Product Description:

This fast-paced, energetic variation of Bingo is a guaranteed crowd-pleaser. Kids get a kick out of pulling the Zinger forward to reveal two mystery tiles and attempting to be the first to call out the tiles that match the images on their cards. The first player to fill his or her card wins! Ages 4 to 8. 2 to 8 players. 2 levels of play. 8 double-sided Zingo! cards and 72 picture tiles. 8 inches x 10.5 inches x 3.5 inches.

My son received this game during his recent birthday and we had a marvelous time playing it over and over again.  This game focuses more on pictures and images, which meant they were easy for the younger kids to play. The Zingo cards have a 3 by 3 grid that shows pictures and words.  Cards have a yellow side (the easier option) and a red side for the older kids. The zingo dispensor is extremely heavy duty and slides smooth. Players shout out to claim a piece, which is then placed over the appropriate square on the player’s card. There are also several different ways of playing.

My take : Though the game states that it is for ages 4 and up, I felt that it is simple enough that even 2 years old can play and yet equally suitable for middle-schoolers. Zingo is a great way to teach word recognition to younger children. An absolute fun for the whole family. I like that the game boards are thick and the Zingo pieces are made of sturdy plastic, which meant they are more durable. It’s also easy to take along on road trips.  Highly recommended!

Buy it :  Get yours at Amazon here.

“What would you give up to end cancer?”

In 1938, the March of Dimes asked Americans to donate just ten cents to polio research. It was a resounding success. Sixty years later, Stand Up To Cancer is asking for just five dollars, with the aim of getting 10,000 five-dollar donations in a month.

Remember, we make not be able to make a huge difference alone but IF WE JOIN FORCES TOGETHER, WE CAN!  Your $5 could be the crucial donation that finally makes it possible to end cancer.

What would you give up today?

• A latte
• A beer
• A movie
• An ice cream
• A smoothie
• Two gallons of gas
• A sandwich
• A magazine
• A video game

Thanks to the wonderful people at JumpStart, I was recently sent the JumpStart Pet Rescue for Wii to review with my kids. ESRB, the Entertainment Software Rating Board, has rated Pet Rescue “Early Childhood” as it is aimed at children of age group 3-6.

The purpose of the game is for players to navigate through 5 different Discovery Worlds, to find lost pets. By choosing the Story Mode, there will be a JumpStart friend which will  guide you as you progress and go through each journey in the various worlds. My 5 year old daughter was very excited when she discovered that each time she managed to rescue a pet, it  will follow her throughout the game. She also enjoyed playing the matching games such as Matching Ladybugs but her favourite was definitely being able to adopt a pet, where she could feed, groom and play with it.

One point that should be noted is you need to get used to using the Wii remote and to be aware of how to point the remote at the sensor bar. My daughter had some difficulty using it at first but she was a quick learner, so it did not take her long to learn to navigate with the remote.

My 9 year old son, however, was a pro at using the Wii remote. He preferred to play Pet Rescue in Explore Mode as he could have a free hand to explore all the 5 worlds. Nevertheless, after playing more than an hour, my son was no longer interested in the game as he was used to more challenging Wii games.

As a parent, I like the fact that there is finally a Wii game that is created for younger kids as most Wii games in the market currently are aimed at older children. JumpStart Pet Rescue is also a wonderful tool to use to help pre-schoolers improve their pre-reading skills, memory, creativity, motor skills and listening. In a nutshell, JumpStart Pet Rescue is gettting the thumbs up from this mommy!

BUY IT : Retailing for $39.99, you can purchase JumpStart Pet Rescue from Walmart, ToysRus, , Best Buy, Sam’s Club, Frys and other retailers in US and Canada.

WIN IT : JumpStart is giving away copies of JumpStart Pet Rescue in a contest, so why not hop over to try your luck!

In conjunction with its 15th year of producing award-winning DVDs and products for children, Brainy Baby® announced  that it will be giving away a free Brainy Baby DVD to each household across the country to help better expose infants and preschoolers to concepts like ABCs, music, shapes and colors.

Due to the success of the initial campaign roll-out in Dawson County, GA, Brainy Baby is now expanding the DVD Give-Away to help support parents and children on a national level. According to a recent article in the Dawson County News, Laura Crews, a Pre-K teacher at Kilough Elementary School began using the DVD’s in a pilot program for her class. “The DVD’s hold their attention and relate to the things they know,” Crews said. “The kids are enraptured by them. I use the Brainy Baby line of DVD’s with my own kids and even the DVD on Sign Language (Talking Hands) keeps the attention of my 8-year old,” she says.

Created by a team of early childhood educators and using a time tested and proven method of introducing and reinforcing preschool concepts, Brainy Baby DVDs have won more than 60 awards and offer a highly effective supplemental tutorial for parents who have children entering kindergarten. “We are constantly hearing from parents that kids are learning at an early age” says Fedoruk. “It’s all about teach and repeat, teach and repeat, and then review. Our DVD’s emulate this teaching method. That’s how children learn.”

The DVDs depict fun, live action scenes of real kids and objects from everyday life. Brainy Baby DVD’s expose children to basic preschool concepts like the alphabet, numbers, shapes and colors. Brainy Baby encourages parents to watch the DVD’s with their children so that concepts and images that are presented can be reviewed together and reinforced through verbal communication.

To take advantage of the FREE DVD campaign, participants must choose one DVD from a selection of four of Brainy Baby’s most popular titles (ABCs, Music, Laugh & Learn, or Shapes & Colors). The DVD’s are FREE; participants only have to pay $6.95 for shipping and handling. For additional information and details about the FREE DVD GIVEAWAY, visit www.myfreebrainybaby.com

About The Brainy Baby Company

For 15 years, The Brainy Baby Company has been a pioneer and leader in DVDs, Books, Games and Toys for babies, toddlers and pre-schoolers. The award-winning line of videos, CDs, books, games, and toys introduce educational subjects such as letters, shapes, animals, art and music. Brainy Baby® videos feature multi-ethnic children, toe-tapping original music, nursery rhymes and instrumental classics. In fact, Brainy Baby DVDs have won over 60 awards including Dr. Toy’s Top 100 Best Children’s Product, the Dove Foundation’s Seal of Approval, Parenting Magazine’s Top Videos of the Year, and more. For more information about The Brainy Baby Company, visit www.brainybaby.com