FlipStir Puzzles review

A couple of years ago, I won a Rainbow Pencils FlipStir Puzzle.  I'd never seen anything like it before, and thought it was brilliant to have a puzzle that we couldn't loose the pieces to.  Theoretically, of course.  Not that my little angels ever lose anything.  Ahem.

We've had this one for 2 years, and it's still in great shape.  That says something in this house.  We're pretty hard on toys.  And furniture.  And appliances.  And...

Recently, the opportunity came up for us to review another great FlipStir Puzzle from Enlivenze LLC.  This time, we received the Statue of Liberty puzzle, which is a level 2 puzzle, with a more challenging picture, than our level 1 Rainbow Pencils.  The level 2 puzzles also have wavy pieces, whereas the level 1 puzzles have straight edged pieces.

What is a FlipStir Puzzle?  It's a cylinder filled with pieces, with an attached wand to manipulate them.  The end of the wand has a little foot on it to help you turn and place the enclosed pieces in the correct order and position to complete the picture.

When we first got the Statue of Liberty puzzle, I let Eli open it.

"Hey, we have one of these!" was his reaction.

He fiddled with it during nap time and got it assembled for me.

I'm glad I got a picture when I did, because the next thing I knew, someone had stirred it up.  I played with it for a while and gave up after getting about 4 pieces in correctly.  Pretty soon, someone had stirred it up again.  It's one of those things that you can't help but play with.  I noticed several of the children picked it up and messed with it.  I'm not sure who all has assembled it.  Having the Statue of Liberty puzzle out and accessible has renewed the kids' interest in the Rainbow Pencils puzzle, too.

We've taken the Rainbow Pencils puzzle with us on road trips before because there are no small parts to get lost in the van.  The FlipStir Puzzles are all self-contained, sealed and not designed to be opened.  This makes them perfect for taking to things like doctor's appointments where you have to wait, but might have to jump up at any minute.  FlipStir Puzzles are mess free, words that, as a mom, I particularly love to hear.

These fun puzzles would make a great stocking stuffer or Easter basket filler.  They're also a great item to have in your gift closet for a sudden birthday party your child forgot to tell you about.  (Maybe that just happens at my house?)

The Statue of Liberty FlipStir Puzzle was sitting on my desk in it's "unfinished" state when Paul and I were talking in the school room one day.  Pretty soon, he picked it up and started working on it.  His OCD tendencies couldn't let it sit there like that.

Looking at this picture, I suddenly realize...  My whole school room must just make him twitch.

There are currently 5 different FlipStir Puzzles for sale:

Rainbow Pencils
Tyrannosaurus Rex
Solar System
Statue of Liberty
Periodic Table of Elements

One hundred Crew members received one of the first four puzzles for review purposes.  You can read what other families have to say about their FlipStir Puzzle by clicking the box below.


You can connect with FlipStir Puzzles on Facebook or Twitter, and with parent company Enlivenze, LLC also on Facebook or Twitter.



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Our Week - Fire and Shriners and Cooties, Oh My!

First up, some pictures that didn't make it in to last week's post.

You may remember when we reviewed Kwik Stix.  I gave our small guests the opportunity to try them out, and I was pleased to have no mess, even with little ones.  My girls tend to be pretty neat and tidy, so I wasn't sure how messy toddlers might be with them, but it went well!

Speaking of art, Brianna drew this from a picture that Annaliese posted on Instagram.

Bri also decided to shave part of her head.  School starts in just a couple weeks, and she'll need to do something about the blue ends, but I'm not sure what that's going to be yet.

Our block party for Neighborhood Night Out.  Unfortunately, we missed the police car, as I was driving the teens across town when it was there.

Still, the kids enjoyed the $3 meals and the water balloons and running around in the street.  (Those soda cans in the stroller are not open.  Nor did the little ones drink them.  We just borrowed their cup holders.  Hannah and Katie shared a soda, so they had a leftover one, and I brought sippy cups for the Little Ones, so they had a leftover one, too.  Eli and Josiah drank them later.)

This is Hannah's "but I don't want it to be morning" face.  She and Katie will chatter after bedtime, and I've heard them still talking at 10 p.m. before.  I think she's naturally more of a night owl than a morning person.  Katie pops out of bed in the morning, ready to face the day.

Our small friends really enjoy the Wedgits, the Stacking Pegs, the Mega Blocks, and the kitchen set & play food.  They play with other things, too, of course, but these get daily use.

Paul spent almost 2 weeks in Southern California at the Soberanes Fire.  He came home late Friday night, with a raging case of poison oak.

Sunday night, Jack got sick.  Monday morning, Katie got sick.  Katie and Hannah had an appointment at Shriners, but Katie threw up right before we left, so I just took Hannah.  Hannah is ready for a new leg, so we'll go back in 2 weeks for the casting appointment.  They told me to bring Katie in when she's feeling better and they'll squeeze us into the schedule.  I have a feeling she's ready for a new leg, too.  Monday night, Hannah and Eli got sick.  Sam got sick on Tuesday.  This is one of the less fun parts of having a big family.

Our Little Guests love animals.  Our sneezy old cat is not as crazy about toddlers.

I picked up a Tetris-inspired wooden puzzle.  Jack finds it frustrating.  Sam made pictures out of the different pieces.

Spent some time playing outside, enjoying the nice weather in the morning before it got hot.

Eli's sporting quite the sock tan from daily football practice all summer.

Paul put a new ceiling fan up in the panda room (Hannah and Katie's bedroom).  With both Josiah and Sam planning to leave in the next 6 months, there will be quite a room shuffle.  We'll be painting Jack & Eli's current room and Sam's bedroom & bathroom.

One last week of summer before school starts!  In some ways, I'm looking forward to it, but in other ways, I'm not at all ready.


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Our Week with a Trip to the Pool

So last week, I showed a couple shots of the glider thingie (affiliate link) that we took to the park but couldn't get airborne.

There it is, in the air!  I got about 4 shots before the battery ran out.

These are "bummer" faces.  So we charged it again, and the next day, the boys promptly flew it over the neighbor's fence.  And the neighbors were on vacation.  So it sat on their roof for a couple days.  We got it back last night and charged it up again, so hopefully there will be a chance to get more pictures soon.  So far, I'm not terribly impressed.  It's a lot of effort for a brief bit of fun.  But it was free, so I'm glad we got the chance to try it out.

Little Miss Katie had a huge milestone!  Her first ever lost tooth!  (She's going to be 6 next month.)  Katie tells me that Hannah "helped" it come out.  Yikes.

Love her little gap toothed smile.

The week has been busy with keeping the Small Fries entertained.  This was our "dirty day" where they played in the back yard for a couple of hours while I sat in the sunshine with a book.  A good time was had by all, and I got some cute pictures of them riding the various ride on toys we have.

Waiting patiently for dinner to be ready.  We've done drive through and take out a few times recently.

I keep meaning to share a picture of Sam in his Marines workout shirt.  My heart is so proud to see him jog past with a flock of other guys in their blue Marines shirts.  He leaves for boot camp in January.

We have been spending a LOT of time at parks lately!  It's good to get out and run around.  It helps us all be ready for nap time.

I had a picture of Katie, too, but after I uploaded it, I noticed one of the Little Ones' face was visible in the background.

Eli was showing Jack how to do the bars, and I taught Eli how to get up without climbing over the top of the playground.

I've been wanting to get to the pool ever since it opened, but something always gets in the way.  I won't go on the weekend (too crowded).  And we couldn't go on days when Eli had afternoon practice (pool is open afternoons only).  So somehow, we made it all the way through June and July without going to the pool.  I felt like a bad mom.

But!  Monday, we made it.  Actually, I brought 7 kids to the pool, and Bri and her friend A met us there, so I ended up bringing 9 kids home.  (Josiah doesn't like the pool.  Too people-y.)

Not sure what A is doing here, but she seems happy.

The lifeguard blew the whistle at Jack at one point because he was carrying Katie in the pool.  He couldn't hear what the guard was saying, so I went over to ask.  I explained, "She has one leg, so he was bringing her back to the shallow end, because she gets tired hopping."  I wasn't trying to play the pity card, just explain so he didn't think Jack was disobeying pool rules, but as soon as I said "one leg" he looked aghast and apologized over and over.

Hannah had a little girl ask what happened to her leg.  She said, "I don't feel like talking about that."  I was so proud of her.  I told her she could have said "There's a shark in the deep end."  She just made a face at me.  Katie was like, "There's a SHARK??"  She's still pretty literal.

Our guests did okay at the pool.  Pink was braver at first, but once she fell over and got her face wet, she was much more cautious the rest of the time.  Purple took a while to warm up to the water, but once she did, she had more fun.  She even giggled when I'd chase her.  Pink decided she was more comfortable sitting on the side with just her legs in the water.

Pretty exhausting week this week.  Next week, Eli will be at football camp M-Th, which means there's a possibility I might get to sleep in on Wednesday.  (Monday is camp drop off and an appointment at Shriners for Hannah and Katie; Tuesday and Thursday, Josiah drills with the Army guys.)  I've been waking up before the 5:30 alarm lately, though, so I'm not holding my breath.


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CTCMath

Eli reviewed CTCMath 2 years ago, and once he got into classroom high school, he found that he had already exposure to several things that were being presented as "new concepts" for his classmates because of it.  This is just the kind of edge that I wanted to give to Jack, so when the opportunity to receive a CTCMath Homeschool Membership for review came up again, I was very pleased.

CTCMath is an online math curriculum program that goes all the way from kindergarten through high school.  We received access for up to ten students!  We're currently using it for 3 students, but it's nice to know that I can add Eli or Brianna later on, if they need help with a topic they're covering in school.

Getting the student accounts set up was super easy, and once I had Jack, Hannah, and Katie all listed, I could add "tasks" for them to work on.  This is different than the way we used it last time around.  When Eli used the program, I simply had him choose and work on 3 subject content areas each day.

I started my current students off by selecting assessments for them.  I love that I have the option to test them and see where they're at and what their strengths and weaknesses are, rather than just plodding through a math book, front to back.  Since it's summer time, I wanted to test what they remember from last school year, so I chose kindergarten assessments for Katie, third grade assessments for Hannah, and 6th grade assessments for Jack.

I'm very glad this opportunity came up for us, because there were some areas in which the kids didn't score all that great.  CTCMath gives us the opportunity to see the gaps and do some remedial work in those areas to catch up.  The kids each worked on the program about 3 to 4 days per week during our review period.

When one of the children signs in, they click on Tasks, and it shows what they've been assigned to work on.  They can then choose one of those areas and get started.  In the diagnostic test mode, once you select an area, it goes to a button that says "Start Questions."

In lesson mode, once you select an area, it plays a video.  Since CTCMath is an Australian program, the videos are all in a lovely Aussie accent!  These videos explain the work step by step.  This takes a huge weight off my shoulders, as math is not my strongest area, and I've often said, "Go ask older sister/brother or Dad how to do this.  I don't have time to re-learn it right now."

After the video, there are a series of questions to check comprehension.  This is Hannah's screen, showing her score on the 4th grade place value section.  Also, as the parent teacher, I have my own sign in, where I can access reports showing my students' progress.  CTCMath sends me weekly emails with reports, as well.  I can also print certificates for them as they reach various milestones.  In addition to diagnostic testing and lessons, there are also speed drills you can assign to help your students achieve or retain mastery in the basic operations.

In summary, CTCMath is a great online math program which is highly adjustable to the needs of your particular students, and easy to administrate.  I have decided to put off purchasing the math books I was going to buy and stick with CTCMath this school year instead.

You can connect with CTCMath on Facebook, Twitter, Periscope, Pinterest, and YouTube.

Eighty Crew families reviewed CTCMath.  To read what the others have to say, please click the box below:




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