RJ's New Toy Fav: Cool Tool Activity Set

Inside of this little blue box is hours of fun for the little ones.  Okay, it may not be hours at a time of fun, but the time spent with this little box will definitely add up to hours.

This is the Cool Tool Activity Set that we got from Educational Toys Planet.  The price on this fun and educational toy is only $24.97 (on sale at the time of this post).

Just look at all the things there are to do inside:

This is a look inside of the colorful Cool Tool Activity Box.  It comes with a drill that makes real drilling sounds.  The little hammer, screw driver, and wrench which are the perfect size for little hands.  There are also movable gears that makes fun sounds, and the shape sorter that names the shape as it is placed into the correct slot. 

The picture on the Educational Toys Planet website shows the activity box with a white insert that holds the tools, but ours didn't come with one.  I'm not sure if it's suppose to or not but the tools still fit into the tool box just fine without it.

 My little one couldn't wait to get his hands on the Cool Tool Activity Set.  I was getting him dressed when it came in the mail.  When he saw the box containing the activity set he gave me such a hard time that I had to let him go so that he could check it out, hence the pantless boy in the photo.

He was intrigued by opening the case at first, which is good because it helps him practice his fine motor skills and hand-eye coordination.

But it wasn't long until he moved on to the fun of banging, screwing and drilling.  I love the fact that once he screws down one screw, another will pop up to continue the fun.

I also like the fact that he could easily grasp and manipulate the tools.  He would have to hold them correctly, especially the screw driver and the wrench, to get them to fit into the slots on the screws (around the screws for the wrench).

As you've probably noticed, he was very focused on the activities at hand.  He seems to concentrate quite intensely and for long periods of time with this toy.

He loved spinning the gears to hear the music that plays.  The knob for the gears is small, thus he uses a pincer grasp to manipulate it...which I love to watch.  He seemed to enjoy watching the direction of the spinning gears.  Did you notice that little mirror on the big red gear?  That could be what he was looking at.  I think the mirror is a fun feature for little ones that are just getting to know themselves, and they get to watch themselves in action!

Best of all...It put this big, huge smile on his face, and I think that's the most important aspect of any toy!

If you want to get your hands on this or another fun, learning toy for the little person in your life, check out the Activity Toys for Toddlers section over at Educational Toys Planet. 

They have really reasonable prices and many of the toys are on sale right now.  They even have  top 10 toy lists sorted by age, gender, and just about any other way you can think of categorizing a list.

As always, the opinions stated in my review of this product are my very own.  I was not compensated outside of the product for my honest review of this toy.

Thanks for stopping by...don't forget to let me know what you think about this toy or any other Educational Toys Planet product that you've purchased.

~Blessings~

Claudea B.



Music and Movement

Happy New Year!!!!!!!!!! Today has been filled with the sounds of my little Sunshyne singing and enjoying music. She loves to sing and learn new songs. She even asked for new batteries for her old toy microphone to put on a pretend concert. I love to hear the sound of her little voice belting out tunes of old. Some of my childhood favorites that are now hers ~You are my Sunshine ~Twinkle, Twinkle little star ~If You're Happy and You Know It ...Just to name a few. Ironically, one of my colleagues asked me to assist him in teaching a music and movement class next week and I thought how interesting a topic that would be to start out the new year here with you. While I was sitting here deciding which angle I would take for the training, I came up with more than a few interesting tidbits to share with you. Of course, I realize that this is blog and not one of those 1200 word articles that I love to read, but never seem to find the time to do... much more than look at the pictures and skim the first two sentences of each paragraph. I decided to write as much as I could and I promise not to get offended if you only skim the first few sentences...I'm an adult, I can take it. I decided to talk about the importance of music in the lives of preschoolers and any age really, but this age is one of the most fun to watch. Music is truly universal! Have you ever noticed that children, both young and old, can learn the words to a song with very little effort? With that in mind, I believe that you can teach a child just about anything if it is put to music. When words, rhythm and repetition are all combined together, you have the recipe for learning! The following are some suggestions for you to make the most of your musical experience with your toddler or preschooler.

• Play music that is appropriate for the mood you are trying to set
• Encourage your child to get up or move her body parts while listening to music
• Make up songs to replace the words for added language skills building
• Purchase or make instruments to use along with the music
• Sing a special song together that includes your child's name
• Record your child's musical experience either by video or audio recorder
• Use finger plays, and encourage your child to follow the directions of the song and get a bonus practice on sequencing. (eg. Give a Dog a Bone, and Head and Shoulders)

Well, that's it for today, I am going to leave you with the words to one of my new favorite songs...

Five Little Monkeys

Five little monkeys sitting in a tree,

Teasing Mr. Alligator

You Can't catch me!

Along came Mr. Alligator

As quiet as can be

And he snapped that monkey right out of that tree!

Count down till there aren't anymore monkeys left or you can say that the last monkey says "you missed me!"

Feel free to share your comments on music and movement or anything that you've read here.