Dry-Erase Globes Test Your Knowledge of Geography

Dry-erase globes are excellent tools for teaching geography to children, and they can make for an unusual piece in your globe collection.

As you probably guessed, dry-erase globes come unlabeled, are coated with the same material found on dry-erase boards (white boards), and will accept temporary markings from dry-erase markers. Markings can be cleared with regular dry erasers.

Dry-erase globes come in two main types: 1) black and white, 2) blue and green. The black and white dry-erase globes feature only outlines of borders and other major geographical features. A black and white dry-erase globe would be good for manual coloring and labeling. A blue and green dry-erase globe would be good for manual labeling only. Generally, dry-erase globes come with the necessary markers.

Not only would a dry-erase globe be an excellent tool for preparing for a geography exam, it could be a useful tool in testing and refreshing your general knowledge of the world.

LeapFrog’s Letter Factory, the Best DVD for Pre-Readers

LeapFrog’s Letter Factory is a video that teaches children the alphabet and the sounds of each letter through phonics.

The story is about Tad, Leap, and Lily (cartoon frogs) who spend a day with Professor Quigley at the Letter Factory. During the tour, characters move from room to room and learn about the individual letters of the alphabet. Each short segment features a different theme, a very brief skit with talking letters, and a catchy little song. These mini-lessons do an excellent job of introducing each letter and associating it with its sound. At the end of the story, all of the letters appear for a big musical finale to review the lesson.

LeapFrog’s Letter Factory is brilliant in its simplicity. Letter Factory reduces the alphabet to its most basic elements: the letters and their sounds. This simple content provides pre-readers with just what they need to know about the alphabet without overwhelming them with excessive information.

The catchy songs sung by cartoon letters cement each lesson and provide the child with an audio-visual mnemonic device for each letter of the alphabet. These well-imprinted memories will become invaluable when your child begins learning how to read. LeapFrog’s Letter Factory is educational, entertaining, and simply the best video for pre-readers on the market.

LeapFrog's Fridge Phonics toy is a complement to this DVD.

Mozart Cubed: The Embryonics Mozart Magic Cube

The Embryonics Mozart Magic Cube from Munchkin, Inc. is a fun educational toy that teaches your child the basics of music composition.

The yellow and purple cube measures five inches and has one large button on each face. One button activates a digital orchestra, and the other five activate a piano, harp, flute, violin, and French horn. As your child presses the buttons, the five instruments are added to or taken out of the orchestra. Rhythmic flashing lights indicate which instruments are playing during any of the several classic songs stored in the Magic Cube.

With the Mozart Magic Cube, your child has the ability to customize compositions. Your child may choose to hear the full orchestra or simply a solo. The important thing is that the selections are all up to your child.

This toy encourages development by allowing your child to make choices and immediately see the results of those decisions. This toy is also beneficial because it helps to your child understand that music is not just noise but a combination of multiple instruments playing their own parts.

A negative aspect of the Mozart Magic Cube is the weak quality of the digital music. The sound is very electronic and should be improved. With the electronic technology now available, there is no reason why the Mozart Magic Cube cannot have highly realistic synthesized musical sounds. Hopefully, the manufacturer will invest a little more time in product enhancement and deliver a truly spectacular version of this toy in the future.

Another negative aspect of this toy is that the electronics are a little fragile for a toy. For some reason, little boys love to drop this cube on the floor to see if it will bounce. On good bounce on a tile floor will be more than enough to put your Mozart Magic Cube into a permanent electronic coma.

With the exception of the weak music quality and fragile electronics, the Mozart Magic Cube is a great toy for teaching your child the basics of music. Your child is likely to love it.

Prenatal Stimulation Provides a Head Start for Your Unborn Child

Prenatal stimulation refers to the practice of using music, voice, etc. to stimulate fetuses. The objective is to promote brain development while the child is still in the womb. Some experts doubt prenatal stimulation has any impact on fetal brain development. Other experts claim that prenatal stimulation is clearly beneficial.

Regardless of where you stand on the issue of prenatal stimulation, we have to consider the facts. Fetuses can hear sounds. We know this because fetuses respond to sounds while in the womb. Sudden sharp noises (like slamming doors) startle fetuses and make them jump. We know that sound waves from music and external voices can penetrate into the womb. Research has long proven that, after birth, babies recognize their mother’s voice. Also, many babies appear to recognize their father’s voice immediately after birth.

Given this evidence, it seems only logical that fetuses can hear and enjoy music and voices. For this reason, you might want to consider the possible benefits of exposing your unborn child to audio stimulation.

Pregnant mothers have observed that their fetuses seem to be excited by certain noises. Pregnant mothers who read to their fetuses notice that the fetus becomes highly active when hearing certain books and very calm while hearing other books. Mothers have had similar observations with music. Peppy music may excite the fetus while peaceful music may soothe the fetus.

If you want to use prenatal stimulation for your baby, it’s very easy. You can begin by reading to the baby. Just project your voice toward the fetus. You don’t need to shout, but speak up, because the inside of the human body is a very noisy place.

You also might want to play music for the fetus. Babies seem to love classical music. In particular, Mozart’s playful and happy style appears to have a universal appeal with children. If you turn up the stereo’s volume a bit, the fetus should be able to hear the music. Don’t turn up the volume too much, however. There is no need to have the music louder than what is comfortable for you.

Some companies sell products to aid in prenatal stimulation. BebeSounds offers a kit that includes abdominal speakers, a microphone, music, and an electronic fetal listening device. The BabyPlus Company has a sophisticated sonic system based on rhythms: the Prenatal Education System. With a little searching, you can probably find several similar prenatal stimulation products. Just choose the one that you think will best accomplish your goals.

If you do buy one of the commercially available prenatal stimulation systems, please follow the safety guidelines carefully. Misuse of these products could potentially be harmful to the fetus.

VeggieTales: Hilarious Entertainment with Values

Big Idea Inc. produces the highly popular VeggieTales collection of toys, music, books, apparel, and educational products; however, the company is best known for its series of VeggieTales DVDs.

The VeggieTales DVDs are excellent, but what really makes them stand out is their focus on moral values. Each Veggie Tale DVD contains valuable lessons in being a good person. These Christian-themed videos address issues such as honestly, respecting parents, sharing, kindness, etc.

VeggieTales DVDs feature a lot of fun and catchy songs (“Silly Songs”) that kids love. The characters such as Larry and Bob are very engaging, funny, and memorable. As an added bonus, the VeggieTales scripts are intelligently written, so even adults can enjoy some of the subtle humor that is certain to fly over the heads of most children.

Baby Gyms Provide a Workout for the Brain

A baby gym normally consists of arches that extend over a small cushioned play mat. The gym sits on the floor and provides you with a comfortable and stimulating place to lay your baby when you are unable to hold him or her. (The Tiny Love Gymini is one of the best-known baby gyms.)

The important feature of the baby gym is the arches. These arches generally have several holes that allow you to suspend toys over your baby. The suspended toys give your baby interesting objects on which to focus. This helps with the development of eyes and visual processing skills. The suspended toys also provide your baby with objects to bat around with his or her hands and feet. This helps the development of motor skills.

When selecting a baby gym, try to find one in black, white, and red. If you cannot find one with these colors, look for a gym with a lot of contrasting colors and bold patterns.

When setting up the baby gym, suspend the toys in locations where your baby is likely to hit or kick them by accident during normal movement. As your baby repeatedly bumps the suspended toys by accident, your baby will begin to realize that he or she has control over his or her environment, which is a major developmental breakthrough. If you watch carefully and are lucky, you will actually witness the precise moment that your baby realizes that he or she can manipulate objects by moving arms and legs.

Object Permanence: Out of Sight, Not out of Mind

Object permanence, first studied by Jean Piaget, is the term for the concept that an object can continue to exist although it is not visible. All babies are born without object permanence. From a baby’s point of view, if something cannot be seen, it simply does not exist. As babies develop and experiment with the world around them, they begin to grasp the concept of object permanence. Generally, babies develop this understanding early in their first year.

Even though your baby will eventually learn object permanence on his or her own, you can help your baby with this process with some simple games.

Peek-a-boo is a very simple exercise for teaching object permanence. When you cover your face, your baby will believe that you do not exist. Once your face reappears, your baby will think you suddenly materialized. Peek-a-boo must be incredibly puzzling to a baby, but, eventually, the baby will figure out the secret to your magic act. After many instances of your disappearance and reappearance, your baby will finally realize that, even though you may not be visible, you still exist. Once your baby understands this, he or she has begun to grasp object permanence.

You can further build on this lesson by using a favorite toy and a blanket. Simply cover and uncover the toy with the blanket. After your baby has seen the toy disappear and reappear many times, he or she will figure out the secret. When your baby begins pulling at the blanket to reveal the covered toy, you will know that your baby has learned object permanence.