What's New? What's Missing? What's Different?

What's New? What's Missing? What's Different? is a book with "Hundreds of Fun Things to Search For, Find & Color". It is included in the First Grade Curriculum Kit from Timberdoodle.
My kindergartener wanted to give it a go. He had a good time. With books like these, my kids just like to flip through and find a page that appeals to them.
This first was one that had a playground scene on one page and the next page asked you to fill in the missing equipment. Mr Z did a pretty good job at adding the missing pieces.

This page Mr Z had to find 12 pairs of matching snakes from both pages. This took quite a while since some of the snakes were hard to find a mate for.

There are several different activities to keep the interest of the child. Pages vary from compare and contrast (or find what's different) to draw what's missing from the picture (like fill in the blank) to complete the picture (like draw your own picture to match the scene already provided.)

I've found that my kindergartener likes the pages where you find the matches or find the differences. My 8-year-old likes the pages where he can fill in the missing parts to complete the picture. Between the two of them, the book should be finished in no time.

Books like What's New? What's Missing? What's Different? inspire creativity and imaginative thinking. It's also teaching them to draw while doing the What's Missing? pages.

This book is great for quiet-time and likes to live in our 'on-the-go bag' so that we have something to do while waiting at an appointment, driving in the car or just need to be occupied at a restaurant.

Colorku: A different kind of Sudoku

If you are one that loves puzzles, Colorku is one to try. It's exactly like Sudoku, but uses colors instead of numbers. This particular version that we received from Timberdoodle is made of wood. It's large and sturdy. I love it.
Included in the box are cards ranging in difficulty to set-up your initial gameboard. So, you set up your board with the colored balls according to the card. Then, you play as normal; get one ball of each in every row, column and 9-square.

My 8-year-old loves this game. I love this game, probably more than him. Puzzles are such a great way to exercise your brain and my brain certainly needs help. Colorku was a bit of a challenge at first since I was used to playing with numbers like in Sudoku. My brain had trouble locating the colors in the columns and rows and I messed up quite a bit. (If you notice in the photo above, I have two light green balls in the same 9-square. I had to restart this board.) There is a sheet of answers for all of the puzzles to check your board too, just in case you need a little help. After a few puzzles, my brain did adjust and located the colors missing more quickly.
Sometimes my 8-year-old and I will play together to solve a puzzle, but its usually played individually when we need to take a break or need some quiet/ alone time. I'd love for this game to just hang out on the coffee table so that it gets more use, but with wooden balls about the size of a large marble, the game lives in the closet most of the time. But, seriously... this game is fun and I am glad that it lives with us now.

This Colorku game is included in the 2018 4th Grade Curriculum Kit Elite from Timberdoodle.
We do recommend it to anyone that enjoys logic games. It would make a great present too.

Solitaire Chess... A New Favorite Game

Timberdoodle has amazing products and games. We love so many of their things and are super excited that we get to review some of them. Timberdoodle provides curriculum and games for all ages and when we received a box of goodies my 8-year old went crazy. He was happy about everything, especially this Brain Fitness Solitaire Chess game.
Mr A has been wanting to learn how to play chess for years. I am no good at it and don't really understand the game. I've never taken the time to learn so I could teach it to someone else. So, when Mr A saw this tiny version of chess he immediately opened it to figure out how to play.
Solitaire Chess is a single player game with 80 challenges to strengthen mental speed and focus. You are given 10 pieces with a challenge booklet and solutions pages. Challenges range from Beginner to Expert. Mr A has begun with the Beginner levels to get used to how the pieces move around on the board. He is doing a great job at these early levels. The Movement Rules page shows how each piece can move and has helped him become familiar with what each one does.

Basically, with this game, you are playing against yourself. You are trying to eliminate one piece with every move. I love watching and listening to Mr A play this game. He talks himself through the plays and resets when he doesn't get it right. It's a process of elimination with one last piece standing. Some challenges take one try and others take over 10 until he gets it right.

I love things that can be taken on-the-go. This is probably one of our new games to take in the car or to the restaurant. Small, individual games are great for road trips or just quiet time.

Mr A is happy to finally be learning a little bit more about chess. This Solitaire Chess game is great for strategic skill building and becoming familiar with the game before moving to a real board. It would also be good for individuals who just love chess and want to play more frequently.
We are happy to have this game in our cupboard now. Mr A loves the progressive play and working his mind through the challenge until he gets it right.
Solitaire Chess is included in the 2018 6th Grade Curriculum Kit from Timberdoodle, but would also be great for any chess lover or a simple gift idea.
Have fun with this single player game... because we are.

Kwik Stix ... The Best Paint Ever

Timberdoodle sent us a set of Kwik Stix, a pack of 12 solid tempura paints. I have to say that these are the best paints in the world. My kids like painting, but I hate the mess. These are a fantastic alternative to wet paints with a brush. It's paint in a solid state that looks like a glue-stick and feels like a smooth crayon while drawing. It only takes about a minute to dry too.

Little Miss loved them and of course, only wanted to use pink.

Mr Z wanted to join in the painting fun too. He immediately started saying things like, "This is paint!? ... How do they get the paint in there?... It looks like a glue-stick... Wow, this is paint!?"

Mr Z was busy filling his entire paper with Kwik Stix paint.

The two of them also painted together on the same sheet and I was surprised that the paint didn't smudge or transfer.

I had to try them too and made a simple picture. I was amazed at how quickly the paint dried. No paint smears or any left on my finger about a minute after I had finished.

Kwik Stix can be found in the 2018 Preschool Curriculum Kit from Timberdoodle as well.
These Kwik Stix will be a go-to favorite for gifts and I can definitely see them being completely used up very quickly. I love that I was completely stress-free from start to finish during their painting time.
These Kwik Stix are my favorite craft/art item now. I love them... and my kids do too. I totally recommend these to anyone that wants stress-free and limited mess for any project.