Some After School Fun with Space Scouts

As part of A Geek Daddy Blog's participating in the U.S. Family Guide Network we tested out the first two month's mailers from the monthly subscription service SPACE SCOUTS the other day when my kids returned home from school.   SPACE SCOUTS lets children explore the galaxy from the comfort of their own home through sending space themed boxes filled with arts and crafts projects, educational lessons and other fun treats each month.  From our experience, each month's mailer should occupy a kid's attention for about a half an hour and provides a nice opportunity for a parent to spend some quality time with children in a manner that is both entertaining and educational at the same time.  The SPACE SCOUTS program is probably best for children 6 to 8 years old.

The first month's mailer included a metallic lunchbox (which can be used to store all your Space Scouts stuff), a solar system poster, activity pages, a sticker scramble, a constellation collector ring, and a set of wikki stix that could be used for creative building.  We decyphered a code for a secret message, completing a space themed cross word puzzle, and answering astronomy themed trivia questions.

My daughter really enjoyed the sticker scramble where you have to match numbers on sticker sheets to the ones on an index card.  If you complete the puzzle correctly you'll see an interesting space image from the unscrambled stickers. 

 

The week two mailer included a grasping hand that amused my son to no end, some astronaut figurines, magnets to place on the Space Scouts lunchbox, a constellation card to include on the storage ring provided in the first mailer.  It also included some more activity sheets, another sticker scramble and some stickers to place on the solar system map that was initially provided.    Each package provides items that supports and builds upon items previously received to boast children's knowledge of math, technology, science and astronomy.

Pricing starts out at $11.95 + $3 shipping per month with additional discounted plans for multi-month purchases.  A GEEK DADDY blog readers receive a 20% discount on their initial purchase of any SPACE SCOUT subscription plan by using promo code USFAMILY20.

For more information, visit  www.atcssc.com/space-scouts 

DISCLAIMER: A Geek Daddy Blog was introduced to this product through its participation in the US FAMILY GUIDE Blogger Program.  A Geek Daddy blog was not provided any financial compensation for this post but was provided a complimentary two month subscription to the Space Scouts to review.  A positive review is not required of our blog to participate in this promotion. The opinions in this review are my own.

Child Sleep Training - Dream Team Pets Mighty Lion Helps Kids & Their Parents Have A Good Night

My 5 year old son had been sneaking out of his room after bedtime and slipping into bed with my wife and I in the middle of the night lately.  To help alleviate the problem we gave the Mighty Lion from Dream Team Pets a try to see if that might help him stay asleep throughout the night in his own room.  My son really enjoys watching Detroit Lions games with me so we thought that was the best selection out of the Dream Team Pets line-up which includes a playful puppy, magical cat and the mighty lion.  These aren't just toys though they are part of a program that is aimed to help children sleep through the night in their own rooms.

The way the program works is you explain to your child that they are supposed to train their Dream Team Pet to sleep through the night without running into mom and dad's room.  You are provided with a book to read together with your child and their new pet that explains how they need to work together to sleep through the night.  It also advises that the pet is strong and brave enough to scare off any monsters that might be creeping around in the night.  A certificate is provided with star stickers to place on it each night they sleep through the night together.  Parents are supposed to fill out the Certificate of Achievement and present it to the child and their Dream Team Pet when they've earned enough stickers to demonstrate they've slept alone in their room for ten nights.  The goal is that by the tenth night it has become a routine that will become the child's regular behavior.

We've personally had some decent results with the program and while I can't say yet it has eliminated the problem there has been a noticeable improvement.  My son takes a great deal of pride and is really excited when he earns a sticker.  The Mighty Lions has also become one of my son's best pals, not just at bedtime but all day long.

A Geek Daddy Blog readers receive a 30% off discount on Dream Team Pets from Amazon.com if you use the promo code: USFGUIDE.  CLICK HERE to pick one out for your child.

The only problem we had with the Dream Team Pets was that I didn't pre-screen the bedtime reading book before I started reading it to my son.  It really has a focus on the pet scaring away monsters that may lurk under the bed, in the closet or in a child's dreams.  I didn't really appreciate that because "monsters" weren't an issue until this book made him think about them and it really highlighted a scary aspect of sleeping alone. So it actually created somewhat of a new problem for us for a few nights.  He soon forgot about the monsters as I didn't read the book again and made up my own stories about not being scared at night that tied into his sleeping with his new buddy the Mighty Lion.  Now if monsters are an issue for your child it is a nice little book to read to them but in our case my son was mostly scared about being alone in the dark.  I felt the book could have highlighted other issues beyond being scared of monsters to address childhood fears of sleeping through the night. So I'd just recommend reading the book by yourself before reading it to your child to see if it is a good fit for your particular situation.

The Dream Team Pets provided us with a structured child sleep training program so my wife and I didn't need to create our own ad hoc solution to a problem.  Since he's been excited every morning to get his special sticker, has developed a bond with his toy, and most importantly slept through the night in his very own bed the last five nights, this product gets A Geek Daddy nod of approval.

At $19.99 Dream Team Pets are a reasonably priced option to assist with getting your child to sleep on their own through the night.  Plus you can get an additional 30% off by using the promo code USFGUIDE and purchasing through Amazon.com.

DISCLAIMER:  the story about my son not sleeping through the night is true and  the opinions are my own.  A Geek Daddy Blog did not receive financial compensation for this post but did receive a complimentary Dream Team Pet for reviewing the product on this blog through the U.S. Family Guide Blogger Program.  A positive review was not required for our participation in this marketing campaign.

Who Would Love TMobile FREE Data for Life? A Geek Daddy Tests out the T-Mobile Trio AXS 7.85" 4G Tablet

Disclosure: This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser.  All opinions are mine alone.

Sick of draining your mobile phone plan's data package or always searching for free Wi-Fi when you are on the go?!  I recently took the T-Mobile Trio AXS 7.85" 4G Tablet that promises TMobile FREE data online connectivity for the life of the device for a test run through the Detroit Zoo for #CollectiveBias.  The #TabletTrio can keep you connected even when Wi-Fi isn't available by providing access to T-Mobile's advanced 4G/LTE network - when purchasing this tablet you are provided the FREE DATA FOR LIFE plan which consists of 200MB of data usage each month for as long as you own the device.  How often have you found yourself out and about wanting to connect to the Internet but don't want to use up your phone or tablet's data plan, don't have a device that is connected to a data plan (hate to admit it but we didn't have Internet accessibility on our phones until this year), or don't have access to Wi-Fi?  I know for our family that we lose convenient connectivity when we visit grandma and grandpa's house, are at soccer practice, or take a trip to the zoo, among other places.   

The Detroit Zoo doesn't provide free Wi-Fi so we accessed the Internet via T-Mobile's 4G network during our test of the tablet.  I had registered the tablet before our visit and the T-Mobile network instantly recognized, authenticated, and connected the device when I opened up its browser just as if I had been using my smart phone.  The Trio AXS provided a fast and reliable connection throughout our visit both within the indoor exhibits and around the outdoor ones.  We utilized the connectivity to look up some additional information on some of the animals we were viewing, access a tour app hosted by the zoo, upload some pictures we took to the cloud, do some tweeting, double check the closing time, and to look up a restaurant menu in deciding what meal we were going to pick up on the way home for dinner. All of this barely put a dent in our allocated 200 MB of data for the month.

In addition to the great connectivity feature, the Trio Tablet has great features and functionality.  It utilizes the Android operating system which allows for the use of Flash Player applications, includes the Kingsoft Office word processing suite of programs, Movie Studio video editing, and other handy apps.  The tablet is very light weight and portable yet it has a screen size twice the size of most smart phones.  My kids were able to really appreciate viewing images and information on its screen.  The device also has a camera that is easy to use and takes some nice photographs.  The only downside of the device was, that like most smart phone and tablet screens that I'm familiar with, it reflects sunlight and can be difficult to view content on its screen outdoors without being in some shade.

The best feature of the tablet hands down though is its free data package through T-Mobile's 4G nationwide network.  4G is the term used to describe the fourth-generation of wireless service.  When you are utilizing 4G technology wireless service it is supposed to be anywhere from four to ten times faster than currently existing 3G networks.  You don't have to sign-up for a billable T-Mobile plan with this tablet, simply register your device through the device's ConnectMe portal, for free,  to active the service and you get 200MB of data usage each month.  This is a capped program which means that once you reach 200MB for the month you are shut off until the next month.  After you've reached your cap a screen will appear that will offer to sell you an upgraded T-Mobile data plan but there is no obligation to purchase it. There are no worries about billed for going over your data limit and no contracts or service plans you are committed to. There are is no data roaming or tethering with this program either.  Once you purchase the T-Mobile Trio AXS 7.85" 4G Tablet just register it to activate it and enjoy using the free 200MBs every month for as long as you own it. Simple as that!

The T-Mobile Trio AXS 7.85" 4G Tablet costs $179.00 and is sold exclusively at Walmart.  Think about that...for under $200 you are purchasing a tablet with guaranteed monthly connectivity for accessing the Internet pretty much anywhere you need to go through a dependable wireless service provider that has a state-of-the-art network for as long as you own device without paying another cent.  That's a great deal!

It's back-to-school time and with that comes a lot of extracurricular activities too.  For our family that means evening dance classes for our daughter and soccer practices for my son plus swimming lessons for them both on the weekends.  Her dance studio doesn't have Wi-Fi, neither does the pool or the soccer fields.  I don't want to drain my data plan on my phone and my other tablet only connects to the Internet via Wi-Fi so if I want to read e-mails, check weather or traffic reports, surf the web, update my blog, or interact via social media I'm out of luck while chauffeuring my kids to their activities and school functions.   This T-Mobile Trio AXS 7.85" 4G Tablet provides parents dependable access to the Internet without breaking the bank.  If you are a parent who knows they are going to be on the go this fall you really should check this device out!

The Trio would also be a good tablet for children.  My 5 year old twins were very capable of using it and it was sturdy enough I wasn't worried they would break it but also light enough that it wasn't to heavy or bulky for them to be uncomfortable carrying it.  Based upon the data limits you also know that your kids won't be using it for video games and watching movies but rather for more productive uses of their time.  Plus the data cap seems like a nice tool to teach them responsibility of managing their time online because they will get cut off if they reach that 200MB limit so they have to weigh that into determining what they want to do online.  So this is a great buy for parents or kids!

In addition to taking the Trio AXS to the zoo, I also took it the park with my kids the other day.  The weather forecasts had been for rain but it had been a sunny day outside.  There's no Wi-Fi access at the park but I was able to keep an eye on the local radar weather maps through the tablet's T-Mobile service.  While it didn't look cloudy I could see rain coming into the radar picture after we'd been there for about an hour so I packed up the kids and headed home.  It down poured a few minutes after we arrived home.  You have to appreciate the convenience of knowing you can take this device with you where ever you go with the assurance you can always be connected when you need to be.

You can do a lot of things with the monthly 200MB though if you want to be playing online games or streaming/downloading movies you most likely will need to upgrade and purchase a T-Mobile data plan.  For parents that are just looking to stay connected and have the convenience of accessing the Internet while out and about you should be just fine with the included free monthly data.

CLICK HERE for more information about the  T-Mobile Trio AXS 7.85" 4G Tablet.