each of the exercises in this app.

I'm a full-time mummy

You can purchase the " Montessori Revolution " app from the iTunes App Store.

I am so excited to be able to hold this giveaway for my lucky blog followers and readers! FIVE of you lucky people are going to win a copy of this educational and useful app! You will absolutely love it! Now, let's read below for the giveaway terms and conditions OK?

* Note: 2 of the exercises offered for the giveaway are: “The Moveable Alphabet” and "The Canvas"

To enter the giveaway, kindly read and follow the instructions as stated in the Rafflecopter form below.

  • You can enter either via login through your Facebook account or just key in your name and your valid email address.
  • Please also leave your valid email address in the post comment so that I can contact you if you win this giveaway.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

I'm a full-time mummy

I received no monetary compensation for this review, I was provided with the promo code by the sponsor to redeem the application for free from iTunes Store in order to facilitate my review. All opinions expressed in this post are my own. Please do your own research when purchasing products, as your opinions may differ from mine. And if you'd like to read my previous iPad Apps reviews, you can do so by reading this post of mine called "My iPad App Reviews"

I'm a full-time mummy