ABC and 123: A Learning Collaborative: The Trip Clip: Review & Giveaway

Wednesday, December 8, 2010

The Trip Clip: Review & Giveaway

Thank you to everyone who entered our giveaway! A winner has been chosen, congratulatiosn to Christine, #31 who said, "My kids really like word searches these days, that's what I would choose."
We are excited to tell you about a new product that recently launched! We think the way the Trip Clip keeps your kids busy and helps them learn by doing, is a great concept. It's also a nice alternative to handing them yet another electronic device. Here is a little bit about it from the developer Molly Rhoten:

I originally came up with the idea for The Trip Clip™ when I was doing the grocery shopping with my older son when he was 4. He was tough to manage in the grocery store, but I figured out that if he could “help” me shop, he wouldn’t spend so much time creating his own fun/chaos. He could recognize pictures of things we needed and cross them off the list, and he loved to feel like he was part of the process. Now that he's older, he is truly helpful in the grocery store. He knows our brands and where things are, and can get a number of things by himself while I help his younger brother who is starting with a picture list all his own.

Squeezing in learning, fostering parent-child interactions, AND keeping children occupied in a meaningful way is definitely something we can support! We got a blue Trip Clip, 4-color pen, and a gift code, so we could pick our favorite activities to print out.

Right away I was impressed by the sturdiness and the size of the Trip Clip. It's special size is approximately 6X9 inches, making it perfect for little hands to hold and use. It also fits nicely into most bags; easy to grab and go without taking up much room. My four year old has no problem handling it and can work the clip independently.I think one of her favorite parts of the Trip Clip is the neat 4-color pen that's looped on by a string and can also be attached by velcro to the top of the clip board. Clicking through the four colors keeps her pretty busy all by itself! It's also scaled down to a child-friendly size and I'm glad to see replacements are available as I can see us needing more in the future! As an FYI to keep in mind the Trip Clip also offers one free clip replacement per purchase! So if your child is touch on their things or loses it, you can get a back up! What really makes the Trip Clip special, are all the neat activities available on the website! You can purchase five for $4.95 and once you add an activity to your account you can print them out as many times as you'd want. They are perfectly size to print out two to a page, just cut in half and they are ready, quick to prep and no wasting paper. Some are even customizable, like the shopping list, so you can make one to fit what your family is shopping for each time you go!

I noticed that there are activities for a range of ages and abilities. For now, my four year old is most interested in Tic-Tac-Toe, her current favorite game so we'll be printing that out A LOT, and the Coloring Pages. I have begun to use the shopping list with her as well, the Daily Checklist and Packing Lists are both customizable and would also be age appropriate. Count on It is probably the next one we'll chose to add, because she likes to count things as we pass them on the road.

I use the picture and word versions of the activities but for older children you can choose word only. There are also more advanced choices like My Alphabet Game, in which the child is to find things that start with each letter. Crossword Puzzles work on spelling and range from very easy first-letter sounds for young kids, to much harder clue-based ones for older kids. There are Word Searches, Bingo Boards that generate a new board each time you refresh the page, so there are thousands of different possible boards you can print. The boards can be catered to a restaurant, a car trip, a plane trip, a sibling’s sporting event, and more. My favorite, Write a Story, provides a space for a hand drawn picture and room to write.

These choices mean that the Trip Clip can grow with your child and that more than one child in the family can use it, but if that's the case, you'll probably want to get each child their own Trip Clip. At $19.95 the sets make great gifts and would look cute poking out of the top of a stocking...I'm just sayin' ☺ We got our review copy very quickly, so if you order now it should come by the holidays and it's a great tool to add to your parenting arsenal any time of the year!

Giveaway!
One of our readers will win a Trip Clip set that includes a Trip Clip Clipboard, 4-color pen, and 5 Activities!

To Enter:
Visit the Trip Clip website and tell us which activity for the clipboard you think your child would like the most.

Extra Entries: Be sure you leave a SEPARATE comment for each additional method of entry you choose to do!
  • Tell us when you could use a Trip Clip to keep your child busy...doctor's office, in the car, church etc.?
  • Suggest a new activity you'd like to see be made available for the Trip Clip.
You can also earn more entries to this giveaway by following us via Google Friends Connect, email, Facebook, or Twitter so you'll be the first to know about giveaway opportunities in the future! Spreading the word is also appreciated. Just let us know what you do in a separate comment for each extra method you do.

This giveaway will be open until December 15 EST to US residents. A winner will be chosen via Random.org and have 48 to respond to our notification email. Good luck!

Disclosure: A review sample was provided; this post relates our own personal and unbiased opinions with the Trip Clip.

69 comments:

  1. Hi! What a great idea! My son (5yrs) would LOVE to use the grocery list to help me shop! Love this! -Ashley Kent
    chilena59@gmail.com

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  2. My kids would mostly probably use The Trip Clip at Church! Quiet activities are always in need! chilena59@gmail.com

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  3. Another idea to sort of go along with the Alphabet Game is to simply have a letter checklist where the kids can find letters and check them off (while in the car, at the store, etc.)...that could be easier for younger kids who are still learning their letters and how to recognize them! chilena59@gmail.com

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  4. I think my daughter would enjoy the shopping list the most. While pushing her "teeny tiny" shopping cart through the store, she'd be a hoot with her teeny tiny shopping list and clipboard, too!

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  5. While the grocery store would be a regular use, I can see it being a lifesaver for all of us on the 6-hour car trip to Grandma's house. Mom is exhausted keeping our 3yo DD entertained for that long!! And it would be great for church, doctor's appointments, meetings, etc., too.

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  6. How about something musical (I'm a piano teacher ;-) such as favorite and familiar songs to sing a long - all the nursery rhymes are in public domain. Or, for older kids (7+ yrs) there's no limit to the educational options for teaching rhythm and note values, keys on the keyboard, etc. - all very easy to do in the car (maybe not at church, though).

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  7. I would love to win a Trip and Clip. I really like the idea of the morning checklist. The coloring pages would be great for our letter-of-the-week activities. There seems to be at least one coloring page for each letter!

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  8. I think my son would like the coloring pages best at this age, but the other activities would be great as he gets older.

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  9. I like the daily checklist! But I think bingo would be fun, too. And the coloring pages, of course.

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  10. These would be great in the car! or on an airplane. Or just during quiet time.

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  11. matching would be a great activity. like, draw a line from the letter to the object that starts with that letter... or mama animal and baby animals.

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  12. AMY C. ♥ My son would love to do the grocery list with me! He is always helping look for items at the store... keeps him occupied.

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  13. AMY C. ♥ We would get the most use out of this item at the grocery store and at church. Definitely would help at quiet times!

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  14. AMY C. ♥ I would love to see a listening page for when we are at church... during the sermon, listening for the preacher to say certain words, checking words off or keeping count of them... something like that. A "word-finder" sheet.

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  15. I think this would really help my little guy learn to draw better.

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  16. This looks great! I think my boys would like the word searches the most.

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  17. My 7-year-old is really into secret codes right now. He would love a printout with a bunch of codes to solve.

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  18. My daughter would love the alphabet game. Cool idea.

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  19. We would so use this in the car, at home, at church, and on a trip.

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  20. The following new activities would be cool: family crossword and sight word crossword.

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  21. My five year old would love the daily checklist!

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  22. We would probably use the daily check list the most, but the grocery list would be a close second.

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  23. we would use it in resturants when he gets a little older.

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  24. I'd love to see writing practice sheets... especially for new writers--- prewriting.

    Or connect the dots

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  25. My kids really like word searches these days, that's what I would choose.

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  26. We could definitely use one for doctor's appointments. My daughter sees several specialists and that's a lot of waiting time!

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  27. the grocery list would be my son brighams favorite!

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  28. shopping trips, car rides and church--thats probably where they'd get the most use!
    *kelly
    kelly-tillotson@hotmail.com

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  29. My son would like the Count On It Activity! heyjade[at]gmail.com

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  30. I would use this in the car and with him sitting in the cart in the grocery store. heyjade[at]gmail.com

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  31. My son would love the tic tac toe. It's his new favorite game!!
    aschoessow (at) gmail (dot) com

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  32. We would use it in the car the most, we travel to grandma's house (2 hours away) alot, and the kids are always looking for ways to entertain themselves, this would be perfect.
    aschoessow (at) gmail (dot) com

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  33. I follow through google friend connect, my google reader.

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  34. My son would love the "Write a Story" and "Count on it"
    Great idea and giveaway
    Thanks so much
    Caterina

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  35. My kids would probably use it while at the doctor's office or a long car trip.
    Thanks
    Caterina

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  36. It would be hangman. Susan steveac@bellsouth.net

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  37. We would use it while waiting at a restaurant. Susan steveac@bellsouth.net

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  38. I would like to see one for different math ganes. Susan steveac@bellsouth.net

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  39. We love tic tac toe and connect the dots games so I think those would be well used

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  40. I would love to see some hidden messages, math games, secret messages especially ones you could customize kind of things and some mad libs and also nature journal entry pages

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  41. we travel a good bit and would definately use it in the car

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  42. I think my little guy would LOVE the coloring pages--he's a little young yet for some of the other activities, but he'll grow into them. :)

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  43. I think the Count on It game would be just great for my guys. I could make lists for the car and they could tally away.

    What fun!!

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  44. The packing lists would be great for the preschool bags. How nice it would be for my DS to pack his own bag!

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  45. And I love the idea of entertaining the kids in the supermarket with their own shopping lists.

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  46. I think that keeping them entertained in Church would be an ideal use.

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  47. My son would love travel Bingo. Thanks for the giveaway!

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  48. We would definitely use ours the most in the car.

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  49. They could add simple logic puzzles or mini choose your own adventure stories.

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  50. my dd would like the coloring pages.

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  51. I think the girls would love the driving bingo activity.. or any of the searches.

    Thanks for the great give-away. Hope I win because with 4 1/2 yr old twins this would be wonderful!

    :)
    carol

    maplecreekracing(at)comcast(dot)net

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  52. i'm a google friend follower. :)

    carol

    maplecreekracing(at)comcast(dot)net

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  53. Facebook follower too.

    :)
    carol

    maplecreekracing(at)comcast(dot)net

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  54. I think we would use these with any car trip.. or better yet.. at church or when waiting for the doctor.. I always hate for them to play with the germy toys and books at the office.

    :)
    carol

    maplecreekracing(at)comcast(dot)net

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  55. Momo would love the daily checklist!

    SHARKritzler@aol.com

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  56. I think the Trip Clip would come in most useful at.....the grocery store! Sit in the cart and stay busy!

    SHARKritzler@aol.com

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  57. A new activity for the Trip Clip could be something that we play: a license plate game. See how many different state plates you can find when driving!

    SHARKritzler@aol.com

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