Tech Savvy Mama

Parenting in the Digital Age

2010 Holiday Gift Guide: Preschoolers

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Preschoolers are like little sponges who soak up knowledge and are ready to be exposed to numerical concepts and early literacy in a variety of fun ways. They earn best through playing and hands on experiences. They have vivid imaginations, are far more independent than toddlers, and have a growing attention span. Here are some of my favorite holiday gifts for the special preschooler in your life.
Look for the items marked as giveaways and leave a comment below to win. Extra entries can be entered through the Google Form but only after your initial comment.
 
GIVEAWAY: Take the Cake (Gamewright, $12.99)- Decorating cupcakes with shapes that come out of the sprinkle shaker to match them to a cupcake is learning at its most fun and is why the brand new Take the Cake has already won 6 prestigious awards. Shaking the shaker helps preschoolers practice fine motor skills and their shape and color recognition during a 15 minute game that requires no reading. Whether you play 1 game or 10 in a row, Take the Cake is a manageable bit of learning fun that can be completed before kids run off to the next thing. 2-4 players, ages 4+
Dinosaur Train All Aboard! Game (Pressman Toy, $12.99)- This 2-6 player game is fun fans of Dinosaur Train, the show, or any dino lovers. Players choose a character – Buddy, Tiny, Shiny, Don, Cory, Tank or The Conductor – to try to be the fastest to travel along the tracks and through the Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous eras. The Special Stopwatch spaces advance players closer to the nest, while the Dinosaur Crossing spaces send them back. The first player to reach the nest area in the center of the board wins. Ages 4+
 
GIVEAWAY: My Name is Not Isabella by Jennifer Fosberry (Monkey Barrel Press, $16.99)- We like to believe that we are raising Little Miss Techie to believe that she can do anything and love this story of young Isabella who models her imaginative play from the amazing women who changed history like Sally Ride, Rosa Parks, Marie Curie, and others. A brief age-appropriate biography of each of the women appears at the end of the book along with readable definition of key words from the bios.
 
Alphie (Playskool, $39.99)- Remember Alphie from your childhood? This learning robot has been reinvented to be more lifelike thanks to an LCD screen that shows facial expressions, a friendly voice, and a personality that entices preschoolers to practice the alphabet, rhyming, counting, color, shapes, animal names, instrument sounds, and practice matching skills. I’m a fan of the thoughtful features like built in carrying handle and space to store the 30 included cards on the back of the toy when they aren’t being used. Ages 3+
 
GIVEAWAY: Sesame Street Video Games for PC, Wii, DSi ($29.99-$39.99)- Preschoolers will have fun learning ABCs with Elmo and counting with Cookie Monster in two brand new games from Warner Brothers Interactive Entertainment that engage kids through the same Sesame Street approach to learning that we grew up on and now rely on to help our own kids develop a foundation for beginning math and literacy skills. In Sesame Street: Elmo’s A-to-Zoo Adventure, kids head to the zoo with Elmo, Zoe and their animal friends, as they explore games based on a variety of literacy skills, including letter identification, letter sounds and word families. In Sesame Street: Cookie’s Counting Carnival, kids join Cookie Monster and Big Bird at a fun-filled carnival through gameplay steeped in math skills that include number identification, counting, shapes and pattern recognition. Kids journey through the game in the many areas of the carnival such as The Grandstand, Midway, Petting Zoo, Food Court and the Arcade. Enter to win 1 set of both games for either Wii or DSi. Just indicate which set you want in the comments and the Google Form.
GIVEAWAY: Play-Doh Mega Fun Factory (Hasbro, $29.99)- This year Play-Doh celebrates the 50th birthday of the original Fun Factory toy with the new Mega Fun Factory set. A battery operated conveyor belt allows kids to crank out toys and stamp candies that can be sold on the toy shop themed playmat or, as our kids like to do, plate them and serve them as tea party fare to their stuffed animals. The set comes with 6 cans of Play-Doh that can be conveniently stored in spaces in the Fun Factory. Ages 3 years & up.
 
Play-Doh Cake Makin’ Station (Hasbro, $14.99)- Captain Computer never tires of the Play-Doh Burger Builder from last year and his pastry-obsessed sister is a huge fan of the new Cake Makin’ Station that allows her to make incredible cakes thanks to 3 different icing stations, a place to stamp out frosting, pipe Play-Doh frosting, and create toppings. Like a real pastry chef would use, this toy also comes with a rotating cake stand so young bakers can admire their creations from all sides. I smell a future pastry chef who might be able to give the divas from Top Chef Just Desserts a run for their money! Ages 3 years & up.
 
GIVEAWAY: Hanukkah: A Counting Book by Emily Sper (Scholastic, currently on sale for $4.89)- Young readers will learn about Hanukkah, as well as how to count all 8 nights in Hebrew and Yiddish! Pronunciation guides help kids say the words, and die-cuts reveal the candles as they are lit each night. Simple graphics and design elements enrich this holiday offering. Ages 4-8 One customized selection of books will be provided by Scholastic to a single winner. Entries from all published gift guides will be used to select the lucky reader.
GIVEAWAY: It’s Christmas Time! by Salina Yoon (Scholastic, currently on sale for $6.99)- Christmas is coming and it’s time to celebrate! With six interchangeable, foiled play pieces, children can dress up snowmen, decorate Christmas cookies, and even light up the Christmas tree with sparkling foil colors! Housed in a frontpanel drawer within the cover, these six disks are slid down die cut slots on each spread to introduce bright lights and joyous excitement to iconic holiday scenes. Ages 3-5 One customized selection of books will be provided by Scholastic to a single winner. Entries from all published gift guides will be used to select the lucky reader.
Tomica (By Tomy USA and, $12.99 and up)- Japan’s best selling die-cast car and toy train line is available in the United States for the first time and features seven die-cast car sets, three train sets, six accessory sets, six destination sets and five deluxe play sets. The TOMICA car and train line features a robust combination of auto and locomotive play that teaches kids the rules of the road and helps them expand their imaginations with massive building potential. Start with a set like Hypercity Rescue Police Headquarters ($29.99) and build your child’s collection by adding mini sets to the city ($9.99) along with additional rails, cars, and trains ($12.99). Or go all out with the Super Big Set ($59.99). Exclusively available at Toys R Us.Ages 4+
Pirate Ship or Royal Princess Castle (Velcro Kids, $30 )- It was love at first sight when I spotted the pirate ship and castle 3D worlds at Time to Play’s Holiday Showcase. Very fine Velcro fused to a lightweight but rigid board allows for endless play because kids can easily customize the environment and characters by moving walls, pieces to create different rooms, and decorating their characters with Velcro accessories. The play sets collapse flat and slide into an included bag for easy storage. Brilliant!
 
GIVEAWAYS: To enter to win any of the above items marked as giveaways, leave a comment about your toddler’s favorite toy in the comment field.
For extra entries, first leave a comment answering the above question before doing any of the following:
  • Daily Tweet: @TechSavvyMama has published her Preschool Gift Guide w/ more gift ideas & giveaways! Enter here: http://bit.ly/gFd7Ij Leave a link to your Tweet on the Google Form.
  • Write a blog post about my gift guides and include the words “Tech Savvy Mama’s Holiday Gift Guides” and link to this post: Then provide the permalink through your entry on the form.
 
 
All products were provided for review purposes except where noted that items were personally purchased. Images provided courtesy of the companies. No compensation was received for this post.
 

Fine print: Eligible entries through the comments must include an email address or Twitter handle. E-mails must be valid and addresses must be within the United States. Companies will not ship outside the U.S. nor will they ship to P.O. boxes.

All information collected is solely for Tech Savvy Mama to ensure efficient delivery of your prize and will not be shared with anyone else but the marketing/PR company who is shipping the prize. Leticia- Tech Savvy Mama is not responsible for lost prizes or shipping delays.

Please note that there will be one customized selection of books provided by Scholastic to a single winner and entries from all published gift guides will be used to select the recipient.

Giveaway closes on Sunday, December 5 and winners will be notified via email.

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Original post by Tech Savvy Mama
©2012

Reader Interactions

Comments

  4. Aimee @ Smiling Mama says

    Your annual holiday gift guides have come to signal the start of the holiday shopping season for me, Leticia! This is great! There are several things here that Lucas would love, especially the Dinosaur Train game and pirate ship. As a toddler, his favorite toy was the Thomas the Train set, which he occasionally still plays with.

  5. Anonymous says

    The Corn Popper from Fisher Price is what I’m planning on getting my nephew for Christmas.

    -Heidi

    writeme at heidimail dot com

  18. Melissa B says

    Perhaps too late, but I just learned about it and thought I’d give it a shot just in case it was extended. My preschooler loves her dolls and anything related to them…furniture, clothes, play food…they go EVERYWHERE with us (and since there are four, it’s quite the entourage).

  19. Anonymous says

    my son loves anything electronic with a screen and little lego creatures —both of my kids, however, have hard time keeping their things together –Anyway, I finally found a little backpackk bag that has been helpful by a company called zibungo. The bag is really helpful at keeping things together.