Kids Learn to Love STEM with Zyrobotics’ Zumo Smart Toy

Kids Learn to Love STEM with Zyrobotics’ Zumo Smart Toy

Technology has undoubtedly made learning more fun for kids today. One of our favorite toys-for-learning is The Zumo Smart Turtle Toy. The Zyrobotics’ Zumo Smart Toy is seriously the perfect gift for any children Pre-K through 3rd grade! It makes learning science and math easy and fun with its ability to engage and go at your child’s own pace.

Summer has finally come to a close and the “Summer Brain Drain”  – yes, this is a real thing – has set in. Children, especially young children, often forget things they learned during the school year, so going back can be a challenge. So using cool learning toys like Zyrobotics’ Zumo Learning System and its mobile technology can give your kids a leg up in the STEM subjects while making them fun and interactive.

Kids Learn to Love STEM with Zyrobotics’ Zumo Smart Toy

While Zumo Turtle might look like an everyday stuffed animal, as soon as kids touch his shell, reading, science, and math games come alive on the screen. These reading, math and science games are geared towards three through seven-year-olds but is great for any child needed a refresher course in one of the STEM subjects taught in school.

“We developed Zumo after years of research into understanding how to make learning accessible for young children,” said J. MacCalla, Ph.D., CEO of Zyrobotics, creator of the Zumo Learning System. “Zumo Turtle incorporates game-based learning techniques with physical movement to give children a fun, engaging and immersive way to embrace and enjoy STEM and other subjects. As STEM continues to gain importance, learning math and science early can provide a head start for children in school and help prepare them for future careers in STEM fields.  “With math in particular, tactile-based learning helps children more easily grasp abstract concepts,” MacCalla said.

Kids Learn to Love STEM with Zyrobotics’ Zumo Smart Toy

Now through the end of October, the STEM Zyrobotics’ Zumo Smart Toy is on sale for only $159.99 and it is regularly priced at $299.00. You are saving $139.01. Get a jump start on your Christmas shopping and save a ton at the same time.

For more information, visit www.zumolearning.com. Zyrobotics LLC, an award-winning creator of educational technologies for children, was founded in 2013 as an inclusive technology company. As a Georgia Tech spinoff company, Zyrobotics addresses the diverse needs of children by developing personalized technologies to make a difference in the lives of children between the ages of three- to 12-years old. Their mission is to enable freedom through technology by developing products that are adaptive to each child’s capabilities. Their products uniquely focus on promoting the stimulation of social, cognitive, and motor skills development in a child. For more information, visit www.zumolearning.com.

Disclosure statement Disclosure- This is a sponsored post. All opinions are my own. For more information, please see “I Disclose”. https://havesippywilltravel.com/i-disclose

Simple, Safe Multiplayer in Slither.io

Children love playing video games, but not every game provides a positively ideal experience. As parents, we want our kids to have fun, and we want to worry as little as possible. Slither.io is an easy-to-learn, simple multiplayer game that dodges the many pitfalls of other modern titles.

pic1

Enter a nickname, and move your mouse to play. Within a few seconds, you can enter the competitive world of Slither.io. Loosely based on Agar.io game (which your children might already play), Slither.io puts all players together in one giant arena. Your snake, which starts out small, will follow the mouse cursor. Simply lead the reptile towards glowing pieces of food, and it will grow. Longer snakes are also bigger and move faster. Basically, the more you eat, the better you are.

Slither.io is a great option for both younger and older kids. There aren’t any complex controls to learn, key combos to memorize, or lengthy instructions to read. When the game begins, your snake will start moving. From there, you can choose to slither in a straight line towards food, or try to trap other players with your tail. Advanced players might use their snake’s length to perform quick moves and knock other players out of the game. Whether you choose to play offensively or defensively, you have an equal chance at earning a spot on the leaderboard.

Overall, the graphics in Slither.io game are quite pleasing. The vivid, glowing orbs in Slither.io are offset by a dark background. There aren’t any flashing lights, strobes, or other potentially eye-straining visuals. Unique skins and smooth gameplay keep the experience interesting and enjoyable for hours on end. Best of all, we don’t have to worry about gruesome violence, inappropriate chat room content, or paying for in-game upgrades.

These days, the uncensored Internet can be a very dangerous place with far-reaching consequences. Even seemingly innocent games have chat rooms that allow bullies and strangers to interact directly with others. Slither.io allows no such negativity, and it keeps the action simple. That’s why I recommend Slither.io for kids—and adults, if you’re interested in joining the fun.

Hyrule Warriors: Legends for Nintendo 3DS

pic8

Hyrule Warriors is a fun hack and slash game, mixing the familiar game characters from the Legend of Zelda with the game play and mechanics of the Dynasty Warriors series to make a fun beat ’em up style game with the rich character design and story line of Legend of Zelda.

The story involves Link and some new friends, Lana and Sheik, helping to restore the Tri-Force and save Princess Zelda while defeating the evil Cia.  In doing this, our heroes must travel through eras in the Hyrule time line ranging from Ocarina of Time, Twilight Princess, Skyward Sword  and now Wind Waker as well.

Each level has tons of enemies to mow down using your hero, and now also allows you to switch characters on the fly so you can further develop an attack plan and strategy without leaving too much responsibility to an AI character.

Included in these tons of enemies are also big bosses who have weaknesses and special techniques in order to be defeated.  This keeps alive the puzzle solving aspect of the Legend of Zelda series.  There are tons of characters to play as in Warriors and with this new version there are five more, Tetra, King of Hyrule, Toon Link, Skull Kid and Linkle.  All of these are usable in addition to other favorites like Link and Sheik.

Hyrule Warriors is a good pick up and play game, and is a great game to play on the go or pause and come back to at a later time.  The action being intense and fun while ,still being playable by gamers of all skill sets.

Included with the 3DS game is a download code to bring the new characters now included in the 3DS version of Hyrule Warriors to the Wii U version, further expanding the fun.

Hyrule Warriors is available now for the Nintendo 3DS both in retail stores and in the eShop online for $39.99.

ZUS Smart Car Charger

We all know that all chargers for our phones are not created equal, some phones even tell us this when they are plugged in to a slower charger.  Has your phone ever told you it is trickle charging?  Ridiculousness, we have smart phones and now there is a Smart Charger for all your mobile power needs in the form of Zus.

pic8

image via gadgetnote. com

Zus is a smart charger for your smart phone powered by your car.  It can charge two cell phones  (Android or iOS)at the same time in as little as 2 to 2 and a quarter hours.  From empty to full in no time.  Zus may sound like a great charger, but that is not its only asset.

It can also act as a car locator when you park.  Just plug in the Zus, and open up the app, available for free.  Then your parking spot will be saved and you can find it later.  This is perfect for those Summer festivals right around the corner where you leave your local neighborhood and park on side street in a suburban place, only to realize all these houses look the same on the way back when the lights are low.  (Or when you try to find your car in a theme park parking lot…oy.)

I love this feature of the charger, and it will only come in more and more helpful as the Summer months get closer.  Another safety feature is its built in ambiance lighting which is a nice touch in dark vehicles or even darker evenings out.  No longer will that dropped phone be lost until sun up.

Some of the features of this charger include:

Designed in Germany

ElegantShine™ Lighting

Smart Device Detection

Data Plan Free

Titanium Coating

12-month Warranty

Smart Car Locator

US Military Grade Quality

2x Charging Speed (4.8A)

Low Energy Bluetooth

German Bayer Material

ZUS Cooling System

Zus retails for $35.99 each and are available both on their website as well as on Amazon.

Disney Infinity 3.0 and The Legend of Zelda: Tri Force Heroes

2015 11 02 lumix 013

Disney is on its third installment of the ever fun Disney Infinity line of games.  This most recent addition to the crew includes not only Marvel and Disney characters but also those of the Star Wars line of characters including Yoda, Darth Vader and Han Solo to name a few.  But this only scratches the surface for this game which is fun for everyone.  This game is great for beginner gamers because of this easy to pick up and play game play.  Each player picks their character from the Disney Infinity figures they own, characters for the previous 2 games work on the third iteration, and play as them throughout the game.  There are specific levels which work with specific characters and all characters can be used in the Toy Box, which is our personal favorite part of the game.  This portion of the game is player created.  People from all over the world can create and share their creations with others and the best are featured as such in the Toy Boxes section of the game.  These Toy Boxes show just how robust the game is as well as how creative the players of the game are as well.  The little guy loves Disney Infinity and the addition of Star Wars characters as well as new Marvel and Disney characters are an added bonus.  This is also a great jumping on point for new players of the series as well, as toys from the previous games in the series work in the Toy Box as well, which is a nice touch.

pic6

We are also going to look at Tri Force Heroes from the legendary, The Legend of Zelda series.  This game has similar game play mechanics and visuals as A Link To The Past but also includes some new ideas like climbing on top of one of your fellow players in order to solve puzzles and attack enemies.  This game is built on the idea of team work, some levels giving each player a different tool, item or weapon in order to solve their own portion of the puzzle, while others have the players work together using the same items.  Either way the levels are a blast to play through and make for a fun way to spend time with friends and 3DS’s .  There are a total of thirty two levels to progress through each a different challenge then the last and each bringing your group closer together in their quest to save the princess from a fashion emergency.

Disney Infinity 3.0 is available for PlayStation®4, PlayStation®3, Wii U™, Xbox One, Xbox 360 in the Starter Pack which includes: 1 Disney Infinity 3.0 Edition Video Game Disc,1 Disney Infinity 3.0 Edition Base, 2 Star Wars™ Figures: Ahsoka Tano, Anakin Skywalker, 1 Star Wars™ Twilight of the Republic Play Set Piece, and 1 Web Code Card and is available now retailing for $64.99.  The new Legend of Zelda: Tri Force Heroes is available only for the Nintendo 3DS and retails for $39.99 and is available at retailers everywhere as well as the 3DS eShop.

LBX: Little Battlers eXperience for 3DS

Disclosure- We received the below in order to facilitate this review. All opinions are my own and honest.

20150822_151021

LBX is one of the newest games for the Nintendo 3DS and 2DS.  In this game, you follow the adventures of Van Yamano.  Van is a little boy in a future where kids compete with LBX’s.  An LBX is a small, hand sized robot which is completely customizable and can be used to battle other LBX’s in a tournament style arena.  Van’s LBX is special though, and is one of the most powerful LBX’s available. As such, he gets into some rather sticky situations, the biggest of which is his battle to save the world from the evil corporation known as New Dawn Raisers.  The game is set up as a simple style action RPG.  This fits the game theme perfectly and makes for a fun gaming experiences for gamers of all ages and play abilities.

LBX

  • Collect and build your own palm-sized robot from more than 4,000 parts to create a one-of-a-kind LBX
  • Choose from more than 130 different complete sets of matching parts, or mix and match.
  • Customize both external parts and interior parts individually to enhance your LBX’s capabilities.
  • Battle as your LBX against friends and foes in third-person view with local wireless multiplayer mode.
  • Battle other LBX models in 20 different arenas with unique environmental characteristics.
  • In local wireless multiplayer play, up to six players can battle using a variety of different rules.

pic9

This game is surprisingly good, to the point where even local play is a blast with friends.  We were given the opportunity to try out this game in person at the Nintendo Store in  New York City, and I can say from first hand experiences controlling and fighting other LBX players is great fun no matter the outcome.

LBX is available now for the Nintendo 3DS and 2DS and retails for $39.99, at retail stores as well as the Nintendo eShop.

The BIRTHDAYKINS and The HUGGALOONS from Digiplush

IMG_0018

My son likes toys that he can play with on his tablet- while I don’t think there needs to be an app for every toy, a few here and there are cute.  This one celebrates your birthday with you, which is adorable.  For his birthday month, he tried out a BirthdayKins and Hugaloons toy, which he can cuddle as well as use to unlock premium parts and features in an otherwise free app.  My son’s favorite part of the game is making birthday cakes and knocking down pinatas- he also likes that it remembers when his birthday is.  It’s cute.

pic6

The first brand launching under the new Digiplush venture is “BirthdayLand.” Everyone celebrates a birthday, and yet this unique special day has never been supported by characters or a mythology similar to other major holidays.  Until now.  Each time a child blows out a candle, their wish drifts up to BirthdayLand, the place where their wishes comes true.  According to the BirthdayLand legend, everything that makes a birthday celebration special comes from BirthdayLand, from the candles on a cake to the paper wrapped around birthday presents.  The adorable characters of BirthdayLand, the Birthdaykins and the Huggaloons, will be the first physical products to market.  They are currently available at Toys”R”Us.

pic5The Birthdaykins are delightful birthday-themed plush toys that retail for $12.99.  They are the cute characters in BirthdayLand, the place where birthday wishes come true.  The Birthdaykins are also featured in the BirthdayLand app, which is filled with fun-tastic birthday-related games and activities.  The purchase any of the Birthdaykins includes a code that unlocks premium features inside the BirthdayLand app.  The app is a free download in the iTunes store, Google Play and Amazon Apps.

pic7

The Huggaloons are soft, lovable plush toys that resemble balloon animals that retail for $16.99. They are the special guides in BirthdayLand, the place where birthday wishes come true.  The Huggaloons are also featured in the BirthdayLand app, which is filled with fun-tastic birthday-related games and activities.  The purchase any of the Huggaloons includes a code that unlocks premium features inside the BirthdayLand app.  The app is a free download in the iTunes store, Google Play and Amazon Apps.

pic4

The BirthdayLand app is a free download and features two free activities.  Additional free games and activities within the app can be unlocked using a code displayed on signage in Toys”R”Us stores.  The Birthdayland plush toys, The Birthdaykins and the Huggaloons, also feature secret codes that unlock two additional games within the app. The free download includes:

pic8

  • “Balloon Pop” – spell words by finding letters inside floating balloons and placing them correctly in the word below.
  • “Birthday Countdown Clock” – countdown birthdays for up to 5 different family members, friends or pets — whoever has a birthday to remember and celebrate.

The remaining games and activities are unlocked by using the special code that comes with the purchase of a BirthdayLand toy, or by entering the special code printed on the in-store BirthdayLand display, both available at Toys”R”Us locations.

The app is appropriate for children ages 3-7.   www.birthdayland.com

pic9

VTech Kidizoom Action Camera

Disclosure- I have received the below in order to facilitate this review. All opinions are my own and honest.
20150216_110454

Action cameras are a hot trend right now in outdoor accessories.  These cameras can not only catch the action of your sport of choice, but also give you a further way to improve your own performance as well.  There is just so much fun being able to record and remember your actions.  My most extreme adventure was cliff diving in Mexico, and I am sure that would have been a great video to see from my point of view.  But what about out free spirited children?  What happens when they want to capture their outdoor achievements?  VTech have come to fill in this niche with their new Kidizoom Action Cam.  The camera is meant for all the action your little ones can get into.  The Kidizoom is built to be durable enough for kids, and can take a tumble.  Not only does this camera include 2 mounts for on the spot action capturing, but also a waterproof case, making this the perfect all around kids camera.  If they want to record their first rafting trip or hiking through the woods, the Kidizoom is great fun for little guys and gals.
[Read more…]