Mama Mio launches the Pregnancy Fit Skin Test, and Congratulations! Gift Set giveaway!

Mama Mio launches the Pregnancy Fit Skin Test, and Congratulations! Gift Set giveaway!

Vinci Genius Learning Tablet Review

Hey Everyone,

I have been meaning to write this but my extremely busy schedule has held me back in doing so. So we purchased our three year old the Vinci Genius Learning Tablet. You may have seen them advertised on PBS. I did not want to get my daughter a tablet but I wanted to get her something she could do on her own while I was reading on my kindle or typing up a paper for school, so I researched like I do everything and decided to go with the $215.00 Vinci Tablet and I guess I did not research thoroughly enough, with everything that was going on in my life because I made huge mistakes that I hope I can stop the rest of you from making. I was under the SICK impression that the $215.00 Tablet included the 3 Levels of learning curriculum (games that they offer) but I was wrong I had to purchase the three levels for an additional $215.00. Okay so after that disappointment and hit to my wallet I figured it would all be fine from there on. Boy was I wrong!

Now I purchased the Vinci Tablet for my three year old daughter because I believed it was the safest option of tablets out there. While I have some discrepancies with their curriculum, as I was playing a game with my daughter and they ask which amount was there, we counted them up, they counted them up and the correct answer was not displayed to be chosen as the correct answer. But other than that, overall their curriculum is excellent. I am not sure if the problem with the curriculum is because of my main problem with this tablet.

My main problem is the overall construction of the Vinci. My daughter only had the tablet a day or two, it did not fall, however she did shake it. As I would think that a tablet meant for children 18 months and up would be able to be shaken and dropped anyway. However, the back of the tablet had opened and small screws fell out of it. This happened on a few occasions after they fell out I would always take it away and snap the back, back on and make sure it wouldn't open easily. I believe this is a danger to children, small screws coming out of the product is definitely a danger to children 18 months old or so.

My point is, that I along with other parents do not have to buy this product, I purchased it because I was under the impression that it was safer for children than the Ipad, Kindle, Nook, etc. I have a Kindle Fire and I actually think that it may be safer than the Vinci tablet since I have had it for over two years and it has never opened and screws have never fallen out. For the price I payed for this product I definitely expected higher quality and an overall very unhappy. I do not recommend this product to anyone! It is to much aggravation. I have recently emailed the company and am awaiting a reply. I will update if and when I hear from them.

Update:
They replied back to me right away, saying I can return the tablet for exchange/repair. Blah! It was less than a year, sh*t  we has it less than a week before it broke, yet was still functioning. Ugh, I am so disgusted with this company and this product, it freezes all the time and I want to throw it across the room at times, I am not sure if it does that because the back came off or because it is a piece of crap. I  just want to fixed and functional. I am  at my wits end.

Where have we been?

Wow, it has been a long time since I have last posted. It has been such a crazy time. In the end of October we were hit by hurricane...or tropical storm Sandy. We were actually affected, and have been very busy trying to get back on track. It has been very hard overall, but we are luckier then many people who were affected.

If you notice the shop addition on the page, it is a new addition, I have some other things on there or that will be on there for a short while. I will be concentrating on education based tools. I created dry erase print and handwriting cards for my daughter and I wanted to share with those who have been searching for this all over the web. There are no handwriting dry erase flash cards like this for sale anywhere. I looked for such a long time. I am selling them for around twenty dollars since it uses both color and black ink as well as other materials. I used color lines to write the letters on to help reinforce the proportion of the letters and proper formation. The flashcard sets each include 26 uppercase and on the back lowercase. They include numbers 0-9, with a shape(s) on the back regarding the number on the front. If you are interested please check it out. If you purchase the cards you will see that I put a lot of thought and work into the cards, I am not sure if the images portray that. However, here are some images I took of them.

There will be more editions to the page in the next few months or so. I hope to be posting more often, however there is so much on my plate at the moment, if I have the time I will post. You can always stay in touch with us by liking us on facebook.

Slime!

Green slime without Chemicals! Okay so I saw this on Sid the Science Kid, it looked super fun and it was!

What you need:
a container or bowl
water
corn starch
green paint/ food coloring

I found it easier if you mix the green food coloring or paint with water before you mix it with the corn starch, we did this twice so the first time we used water and coloring separately but the second time we mixed it first.

Now on Sid the Science Kid they said that it should be equal parts corn starch and water.
My tip is add the water to the corn starch slowly, use your hands to mix this. It can be quiet messy though.

We measured out a cup of Corn Starch, my daughter loves to pour!

Then we measured out a cup of water, and added that (again I would add the water slowly and work it in with your hands so you know when you get the right texture, you don't want it too liquid or too solid.

Then we added the food coloring.... and started mixing it with our hands.

You should be able to make it into a ball with your hands and then when you make your palm flat the ball should start melting in your hand and oozing down your fingers!

We poured the slime into the measuring cup, and back into the container as well as play with the slime with our hands!

Caution! Do NOT pour the slime down your drain, when you are ready to dispose of it throw it in the trash! It will ruin your pipes if you pour it down the drain.

Monsters!

A fun activity we have done in October is make a Monster Family.

We saw this activity in the Highlights High Five October Issue and had to try it!

What you need:

Cardboard tube (from toilet paper, and paper towels)

Paint

Glue

Wiggly Eyes

Markers

Scissors 

First I cut the cardboard tubes into various sizes for the family.

Then we painted each of the pieces, we had fun with this we made them all different colors.

Once all the paint dried, (we waited to another day) we pressed down the top of the tubes to make monster horns.

Then we attached the wiggly eyes, we had gotten adhesive wiggly eyes for a $1.00 at target so we didn't need glue, we just stuck on the eyes.

Then we used markers to make mouths, you can also take ribbon and put them in little bows on the monsters horns, and use cotton balls to make fur, you can have a lot of fun with it, if you use your imagination.

Roasted Pumpkin Seeds

In my previous post about Jack-O-Lanterns, when we cleaned out our pumpkins we put aside all the seeds and planned on roasting them for a yummy snack.

So we first, collected all the seeds and placed them into a colander, then we rinsed them under cool water, trying to eliminate any pulp from the pumpkin.

Then we preheated the oven to 325...We dried the seeds using paper towels, put a small amount of oil onto a pan and placed the seeds in a single layer onto the sheet. We stirred them up so they would each get some oil onto them. Then we simply dressed them with salt although you could use any spice you like, for example cinnamon and sugar!

Then we placed them in the oven for 10-15 minutes, stirring them up about 5 minutes in.

They came out really good!

Jack-O-Lanterns

Yesterday we took our pumpkins we got from the farm and made little Jack-O-Lanterns!

What you will need:
Newspapers / table covering,
Knifes,
Spoons,
a Marker, and
Glow Sticks


What to do:
First we covered our kitchen table with newspapers in order to keep everything as neat a possible.
Then I cut the top off the pumpkin.
Then I let my daughter spoon out all the insides, we collected the seeds so we can roast them later.
Then once we took out all the insides we rinsed and dried the pumpkin.
Then we drew faces on the pumpkin, if your child isn't great at making triangles and jack-o-lantern mouths you can make them in dotted lines an have your child trace them on the pumpkin.
Then I cut out the shapes of the pumpkins face. (of course you can get creative as you want and make different pictures in your pumpkin, this was our first time ever making jack-o-lanterns)
Then we placed in some glow sticks and covered them up with the top of the pumpkin we had cut off. They are so spooky!