Making learning fun is so important for young children. I’m not a big fan of worksheets for preschool children. Where possible, I try to provide learning opportunities for my children that are fun and engaging. We love outdoor activities for children like forest school and other educational things to do outside. We also try to have fun learning indoors too.
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We were sent these toys by Learning resources to review. All thoughts, opinions and photos are my own.
One of my favourite companies for educational toys for kids is Learning resources. We’ve worked with them a few times on reviews of their products and I’ve also purchased some of them for my children too. They’re always so well made, fun and educational for kids.
Most recently we were sent Sum swamp (a maths board game) and coding critters Ranger and Zip to review. Read on to find out more about each toy and what we thought about them. They’ve also created a whole host of free to download learning resoucres for you to use – find them here.
Learning resources Coding critters Ranger and Zip
What is Learning resources Coding critters?
Coding critters are your child’s first coding friends. They are suitable for introducing coding to children aged 4 and over. They come in various designs including dinosaurs, cats and dogs. They introduce children to coding in a screen-free way.
Coding critters Ranger and Zip
Inside the box you get a 22 piece coding playset and a storybook to get you started coding.
Ranger is the larger of the two dogs included in this set. This is the coding pet. Start by inserting 3 AAA batteries into Ranger (not included) and get ready to start your coding adventure. Zip is the smaller dog (who doesn’t require batteries) who can attach to rangers nose by magnets.
Also included is a ball, bone, kennel, sea saw and slide as well as a tree and fire hydrant cardboard props and some paw print cardboard direction symbols.
Ranger has two modes, Code mode and Play mode. My girls are 4 and 7 and they love both modes.
The best way to learn how to use coding critters is to follow the directions in the storybook supplied. This book introduces play mode and code mode to your child. My girls loved reading the story and getting to know Ranger and Zip.
Code mode
Code mode is the mode that will teach your child the basics of coding. On the back of Ranger are a set of direction buttons and a circular button in the centre. Use these buttons to code a set of instructions for Ranger and then hit the circular (go) button.
Play mode
Play mode is a fun mode where you can play with Ranger. You can pet and feed him, get him to dance, nap or patrol. My children particularly love dance mode where Ranger moves around randomly and barks along to a tune. My 4 year old squeals with delight when Ranger dances.
Our verdict
We love our Ranger and Zip coding critters from learning resources. My children love playing with it in both play mode and code mode. I love that they are learning the basics of coding, a skill which is only going to become more and more important.
Find out more and buy yours direct from Learning Resouces UK
Learning resources Sum swamp
Sum swamp is a maths board games for children aged 5 plus. It’s an addition and subtraction game as instead of rolling one dice you roll 3 to make a sum. The sums use the numbers 1 to 6 and either a + or a -.
The board game it’s self is a fun game that really doesn’t take that long to play (unless you all get stuck in the endless loop. My 7 year old loves the cute counters and the colourful board. There are fun little twists to the game like land on a numbered space, roll the operation die and if you get – move back that many spaces and if you get + move forward that many spaces.
Our verdict
The maths difficulty I would say is perfect for year 1 children. My eldest is in year 2 and we felt the sums were too easy for her. However, she still loved the board game and it is as fun as playing a classic board game like snakes and ladders but with a little more maths skill involved.
Available to buy direct from Learning Resources.
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