We are a Baby Einstein family and I ain’t too proud to say it. We love all things Baby E around our house. Bean’s favorite books right now are two oversized toddler books about colors and nursery rhymes (Pretty Poems and Wonderful Words and Who Lives in the Pond). Our first diaper bag (which was stolen) (jerks) was a Baby Einstein bag. We listen to Baby Einstein CD‘s in the car. We watch Baby Einstein DVD‘s at home.
Baby Einstein should set up their headquarters in my house. It’d save me a lot of time and money.
A couple weeks ago I saw a commercial on TV for a new Baby E product and so, naturally, I Google’d and Twittered and Facebook’d until I got more information on it. The new products are called Discovery Kits and when I finally got my grubby paws on one (a great Christmas present idea, by the way…), there were a LOT of choices to make! There are nine different kits available now and more to come!
The one we ended up getting was the World of Colors kit.
It came with a DVD, a CD, and a book that all teach about colors through puppets, shapes, and even real, famous artwork.
Bean loves the DVD. He likes the puppets and his favorite is the blue scene. He says, “Booo! Booo!” We got the DVD at such a good time, too, because Bean’s learning colors at school right now so they support what he’s learning in real life.
Bean’s favorite part of the Discovery Kit though is the little book that came with it. It is the perfect size for him and he carries it everywhere.
He “reads” it out loud and occasionally I can hear him naming a color – which makes the teacher in me so proud!
HE CAN BE TAUGHT!
(name that movie)
The kind folks at Baby Einstein were going to sponsor a lovely giveaway the week that my new website launched a couple months ago, but I never got my act together and we didn’t get it together in time. So, I asked if they’d be interested in doing a Baby Einstein Discovery Kit giveaway instead since it has become my gift du jour this Christmas for anyone with small children. And – yay! – they agreed!
So, here’s the deal: To enter to win a Baby Einstein Discovery Kit, leave a comment telling me what kind of educational toys are popular in your house. If you post a link to this blog post from your Facebook account, enter to win again! If you Twitter about the giveaway with a link to the post (be sure to @ me so I see your tweet), enter to win again! The giveaway will close on Sunday, Dec. 5, and a winner will be announced on Monday, Dec. 6.
Whether or not you win, be sure to check out the Discovery Kits in stores everywhere. They’ll make you feel good about what your kids are reading and watching and this time of year they make great gifts or stocking stuffers for the wee ones in your life.
This is not a paid advertisement, yo.
1) Amanda E.: Books, books, books! My daughter can't seem to get enough books. She really loves Dr. Seuss, especially Green Eggs & Ham. I'm certainly not complaining though--I think books are wonderful too! (12.02.2010 09:23pm)
2) Jenn: Our favorite educational toy for the under 2 set is blocks, for the over 2 set, we have a set of dice with letters on them. We toss them out, sound them out, write words, and sentences. (12.02.2010 09:24pm)
3) Crystal hale: Leap frog games! (12.02.2010 09:29pm)
4) Alyssa: Ooohh I saw this on a commercial and wanted to check these out. I read books, lots and lots and lots of books. We also go to story time at the library. Bugs favorite educational toy right now is the Leapfrog fridge magnetic things. He knows all his letters from putting them in and out. (12.02.2010 09:30pm)
5) Jenn: movie: that would be Aladdin of course! (12.02.2010 09:31pm)
6) Sara @ embrylovescookies: Name that movie - Aladdin! (12.02.2010 09:32pm)
7) Lori @ I Can Grow People: We really love the Baby Cortex Flash Cards app for iPhone. Aaron and I both have it on our phones and Porter loves it. He actually will grab my phone out of my purse and bring it to me so we can play. It covers a variety of info: shapes, colors, letters, numbers, people, animals and more. And you can just focus on one group, like colors, our you can set it to combine a variety of items. He has really gained a lot from it. (12.02.2010 09:33pm)
8) Katrina: We have a lot of books, and blocks and the shape-o toy from tupperware... love it! (12.02.2010 09:34pm)
9) KT: My 8 month old has JUST gotten to the point where she will sit in my lap and let me read to her. We have a Noah's Ark book where the faces of the animals are raised plastic pieces and she LOVES to feel them when I read the page about them boarding the Ark! Reading is such a wonderful activity to do with your child, regardless of their age! (12.02.2010 09:35pm)
10) Sara: Yeah Aladdin! We have some great books - right now baby's favorite is "That's not my lion," it's a touchy-feely book that teaches textures like "rough" and "shiny". Loves it. (12.02.2010 09:39pm)
11) Staci: I've just started using flash cards and he's doing great so far. We also love beginner books. (12.02.2010 09:45pm)
12) JenniferLO: At school my K and 1st boys LOVE pattern blocks! We seriously cannot get enough! (12.02.2010 09:45pm)
13) Abby @ They Lend Me Their Hearts: A wonderful friend of mine introduced me to the Leap Frog dvd Letter Factory... it does a fantastic job at helping kids learn the sounds of the letters! (12.02.2010 09:48pm)
14) Holly: We love books and Baby Einstein dvds at our house!! (12.02.2010 09:50pm)
15) Abby @ They Lend Me Their Hearts: Tweeted the giveaway! (12.02.2010 09:50pm)
16) Elisabeth: Right now, Rowan really likes looking at pictures of animals. He will go to his books, pull out the animal ones and sit and look at the pictures while I explain what the animal is and what sounds it makes. (12.02.2010 09:50pm)
17) Leslie: Right now, our favorite educational toy is shape sorters. Lil' man loves them! WE also love leap frog products, particularly the fridge DJ. Thanks for the giveaway! (12.02.2010 09:52pm)
18) Abby @ They Lend Me Their Hearts: Facebooked and linked the giveaway too! (12.02.2010 09:52pm)
19) Betty: Baby E videos right now! (yes, my child is not even 3 months old and watches tv...). And I think that movie is Aladdin. (12.02.2010 09:58pm)
20) Jayme Soller: We are really liking the MobiGo right now. My son is 2 years old and he loves it!! For his first birthday his grandma bought him a toy computer, that is still a big hit ( I can't remember the brand ) It has helped him learn his ABC's and reconize them and learn the sounds. I have a niece and I think this would be the perfect gift for her to grow with!! Happy Birthday!!!! (12.02.2010 10:01pm)
21) Amy: Our favourite educational toys are probably DK Learning Ladder items. We have a few Baby E bath books, they are great for the bathtub but Will like us to read him longer stories before bed. (12.02.2010 10:02pm)
22) Cindy In Owensboro, KY: We read books and go to "Wee Read" at the library. I also have the Baby Einstein videos and the Leap Frog Videos. For her 2nd birthday I got her the Leap Frog Lap Top which is very educational too. Lately she has been watching some Elmo videos that teach letters, numbers, etc. too. (12.02.2010 10:04pm)
23) Lauren: Lots of books. my 2 year old LOVES books. And flash cards - animal/letters and memory card games. it's so fun to see them learn and want to play the games and read the books on their own! (12.02.2010 10:06pm)
24) Tia D: If I were to win this kit it would be for my goddaughter - who is 17 months and learning so much everyday. I watch her a couple times a week and her favorite things to play with are colorful blocks - which in addition to handing me blocks as I ask for colors, she sorts them into different containers, stacks them and helps her baby dolls sort them too. She's really interested in songs too - so I have begun singing songs that teach body parts. "Head - SHolders knees and toes... etc.". She's totally at the age when non-toys are the best toys she could ever ask for. I think she'd really love a Baby Einstein kit, as the videos she has watched make her dance and sing, clap and learn new words. (12.02.2010 10:07pm)
25) Natalie: My son loves books. He's 10 months old and has just taken such an interest in them. Even "reading" to himself. (12.02.2010 10:12pm)
26) ESP: We love the public library! We also have some hand-me-down Veggie Tales. However, I love that my daughter seems to share in my love of the library! (12.02.2010 10:13pm)
27) Sarah Smith: We just bought some "my first words: touch and feel cards." My 1 yr. old's favorite is the sticky jelly card! (12.02.2010 10:18pm)
28) Rachel S.: We have a 1 year old and though 9 months ago I would have said we never watch TV... we do. Certainly we read alot, and play with tub toy animals and sounds whilst getting clean, but TV, DVD's and movies are a lot more prevalent than I'd like to admit. (12.02.2010 10:23pm)
29) Kate: Oh man, we are definitely a book family here! Bridget has books for her diaper bag, books in the loft, in her room, in our room, downstairs, and even a Baby Einstein book for the bathtub called "Water, Water Everywhere" that we HAVE to read every night. (12.02.2010 10:26pm)
30) JenDaniels: Books, books, books. Its so funny how they get on 3 or 4 for a while and want to read nothing but those and then totally change it up. I am constantly impressed with the words that Joe knows because of repeated reading of some of those books! (12.02.2010 10:28pm)
31) Jen C: Loads of books. fuzzy books, books that squeak, and books that are made for chewing. Even some books that were mine as a kid. I think i have one from when my mom was little, but I don't think we'll be letting the kiddo chew on that one. (12.02.2010 10:35pm)
32) Michelle de Baugy: I just baught my nephew BI DVDs for Christmas.... So glad to hear they are great and so loved :) (12.02.2010 10:40pm)
33) Katie: Our favorite educational thing right now is books! We read every night, and several times a day. What a great idea these Discovery Kits are!! I love them! (12.02.2010 10:40pm)
34) Meredith C.: A bitty baby. she has learned all the babies body parts and tries to take care of her baby like mommy takes care of her brother. (12.02.2010 10:47pm)
35) Sarah in CT: We have some Brainquest flashcard with trivia sort of questions and puzzles on them, and they have been awesome to throw in a bag or leave in the car for times when we need a little distraction (waiting for a table at a restaurant, for instance.) They make them for all grade levels, starting with Pre-K. They would make a really great stocking stuffer or small gift! (12.02.2010 10:52pm)
36) Leah: I'm with you, I love baby Einstein and can't wait to use them with my baby girl! (12.02.2010 10:58pm)
37) KatieO: Books, books and more books. And once my 18 mo old nephew get a book in his hands, he wants it read over and over and over and OVER again. (12.02.2010 11:16pm)
38) Kathy Sanderson: My daughter is just barely over 1. She absolutely loves books. She will spend an hour just bringing me book after book (we don't always get through the whole thing, and she doesn't necessarily notice the story yet, but I love her love for them). (12.02.2010 11:19pm)
39) Bhuvana: Lots and lots of books too! My munchkin's favorites are Dr Seuss and Sandra Boynton. I haven't tried any of the Baby Einstein stuff with her but I bet she'd love it! (12.02.2010 11:20pm)
40) Will's Mama: Books (of course) especially Usborne phonics ones or anything Suess as my little guys is obsessed with rhyming. Also just got him the TAG reading system from Leapfrog and it is amazing. (12.02.2010 11:37pm)
41) andrea: My daughter, Ryan, is 13 months old and loves books. Her favorite right now is her animal book, she makes the lion and snake sounds, it's so cute! AJ, 3 and a half, loves his letters and math videos. He knows all his letters and their sounds, he counts to 20 and can also count by 2's, 5's and 10's not bad for a 3 year old!We are working on words now. I have one Baby Einstein video but it's one of my faves it's the Baby Signs video I've taught both of my kids sign from the beginning and the video is great and really keeps them interested and learning. (12.02.2010 11:50pm)
42) Courtney H: My daughters love books and flashcards! Oh, I can't forget about their Leapfrog toys, those are awesome. (12.02.2010 11:55pm)
43) laurenbtrain: my little girl is 3 months, however we are starting the baby einstein DVD's early! i cant wait to start the sign language one with her - though we will wait a few more months on that one!! (12.03.2010 12:01am)
44) Sarah: I don't have have a child to be educational with but I'm guessing that my coworker's 1 y/o would love this! (12.03.2010 12:12am)
45) HollyT: My 19 month old loves books, books and more books! LeapFrog toys are also very popular! (12.03.2010 12:23am)
46) Kristin: My son LOVES books - we read his current favorites at least 20 times a day (I admit I sometimes hide one or two for a couple days to give myself a break). He also loves Baby Einstein videos, which we recently discovered. (12.03.2010 12:47am)
47) Kara: Books, books, and more books! He loves books so much that I let him take one to bed with him every night! (12.03.2010 05:44am)
48) Randi Lundgren: Ryan can't get enough books. It was one of his first words. There are times when he won't go to bed without a book in his hand. We read one, and he jumps down off my lap, runs over to get another one saying,"Book, Book, Book," the whole way. He is 18 months old, and not yet ready to not tear the pages of a paper book, but he will sit and read his board books for quite a while. His favorite book is a Baby E book called What's bigger or smaller than me? (12.03.2010 06:18am)
49) jessica: My little one is only 4 months but I have found also tha tBaby Einstein is the way to go! (12.03.2010 06:47am)
50) Heather in NY: We love books! Zack could sit and look at books for hours! And flash cards. He loves to look at flash cards. We've been working on animals, and I think Zack knows the names of more animals that I do now! (12.03.2010 06:54am)
51) Kate B: We just bought babygirl her first Baby Eintstein DVD for Christmas! Don't tell her - we are so excited. She is 6 months, so reading is her favorite educational activity. That' and signing the alphabet. She just watches for now, but always learning! (12.03.2010 06:58am)
52) Emily B: My daughter loves the Leap Frog DVD "The Letter Factory" She is not quite 2 and she knows ALOT of her letter sounds! (12.03.2010 08:03am)
53) Leticia: A lot of books! (12.03.2010 08:08am)
54) Amy: Books are our favorite! (12.03.2010 08:12am)
55) Katy: We love to "play school" at our house...we usually practice writing letters with our older daughter and practice drawing shapes with our younger daughter...baby einstein is definitely something that is included in our video library (12.03.2010 08:22am)
56) LindsayL.: Aladdin!! Should I call you Al, or maybe just Din, or how about Laddi? Lol. We love Baby Einstein and Leap Frog :) (12.03.2010 08:26am)
57) Amy S.: We use books and we have a lot of them. I wanted to try and get my son excited about learning through reading as I always have and still do. (12.03.2010 08:27am)
58) Diana: Well Jellybean isn't here yet but we already have a TON of books for him and I read to him in both Polish and English. I also registered for a bunch of baby einstein and leapfrog stuff. We're big on learning here! (12.03.2010 08:36am)
59) Casey: Eli (6 months) and I LOVE books! He is starting to figure out that he can turn the pages when Mommy reads, which is so cool! We haven't really ventured into Baby Einstein yet... this would such a great way to get started! (12.03.2010 08:49am)
60) joanna: we're big fans of the leapfrog dvds (12.03.2010 08:50am)
61) Mari H: Leap frog alphabet is the hit over here! (12.03.2010 09:01am)
62) Colleen: My grandson loves books, books books. (12.03.2010 09:06am)
63) Kristen S.: My first child is due in March, so I can't comment on what kind of educational toys are popular in our house, but I will say that I registered for some Baby Einstein toys and I would LOVE to have the Discovery Kit!! (12.03.2010 09:34am)
64) El: Books and blocks and just about anything else he can get his hands on! My son loves trying to figure out how things work. (12.03.2010 09:40am)
65) Summer: Sesame Street flash cards. We are learning about Shapes and Colors! (12.03.2010 09:40am)
66) Jill: Books....my son would bring me books all day long to read to him. (12.03.2010 09:41am)
67) Robin: My 5-year-old daughter's favorite learning tool is Melissa and Doug's travel matching game. She loves playing with it. And my 3-year-old son is learning his colors and animals with it as well. It is an all-around big hit in our house! (12.03.2010 09:41am)
68) Nicole: I'd say most, if not all, toys and items for children are educational. Yes, some better than others, but all beneficial. Being trained in early childhood education, I could find some correlation in anything placed in front of me. If it is not teaching them a "book skill," it is teaching gross motor, fine motor, imagination, creativity, ect. So, anything in my house could qualify. We don't have favorites...just play and discover something new. ..but if you want to know my son's toy of choice at this moment, it is a train. (12.03.2010 10:03am)
69) Kristin: Our little one is still under one -- so right now she's loving books especially lift the flap books. (12.03.2010 10:20am)
70) regina: My kids love BOOKS. All kinds of books. My older boys LOVE DK explore & learn books; while my little guy loves books about animals and trucks. The other hugely popular learning toys at my house are blocks- anything from legos/duplos, lincoln logs, unit blocks & magnetix. My kids can be found reading books, playing with blocks or the greatest of all educational venues--- outside playing! (12.03.2010 10:21am)
71) Jennifer D.: The shape sorter toys and books...my daughter has learned so much through reading books!! (12.03.2010 10:27am)
72) Amanda: Aladin ! I think it's the genie telling Aladin "He can be taught!" (12.03.2010 10:36am)
73) Lindsay: Books! Lots and lots of books! (12.03.2010 11:05am)
74) Katie: Books are a huge hit right now!!!! (12.03.2010 11:25am)
75) Jessica D.: Each of my kids have a book shelf full of books. They also both enjoy their tag readers. We have alot of the mellisa and doug puzzles and shapes sorters. My daughter have a one that is a puzzle, once you put it together its shoes, you then lace the shoes and practice learning to tie them! My son is also working on his colors and number so far he knows the colors blue and green and the number 2, all thanks to the his color coded shape sorter! (12.03.2010 11:41am)
76) Casper: None as of it.... still got a few more months before we have our little one. But I like Baby E. (12.03.2010 11:48am)
77) Heather ben: Books, flash cards are great. We also also did your baby can read but weren't super pushy about it. Kate just liked watched the videos and they are educational. I do think they helped bc at 21 months she will say the word before the picture of it appears. (12.03.2010 11:59am)
78) Kate: You'd have to ask me in a few months; my first little one (a girl!) is due on Jan.3. But I'd be happy to have something so highly recommended on hand when she's ready for it :) (12.03.2010 12:25pm)
79) Katie: We'll give anything a try! We love books, including Baby Einstein, blocks, Leap Frog toys...we love it all! (12.03.2010 12:26pm)
80) Suzanne B: Well, I have no children of my own but I do have 2 nephews, 3 nieces and another (unknown) on the way...I'm betting it's a girl. Anyway, I'm entering for my newest nephew because I want him to be the smartest kid on the block. (12.03.2010 12:31pm)
81) jenny: we LOVE baby einstein too! we love the sign language dvd's! i swear that is why my child is so advanced in her language skills! (12.03.2010 12:42pm)
82) Morgan: We are currently waiting on baby #1. However, I am a huge fan of everything Baby Einstein. Especially the books! (12.03.2010 12:44pm)
83) Jennifer: Our fav is a wooden toolset by Mellisa and doug. Our son sorts the "nuts and bolts" and the flat pieces taht are different lengths and colors. He is a sorting fool :) (12.03.2010 12:52pm)
84) Amber: My boy is only a month old.. so his education includes tummy time and eating! I am looking forward to the baby sign language DVD we have once he gets a little bit older! (12.03.2010 01:09pm)
85) Heather: We have used the Leap Frog kits, but would love to branch out! :) (12.03.2010 02:01pm)
86) Megan @ Red Dirt and Crazy: WE LOVE BABY EINSTEIN!! Q-Tip learned tons of sign language from them and words. We got the Numbers Nursery awhile back and she can name most of her numbers now too. They are great! I saw a commercial for the Discovery Kit the other day but haven't seen or heard anything else!! Maybe we'll win one!! :-) Megan P.S. I'm linking to Facebook now!! (12.03.2010 02:35pm)
87) Leslie VanNoy: Right now we have Your Baby Can Read. I wrote my English paper on this last month and after doing research I cant say I am to impressed. Ryder turns 1 in 5 days and has his 1st Birthday tomorrow so I am hoping we will get some new educational tools - or winning this would be Great too! Thank you for the opportunity! (12.03.2010 03:24pm)
88) Karin Shortino: We have a 2 year old and 7 months old who could really benefit from winning this!Thanks :) (12.03.2010 03:35pm)
89) Leslie: I don't know what really counts as an educational toy, but my son loves pop up books right now. (12.03.2010 05:02pm)
90) Brooke: Baby E videos all the way for our little 6 month guy! (12.03.2010 05:39pm)
91) Kate: I don't have kids of my own (yet) but at the nursery I work in we have LOTS of Baby Einstein videos! The kids especially love the ones about animals. I would love this kit to give my friend for Christmas for her son! (12.03.2010 06:32pm)
92) Nigeria Hunter (my actual name): Anything leap frog! (12.03.2010 07:11pm)
93) Jeanette: I recently bought the Your Baby Can Read DVD program for mybaby. She loves watching the DVDs and it taught her to put her hands up and wave! I'm excited to see what else she's going to learn from it! (12.03.2010 08:23pm)
94) Michelle B: ALADDIN! (12.03.2010 08:47pm)
95) Sarah: We don't have babies in our house yet so we don't have any educational toys. Does my Kindle count? :) (12.04.2010 02:14am)
96) Ana: My favourite educational toys are the ones related to puzzles like LEGO or 3d puzzles. I love them! (12.04.2010 09:02am)
97) Kathie: Books are a big hit in our house. We spend hours every day reading books galore! (12.04.2010 11:30am)
98) Becca: My little one loooves the ABC-style activity table now, and I'm stockpiling Leapfrog books when I see them at the Goodwill for when he's older -- but we'd love to get on the Baby Einstein bandwagon, too! (12.04.2010 04:15pm)
99) Ashley: My nephews love trains, so he's got train flash cards with colors! He can even name every single Thomas Train out there! I would love for him to get to use this! (12.04.2010 05:11pm)
100) Kristin: We love Baby Einstein toys right now! They really do a good job with baby toys - nothing else gets her attention! (12.04.2010 08:06pm)
101) Mary: Don't have any yet, but with two new grandsons born this fall (3 weeks apart), this would be great to start our collection. (12.04.2010 08:33pm)
102) Laci: My 14 month old has interested in puzzles lately. We have some wooden animal puzzles and a couple of the cube puzzles that he has to fit the shape through. And he's always okay to listen to a book, especially if it rhymes! (12.04.2010 09:02pm)
103) alison: leap frog and lots of books (12.05.2010 04:40pm)
104) tara: I have a 12 week old little boy and I can't wait to introduce these to him. Although Dad is worried he will lose tv!!! (12.05.2010 07:31pm)
105) Stacey: Books!' (12.05.2010 07:46pm)