The Sneaky, Snacky Squirrel Game

I was given the opportunity to review The Sneaky, Snacky Squirrel Game, a game of strategy where players help the squirrel fill his tree stump with coloured acorns.  I absolutely love the cute design of this game with its muted colours and the integral tree-shaped box and board.  

The game itself is easy to play. Players spin the spinner that directs them to pick up a coloured acorn using the very sweet little squirrel with squeezey paws.  The one to fill their tree stump with a full set of coloured acorns is the winner.  With the option to steal their opponents' acorns the game can get quite exciting!

Freddy enjoyed playing this game with his sisters.  It is nice to have a game with straightforward, easily understandable rules that is still competitive and a lot of fun to play.

The game develops colour matching, strategic thinking, hand-eye co-ordination and fine motor skills.  It is for 2-4 players ages 3 and over.

This really is a lovely game for pre-schoolers featuring a lovely woodland theme.  The Sneaky, Snacky Squirrel Game is available to buy from Learning Resources UK for £19.95 (excl VAT).

You can win your own copy of the game by visiting Learning Resources UK Facebook page and entering their competition before April 30th 2013.

Learning to Read with Reading Eggs

Freddy is 3 and a half years old and eager to learn.  He isn't very keen on writing or drawing, but he loves playing educational games on tablets, phones and laptops.  So when I heard about Reading Eggs, an online program that teaches children to read, I was very interested in giving it a try.

Reading Eggs makes learning to read interesting and engaging for children, with great online reading games and activities which are fun to play.  It is suitable for children aged 3-7.  (Older children aged between 7 and 13 have Reading Eggspress which takes reading to a new level.)  There also apps available for little ones to play and learn on the go.

I was given a free trial to Reading Eggs (anyone can sign up for a two week trial to give the site a go with their child) after that it costs £39.95 for annual subscription which gives you access to games, activities and printable activity sheets, plus it monitors the child's progress and calculates their reading age.

Reading Eggs has a host of fun characters that lead the child through the lessons with songs, sound effects, praise and amusing graphics.  Children also have access to a great Playroom where they can enjoy some games to improve their skills.  The accent used in the speech throughout the game is British which is something that I was very pleased about.  A lot of phonics based games and apps are American and I find that it can confuse children to hear the letters and words pronounced with an American accent.

Both lower and upper case letters are included as children explore the sounds, picking out the letter from words and finding it on a wordsearch grid.  They can even make their own virtual letter book featuring words beginning with each letter.  As they progress, children begin to explore first words, building the foundations for reading.  There is loads of unlockable content to work towards which keeps the game fresh and challenging.

Freddy has taken to Reading Eggs with enthusiasm   He is very good at using the touch pad to drag and drop, click on and draw letters.  He loves the Playroom games and can explore the site map independently.  It is very user friendly, intuitive and safe.  Parents have their own area where the child's progress can be monitored.  Freddy loves the characters and really enjoys working through the lessons.  It is definitely helping with his letter recognition and it is lovely seeing him take these first steps towards being a confident reader.

Reading Eggs are offering readers of Inside the Wendy House the opportunity to extend their free trial from 2 weeks to 5 weeks if they sign up now using the code UKB24MBT.  I would definitely recommend it.

Find out more and sign up for a free trial at Reading Eggs.