Educational subscriptions and classes

Education is extremely important to me, and seeing my children have fun while learning is amazing.  

Monthly subscription kits are a perfect way to have fun while learning.
Some of my favorites are: 

Kiwico-  My daughter got one of these subscriptions for Christmas and we have been impressed with what they have provided each month.  The first month she got a doctor's play kit with a book to talk about empathy.  Second month she got a counting game with colors and numbers with a book, and the latest month she got a numbers matching game and book.  She has loved every box we have gotten and its been a fun way for her to learn.  You can learn more about them here:  https://www.kiwico.com

MEL Science Chemistry-  This subscription is for a little bit older kids, but once my children are at that age, we will definitely be ordering a subscription.  This is a monthly box with 2-3 really neat science experiments to do with them.  You can check them out there:  https://melscience.com/US-en/

Little Passports USA Edition and Science Expedition- This is an awesome subscription!  Each month you are provided with hands on activities. Geared towards your child's age group (3-12 years) they provide a fun way to learn about the world, science, engineering, and math.  You can learn more about them here:  https://www.littlepassports.com

Kidstir- This is a cooking subscription club for kids- Each month kids ages 5-12 get step by step recipes, handy cooking tools, food learning pages, fun games and puzzles, plus an extra special craft activity such as stickers, place cards, or gift notes.  You can find more about them here:https://kidstir.com  

Eat2explore- Another cooking subscription that explores the world through food.  You choose which country you want and they send you recipes and some hard to find ingredients to help you make your dish.  Enjoy family time in the kitchen!  https://eat2explore.com

Oysterkit- Do your kids know what they want to be when they grow up?  Oysterkit can help them decide if that career is the right one for them in the future.  Each month, they receive a box full of activities for a profession.  Each month is a different profession to try out to see which one they like best.  From a doctor, scientist, archeologist, veterinarian  and dentist, they can truly find out what they want to be when they grow up.  This subscription is for ages 4-8 years old. https://oysterkit.com 


Learning Apps that I love are: 

Homer Reading Program - Proven to increase early reading scores by 74%.  This app has lessons on phonics, sight words, and ABC's.  You can try free for 30 days.  Perfect for ages 2-8 years old.  I really want to get my daughter started on this one.  They have fun ways of learning how to read with games, stories, and activities.  I think my daughter would love playing and would catch on quick on how to read.  https://learnwithhomer.com

Educational TV

I try to keep the screen time to a minimum, but when I let my kids watch a show it's educational, based on a book series or animated children songs.

Our favorites are:

Super Simple Songs- They have animated children's songs and a puppet show called Sing along with Tobee that we really love. I usually have the kids watch this in the morning to get started for the day and we sing as I'm making breakfast.  (Super simple also has an amazing website with craft ideas, recipes, and activities as well)

You can check it out here:  https://supersimple.com
Here is the link to Sing Along with Tobee:  https://supersimple.com/sing-along-with-tobee/

Little Baby Bum songs on Netflix

Clifford animated book show- Amazon Prime or PBS Kids

Pete the Cat animated book show- Amazon Prime
You can also Check out their website for animated books and songs by Pete the Cat here: www.harpercollinschildrens.com/petethecat

Mouse and Cookie animated book show- Amazon Prime

Bubble Guppies- Amazon Prime - This show is amazing for teaching kids about all sorts of topics.

The Cat in the Hat Knows a lot about That! - Amazon Prime or PBS Kids- This show is also amazing for teaching kids about all sorts of topics.  Very educational.  The website also has games and videos to play:  https://pbskids.org/catinthehat/

Words World- Amazon Prime - Great show about how to put words together and spelling.

Llama Llama animated book show- Netflix- Great show- they had an episode on sharing that I have my daughter watch often when she needs a refresher.

Daniel Tiger- This is the new version of Mr. Rogers Neighborhood.  Awesome about learning about life.  We also watch the old Mr. Rogers Neighborhood too- both on Amazon Prime

Reading Rainbow - I used to love this show as a kid and its actually still available on Amazon Prime

You can also find more animated books on Amazon Prime if you do a search.  We found "A SNOWY DAY" this morning and watched it before nap time.  My daughter is a huge bookworm, so she loves these.  I found a website that provides one free year of animated books for anyone who is interested.  The website is called Vooks.  You can find more info here:  https://www.vooks.com

Free activities

I'm a mom on a tight budget, so when we get out of the house for activities, I try to keep it free but also fun.  I have found that the local libraries are great places to have free story times, craft days, music time, and play time.  I've spent $14 for my daughter to play at a play street museum and she wants to leave the first 5 min we are there.  I take her to a free library and she plays for hours and doesn't want to leave.  I'm all about not spending a dime and her enjoying it more! Usually two to three times a week we are visiting the library.  Both of my toddlers love the story times that they have in the mornings where they read several stories, sing songs, and even get to pop bubbles or see puppets.  Mondays at my library they have craft time where each week they make something different and have all of the supplies out for the kids to make something.  We really enjoy this as well and get to show daddy what we've made when he gets home from work.  Some libraries have awesome free kids play areas with toys and books.  The one around our area has a Train that we play in with books, a little kitchen, dolls, STEM activities, etc.  We also have another library that has blocks, a large dollhouse, coloring, etc that we also love for free indoor play time.  Perfect for cold or rainy days.

Every day I look for free activities in my area on Facebook events and the newest one I found was a story time at a train museum.  Both kiddos really loved this.  It was a bit of a drive, but we got out, had a new story time experience and got to take a tour of the museum and train.  It was free and totally worth it.  We will be back!  Always check out your Facebook events!

Another free activity that we love is scouting out new playgrounds to play on.  I checked google maps a few days ago and found several new playgrounds that we had never been to and were close to where we lived.  Now we have about 10 different ones that we can switch out during the week to keep it exciting.  I love telling my mom friends that I've found a new park and we can meet there for a fun play date.

Some of the local nature preserves around have toddler or children's events scheduled.  Check with the ones in your area and see what they have available.  We have a preserve nearby that has reading with a ranger, craft time, stories under the stars, learning how to find animal tracks, etc.  I was really impressed with the Ranger the last event that we went to.  He was especially patient with the kids and kept them asking questions.  It was such a great experience.  Some parks you'll have to pay an entrance fee, but the rest is free and totally worth it to be outdoors and exploring nature.