I sincerely want to thank everyone who entered and left comments for my first felt giveaway.  I am so excited about the response that this feature is definitely here to stay at Educational Toy Factory.  I am already thinking about next month’s prize.

Now, on to the winner!  I am very happy to announce the winner of this first felt giveaway contest is… Patti C, aka comment 43.  I used the random integer generator at Random.org to randomly pick a number from 1 through 45 and it came back with number 43.

Congratulations to Patti and thank you again to all who entered!  I look forward to next months giveaway!

Yesterday’s Wordless Wednesday was a picture from last week while we were at Disney World.

I did a lot of research on how to save a little money while at Disney at MouseSavers.com.  This picture was taken just after utilizing one of their shopping tips.

The kids, of course, wanted souvenirs from the trip.  I read at Mouse Savers about a store in Downtown Disney called Mickey’s Mart.  all of the items in this store are $10 or less.  So, we were able to let the kids pick out any item they wanted from the store and didn’t have to worry about breaking the bank.

It all worked out really well, but it does seem like Disney does not really want you to find the store.  It was tucked into a corner and didn’t even have a sign out front.  It took a while to find, but it was definitely worth the hunt.

Here is today’s Thursday Thinker:

You have 5 beans and four bowls.  Put an odd number of beans into each bowl.

There is more than one answer, so be sure to leave a comment explaining how you solved this problem!

I want to thank everyone who entered this contest!!  A winner has been picked.  Because of the great response I will definiately be running another contest next month, with an even bigger prize!

I am excited to announce my first Story Time Felt giveaway!  Once a month I will chose one item to be given to one lucky person.  This will be a super easy contest to enter.  All you have to do is leave a comment below and I will randomly choose a winner.

This adorable Wheels on the Bus set will be the first item I will be giving away.  This is a felt puzzle that your child can build while singing this fun song.  “The Wheels on the Bus” is a fun, rhyming song that will enhance your child’s early literacy skills.

One of the unique things about the Story Time Felts products is that they are washable.  This means that this can also become a tub toy.  Wet the pieces and stick them to the wall of the tub.  Also, all Story Time Felts products are Made in the USA.

Enter today by leaving a comment and a valid e-mail so that I can contact you if you win! 
I will announce the winner on Friday, February 29th so be sure to enter before then.

I really enjoy Thursday Thinkers like the one I shared with you yesterday.  Theses types of problem really help to develop critical thinking skills.

So, how many marbles do you need to look at to correctly label the containers?  Well, the answer to this is only one.

Here is the reasoning.  The problem states that each container is mislabeled, they all start out incorrect.  So, if you take one marble out of the container that has the label “Red and Blue” you will have your answers.

If you take a red marble out of the one labeled “Red and Blue” you know that the correct label should be “Red.”  The two remaining labels are “Blue” and “Red and Blue.”  since you can not put the “Blue” label back on the bottle that originally had that label, it must be “Red and Blue.”  The remaining “Blue” label goes on the container that originally had the “Red.”

For those of you wher are visual learners, here is a picture for you:

Use the same reasoning if you take a blue marble out of the container labeles “Red and Blue.”

Yesterday’s Wordless Wednesday is a picture of my daughter, Hannah at Easter when she was 4 years old.  I’m not quite sure what she is doing in the picture, but that is not the reason that I decided to share it.

The reason that I shared that picture is because of the dress and hat she is wearing.  It is a set that my mother made for me to when I was about her age.  She crocheted my sister and me matching outfits.  I love that my mom saved things like this so that I can share them with my daughter. 

My mom also save my most favorite dress from when I was a little girl.  It reminded me of Laura Ingalls and that was why I love it so much.  I was able to give that dress to Hannah and she has worn it almost as much as I did.  She always says that when she wears it she feels like she’s back in olden days.  Just like I felt when I was a little girl. 

You have three containers which are holding marbles. One has all red marbles, one has all blue marbles and the third has an equal number of red and blue marbles. The labels on the containers have intentionally been switched so that each container is now marked incorrectly.

Your job is to put the correct label on the correct container without peeking.  Select a container and take out one marble. Can you now correctly label all of the containers? If not, select another marble from any container. What is the fewest number of marbles you need to inspect in order to correctly label each container?

Rain on the green grass,
And rain on the tree,
And rain on the house-top.
But not upon me!

Anon

Taken from Read me first- poems for younger readers for every day of the year.

We maybe drowning in picture books or chapter books; but don’t overlook poetry.

Poetry comes in so many different styles.  It really stirs the imagination. My two love to draw or play with playdoh whilst I’m reading some poetry.  We have tried to paint but I had to keep stopping to change paper on the easel so that didn’t work out for us. For the poem above the preschooler tried to draw what he heard me saying. He included a big umbrella covering himself and added his little brother under it. When it rains I try and repeat the poem as a fill in the blank.

Rain on the green_________ and rain on the _______________. Sometimes he adds the poem word. Sometimes he makes up something silly or that fits. I don’t really mind. It’s a bit of fun but getting him to think about words and the seasons. It adds to the “It’s raining it’s pouring the ____ man is snoring” ditty which was the only one I knew.

Of course did doesn’t have to rhyme but these are our favourite type of poems at the moment. Along with poems that have pictures with them. Reasons to try poems

• They can be short
• You can learn them, sing them and recite them to each other.
• Improves  vocabulary, language and listening skills
• Fuels the imagination
• Nursery rhymes are easy to learn
• Makes the children laugh
• Introduces humour and nonsense to children that are just discovering comedy timing.

Try this one
Your legs know how to walk
Your eyes know how to cry
Your mouth knows how to talk
Your heart knows how to fly
By Stephen Bowkett.

Thank you to Melitsa Avila of Play-Activities for these ideas on how to expose our young children to the wonderful world of poetry.