Disclosure / Disclaimer: I received these products, free of charge, from Circuit Mania, Skoob, Slinky, Page Two Publishing, and The Modern Gourmet, for review purposes on this blog. No other compensation, monetary or in kind, has been received or implied for this post. Nor was I told how to post about them.
BUT when you think about, it's the ultimate boredom and stress reliever. Not only does it keep your hands BUSY, you can relieve stress, AND this fun stocking stuffer has been around since the 1940s! It's a multi-generational toy, that never goes out of style!
Made up of a compressed helical spring, the original metal slinky, is STEM at it's most basic! Not only do kids learn what springs can DO, they learn about Hooke's law (force), oscillation, equilibrium, and the effects of gravitation, not to mention the suspension of mass. Didn't know a fun toy like Slinky could do all THAT did you? LOL, it CAN! And it can go anywhere with you! See? It really is the ultimate fun STEM toy!
Did you get all your gifts on Black Friday?
Yeah, I know, that was FUNNY, right?
Of course you didn't, because you have HARD to buy for people on your list, like kids, tweens, and teens, right? LOL
Today I have some items to share with you that might be a bit out of the box, but are pretty cool, and might just make your 'coolness' factor go up a bit too!
For younger kids:
I've got 3 options, that are ALL STEM related, so they're educational AND Fun!
The ubiquitous Slinky seems like a duh gift.
BUT when you think about, it's the ultimate boredom and stress reliever. Not only does it keep your hands BUSY, you can relieve stress, AND this fun stocking stuffer has been around since the 1940s! It's a multi-generational toy, that never goes out of style!
Made up of a compressed helical spring, the original metal slinky, is STEM at it's most basic! Not only do kids learn what springs can DO, they learn about Hooke's law (force), oscillation, equilibrium, and the effects of gravitation, not to mention the suspension of mass. Didn't know a fun toy like Slinky could do all THAT did you? LOL, it CAN! And it can go anywhere with you! See? It really is the ultimate fun STEM toy!
Upgrading from Slinky, we have the kit that gives kids fun with conductivity, LED lights and Power- Circuit Mania! With these fun kits, in 5 different designs (including an unicorn!), and inexpensively priced, they're a easy way for kids to learn all about circuitry, right at home, with everything included in the box! No having to buy missing pieces, it's open and go! All key components are included: conductive tape, LED light, colorful construction paper, template and cell battery. Designed for STEAM learning, kids, ages 5 and up, will be engaged and their creativity will flow with this easy to use kit. Miss Grace was able to put it together in about 5 minutes, even with cutting out the seahorse! The only issue we had was keeping the battery under the paper and paperclip (which kept sliding off the battery. But she had fun turning it off and on, and the light changing colors was a fun surprise! She's going to use this in a future science project, so the fun will keep on! younger kids may need some assistance with the instructions, but these are a fun gift!
Ara the Star Engineer by Komal Singh, and fellow Google coworkers
Ara is a young girl who loves BIG numbers. She wants to count all the stars in the sky… but how? This is an upbeat adventure of Ara and her sidekick droid, DeeDee (“Beep!”). They use smarts and grit to solve a BIG problem and discover an amazing algorithm! A quest that takes them through a whirlwind of intriguing locations at Innovation Plex -- Data Centre, Ideas Lab, Coding Pods, and X-Space. Along the way, they encounter real-life women tech trailblazers of diverse backgrounds, including a Tenacious Troubleshooter, an Intrepid Innovator, a Code Commander, and a Prolific Problem Solver. They tinker-and-tailor, build-and-fail, launch-and-iterate, and in the end discover an amazing algorithm of success -- coding, courage, creativity, and collaboration.
This FUN book is meant to inspire girls and it DOES! Even Miss Grace, at 11, was entranced by the book and it took it off to a corner to read through it as soon as it came in, "Wait, it's about a GIRL engineer, oh cool, let me see!" Girls learn there are different types of engineers and coders, but they all work together, each building a different piece, to solve puzzles and bring us unique innovations. There are great hands on activities to download, to give kids more interaction with the book, as well as a fun little Ava's notebook, to make the book come more alive for them! The book got Miss Grace rethinking what she could do with her mini-robot and I know younger girls will be JUST as inspired!
For tweens and teens
A great stocking stuffer for the hard to please, are these fun Skooob tangle free earphone covers! Now your kids can enjoy their music, and take calls uninterrupted, by eliminating the need to untangle their headphones with Skooob! This new hassle-free and stylish accessory for your earphones, Skooob also adds a personal touch to any pair of earbuds or headphones. Coming in a wide selection of colors (19!), and super easy to use (simply twist the Skooob around the cord starting at the jack and work your way up towards the earbuds, then simply cut the Skooob when it reaches the two separate earbud wires. Continue to twist each individual earbud until done and your all set! ), these covers will let your teens headphones standout and be tangle free! And they're a LOT cheaper than buying new headphones over and over! Miss Grace has killed her last set of earphones, so those are mine you're looking at, but you can see how cool they can be, especially if you use different colors to match school colors, team colors, etc! Your kids will love them!
If there is one things tweens and teens love it's chocolate, right?
Why not spice up the season, with their own personal pan of brownies?
These adorable cast iron skillet brownie is for 1 (or 2, MAYBE) people, and is perfect for when a craving hits! And thanks to the new seasonal inclusion of a Ghirardelli Peppermint Bark chocolate, into the mix, you've got a brownie that's AMAZING!
This SMALL (5" wide, only 9" total with handle), this is an easy to use mix for anyone! You just combine mix, butter and water in a small bowl, grease the bottom and sides of the skillet, scoop in the batter, place skillet into the oven and bake for 15-18 minutes! Now the instructions do say to place the peppermint candy on TOP of the batter, but having made a similar one before, we knew better, and broke the bar up into small pieces and mixed it INTO the batter. it comes out much better that way! You can also place a few chocolate chips on the top when it comes out, and get a ganache type covering!
Then when you're done with the pan, you have a pan you can keep using over and over, for small pan brownies, cookies, and more (SERIOUSLY, there are hundreds of recipes!). It's a great way to get kids cooking, and looking up new recipes to try! OR you can decorate the skillet and use it as wall decor!
So there you go!
So fun and different gift ideas for the holiday season!
Ara is a young girl who loves BIG numbers. She wants to count all the stars in the sky… but how? This is an upbeat adventure of Ara and her sidekick droid, DeeDee (“Beep!”). They use smarts and grit to solve a BIG problem and discover an amazing algorithm! A quest that takes them through a whirlwind of intriguing locations at Innovation Plex -- Data Centre, Ideas Lab, Coding Pods, and X-Space. Along the way, they encounter real-life women tech trailblazers of diverse backgrounds, including a Tenacious Troubleshooter, an Intrepid Innovator, a Code Commander, and a Prolific Problem Solver. They tinker-and-tailor, build-and-fail, launch-and-iterate, and in the end discover an amazing algorithm of success -- coding, courage, creativity, and collaboration.This FUN book is meant to inspire girls and it DOES! Even Miss Grace, at 11, was entranced by the book and it took it off to a corner to read through it as soon as it came in, "Wait, it's about a GIRL engineer, oh cool, let me see!" Girls learn there are different types of engineers and coders, but they all work together, each building a different piece, to solve puzzles and bring us unique innovations. There are great hands on activities to download, to give kids more interaction with the book, as well as a fun little Ava's notebook, to make the book come more alive for them! The book got Miss Grace rethinking what she could do with her mini-robot and I know younger girls will be JUST as inspired!
For tweens and teens
A great stocking stuffer for the hard to please, are these fun Skooob tangle free earphone covers! Now your kids can enjoy their music, and take calls uninterrupted, by eliminating the need to untangle their headphones with Skooob! This new hassle-free and stylish accessory for your earphones, Skooob also adds a personal touch to any pair of earbuds or headphones. Coming in a wide selection of colors (19!), and super easy to use (simply twist the Skooob around the cord starting at the jack and work your way up towards the earbuds, then simply cut the Skooob when it reaches the two separate earbud wires. Continue to twist each individual earbud until done and your all set! ), these covers will let your teens headphones standout and be tangle free! And they're a LOT cheaper than buying new headphones over and over! Miss Grace has killed her last set of earphones, so those are mine you're looking at, but you can see how cool they can be, especially if you use different colors to match school colors, team colors, etc! Your kids will love them!If there is one things tweens and teens love it's chocolate, right?
Why not spice up the season, with their own personal pan of brownies?These adorable cast iron skillet brownie is for 1 (or 2, MAYBE) people, and is perfect for when a craving hits! And thanks to the new seasonal inclusion of a Ghirardelli Peppermint Bark chocolate, into the mix, you've got a brownie that's AMAZING!
This SMALL (5" wide, only 9" total with handle), this is an easy to use mix for anyone! You just combine mix, butter and water in a small bowl, grease the bottom and sides of the skillet, scoop in the batter, place skillet into the oven and bake for 15-18 minutes! Now the instructions do say to place the peppermint candy on TOP of the batter, but having made a similar one before, we knew better, and broke the bar up into small pieces and mixed it INTO the batter. it comes out much better that way! You can also place a few chocolate chips on the top when it comes out, and get a ganache type covering!
Then when you're done with the pan, you have a pan you can keep using over and over, for small pan brownies, cookies, and more (SERIOUSLY, there are hundreds of recipes!). It's a great way to get kids cooking, and looking up new recipes to try! OR you can decorate the skillet and use it as wall decor!
So there you go!
So fun and different gift ideas for the holiday season!
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