When I was on my Alvin and the Chipmunks Chipwrecked press junket, there was a product room showcasing all the products, including this fun dance game. What I really liked about it is that it’s active, but that it’s totally kid friendly, unlike some of the dance games out there (I know that I, along with other parents, have asked our younger kids not to play certain songs on the lineup). These are popular songs, such as “All-Star,” and “Life is a Highway,” but there are lots of throwback songs that the kids will like but will really make the parents like “Tricky,” “Karma Chameleon,” “Play that Funky Music Chipmunk,” “Beat It,” and “You Really Got Me.”

This game has a lot of text on the screen, but Alvin and the rest of the chipmunks read everything, making this game appropriate for readers and non-readers alike. I highly recommend this game to preschoolers and up (as I’m watching an enthusiastic 2nd grader enjoying it right now, and I have to admit that I liked it a lot). They seem to be pretty forgiving on how precise your movements are.

This game is also available on other platforms including the DS, which we haven’t played yet, but I wanted to get this review up ASAP, because I do think that this would make a great gift.

Be sure to check out my review of the film (and enter to win the first 2 movies on DVD and a $25 Fandango gift card) as well as some fun facts about the film (and me on camera!).

The movie opens December 16 and is rated G.

Jennifer Donovan admits she’s living a pretty charmed life (online at least). She’s happy to back to blogging at Snapshot and pleased to cover such fun events at 5 Minutes for Mom.

Trends come and go, and as a child of the 80s, I’m frequently finding that many of the characters, toys, and shows that I enjoyed as a child are coming back now, just in time for those in my generation to want to reminisce by turning our own young kids onto them. But, then there are those few names that just haven’t gone away since our childhoods, staying popular and beloved by children over the years. Richard Scarry definitely falls into this category, and his characters and stories have remained a fixture in young kids’ lives for decades.

As the holiday season rapidly approaches, parents of young children who love the characters and fun of Richard Scarry’s Busytown world should look no further than the Busytown toys, including the Town Hall Deluxe Playset.

Read my full review over at 5 Minutes for Mom and leave a comment over there to enter to win one for yourself (U.S. only).

Comments are closed here to remind you to leave your comment over there.

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5 Minutes for Books staff reviewer Dawn splits her time teaching preschool, parenting three wacky kids and occasionally blogging at my thoughts exactly.

The math and science concepts covered are: patterns, counting (zero and 1-12), shapes (squares and triangles), measuring, maps and sorting, all important building block concepts to be learned in the early childhood years. The activities in the workbooks include both coloring and drawing on the pages, as well as working with cards to be printed out from the CD that comes with each book.

The best thing about these workbooks in my opinion, and what makes them stand out from the rest of the crowd, is the literature connection each workbook provides, for also on the CD is a full copy of a picture book that relates to the concept presented. For example, in the Patterns: What’s the Big Idea? workbook, the picture book included on the CD is the wonderful Pattern Fish by Trudy Harris, a fun and colorful book that introduces the concept of recognizing patterns. The big idea (couldn’t resist) behind these workbooks is that parents and young children sit together and read the picture books first, then children can practice with the concepts presented through the workbook’s activities. If looking at the picture book on a computer together isn’t feasible, parents could also check the books out from their local library. I opted to do this, and my younger children have frequently chosen to look at the books on their own since we first read them together, reinforcing the concepts even more!

In complete honesty, I’m not the biggest advocate for straightforward paper and pencil activities for preschoolers and kindergartners. As an early childhood educator, I advocate for hands-on activities and experiences for young children, working with materials that can be manipulated and explored as their primary way of learning. That being said, I know that there are situations in which some young children crave workbook-type activities, especially in the older sibling scenario I described earlier. The What’s the Big Idea? series impresses me with the literary connections and the more interactive component of using printed cards to create one’s own patterns, etc. I feel confident that these activities will appeal to some young children, and I encourage parents to take a look at the series as an option for supplemental exposure to some basic math and science concepts.

We have two complete sets of 6 workbooks to give away! Leave a comment here if you’d like to win (U.S. and Canada addresses only, please), and we’ll announce the winners on September 14.

The winners of our recent giveaways are
• Racing in the Rain — #18, June
• One Day book and gift pack — #18 ibeeeg
• Her Sister’s Shadow — #30 Lanna

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Preschool teacher Dawn keeps busy with her students, her own children, loads of books, and blogging at my thoughts exactly.

This is just the type of activity book that I adored as a child, with spaces for creative writing and drawing. Some prompts are completely open-ended– a two page spread with a red, white and blue border, a space to write the date and a one word directive: “Draw!” Others, though, are more specific. For example, in one section, information is provided about different fruits that are grown across the country, and questions are posed about the child’s favorite fruits and fruity muffins.

There is a nice mix of general questions for children to fill in, such as the names of their best friends and favorites (tv show, movie, video game, book, art projects), along with some more USA-centric sections, too. Tidbits of information about American geography accompany a section for children to write about any camping trips they’ve taken. Another page talks about Chicago- vs. New York-style pizzas, and then directions are given for making homemade pizza! If your child is more comfortable at the art table than in the kitchen, the “patriotic wind sock” project might be just the thing for him or her.

This soft-cover “diary” encourages creativity, provides information about the U.S. in a kid-friendly manner, and gives children the opportunity to record any sort of thought and drawing on the open pages. After reading the interesting facts about our nation, the final page of the diary poses what I think is the best question of the whole book: “What makes YOU an American kid?” I’m personally hoping that my own son will share his ideas on that question with me!

Diary of an American Kid makes for a perfect summer gift for an elementary school aged American kid of your own. A fun way to keep children active, thinking, writing and drawing during those long days out of school, with the added bonus of mini-history and geography lessons snuck in, too!

American kid Dawn, is raising three American kids of her in own in the Maryland suburbs, where reading is always a summer fun activity. She blogs at my thoughts exactly.

We have taken road trips each of the last three summers. I love to stock up on books and activities that can help keep peace and quiet without relying 100% on DVD watching and hand held gaming devices. In fact, I would say that I allow less than 30% of their time spent with these activities.

Assuming your kids don’t get motion sick in the car and have to avoid reading materials — which thankfully none of my kids or I do — car time is an excellent time to encourage reading and other activities.

Eye Q Picture Puzzler is such an awesome book. So much so that I couldn’t save it for our upcoming trip. This book entertained my 7-year-old son all spring as we drove to and from church events, sports practices, band concerts and the like.

Each page is grouped by subject, including fun kid-friendly themes such as bugs, desserts, pets. There are several questions on each page that guide the child in activities to search and circle (such as “Which 3 don’t belong?”). Because you use a dry-erase marker on a wipe-off page, it’s not consumable.

It’s explicitly suggested that a “creative parent” could provide even more activities. For example, one page that features bugs would tell the child to find things that don’t belong, or find the bugs that would blend into a leaf. A parent could then direct from the front seat (or beside the child at the table) to find the biggest or the smallest or whatever. I’ve also seen Kyle use his own creativity, giving the book to his sister and asking her to circle her 3 favorite desserts on the page.

I love the dry erase marker included with a built-in eraser on the lid. The marker holder is secure, which is important in this kind of book and not always a given.

Kyle was excited about Big Nate Boredom Buster: Super Scribbles, Cool Comix, and Lots of Laughs, but he’s not quite old enough for it. For one thing, beyond reading some of the original comics in the newspaper, he hasn’t read the Big Nate books. This activity book is really for fans who are familiar with Big Nate, and for that market, I think that this is an excellent book. The books appeal to reluctant readers, because they might relate to Nate who doesn’t always excel at school, but does excel at getting in trouble.

Even though this book is an activity book, there’s lots of reading to be done on the pages. The activities basically build on the reader’s knowledge of Nate or his ability to identify with him, such as completing a doodle, making your own comic, and lots of list-making: making words from another word (like detention), listing your favorite food and words that describe it, make-your-own comics, decoding activities and more.

One thing I found odd about this book is that it’s a hardcover book. Is it just me, or is the act of writing in a hardcover book sort of hard to do? It just seems like the long-lasting sturdiness that a hardcover book offers is unnecessary in a consumable item. On the positive, if your child is a collector, it does match the style of Big Nate: In a Class By Himself in hardcover. Also, at the time this published, amazon’s price on the hardcover was the same as a paperback would have been.

I recommend this book for Big Nate fans who are at least 8 or 9 years old — and up definitely. Since most of the activities are creative, an older child or a younger one could each express himself in an appropriate way.

Jennifer Donovan has become a fan of the road trip. She looks forward to her trip to the Grand Canyon this summer, which she has good intentions of covering on her blog Snapshot.

Having a few Klutz craft/activity books on hand has become a given for me. As a parent, I enjoy that everything is included, and the instructions are thorough enough for kids to generally tackle the projects on their own.

When we were given the opportunity to review the new Fabulous Flowers by Klutz, Amanda and I jumped at the chance.

The age recommendation is 8 and up. I usually find the Klutz recommendations to be accurate, but my very crafty 12 1/2 year old daughter Amanda was a little daunted. She said that they seemed complicated. I asked why, and she said that you had to glue and hold.

When I looked at the set with my eager 7-year old son, I saw that you did have to let the glue dry on the first step of making the flower center, but honestly, there’s not much complicated about it at all.

The directions are very clear, and do require some fine motor skills, but not much skill beyond that.

The book contains punch-out pieces and instructions to guide you in making Zinnias, Daisies, Poppies, Daffodils, Larkspur and more. I love that they are real kinds of flowers and are called by their names.

Kyle and I made a zinnia, so realistic it practically smells good. Well, maybe not, but it was fun, and it is pretty:

You can buy Fabulous Flowers at the Klutz site, amazon.com or your local retailer that carries Klutz books.

Two of you (U.S. addresses only) will win your own copy! Just leave a comment, and we’ll announce the winners here on June 22. The giveaway is closed.

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Jennifer Donovan isn’t so good about creating projects and crafts, so she especially appreciates these sort of kits that make it easy to take a little craft break. She blogs about life with her 7-year-old son and 12-year-old daughter at her blog Snapshot.

Fast forward a decade, and my first born child has attended several summer sessions worth of Circus Camp, learning to balance on a ball, walk on a large rolling spool, even trying his hand (feet?) at the unicycle. This is a child who craves physical play, and I recently read a book that I thought would help me as a parent more clearly understand this need.

Over on the Kirkus Reviews Blog today, I’m sharing my reactions to The Art of Roughhousing: Good Old-Fashioned Horseplay and Why Every Kid Needs It by Anthony T. DeBenedet and Lawrence J. Cohen. Head over to the Kirkus Reviews Blog to read my take, and I’d love to hear from readers about their own levels of comfort with physical play!

Dawn finds herself constantly acting as a jungle gym (at the very moment of typing these words, she is bouncing a child on her foot). When she’s not being climbed on, she tries her hand at blogging at my thoughts exactly.

I think most people are familiar with Klutz books. They’re known for their layouts and bright colours, which pull their readers in, for being jam-packed with lots of facts and information, and for their great sense of humour. They always come with hands-on applications and materials, taking their topics from the theoretical to the practical, and ensuring that kids will be involved with their subject.

The Klutz Guide to the Galaxy is an excellent example of all that Klutz does so well. Packed with information about astronomy, the planets, constellations, and our galaxy, it includes kits to build-your-own sundial and a very cool working telescope, charts to figure out how old you’d be on Mars, and other fun additions. There’s a Tourist Guide to the Moon, and a map of the galaxy (with the prerequisite “you are here” annotation!). There are the phases of moon, illustrated, and the “phases of Dave,” also illustrated (My favorite was waxing gibbous Dave).

There are travel guides for the other planets (hint: you pretty much always have to pack your own oxygen) and instructions for how to navigate by the stars, along with star maps. There are instructions on how to test your night vision, which begin: 1. Drink a big glass of water before going to bed. 2. When you have to get up to go to the bathroom… There are instructions for telling time using a sun dial or using shadows, and explanations as to the difference between magnetic north and true north.

All this information is contained in a spiral-bound kid-friendly package. And, just between us, it comes in pretty handy for adults who want a fun and easy way to brush up on all that stuff they used to know, before they had to fill their heads with boring information like where their car keys are, and what time their kids need to be picked up.

It’s tempting to write about all that is included in The Klutz Guide to the Galaxy, but you really should just get your own copy. It’s educational fun for everyone. You can see some of the inside page spreads at the Klutz site.

And guess what? THREE of you get to win your very own copy! Lucky you! Leave a comment below to be entered to win (U.S. residents only). The giveaway is open until 5/11.