Monday, September 28, 2009

Discovery Toys: Teach, Play and Inspire

Discovery Toys moto is Teach, Play, and Inspire. They believe that children grow to their fullest potential when parents are involved in play, and it seems that each of their toys are designed to deliver just that. We recently received four items from Discovery Toys for our mommies to try out with their own children. The toys that we received were the Marbleworks Deluxe Set, Go-Go Caterpillar, Roll & Play, and Sound Like Fun CD. Each of our mommies had an opportunity to play and interact with their children using these educational toys. We would love to share our findings with you.

I got to use the Roll and Play game with my 2-1/2 year old granddaughter and we had a ball! The game includes a large soft block, like a dice with different colors on each side, as well as colored activity cards. The child, or children, roll the large block and whatever color is on the top tells us which card to pick. If the Purple side of the block is on top then we pick a purple card and act out the activity on the card.

A little preparation is needed by the adult prior to playing the game, such as gathering props. As an example, one card says to "Hug a Teddy Bear", so I made sure we had a teddy bear nearby before we started playing the game. Since there was just the two of us playing we took turns rolling the block. Since Sydney is learning her colors it was fun to ask her what color was on top, then have her find that color card in the stack. I would read the instructions, they were very simple, like put your feet and hands in the air. A picture on the card clearly depicts how to do each activity, so after a while Sydney could even pretend to read the instructions herself.

This is a very interactive game where both parent and child get to be physical and have fun. I really enjoyed the game and thought it was a great way to include other lessons, like finding colors, counting, hunting for objects. Each activity presented the opportunity for additional lessons, like when we were suppose to ring the doorbell, we had to also open the door and figure out how to get up to the doorbell safely.


Jennifer received the Marbleworks Starter, Marbleworks Wild Ride, and Marbleworks Crank-it Up toys and here is what she thought...

The Marbleworks Deluxe was given to my 8 year old son M, a few weeks ago and he absolutely loves it. He will play with it for hours, almost every night. My husband enjoys playing with M and the Marbleworks toy too.

The Marbleworks deluxe kit included the Marbleworks Starter set which has 46 pieces that include colorful tubes, chutes, and bases that can be connected in numerous ways. It also comes with 10 marbles to race through the set, although my 4-1/2 year old ate one of the marbles the first day we had it because she thought they were candy. The addition of the Wild Ride & Crank-it Up accessory sets made for even more excitement.

Crank-It up is a one piece set that sends the marbles speeding through your Marbleworks creation. You turn the crank to set the marble in motion and as you spin the handle the gears grab hold of the marble and lifts it through the tube, sending it racing through the set. The Wild Ride consists of a spiral flume and chute that you also attach to send the marble racing. The Marbleworks accessory sets add even more fun and creative play to the main set and are a GREAT buy at only $15 per set!

Not only is Marbleworks super fun, but it is also educational. It is great for fine motor development and problem solving. The set is very sturdy and durable. I believe that Marbleworks would be a great purchase at any price because this is something that M will play with for years to come.

The toy is recommended for children ages 5+ but I don't think I would recommend it for children under the age of 7 or 8 without close supervision because of the choking hazard. The Marbleworks set takes time to put together and some help from an adult is needed, but once it is put together it provides hours of fun.

My only complaint would be that the storage container for theMarbleworks should be more durable, but overall I think that this is a must-have for parents with children over 7 years of age. I know that my children will be enjoying this toy for years to come.



Whitney tested the Go-Go Caterpillar and the Sound Like Fun CD, here are her thoughts.

The Go-Go Caterpillar was definitely a huge hit with both of my kids. The Caterpillar body has very vibrant colors that makes it look fun and holds a babies attention! My 2-1/2 year old daughter, "Miss Independent" loves it because she feels so accomplished when she pushes the middle of the caterpillar down into a flat position then lets it go and caterpillar goes racing off across the room. I think its an awesome toy for my 9 month old son also. He cannot yet push it down to make it go, but he recently started crawling so he grabs the caterpillar with one hand and uses it to crawl faster. It is so cute to see him and the caterpillar crawling across the floor. Together my kids have fun with the Go-Go Caterpillar because my daughter pushes it down and my son goes crawling after it. It is a great activity for them to do together, but I may have to purchase a second one so they will each have their own.

I think the Go-Go Caterpillar is very reasonably priced at $15.00. I would recommend this toy to anyone with active, imaginative babies.


We played the Sound Like Fun CD in Sydney's playroom, thinking it would be up-beat toddler music, but it was rather slow. The songs were cute and slow enough that the pronunciation of every word could be clearly heard but we thought it would make a better nap-time music CD. It seemed to have a calming effect which was not necessarily a bad thing. We think that Discovery Toy should re-market this toy as a calming music CD or a bedtime CD and it would be a hit.

The kind folks at Discovery Toys have offered to give one of their great toys to one of our Lucky Readers. The lucky winner will be able to pick a single toy from their new Fall Catalog with a maximum value of $50.00, that includes about 90% of their products!

To WIN a Discovery Toy for your child, here is what you need to do:

Entries in this particular giveaway are limited to the US & Canada only.

FIRST, you must complete the Mandatory Entry by visiting the Discovery Toys website to see view their new Fall Catalog. Then comment below to tell us what toy you would like for your child if you should win. Be sure to include your email address in the comment so I can contact you if you win. To prevent bots from picking up your email address and sending you spam, please enter your email address as: "BloggerMommies at gmail dot com"

After completing the mandatory entry above, you can get additional entries by doing any or all of these tasks: (you must leave each entry in a separate comment in order for them to each count.)

~ Become a Follower this blog. (then post in the comment box to say you are now a follower of this blog.)

~ Subscribe to our Posts or Comment feeds. (Then comment about that too)

~ Follow @teachermom22 on Twitter. (then tell us that you follow @teachermom22 on Twitter & post your Twitter name in the comment box)

~ Follow @BloggerMommies on Twitter (then tell us that you follow on twitter & post your Twitter Name in the comment box)

~ Tweet about this Review & Giveaway on Twitter, you must include at least the following in your tweet but feel free to add your own words too: Discovery Toys: Teach, Play & Inspire. Win up to a $50 Toy! @BloggerMommies http://tinyurl.com/ye38znt (Copy & Paste as it is, to prevent errors in your tweet.) You may tweet this up to 3 times per day, no more often than every 4 hours. Be sure to post a comment here immediately after each time you tweet and include your Twitter ID & link to your status in the comment box (I will reject any comments that say "tweeted yesterday, or earlier this morning", comments must be submitted within an hour of when tweet posted).

~ Become a Fan of BloggerMommies on Facebook. (then come back here and mention that in your comment, include your facebook name in the comment.)

~ Link to Us: Grab our 'Button' in the right-hand column and post it somewhere on your blog or websites home page. Then copy the exact page address from your browser window and post that in the comment box. Note: If it takes me more than 30 seconds to find it on your blog it will not count, please don't put it on a hidden page or on one of those really long scrolling blog rolls.

*NOTE: Your comments will not immediately appear because they have to be verified & approved first.

This Giveaway will end on Thursday, October 15, 2009 at 5:00pm (Mountain Time). One random comment will be chosen at that time.
The winning comment will be verified at that time so if you said you follow the blog in your comment and we don't find you in the follow list, we will choose another winner. The winner will be contacted by email and will have 48 hours to reply with their name and shipping address. If a response is not received within 48 hours that winner will forfeit the prize and a new winner will be selected. Sorry, no exceptions. [08109-18635]

Good Luck to Everyone!

332 comments:

«Oldest   ‹Older   201 – 332 of 332   Newer›   Newest»
justicecw said...

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Xenia said...

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Anonymous said...

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Unknown said...

I love Discovery Toys and would choose the Giant Pegboard. Thanks, this is a nice blog.

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Beth (2babies1momma) said...

I would like the Giant Pegboard! swtypiebeth at cox dot net

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@amharris34 said...

This is easy...I would purchase the Castle Marbleworks for my (soon to be) 2 year old. He loves marbles and would spend hours (OK, minutes) watching them roll down and around the game.

amharris34 at gmail dot com

Annemarie said...

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Andrea Kruse said...

I would love the castle marbleworks for my 2 yr old... well, and his Daddy! I think they could have hours of fun playing with that.
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Andrea Kruse said...

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justicecw said...

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fancygrlnancy said...

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Gwenn said...

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Crissy said...

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justicecw said...

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fancygrlnancy said...

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Anonymous said...

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Anna said...

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Gwenn said...

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Andrea Kruse said...

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Crissy said...

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AStarrA said...

So many great toys!!! I like the My First Fairy Tales!
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AStarrA said...

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justicecw said...

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fancygrlnancy said...

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Robin @ Blommi said...

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Anonymous said...

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Rebecca Orr said...

I like the On the Go Flashcards in English/French
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Rebecca Orr said...

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Sam's Minions (aka parents- Angie and Brian) said...

i'll take the castle marbleworks.

wilberta2006@yahoo.com

Sam's Minions (aka parents- Angie and Brian) said...

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Sam's Minions (aka parents- Angie and Brian) said...

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«Oldest ‹Older   201 – 332 of 332   Newer› Newest»
Anna D (Admin)
Mother of two grown daughters, my youngest is one of our blogger mommies. I have two grandbabies, my granddaughter is almost 3 years old and my grandson just turned 1 year old. I am also the owner of The Baby Store Plus and creator of the Mommy Focus Group which evolved into this group of ladies that I affectionately call my 'Blogger Mommies'.
Jennifer
I am the mother of three children, my son "M" is 8 years old, my daughter "G" is 4 years old, and another daughter, baby "B" just born in February of this year. I am a stay-at-home mom & in-home child care provider.
Katy
I am the mother of two children, my daughter "K" will be 2 years old in January and my sweet baby boy "T" was just born in April of this year. I am a stay-at-home mom.
Whitney
I am the mother of two children, my daughter "S" turned two in February and my son "R" was born in December of 08. I work full-time, however, I am fortunate that I get to take my kids to work with me at The Baby Store Plus, where work with my mom.
Guest Reviewer
Unfortunately, one of our expectant mommies could not remain in our group due to conflicting events in her life. Until we fill this position permanently, we will have guest reviewers for any maternity products.