Fraction Action Board & Fraction Cups {Review & Giveaway!!}

For those of you who don’t know, I am a former math teacher. With that said, I was VERY excited when we received these great math toys from Guidecraft! I am always a fan of manipulatives that foster mathematical thinking and we definitely had fun with the Fraction Action Board and Fraction Cups!

Fraction Action Board: This eco-friendly rubberwood storage board measures about 9.5" x 9.5". There are 18 large, bright wood pieces stained red, blue, yellow & green that fit onto the board. The circle, hexagon, and square each measure about 2.5” in diameter and about .75” in height. Not only can you use the Fraction Action Board to teach and reinforce fraction skills, but you can also incorporate sorting, sequencing, colors, shapes, fine-motor skills, and hand-eye coordination as well. There is also an activity booklet included that contains ideas for using the Fraction Action Board.

My 3 year olds enjoyed filling the board with the pieces.

They also stacked and sorted the blocks by color and shape.

My older kids played a little game with the board. Each child was assigned a shape. They each took turns rolling our Education Cubes with the Fraction insert cards. With each roll, the kids read the fraction aloud and then added the appropriate pieces to the fraction board. The first child to fill their board won. This was a fun, hands-on way to work on fractions and the Fraction Action Board was perfect!

Fraction Cups: This set of four rubberwood cups measuring about 1.75” in height and 3.25” in diameter. There are 10 large wooden pieces stained in red, blue, yellow, green, orange, and purple that fit into the wooden cups. The Fraction Cups can provide a fun way to help teach and/or reinforce fractions (wholes, halves, thirds, and quarters). There is also an activity booklet included.

My little guys enjoyed filling the cups with the pieces.

They also had fun duplicating the fraction using our Education Cubes along with the Fraction Pie insert cards. The older kids rolled the cube, told me the fraction shown, and then duplicated the fraction.

Needless to say, we had lots of fun with our Fraction Action Board and Fraction Cups! I strongly believe that children retain more when learning is fun, exciting, and engaging. These math toys definitely fit the bill!

Giveaway Info

~Giveaway is closed~

I am super excited to host a giveaway for these awesome math manipulatives. The winner will receive both the Fraction Action Board and a set of Fraction Cups! The first and mandatory entry is visit Guidecraft and leave a comment telling me about one of your favorite product (I know there are lots to choose from!)

Optional (Additional) Entries: The following are additional ways that you can enter to win. However, you MUST complete the mandatory entry above. (Be sure to leave a separate comment for each entry!)

• Follow Mama Jenn via Google Friend Connect (see right sidebar on blog) AND/OR subscribe to Mama Jenn via RSS and/or via email and leave a comment letting me know that you do. Leave a comment for EACH follow or subscription. (max 3 entries)
• Follow @MamaJennBlogs on Twitter AND/OR @Guidecraft on Twitter and leave a comment letting me know that you do. Leave a separate comment for EACH follow. (max 2 entries)
• Tweet about the giveaway and leave a comment letting me know that you did. You can copy/paste/tweet this:

@MamaJennBlogs is hosting a giveaway for @Guidecraft Fraction Cups & Action Board. Enter here: http://bit.ly/jN4Kvs

The giveaway ends at midnight on Saturday, June 25th! Giveaway is for US residents only. I will select a winner using Random.org. Be sure to leave a separate comment for each entry as well as a way for me to contact you in case you do win!

Want it NOW? If you can’t wait to win, you can head over to purchase the Fraction Action Board (via Guidecraft or via Amazon) and the Fraction Cups (via Guidecraft or via Amazon).

As a Guidecraft Mom blogger, this product was given to me for review purposes. I do not have to return the product to the vendor and I was not paid for this post. All opinions expressed in this post are my own.

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Mama’s Mission of the Month {June Mid-Month Reminder}

Alright, all you mama’s who are participating in Mama’s Mission of the Month for June, this is the Mid-month reminder about the goals that we set for the month of June. With the month more than half-way over, I just wanted to check in to see how you all are doing!

As for me, I am having fun going back and seeing some of the work that my kids have done throughout the year as I get together all of their papers. So, I AM making progress…even though we still have not completed our school year! 

With that said how are you coming along with your June Mission of the Month? Feel free to leave a comment letting us know how your mission is going! {No, you don’t have to leave an update comment. And yes, you will still be able to write your complete Accomplished post and link it up at the end of the month. The update comment is simply a way of keeping you on track with completing the goals you have set for the month.}

If you have no clue what the Mama’s Mission of the Month is all about, it is basically a monthly blog carnival designed to help me {and you} follow through on some of the goals that we have set for the month! For more information or if you want to know how to join in next month, check out the intro post!

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Rainbow Pancakes

Ever want to taste a rainbow? Some yummy rainbow pancakes might just do the trick! We made these to go along with the book Duckie’s Rainbow by Frances Barry as part of Little Books for Little Cooks on Totally Tots!

Duckie’s Rainbow is a cute little book about a little duck’s colorful journey home. With each turn of the page another color is added until she (and the reader) sees a beautiful rainbow! This is such a bright, fun book..definitely a favorite!!

Want to make your own edible pancake rainbow? Click here for instructions.

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Kids Flag Page Winner

Thank you to everyone who entered to win the Kids Flag Page giveaway!

Congratulations to commenter #65, Tami!

If you didn’t win, be sure to head over to Family Matters to purchase this awesome parenting tool!

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Education Cubes Celebration

Just wanted to let you know about a mini celebration over on one of my other sites, Education Cubes! If you don’t know what Education Cubes are, they are essentially soft photo blocks with insert cards that allow you to customize learning for all of your education needs!

We are celebrating because there are officially over 200 sets of insert cards on the Members Site! So, if you have not joined the Education Cubes Members Only Site, now is DEFINITELY the time to do it! As part of the celebration you can join for ONLY $8, which is $4 off the current regular price! The membership will probably NEVER be this low again. In the future as more sets of insert cards are added the membership cost WILL increase!

The discounted rate ends on Wednesday, June 8th, but it is just the beginning of the celebration! So, head on over and see what fun stuff I have planned throughout the week!

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Make Your Own {Bottle Top} Stamps

We collect bottle tops and use them for all sorts of crafts (like spiders, bugs, turtles, and race cars just to name a few!). Our latest “creations” are bottle top stamps! They are easy and VERY inexpensive to make!

All you need are some recycled bottle tops and some adhesive foam stickers. Simply stick the foam stickers onto the bottle top. Grab some paper and an ink pad and have fun with your new stamps!

What are some fun ways that you have used recycled bottle tops?

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Roll it. Write it. {Spelling Printables}

I created the “Roll It. Write It.” printables for my kiddos as a fun, interactive way to help practice their spelling words!

We use our Education Cubes with both printables. Occasionally we will use our Write-on. Wipe-off Dice, but the Education Cubes are hands-down more fun for my kiddos!

The first printable is called Roll it. Read it. Write it. Roll the cube or dice and read the word. Write the word in one of the spaces…any one you want. Continue rolling and writing until all the spaces are full.

The second printable (shown in action in the photo below) is called Roll it & Write it in a Row. Roll the cube or dice. Read the word & write it in one of the rows. Continue rolling & writing until all the rows are full. Each row must contain the same word. This differs from the Roll it. Read it. Write it. printable because it assures that the child has equal practice writing all of the words.

Helpful Hint: To save on paper and printing, laminate the page or use a page protector and use a dry erase marker so that the page can be reused.

Visit my Spelling Printable page to download the Roll it. Write it. printables. FYI, I have created a lot of color variations (both with and without lines) of each printable, so feel free to download/print whatever you think will work best for your kiddo(s)! 

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Bottle Top Turtles

We save bottle tops…all bottle tops…all the time! I have a big ole container filled with them! You never know when you may need them for a craft of some sort!  {grins} We have made bottle top bug crafts, so we decided to give turtles a shot!

So, if you are interested in making a few bottle top turtles, here is how we made them! First of all, here are the supplies that you will need.

 

Supplies Needed:

• bottle tops
• Q-tips
• popsicle sticks (regular and jumbo sized)
• foam
• googly eyes
• acrylic paint
• hot glue gun
• potato

 

Directions:

1. Trace a circle onto the foam using the bottle top as a pattern. Cut out the circle.

2. Cut the Q-tips in half and cut down the popsicle sticks.

3. Paint the Q-tips and the popsicle sticks. If your bottle top is not green or brown, paint it with acrylic paint.

4. Use a hot glue gun to adhere the turtle head, tail, and legs onto the foam circle.

5. Use the glue gun to attach the part shown above onto the rim of the bottle top shell.

6. Cut a trapezoid-shaped stamp from a potato and use it and some paint to design the turtle shell (bottle top).

7. Use the hot glue gun to adhere the googly eyes.

8. Now, have fun playing with your new turtle friends!

The kids even made “habitats” for their turtles. I am often amazed by their creativity!

Be sure to check out some of our other bottle top crafts:

• Bottle Top Ladybugs
• Bottle Top Spiders
• Race Cars (made from bottle tops & TP tubes)
• Bottle Top Bees
• Bottle Top Stamps

What are some fun crafts you have made using recycled bottle tops?

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Mission of the Month June 2011 {and May Accomplishments}

Welcome to Mama’s Mission of the Month! My hope is that this will help me {and you} follow through on some of the goals that we have set for the month! So, if you are a mama and you want to join in, check out the intro post! (If you have already read the rules, you can easily grab the buttons from the Buttons Tab on the top of the sidebar.)

May Mission Update: I got it done and I am so thrilled! I have completed my NEW Calendar Board post and I have shared about Kids Flag Page (which, by the way, I have a giveaway going on for it and you can still enter to win a set for yourself!) Both posts just went up over the last few days, but I got them done…just in the nick of time…mission accomplished!!!

My Mission for June 2011: Well, I learned my lesson last time. I am keeping it simple…only one mission this month. We are winding down our school year and I want to re-organize all of our school work and papers. I really like Michelle’s approach with the 3-ring binder and page protectors! So, I am planning on trying something similar…I think. Well, I suppose I have the rest of the month to figure it all out, right?!?!?!? 

What is your June mission of the month?

If you participated last month, how did you do?

Feel free to link up and share! It is a great way to hold yourself accountable! For more information on how to join in, please read the intro post. The linky will be open until midnight, June 5th.

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