WW: Vines {Linky}

We were on our way to an art opening, and I spotted some vines on a brick wall. I said, "Get over there 1 by 1, and I took everyone's photo. Then my husband took my photo.

Isaak was easy to shoot. He puts on a good smile for me. He lets me know when a smile isn't going to happen.

Most of Mica's photos had "goof" all over them. He plasters on crazy faces, then laughs.

I usually have to shoot a few of Travis. He loves to open his mouth to say things to the kids, or I. Then it looks like he's singing to the camera.

Travis took a few of me. One with glasses and one without. I'm not totally used to my glasses just yet. Sometimes I swear I see better without them than I do with them. I wonder how long it will take to get used to them?

Klikko Vehicles - Educational Building Set With Activities to Learn Math Review

Klikko Vehicles is an Educational Building Toy (137 pieces) with Activities to Learn Math / STEM Concepts.

 

It comes the tray and bag (pictured above) to keep the pieces off the floor, although Mica had the pieces everywhere. He puts his building toys all over. That's no fault of the toy.

The boys were off school on Thursday, and I was off work from Strep Throat. We relaxed a lot. Mica (the well one) said, "I'm bored!" I got our Kilkko Vehicles, and put him in charge of building some vehicles. I told him I just needed a few built, but he was all about it. He built 3, and said afterwards, "Wow that bulldozer looks fun to build to."

The ship was his first construction. He had a little trouble with the tips. The pieces are more wobbly than Legos, snap together, and are harder to come apart. I took them apart. I thought at first I'd possibly break them. No chance of that happening. The pieces are sturdy enough to not break!

He built the rocket second. That one was my favorite!

Mica said, "Look Mom with this one it will help Isaak and I with fractions."

The last one he put together was the subway. I thought it was a submarine. I guess it would be played with either way.

Mica said the little yellow piece in the tip was hard to put in. This was Mica's favorite to build. 

With the Subway it helps the child learn multiplication.

This set would make a great gift. Isaak's getting it for his birthday. Mica (age 10) thinks Isaak (age 7) will need a little assistant with an adult or his brother. 

I love that it helps with early engineering/math + promotes patial and fine motor skills. There are 137 colorful geometric pieces that snap together, and pivot

Colors:

• Red
• Yellow
• Blue
• Green 
• Black

Things that can be learned: 

• Multiplication
• Fractions
• Tangram Logic Puzzles
• Area
• Following Instructions

Things that can be built:

• Jeep
• Car
• Rocket
• Ship 
• Bulldozer
• Subway

 I really like this set. It's something a little different. I love that there is learning involved.

What kind of vehicle would you like see added to this set? I think I'd pick a jet. 

Disclaimer: I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free in exchange for a review. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.

Blue Building Baseplate 5x5 8 pack Review

My boys play with Legos much of the time. The problem is that Legos are so expensive. I'm finding that off shoot brands are pretty good to. They don't put a dent in your wallet.

We never really had any baseplates to play with. Now we do. I got a Blue Building Baseplate - 8 pack that is 5"x5" to review. They are made by Click n' Play. The cost is $13.61.

Gift of the Season:

• They are going in my kid's stockings. They are the perfect size for a stocking gift. 
• This would be great for any nerdy White Elephant gift. I have a lot of artist friends that still love building with Legos, or similar building toys. 
• You could donate these to a local school, or library for a Lego Club that they have. We have Lego Clubs at both the boy's school, and library. 
• You could donate these for Toys for Tots, a hospital that has children there long term, or other non-profit that gives to children. I love giving, but I don't want to spend an arm and a leg when I give. It's more the thought that is there for me. This would be a great gift for a kid in need. 
• They'd be great for birthday party bags. 

I did a little snooping in Mica's room to find some of his recent constructions to play with. These baseplates just keep the models connected, and make it easy to display them. 

Don't run out of baseplates again with this 8 pack 5x5 inch Blue plates! They are compatible with all major building bricks company's. I did find them best for what they are suited for - baseplates. I tried putting one on top of a construction, and it didn't fit as tight as the Lego ones. They do keep your creations together for small models, and make it easy to carry and display them.

These are ideal for group building with family, friends, and building clubs.  

Recommended for age 3 and up. Not for DUPLO sized blocks. The plates are not affiliated with or endorsed in any way by Lego, a registered trademark of Lego Systems.

Do you have kid in your family that likes to build? I find that my kids build the sets 3 or 4 times, then abandon that to make their own things.

    
 

Disclaimer: I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free in exchange for a review. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.

Brick Genius 1000 Building Bricks Compatible with Lego Review

My kids love to build with things. It started when they were little. Mica loved puzzles, then it moved to Thomas, Polar Express and Team GeoTrax train tracks, then it was CitiBlocs and Twig Building Blocks, and now it's Legos. I just got Brick Genius to review. They are a company that has 1000 building bricks to construct whatever creative minds come up with. 

What I love about Brick Genius is the color variety that they have! They have colors that many Lego sets do not have in a variety set: Yellow, Green, Light Blue, Dark Blue, Purple, Red, Pink, White, Grey and Black. I hardly see the slightly different blues, pink, purple and grey in the Lego sets.

Brick Genius is not affiliated, but are compatible with Legos. They will work with all our other sets.

The cost like any brick building set isn't cheap. It's $79.99, but on sale for $36. That's a $43 savings! You get 1000 bricks: 60 roof pieces, a free brick separator, and lots of bricks! I dislike that the bricks are made in China. Most things are made in China now a days. I love that they fill up the bag, so there is no package waist. It would be nice for beginners to have a case. It comes in a disposable bag. We have bins for this kind of stuff, so that's not a problem for us.

I have not given this set to my boys yet. I have however played with them myself. :) I plan on creating little constructions with the Elf on the Shelf. Soon enough our Elf Brita will have a couch, a bed, and more. Then the boys can keep the bricks. 

This set doesn't come with instructions to build this or that. I kind of like that you can let your imagination take over to create whatever you want.

It's for ages 3 and up. To me the age always depended on if they put things in their mouth, or not. Mica was able to play with this type of toy at age 3, and Isaak was 4 before he could without supervision.

Do you like building things?

 

Disclaimer: I received one or more of the products mentioned above for a discounted price in exchange for a review. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.

One Thing Mica Love to Do is Build!

He loves to put puzzles together, build Lego's and transform tranformers!  I saw a new fun product that A Giveaway Addicted Mommy is giving away! It's called Superstructs!

They are giving away one of these cool Superstructs Wacky Machine building sets: