I know the whole P1 registration process may be daunting for many first time parents or even some parents with kids of a different gender going to a different school from the elder siblings. Coupled by the anxiety of having the child going through a new milestone, it is a mixed of feeling of excitement, anxiousness , sadness, happiness all jumbled into 1.

I know the p1 registration will start in less than a month time and for many it is a daunting process if there is no affiliation etc, hence by virtue of calculated distance and some strategic play. I went through the same process two years ago with big J and it was an experience I do not wish to relive. That said big J did joined the school of my choice which was a co-ed school which makes it easy for big C this year round. I will not dwell on how to choose the correct school and the whole registration process is very much based on judgment and luck. Let’s put the mixed feeling aside and do the fun stuff!

Hence I have decided to spend time this time round on a blog on all the things you need to know to prepare your soon to be primary 1 – ie the fun part , ie the part where you can source for functional and fashionable stuff for primary school.  I target to launch the blog post after the p1 registration but there will be reviews from now onwards on things which you may need for p1 (or to prepare for p1). Do drop me an email or PM on my social media if you are keen on any particular item and I try my best to include them in.

Kicking things off, would be name label  for school by Stuck On You! There are many ways to label their belongings – stationery, books , water bottle, lunch box, clothes, shoes etc. The most primitive method will be just plain old marker/pen. Some will customized name stamps or purchase label makers. It is a personal preference but I am biased as I loved name labels. It just makes my day to see my belonging labeled with fancy stickers and good quality ones that doesn’t peel off easily.

There are many name label supplier in the markets – locally and also from overseas and Stuck On You has got to be the one with the prettiest design – boys or girls.

I came to know that Stuck On You is an Australian label that is currently found in 15 countries and have been operating for more than 20 years, hence labels ordered are printed in Australia as well.  Their current range includes clothing labels, bag tags, shoe labels, height charts and the most popular has got to the their name labels. Even though Stuck On You are currently operating in many countries, all their designs are still created in-house at their headquarters in Geelong, Australia.

Name labels

Their name label range comes in a variety of sizes – large, medium, mini, small, dot. Design wise, it can be classic designs to very fanciful designs. For those who are looking at more fanciful name labels. Do check out their Gelati range or their kids designer range. As you can see, the designs are all so pretty that big C took some time to look through it.

I actually show big C the designs that they have and to no surprise she choose this. She is all pink and purple, fairies and princesses.  Their website is catered to instant preview of name, colour and design. So you can get to see how it actually look like even before printing.

Based on my previous experiences, as I would need the Chinese name, I would need large/medium to include both Chinese and English name together for her Chinese text books. There are many font designs to choose from, but if you need to add the Chinese words, then you will be limited to choose the  simplified chinese font

Those who wants to get a range of name labels including shoe labels and clothing labels can consider their value packs which gives greater value. https://www.stuckonyou.sg/label-value-packs-1

For this round, I have skipped the iron on clothes label and shoe label (they are useful for childcare but not so for primary school) as I did not utilized it much during big J’s time.  So I will only concentrated on getting name labels to labels textbooks, belongings, lunch box etc for this time round (a bit wiser with prior experience). Well, from experience you do not need to label everything with name label. For exercise books, you can also write in pen/marker.

The name level comes in different design and colour scheme for 1 design, ie you dont get 20 similar labels.  There are a variety in just 1 pack of labels –  and you can choose the colour scheme of the labels too and view them before ordering.

Stuck on You proudly offers a 100% Guarantee on the quality of their labels. If during the first 3 months of your order you are not happy with your labels, they will gladly reprint them for free (Limit one reprint per customer)

School kits

As I was browsing through their website to check out their wide range of very pretty personalized products, I accidentally came across their school kits  which I thought was perfect for big C too! . The school kit includes a personalized pencil case, 12 personalised coloured pencil and 10 personalised felt tip marker, 2 HB, sharpener, eraser, scissor and ruler.

During big J time, I did try to label the pencil with mini labels in my feeble attempt so that the boy doesn’t lose his belonging. But boys being boys, I gave up in labeling them after a few attempts. However, I am complete trust in big C being a girl and the most responsible child in the family she will take good care of her belongings.

the marker is a 2 way marker

I believe this is a best school kit to start her primary 1. This may not be something that you absolutely need for your child, but if you looking get a personalized gift for a primary school going kid, this is just perfect and very useful too!

Just a tip, some school teachers do not encouraged fancy stationeries like those pop out pencil cases that Smiggle carry as it creates “distractions” in class as the other kids will gather to “try out” the fancy stationery. Hence, I prefer that it is more functional and less fancy. This school kit comes with a zipped pencil case which is my preferred kind of pencil case as its light weight and if it ever dropped on the floor, it will not get spoilt so easily.

If you are ever at lost at buying birthday present, one of the best personalized gift are actually name labels or even the school kit! Stuck On You also carries a range of personalised backpack and lunchboxes too! They even have a range of baby gifts from personalised rompers to name blocks perfect for baby showers! As a mum,  I would love to receive such pretty personalised gift too!

Stuck On You

webstore

facebook

instagram

Giveaway

Stuck on you has kindly sponsored 3 x SGD30 e-voucher to 3 lucky readers which they can redeem online.

1. Liked FB pages of mypreciouzkids.com and Stuck On You

2. Followed mypreciouzkids and Stuck On You on Instagram

3. Repost this visual on IG(tag 3 friends (on my IG post, one tag per comment) with hashtag #mypreciouzkidsgiveaway or liked and share this FB post (tag 3 friends).

Please keep your Instagram profile public or the Facebook shared post public (as indicated in step 3)  in order to qualify so that I can locate your entry or BOTH to double your chances of winning.

I will be picking the 3  lucky winners using random.org. The giveaway closes on 9 July 2017 2359pm (Sun) (2 from FB and 1 from IG).

IG winner : sunbubble

FB winner: Jingrong Loh and Sonia Tsen

Disclaimer: This is a sponsored post.  No monetary compensation was received. All opinions are my own. 

Trust me when I say I am an expert in buying swimwear as I have been buying TONS of swimwear for the past 8 years for my 4 kids. When my big J started “swimming” or entering the pool at a tender age or 4 months, he was crying and felt very cold. At the same time, I see Caucasian babies often with swim tops (just swim diapers/pants) frolicking in the same pool as big J happily. I am not sure if it’s the “body composition” of  Asian/Chinese kids or just that they are not expose to cold water regularly that generally they are “layered” more in the public pools.

So after witnessing big J shivering and shortening his swim time due of cold, I went on a hunt for thermal swimwear to layer him. I bought him a neoprene thermal wear from a well-known local brand (it was a plai- coloured but most neoprene looks almost the same) which he outgrown very quickly and it didn’t really work. Thereafter, I even invested in the Konfidence swim jacket to layer in addition of the neoprene thermal wear. Well, I didn’t the layering help him but as he gotten older and more exposed to pool, he could stay longer in the pool.

Then I had big C , I avoided the neoprene thermal wear like a plague as it was really “UGLY” for a girl. I wanted pretty and cute swimsuit on the girl and I gotten the cutest bikini set , princess swimwear and my favourite fashion swim wear stall is Disney store online till this very day. However, all this fashion swimwear doesn’t help in keeping her warm, just very cute and on very hot days, she will be able enter the water, else she will just play by the side of the pool!

However, when big J and big C started swimming lessons proper which goes on for 1 hour (and many a times have to sit on the ledge for their turn), I need to get proper swimwear for them – ie neoprene full suit swimwear. As their swimming lessons are in the late evening, they often shivered and I do have a tip which work well to keep their body warm despite donning neoprene full suit swimwear. I bring along a flask of warm water in between their turns, they will come to me for a sip of warm water to warm their body. Of course, it was a matter of time before they are able to handle the temperature of the water for their late evening lessons.

Due to changes in schedule year on year , now big J swims on mid day when the sun is blazing hot, so I needed the swimwear to cover as much of the body so that he doesn’t get tanned. Maybe it is not so critical for the boy, but for the girl, I will avoid her getting tanned at all course. If there is a long sleeve and long pant swimwear, no matter how ugly she will have to wear it. It is no longer a fashion show but swimming lesson proper.

Recently I came across a local swimwear online shop called Baby Beachbums which carries neoprene thermal swimwear for kids from baby to 8 years of age. In a neoprene garment, the water is trapped between the neoprene and the skin is heated by their own body temperature.  What caught my eyes and attention was they carry neoprene thermal wear range called Beluga Kids which has the cutest prints and even matchy one for boys and girls

Why have I not known of this….my older two has been wearing plain, uninteresting neoprene swimwear for the longest time. And sadly big J has passed the age where he will wearing cutesy print and is very happy with plain single-coloured Arena swim wear!

This was big C’s thermal wear that was passed down from big J. Really boring looking full neoprene thermal wear and it make her look boyish somewhat.

Warm Kinetic in coral star by Beluga Kids

I hope I have gotten you all excited by showing you the transformation from a boyish big C to a more feminine looking big C all thanks to Beluga Kids’ Warm Kinetic neoprene thermal wear.

I will be reviewing their own house brand –Beluga Kids. They also stocks other imported brands from US for different age group and even fashion wear swim suits. For their home brand, Beluga Kids ,they have enlisted the help of a US designer and  have this range manufactured in China under stringent quality control.

Beluga Kids also have 2 range of thermal wear – Lil’s warmer (Fleece) for 3 months to 4 years old and also Warm Kinetic (neoprene) 1 to 8 years old , which is the one I will be reviewing for big C and small J. The Warm Kinetic range is made from high-quality UPF50+ 2mm neoprene core body panel and a light stretchy Lycra sleeves and side panels.

A fun fact about beluga, they are whales found in the arctic waters  around Russian, America, Norway and Greenland. To protect themselves from extreme cold, they possess a layer of blubber that is 15 cm thick! I wasn’t very familiar with beluga personally but my kids are, as they have a children’s song learnt in childcare about baby belugas!

Baby beluga in the deep blue sea
Swim so wild and you swim so free
Heaven above and the sea below
And a little white whale on the go

At first glance

For the Warm Kinetic range, the current range has 2 designs for girls and 3 designs for boys.

The light pastel colours on both the girls and boys with cute motif in the middle really set Beluga Kids thermal swimwear apart of the other brands that you see in the departmental store.  If you are looking for a matchy prints for boys and girls which is what big C and small J are wearing,  it has to be the coral star and aqua star. Otherwise, the shark reef and lavender whale are really cute on its own too!

I must say due to the 2mm thickness, the suit doesn’t feel heavy and bulky. Karen from Baby Beachbums informed me that even though thicker neoprene provides more warmth, thicker neoprene also means more buoyant, so it is not recommended by some swim instructors.

inner sewing

even the lycra sleeves are in matchy prints of different colour

But what attracted me and the kids most the pastel colours and the print in the middle. Compared to their boring thermal wear, their eyes pop up when they saw it. Its like opening their Christmas present. I guess they must have not liked their previous thermal wear and they loved they are wearing matchy wears too!

Big C is wearing size 6 – 8 years old while small J is wear size 4 – 6 years old. As they are on the smaller built (they are probably 3 and 5 year old in size) , their thermal wear may seems looser on the body. However,  I preferred that they wear it longer  (and more mileage too) than more snug. However, if you are looking for more thermal insulation, you should size down so that the swimwear shouldn’t be too loose to obtain the full benefit of thermal insulation.

Baby Beachbums also offer a Free Exchange Policy for sizing issues where they will reimburse customers for any postage incurred when they send the swimwear back for exchange so you don’t have to worry if you have gotten the size wrong.

Using it

No matter how pretty, fanciful or fashionable, neoprene thermal wear must be functional. It should be able to keep the child warm in the pool. So far after a few rounds of swim at the public pool, I have not heard them  complaining  about being cold in the  water etc even though they are wearing a size bigger.

It is longer than most neoprene swimwear – ie cover the arms and legs more (mid-length) which is good especially on hot days when the kids will get tanned easier – so any extra coverage to reduce the “tanned area” is  a plus to me especially for big C!

As it is not all all-body neoprene suits, there is more freedom in movement as compared to all-body neoprene suit and adding to the overall lightness of the suit.

Caring for it

Neoprene suit should be washed immediately after use with cool water and mild detergent (just a wee bit to remove the chlorine). It cannot be machine washed.

Do dry the swimsuit in shaded areas to prevent discolouration.

If there is anything to critic, it would be the back zip enclosure , I do hope that the back zipper has a more pronounced closure ie an extra velcro to close the opening. I didn’t quite like the lycra collar flipping out at the back. That said, it doesn’t create any discomfort or reduce the thermal insulation layer in any way.

Other that, I am totally in love with their new swimwear to their swim classes! I bet they have the nicest looking thermal swimwear in their swim class too!

Do check out their Beluga Kids range via this link

While shopping for the swimsuit, you can also add on accessories like goggles , swim care products. They have stocked my favourite swimcare products online too, you can read my review for Pout Care here.

Baby Beachbums

Webstore 

Facebook

Giveaway

Baby Beachbums has kindly sponsored 3 Warm Kinetic (in the same design as worn by big C and small J)  for 3 lucky readers!

1. Liked FB pages of mypreciouzkids.com and Baby Beachbums

2. Followed mypreciouzkids and Baby Beachbums on Instagram

3. Repost this visual on IG(tag 3 friends (on my IG post, one tag per comment) with hashtag #mypreciouzkidsgiveaway or liked and share this FB post (tag 3 friends).

Please keep your Instagram profile public or the Facebook shared post public (as indicated in step 3)  in order to qualify so that I can locate your entry or BOTH to double your chances of winning.

I will be picking the 3  lucky winners using random.org. The giveaway closes on 11 June 2017 2359pm (Sun) (2 from FB and 1 from IG).

Winners:

FB : Linus Goh, Noor Fazillah

IG: @tammytng

Disclaimer: This is a sponsored post.  No monetary compensation was received. All opinions are my own. 

If you have been following my blog, you may find this shop’s name familiar. Yes, I did feature this shop as one of the retailers for the Gakken Go Go Activity workbooks which my kids love , see review here. By the way, small J has been working on the books every night and love this too bits and the books keep him occupied while I concentrate on the older kids. Highly recommended for 2 year plus onwards!

I used to buy kids books locally (via online) many years ago when J was born, but in recent year I have relied heavily on Amazon and Book Depository for books for the older kids. I have not been buying any new board books or lift-the-flap books in recent years but I remember buying Fisher Price lift-the-flap board books for J when he was younger through sprees and motherhood forum marketplace. I never knew if the board books I purchased were genuine as I purchased from unknown sources online.

I have always loved Usborne books and  I can’t really find them on Amazon or Book Depository. Many of the Usborne books are lift-the-flap version (which are the popular ones) and if you are ever lucky to borrow one from the library you will know the state of such books. Recently, I came across some titles suitable for my younger kids. I didn’t have to search further as KimKids, besides carrying the full range of Gakken Go Go books, it also carries a good range of Usborne books.

I had used the Shopee platfrom to purchase books from KimKids and it was simple and straightforward. Frankly, this is my very first time buying from Shopee, I guess this platform is similar to the more famous Q0010 in term of concept. They will hold the money until the customer has confirmed receipt for the items before releasing it to the seller.

I always relied heavily of sample pages before making a decision to buy the book. We can see sample pages of the books and also the complete description of the book using the Shopee platform. KimKids also show the price comparison between her price and retail price at the bookstore. Rest assured, you get it cheaper from KimKids.

And it is a flat SGD 2 dollar delivery to your door step irregardless of how many books you purchased. So it is worth purchasing many books at a go especially if you are buying as gifts for birthday or for Christmas.

These are the five books I ordered from KimKids through Shopee. I really loved books, new books, books arriving at my doorstep, and it was just before Christmas! Especially the Usborne Lift-the-Flap books, they are very good quality book with excellent contents. And they made great birthday gifts too instead of toys.

And I ordered to 2 Julia Donaldson’s books because because of this event. So I just had to buy a few more than what we already had at home and not to mentioned my kids looooovvvveeee stories by Julia Donaldson. I shall not elaborate any further on Julia Donaldson’s books are they are bestsellers on its own rights already! Hope that she will carry more of her book including her books with songs!

I also took the opportunity to order two board books for small C. Only big J had the luxury of having new board books. The subsequent kids had been using the hand-me-down board books during big J time but I thought its time to refresh my collection of books for the younger kids especially for the baby(ok he is 19 months old already so technically he is not a baby).

So I chose Let’s Get Dressed by Caroline Jayne Church and Usborne’s Lift the Flap Counting book. The baby is not able to articulate yet so I show some pictures of him “enjoying” the books that  I chose for him. He was clearly enjoying putting on his socks as part of the dressing up process in Let’s Get Dressed book and was busy lifting all the flaps in the Usborne book. They are such hardy books that I am not worried that small J will rip a page off the book etc (he has a history of doing that before and to some library books too, I was actually warned by NLB before:( )

Leaving the best first for the last, my FAVOURITE book of the five books has to be Usborne’s Look inside your body. When I saw the content in the sample pages, I already knew it was a good book. But when I actually received the book and start lifting the flaps…the book is “interactive”. There are many layers to lift and there was a section where you can move the knee bone too! super cool and its not an apps or on the ipad, its from a book! I don’t think I can elaborate by words, so I did a video of all the beautiful pages in this book!

Kimkids

A bit about KimKids Shop, it just started half a year ago by a mother who has left the corporate world to become a full time stay at home mum. In search for good quality book for her little one, she started this home-based business to provide a wide range of amazing children books from renown publishers such as Usborne, Scholastic Asia , Gakken and 童悦坊.

Targeting at age group 0 – 7, KimKids provides a wide range of amazing children books including:

• Board books including those for the very young (since birth), touchy-feely books that develops baby’s senses, lift-the-flap books for toddlers, and toy books that children and play with (Usborne Wind-up books)
• Story books, picture books
• Flash cards to learn basic math and alphabets, Chinese words
• Activity books including Gakken Go Go series

Why purchase from KimKids Shop?

* All books are GENUINE copies (quality assured and safe for kids)

* CHEAPER than traditional book store as no rental cost, warehouse storage cost etc

* Books purchased will be delivered to your door step at a low flat rate charges ($2 flat rate, as books are heavy, those postages exceed $2 will be absorb by KimKids!)

* KimKids Shop is a registered entity in Singapore (COMPANY REGISTRATION NO.: 53327602X)

There are 3 platforms to view and purchase books from KimKids

1. Carousell: https://carousell.com/kimkids_shop/
2. Shopee: https://shopee.sg/kimkids_shop
3. Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KimKidsBookShop/ (Currently the owner is updating the product listing in Facebook Shop! Full listing at : https://shopee.sg/kimkids_shop)

NEW PROMOTION with Shopee 

For existing Shopee users : $3 off with min purchase of $10 (promo code kimkids3)

So I guess this is no better time than now to shop at Kimkids using the Shopee platform. https://shopee.sg/kimkids_shop

GIVEAWAY

KimKids has kindly sponsored a very beautiful books from Usborne especially to toddlers experiencing their life’s first experiences to one lucky reader. Trust me the illustrations are so beautiful with hard cover, some books like this one, you will never give it away even when your kids outgrown them.

1. Liked FB pages of mypreciouzkids.com and KimKids 

2. Followed mypreciouzkids on Instagram

3. Followed Kimkids on Shopee and Carousell 

4. Liked and shared this Facebook post and tag 5 friends.

Please ensure the Facebook shared post is public (as indicated in step 4)  in order to qualify so that I can locate your entry.

I will be picking the lucky winner using random.org . The giveaway closes on  26th February 2017 (Sun), 2359pm.

The lucky owner of this beautiful book is Chengling Tan.

I must say kids living in Singapore are one of the luckiest lot, there are so much to see, do and watch throughout the year. Kidsfest 2017 starts in January, and in February,  I Theatre will kickstart their 2017’s lineup with the perennial favourite, a very famous Aesop fable, The Ant and The Grasshopper.

One of the first shows that my kids or at least the older kids caught with ITheatre was The Ant and The Grasshopper back in 2014 when C was just turned 3 and watching one of her first live theatre shows. I was worried about her level of understanding or if she will be distracted, but my fears were unfounded. She was mesmerised by the puppets and the songs even though she may not fully understand the moral behind the story which is the essence of any Aesop fable.

I Theatre always have a meet and greet after the show with the cast , it is great compilation of the shows we have watched throughout the years

So when I saw the 2017’s ITheatre lineup featuring this show, I have already ticked this on my t0-watch-list more for the benefit of the my younger kids (who didn’t get to watch it in 2014)  as a fun and musical introduction to Aesop fables.

Once there lived an Ant – a hard-working and ever-busy Ant who never seemed to have time for play or relaxation. And then there was Grasshopper, with time on his hands and nothing much to do all day.

And visiting from time to time, there is Caterpillar!

Somehow they were friends. All day long Ant would work hard, without stop or rest, collecting grains of wheat and storing them carefully in her larder.

And Grasshopper would laugh, and say. ‘Why do you work so hard, dear Ant? Come, and rest awhile, listen to my song. Summer is here; the days are long and bright. Why waste the sunshine in labour and toil?’

Whilst Caterpillar calmly carried on, doing what caterpillars do best…

But Summer does not last long – and soon Winter and the frozen cold will come…

What will happen to Grasshopper then?

What exactly will Ant do?

And where will Caterpillar go?

These are the stills from the 2014 productions , after watching the show you will feel like its the summertime in the garden! Watch it and you will know what I mean!

The Ant and The Grasshopper
Presented by I Theatre
Dates:

Venue: SOTA Drama Theatre 

Recommended for three year olds and above
Ticket prices: $32 (excluding booking fee)

Tickets available from SISTIC.

And to kickstart my blog’s 2017 giveaway, ITheatre will be giving out 2 set of family package (4 tickets each) for the 19 Feb 2017 (Sun) 11am show.

1. Liked FB pages of mypreciouzkids.com and ITheatre 

2. Followed mypreciouzkids on Instagram

3. Repost this visual on IG(tag 3 friends) with hashtag #mypreciouzkidsgiveaway and like and share this FB post (tag 3 friends).

4. Comment on this blogpost which is your must watch show from ITheatre this year.

http://itheatre.org/index.php/category/2017-season/

Please keep your Instagram profile public and the Facebook shared post public (as indicated in step 3)  in order to qualify so that I can locate your entry.

I will be picking the lucky winners using random.org. The giveaway closes on  5th Feb 2017, 2359pm (Sun). I will pick 2 winners( 1 from IG and 1 from FB).

Winner on FB –  Elly Tan

Winner on IG – Vivilover2

From the publishers of the ever popular Young Scientists magazine (read my previous review here), come the latest magazine targeting at mathematics concepts, Smart Mathematicians. The magazine was launched early this year and similar to the Young Scientists magazine it is divided into lower primary and upper primary version. This is the only comic based mathematics magazine that complies to Singapore MOE syllabus in Singapore. 

I will share some sample pages of the magazines. I am sure all kids will take a liking into the colourful pages and simple script of the comic and yet it will deliver some mathematics concepts at the same time. Even C is able to read this as the scripts uses simple English, and yet beneath the story, some mathematical concepts are introduced in a subtle way.

Especially for the school holidays, when making J do mathematics workbook seems to make me  look like a tiger mum, I am sure he will see this as just fun reading not knowing that he will probably be learning some of the  new maths concepts in primary 2.

What I like about this is the introduction of mathematics concept through stories and comics. Some concept like division and fraction may look alien and uninteresting if merely taught by mathematics symbols and numbers,but once the concept is weaved into a comic, the understanding becomes easier to relate and understood. It helps that the pages are so full of colours , make it more attractive to read also unlike their primary school textbooks. 

Besides the comics, in the middle of the magazines are pages of worksheets for primary 1 ,2 and 3. For J, he does the primary 1 worksheets to revise and strengthen his understanding and the primary 2 to see how much he knows. He may not know all of it but it was a good try. However, primary 3 is beyond him, so we will leave it for later.

There are even pages for Olympiad Maths standard  for kids who wants to be challenged further.

Do subscribe to next year’s edition via this link to enjoy the current promotions. For those who do not want to wait for the monthly copy in 2017 and want to have an early read especially during the school holidays, you can also subscribe to the full set of the 2016 which is the one that I have reviewed via this link .

The publisher has kindly provided me 4 set of Smart Mathematician 2016 edition (you can choose lower primary or upper primary) to be given away to 4 lucky readers.  I hope that it will reached the winners before the holiday ends for some fun reading and learning. The usual drills of my giveaway……

1. Liked FB pages of mypreciouzkids.com and The Young Scientists

2. Followed mypreciouzkids on Instagram

3. Repost this visual on IG(tag 3 friends) and FB post (tag 3 friends)  with hashtag #mypreciouzkidsgiveaway

4. Comment which set you prefer on my blogpost

5. Please keep your Instagram profile public and the Facebook shared post public (as indicated in step 3)  in order to qualify so that I can locate your entry.

I will be picking the lucky winners using random.org . The giveaway closes on  20th Dec 2016, 2359pm (Tue). I will pick 4 winners( 2 from IG and 2 from FB).

You may find the Gakken Go-Go series familiar when you are browsing and stocking up books at Popular, but I am sure if you have not heard of the Gakken New Blocks.

And I am sure you didn’t know that they are from the same companies and its from Japan.

Gakken New Blocks

Recently , I opened a new toy for baby C, a birthday gift which obviously I forgotten. It was those battery operated toys and baby C lost interest with it within 5 to 10 minutes. Many a times, I will end up with battery leakages on those battery operated toys which is one of my pet peeves. So I have stopped buying battery operated toys in a long long while. I preferred non battery operated toys and with no fix way of playing ie open-ended. Of course , the first type that came to mind are the Lego blocks. Recently, I got the kids Magnatiles and they spent endless hours building whatever they come to mind. So I am always looking out for such “toys” and when I came across the Gakken New Blocks , I knew it will be something that my kids will indulge for many hours and I wont be plagued by future problems like battery leakages.

The set that I gotten for the kids is the mixed sets meaning this set includes parts to create vehicles, dinosaurs, etc. Gakken New Blocks are comes in sets with specific themes like vehicle, tools, flower and even based on The Hungry Caterpillar. You can find the full series here

What I really like is that the blocks are soft and made using safe materials (no PVC or Phthalate plasticizer is used in a block )

Even if baby C is in his nasty mood, and threw the blocks to his older siblings, they would not get hurt by it. The size of the blocks are big enough for young children to play with it and big enough not to be “swallowed” by the baby. Yes, he is now in the phase of putting non-food items into his mouth too!

The set comes with instruction booklets more for clueless and uncreative parents like me , who does not have an ounce of creativity but wish to impress the kids by my creations. But frankly as this is an open ended toy sets, it is best to let the child unleash their creativity and imagination and you will be amazed by their creativity. 

Even the lid of the set is designed to hold the pieces and the kids’ creation!

I initially thought that J, being 7 years old all would find the blocks big and kiddish, but he enjoyed building with them too. I guess there is no age limit to such blocks just like Lego I guess. This is probably one for few toys in my household that all my 4 kids (age ranging from 1 plus to 7 plus) can play together.

Gakken Go Go Series workbook

Besides the Gakken New Block, the company also produces a wonderful series of preschool activity books. The  Gakken Go Go series may not be as popular as the Kumon books (in my opinion) but after going through several of the Go Go workbook with small J, I dared say its actually more packed with activities for about the same price as Kumon books. Actually , the Gakken workbook has a big as a market share in Japan as Kumon books as I found out from the local distributor. I guess the biggest difference is that Gakken workbook are target at the preschooler aged 2 to 6 years old while Kumon goes way beyond preschool.

Let me share some sample pages of the Go Go cutting and pasting book which involves cutting, pasting and folding.

so apt for the upcoming year end festivities

I knew that small J would totally love this particular book as he has finished practically all the Kumon series book for cutting/pasting.

a few of the small J “masterpieces” from the Go Go Cutting and Pasting

There is also a sticker sheet and a write and erase page included in the book as well.

The pictures below show the pages from the Intellectual Skills and Life Skills book. I would say that Gakken Go Go Series books are perfect for the 3 years olds who are learning how to read which is the stage where small J is right now. He absolutely loved all the activities in the workbooks and insisted on completing it every night.

I loved this series so much that I actually purchased these books as Christmas presents for my friend’s preschoolers. I hope they will love this book as much as small J does.

I can’t rave enough of the wonderful products from Gakken Japan. And if you are scratching your head what makes a good (and educational) Christmas presents for your kids or your friends’ kids, you are looking at it! KimKids (link below) is having Christmas promotion too! Do check it out for bundle prices.

The Gakken New Blocks and Go Go series activity books are available on sale at the following

• All Popular Bookstores (https://www.popular.com.sg/catalogsearch/result/?q=gakken)
• Openschoolbag (USE GAKKEN10 for a 10% discount when checking out) https://www.openschoolbag.com.sg/search-products?keys=gakken
• Times The Bookshop (http://www.timesbookstores.com.sg/Search?s=gakken)
• KimKids Bookshop (https://www.facebook.com/KimKidsBookShop/) Christmas promotion now on!!!

You can also download the digital trial version (IOS only) on https://itunes.apple.com/sg/app/gakken-go-go-educational-interactive/id1091487932?mt=8.I am unable to test the Apps out as I do not own an Iphone. So I hope they will have an Andriod version soon! 

Thanks to the kind sponsors, 4 lucky winners can win Gakken Go Go Series Workbooks  for their kids.(1 workbook  for each winner).

1. Liked mypreciouzkids.com on Facebook

2. Followed mypreciouzkids on Instagram and regram this photo using hashtag #mypreciouzkidsgiveaway and tag 5 friends on IG. Please ensure your IG is on public view. 

3. Followed mypreciouzkids on Twitter (no worries if you don’t have Twitter account)

4. Liked Gakken on Facebook

5. Like and share this Facebook post. Pls comment “Done, Twitter: ?? , IG:??, and the age of your child and which workbook interest your child , see website for complete list of book here ” on the same post for my easy tracking. Do set your post to PUBLIC so that I can verify your entry. Entries that are not shared publicly on your timeline will be disqualified. Giveaway ends 11th Dec 2016 (Sunday) 2359.

Disclosure: I received the Gakken Go Go series workbooks and Gakken New Blocks from Gakken Asia for the purposes of my review. No monetary compensation was received. All opinions are my own.