Kingdom in Box

December 2012: Babbaco Box
Theme: Royal Kingdom 

1. Create:
•  Turn shipping box into a castle. (Complete with color crayons, coloring pages, pinwheels, etc.)
• Everything needed to make a personalized coat of arms/family crest wooden plaque
2. Explore: bells and ribbon to make your own musical bracelet.  Oh and a free song download.
3. Story tell: Get Well Good Knight book.  A very fun song, and the source of the Toddler's new favorite catch-phrase: clippety-clop!
4. Connect: The app this month was Fairy-tale Preschool.  Huge hit! It teaches colors, counting, memory matching, and ABCs.

Everything needed to make our very own coat of arms!

A new book!  Get Well Good Knight.

Info on medieval instruments and ribbon and bells to increase the noise volume.
It also came with a free song download which was kinda fun.

My favorite part was getting out the scissors and turning the box into a castle!
(I'm also pretty proud of my knight and princess...Mom may have taken over the activity!)

The pinwheels were a huge hit with both boys.

Not the best picture, but he is shaking the bells to make music.

Rose Water - the Parent Gift this month.
Used in ye olden times, it is alcoholic...and apparently also good for cooking.

Overall I like the boxes.  By doing the annual subscription it cuts the cost down (to about $20/box).  However I am not sure if I will continue doing it.  The age range is 3-6, but my 3 year old isn't as interested/able to do as much as I thought he would be.  Maybe I just micromanage.  I'm going to give it another month to make up my mind.  I love the idea behind it, just wish my little guy would be a little more hands on...though it may require me being more hands off.

Box Full of Fun

I don't know if you have heard of this company or not, but I had heard some good reviews.  I ordered one for a birthday present for a friend of the Toddler, apparently it was a great gift.  There was a sale going on for 75% off the first box for a monthly subscription or year's membership.  I sat on it for quite awhile, and then decided to go for it.

They are designed for ages 3-6, and I thought it would be perfect to help keep the Toddler active and help me come up with new ideas of things to do with him. Many of the reviewers also used it for their 2 year olds, so by the end of the year I expect both boys to be enjoying it.  There is a sibling add on pack too, for now we will just stick with the one though.

  Each box is supposed to contain four major components.

1. Create: 2-3 hands on projects with all materials included
2. Explore: themed project to engage your kiddo with their surroundings
3. Story tell: a new book in each box
4. Connect: prepaid interactive learning app to download

The starter theme is Sun, Moon, and Stars.

Scissors...yikes!

For the Create portion: a paper mache moon shaped nightlight and a star frame

For the Explore portion:  binoculars and lunar calendar, to learn about the moon phases

For Story Tell: A Twinkle Star book

For Connect: a fun app that lets the boys play twinkle twinkle little star on the piano IPad

Apparently every box comes with a parent gift, so I scored a wine stopper.

Info on downloading the app.  This one allows the kids to play with a virtual keyboard teaching them to play Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.  Its pretty cute.

The Toddler's new favorite activity after we get home is to run outside with his binoculars and find the moon and then record it on the chart.  He has also been sleeping with the binoculars, they are his prize (surprise).  I'm hoping this will be a something we all look forward to every month, heading into the winter months more activity ideas should always be winning.

Progress on the paper mache moon
The Toddler was only interested in popping balloons and didn't want to get his hands dirty.

For a better review/wrap up, here is the video sneak peak of the box.  I love that before you even get it, an email tells you what to expect.