Will is very texture oriented. He loves books that allow him to touch the page and feel the items on there.  We recently checked out two of the Touch The Art Books:  Tickle Tuts Toes and Catch Picassos Rooster.  These books definitely fit the bill for us.  These are both board books, so there is no destroying them.  Each page has something for your kids to interact with be it feeling the bumpy pyramids to feeling a pet cat.  Wills favorite though has to be the mummies.  I love that this is a great introduction to both art and history.  I love how they are able to incorporate famous works (like van Gogh’s Two Rats) into a children’s book.  At the end of each book, there is also a section that gives background information for both you (the parent) and your kids.  It helps you gain a better understanding of what you are looking at and gives you some additional things to talk to your kids about.  These books are geared for the 4-6 age group, but my two year old loved them just as much as his five year old sister!

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I remember reading Nancy Drew as a kid and loving the books. That’s why I was super excited to see that they have incorporated this awesome series into a computer game (which I hope ropes more kids into reading this great set of books).  Nancy Drew Dossier Resorting to Danger is a game where you (as Nancy Drew) have to stops bombs from exploding at an exclusive resort.  The games storyline definitely reminds me of the books.  Nancy Drew goes undercover to catch the culprit before the spa goes under.

The game is rated E for everyone, but there is some mild violence.  I played this with Madison, and we had a blast finding clues, interviewing suspects, and solving puzzles to get further into the story.  Madison especially liked having to defuse the bombs.  There is even bonus content to find.  Best of all, there are six endings to this game depending on the choices you make as a player.  You get a unique game every time you play!

Another great series of books that has been made into an awesome set of video games is The Hardy Boys.  The Hardy Boys Treasure On The Tracks is about you traveling from Paris to St Petersburg to follow the Romanov Family treasure.  In the game, you get to play Frank and Joe Hardy.  Like Nancy Drew, you get to snoop around for clues, interrogate suspects, and even more puzzles.  Madison liked that we got to switch characters like the spy you run into later in the game.  She also enjoyed being able to use the stylus to paint a couple of pictures in the game (she’s in a little art streak right now, so she loved this!).  As a mom, I loved that if you mess up in the game, the game restarts where you made the fatal mistake.

If you are looking for some great games this holiday season, I’d have to recommend both games (and the books too!).

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Did you know that Sprout is the new exclusive U.S. television home to the most beloved family of entertainers in the world The Wiggles? (For those of you who don’t know, The Wiggles are the world’s #1 preschool entertainers, performing over 300 shows to more than 1.5 million fans since 2005 in the United States alone and are seen on TV in over 110 countries worldwide.) With moving over to a new network, they also have released a new DVD out called Sing A Song Of Wiggles. This DVD is full of nursery rhymes that we all know and love performed by The Wiggles. There is everything from Sing A Song of Sixpence to I’m a Little Teapot. It’s hard to stop yourself from singing along, but it’s a great way to introduce these nursery rhymes to your children.  If you are a Wiggles fan, this is a must have DVD.

This post was written as part of a program for Family Review Network and Sprout Television, who provided the DVD for review.

Another great book by Leslie Patricelli is Higher, Higher.  This is another hit in my house.  What parent hasn’t had our children want us to push them higher and higher on their swing?  I know that Madison always wants that!  This book is about the crazy imagination kids have while we are pushing them higher on the swings like being taller than giraffe and a mountain.  Each page of this book makes Madison giggle.  She now can’t wait for it to be warm enough outside, so she can swing.  If you are looking a great Easter present, I would higher recommend this book!

For two days only, Lands’ End will offer 20 percent off all merchandise (excluding overstocks, shipping and services). Simply enter the promo code and pin number below at checkout on www.LandsEnd.com and you will get 20 percent off your entire order.

Promo code is AMERICA

Pin number is 6289

(Starts 12:01 am Sunday, Feb 15^th – Ends 11:59 pm Monday, Feb 16^th)

Happy shopping!!!!!!