Educational Toys Planet - Preschool Games

I first heard about the website Educational Toys Planet from a friend's blog.  I liked their Facebook page and kept on getting more information about them in my news feed.  This website seemed to have many blog reviews by Moms like me.  So I sent them an email to let them know I would love to do a review.

I got a reply and was kind of surprised by the details in their email.  It was obvious they had worked with bloggers before.  They had all their ducks in a row.  This actually makes me really respect them as a company.

The first step to writing a review for them is to write about one of their categories on their website.  I don't mind doing this of course, but my first thought was, I don't want to write anything that is not authentic, because well, that's not fair to you.  Can I really get excited about a toy category?

Turns out I can pretty much get excited about anything when it comes to toys, I have a bit of an obsession, specifically with toys that teach.  That's what this website is all about, and that was their mission.  Put all the toys that teach all in one spot, with an easy to navigate website and good prices.  They carry all my favorites, Melissa & Doug, Alex toys, Erector and many others.

The website gives you multiple ways to search for toys for your child or grandchild.  By age, which is great because you may not know exactly what you are looking for.  When you choose the age it gives you all the toys relevant for that age.  You can then search through and get ideas.  They also have search by Category, which includes Arts & Crafts, Music Toys, Role Playing and Activity Toys.  Search by Brand or by Skill.  Lastly they have a category called Toys For.  Which includes the typical Boys and Girls search, but they also include, for Special Needs, Teachers, Party Favors and Made in the USA.  I love that they have a Made in the USA category.

So after all that, do I have you on pins and needles?  Well then, which category is your favorite Tracy?  The one I ran across was under the Category for Games.  There is a sub-category called Preschool Games.  Just last week we sat down as a family to have a game night.  I have heard of many families having these game nights but kept on thinking, I need to wait a few years.  My boys are 4.5 and 2.5.  They can't sit down and play the typical board games or even Pictionary.  Finally my oldest started to pick up on his colors and we started playing Candyland.  My youngest also started picking up on colors fast, and with a little help, can play right along with us.   Turns out though, that so far, Candyland is the only game we have that we can all play together.  After a few rounds, we were stuck.

It was a few days later that I started snooping around on Educational Toys Planet and discovered this category, a whole category of games to choose from.  I found a few games that stood out to me as games my active boys would enjoy.  First this Honey Bee Tree, which has won a few awards.  The honey bees are in the tree and the goal is to not wake them up as you remove the leaves.  Who ever has the least amount of bees in their tray at the end of the game, wins!

The Bunny Hop Memory Game, Farm Bingo - Match It! Game, What Doesn't Belong?, and The Electronic Hot Potato Game all look like tons of fun as well.  All the games are under $20.00 except the Bunny Hop game which is a bit over.  The Farm Bingo is only $10.17.

Of course, game night with the family is not about the games but the time spent together.  I think that's why I get so excited about this category.  It turns out, you don't have to wait until all your children are big to have game night, but you can start now!  I look forward to the moments that these games will facilitate.  Moments of conversation, eye to eye contact, learning (they won't eve know it!), fun, maybe even some moments of frustration that we learn to over come.  All good things. 

I may receive a little gift for the writing this review.  But I hope you know, I would not be anything but authentic.  I have not actually played with any of these games, but look forward to giving them all a try.  I will write again, if given the opportunity.