Ivy Kids time! As promised last month, I finally remembered to take a more interesting lead photo (translation: not another pic of the box itself). Success! 😉
If you’re not aware, Ivy Kids is a monthly activity box for children aged 3 through 8. It was founded by a certified early childhood educator, turned stay-at-home mom who had begun creating her own activities in order to entertain and educate her kiddos.
Every Ivy Kids kit contains more than 10 activities, along with a book which all of the activities are based upon. The games, projects, and crafts are all designed to “develop fine and gross motor muscles, build math and literacy skills, encourage reading comprehension, and promote scientific thinking”. All of the materials you’ll need are included right in your kit, as well as instructions and age modifications for each project.
Let’s see what’s in the March Ivy Kids box!
This is the shot I’ve always led with… Boring, right?
All of the activities were listed on a sheet glued to the inside lid, along with photos of everything included in each one.
The Little Engine That Could by Watty Piper – All of the activities this month are based on this classic tale of determination. The illustrations in this book are beautiful and I’m happy to add this to our collection.
Paint Your Own Locomotive – This activity includes a fact sheet on steam locomotives, along with a wooden train for your little one to paint in any way they choose. The set of rainbow colored paints gives them total creative freedom, while the train’s moving wheels will provide lots of fun pretend play.
Shape Train – Using the backgrounds and colored foam shapes provided, your child can build a one of a kind train to sit on the tracks shown in the scene. The foam pieces all have stickers on the back for them to adhere to the boards.
All Aboard – A fun pretend play game that involves your child dressing up as a train engineer and passing out/collecting tickets from passengers. They can use chairs or other props to build a “train” and dolls or stuffed animals for the riders. A wooden whistle provides the appropriate sounds as they drive the train.
Train Whistle – This month’s personalized item is the wooden whistle mentioned in the last activity. It would have been a lot cooler if the name was painted on, rather than just printed on a sticker, but no biggie.
Ten-Frame Train Game – A simple math game that’s played by rolling a die and placing the corresponding number of tiles onto a train board. Each player gets one locomotive card with 10 squares and 3 ten-frame train cars (also with 10 squares). The tiles are placed on the cards in order (locomotive card first), until all 30 spaces have been filled. The first player to fill their entire train is the winner.
What Belongs on the Train? – This activity consists of 4 train boards and 12 object cards. Each train features a different category (instruments, food, etc). It’s your child’s job to find the 3 cards for each train that fit into its specific category and place them in the train cars.
I Think I Can – Have your child think of something that was difficult for them to do (but they succeeded in doing). Then have them write it down on the provided worksheet. They can also draw a portrait of themself (themselves?) driving the train.
Alphabet Train – After separating all of the cards, spread them out on a flat surface in no particular order. Starting with the locomotive, have your child line up each of the letter cards in alphabetical order until the train is complete. Next, have them name each animal that starts with the letter of the one indicated on their respective card.
Number Train – This is played exactly like the Alphabet Train, only with numbers.
Train Patterns – Using the foam squares and colored train pattern cards, have your child copy the color pattern onto a blank pattern card. Blank cards can also be used to make their own original color pattern.
Up the Mountain – Players take turns rolling the die and moving their little train pieces the corresponding number of spaces on the tracks. If it lands on a friendly character from the book (the clown or the bear), they’ll move ahead even further. If they land on the unfriendly character (the mean train), they’ll move back 2 spaces. The first player who gets their train all the way up the mountain is the winner.
Yet another fun box from Ivy Kids! I seriously can’t until my girls are old enough to really enjoy these. (They’re 2 1/2, so they’ll be “Little Ivy’s” in no time!) I’m always amazed at how many unique activities they come up with month after month. Such a great subscription for little ones!
If you’re interested in signing up for Ivy Kids, you can save 20% on your first box just by using the promo code “IVY20” at checkout. Plus, new subscribers will also receive a free gift and a monthly personalized item for their child!
Disclosure: I received this box for review purposes. I was not compensated in any way. All opinions are my own. Post may contain affiliate and/or referral links.
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