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This giveaway is now closed, thank you to everyone who entered and congratulations to #15 The R Crew and #22 Sarah!
Today we are featuring a great teacher turned entrepreneur, Teena from
Teena's Teacher Tidbits! Teena is a former first grade teacher, turned stay at home mom to two adorable little girls. She knows first hand that, "Learning needs to be engaging and fun. My students loved hands on experiences and games to learn. I'm using my experience from the classroom and home to bring you fun, engaging, and eductional resources to use with your students and children."
Teena can be found at three places online, not all the same things are found at each one, so it's worth a visit to each store! She specializes in downloadable learning games and also finished games, that don't require assembly and are big time savers.
{For the purposes of this review we'll be linking to her website, as that is what I used when searching for and downloading the activities I used.}While I got all preschool level activities, I was very happy to see skill areas ranging from
contractions and
short vowel word families to
antonymns represented in the literacy games section. There is also a wide variety in the
math games and Teena is currently working on making harder games suitable for fourth and fifth graders. If you aren't able to find exactly what you need, she also welcomes requests at no extra charge to her customers.
I had not problem browsing around and finding exactly what I needed. The activities were all easy to assemble, although some of the intricate cutting did take time. The graphics are colorful and engaging and it was great getting instant access to my downloads. For the price point, this is an excellent resource and time saver! I could see how her activities would make great centers.
The
Carrot Count Math Center, was just perfect for us. In my PDF were fifteen counting boards, fifteen numbered carrots, and a set of directions. I started ER with numbers 1-5, to check for mastery. I've noticed in preschool that she doesn't always get the right answer during circle time because other kids often shout out the answer. It was great to see that working at her own pace she easily got the first five right.
We then moved onto 1-10, so she could work on some of the numbers she doesn't always correctly identify. When she is ready I can make it more challenging by adding the teen numbers. I was glad to see that the tricky teens 11, 12, 13, and 15 were included. I know from teaching kindergarten that these are usually the hardest numbers for kids to master as they don't follow the pattern, after all it isn't five-teen. Nice to know we'll have an activity ready and waiting for when we're ready to work on them.
The carrots are small and cutting around the carrot tops took some time. Their small size means that laminating them is a must. I would've preferred to see the carrots in a little grid so assembly would be quicker. It wouldn't have been as cute as each carrot would then be on a little square, but the time saved would be worth the trade off for me. It would also be nice to have a self correcting key included, for the kids to refer to if this game were part of a center.
We also picked out the
Springtime Ginger Clips, which caught my eye because it works on alphabet identification with a little spin on it. The clips give ER a little challenge and work on finger strength and fine motor skills.
She really liked this one, and I was so happy to she her engaged in it, because teaching letter recognition has been a slow going process in our household. This is one activity she's eager to work on. Right now I've got her mainly working on "matching" uppercase and lowercase letters like /C/ and/c/ so she has success, with a few more difficult letters to match up like /R/ and /r/ thrown in. This keeps her happy and less frustrated while we work on mastery of a few letter pairs at a time.
I also chose the
Mouse Fairy Memory, even though ER isn't quite ready for it. I knew the graphics would be of high interest to her, and that alone would make her want to play it over and over. Right now we play it face up and have her choose a picture card. We say the word and then I tell her the corresponding letter to look for. I can't wait to play it as a Memory Game.
Teena also offers several
freebies on her website so you can try them out, isn't that nice☺ She recently changed them but you used to be able to get the
Auto ABC Tracing, which are great and well worth the low $1.50 price tag. I printed them out and then printed the
Auto ABC Tracing Lowercase, also now $1.50, on the backside. Then I laminated them so we can use them over and over.
What I really liked, was the size. I punched a hole in one corner and put them all on a binder ring. They, along with a dry erase marker, are now in a pencil case that we can throw in a bag and take out and about with us. It's a great little learning on the go activity. I would really like to see a more girly themed set, because ER doesn't really love the car theme.
Coupon Code:All readers can use the code
ABC123LEARN25 to take 25 % off an order of $7.00 or more
Giveaway!
Teena is pleased to offer two of our readers a giveaway!- The First Winner, will get a $12 gift certificate and a finished game of their choice
- The Second Winner, will get a $6.00 gift certificate and a finished game of their choice.
Fine Print: If either winner is outside of the US and Canada, then instead of a finished game they will recieve and extra $8 gift certificate. A winner within the US and Canada may also choose an extra $8 gift certificate in lieu of a finished game.
To Enter:
Just leave us a comment telling us you'd love to try out Teena's activities.
Extra Entries:
While there is no purchase necessary, or special requirements, to enter this giveaway we would love if you would also consider the following options.
This helps us as we continue to spread the word about great educational sites and resources, as well as connect with amazing teachers and parents like you!
Let us know by leaving a seperate comment for each additional thing you do!
- Check out one of Teena's stores and tell us which game is your favorite.
- Tell us what skill area or subject you would like to see Teena create a game for.
- Share this giveaway via blog post, text link, tweet, Facebook status etc.
- Add Teena's Facebook Fan Page to your "Likes"
- Follow and/or Subscribe to Teena's Blog: The Fisher Four
- Subcribe to Teena's newsletter.
- Follow and/or Subscribe to ABC & 123
- Join us on the ABC & 123 Community on Blog Frog, our Facebook Fan Page, and/or on Twitter!
This giveaway is open to our readers WORLDWIDE (please see fine print under Enter) until June 16th at midnight EST. Please make sure we have a way of contacting you, should you win☺
Disclaimer: This post relates our own personal and unbiased opinions and experience with Teena's Teacher Tidbits and your may differ. Thank you to Teena for providing the reviewers material and for sponsoring the giveaway, this in no way influenced our post.
My oldest son is a huge LEGO fan. He has mastered many kits, so for Christmas he thinks he is up for the challenge of NanoBlocks. We are looking forward to wrapping up the Space Shuttle set for him.
MPM School Supplies has competitive prices, a large selection, speedy shipping within the US, and a great selection of clearance products for you to check out! The regular priced items are organized by department. Many of you will appreciate their fun selection of Dramatic Play and Active Play products. I also found myself dreaming up activities while searching the Manipulatives. I am also tempted to go back through the store and pick out some Art & Craft Supplies to stuff my daughter's stocking with. 
Not only do we get so show you some of our favorite things from their website but we also get to give one of YOU a $50 voucher to 
Or perhaps one of their 
Their 
Something everyone could use are these personalized name labels. 
We think our favorite thing at 
It easily fits full sized folders, several coloring books, and a few stuffed animals with room to spare. It will be great for toting things to Grandma's house and to bring activities to keep busy hands occupied while on errands or waiting at the doctor's office.
We also got one of their gorgeous 
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