A New Adventure-Little Tikes TikeStix Review + Giveaway

Keeping the kids busy over the summer-without killing each other- was quite the challenge for us this year. Finding something that kept the both of them engaged and entertained was.. difficult, to say the least.

The kids love to play pretend, and usually play together nicely, but since the baby came around, I feel like they are constantly arguing. When I found the Little Tikes TIKESTIX Clubhouse, I knew I had to give this new product a whirl. Not only did it appeal to my son's desire to build, but it also looked easy enough for my daughter to use without her big brother's help.

From Little Tikes:

Grab your hard hats and work boots and prepare to use your imagination in a BIG! way as Little Tikes proudly introduces TikeStix™, an all-new dynamic line of indoor and outdoor construction toys built for kids that promotes innovative ways of toy building play. From forts and racecars, to aliens and petting zoos, Little Tikes TikeStix™ is designed to encourage a child’s imagination and creativity, while teaching motor and project-building skills. (Age grade: 4+) 

The Playhouse and Clubhouse each come with 50 interlocking pieces, 1 piece of fabric and eight clips so kids can create and build a fort, playhouse, and more that they can actually fit in!

Upon receiving the box, the kids delighted in the fact that it had a handle, and they could "bring it to grandma's to make a fort!" So that we did.

Within minutes, they had the box open, and decided that they were going to create the fort in the picture. My son- the logistic one- opened up the directions to read about how to put it all together. My daughter decided sorting the pieces would be much more efficient, plus every different color and every different shape made her more and more excited to play with them.

They finally agreed that pulling out the pieces would be the easiest, so when they needed a piece they could just grab it from that pile. (Although, that step is not necessary, that's what worked for my kids.)

They quickly went into action, snapping pieces onto each other, making corners, and walls- until the creation actually started to look like something distinguishable. They worked together, with minimal disagreements, and even had to do some problem solving when it came to the peak of the roof of the fort. They kept trying to get the grey connecter to fit, but they just couldn't do it... and then they turned it, and it went together in a snap!

The two of them continued to build the fort, and when they got to the next peak, they knew exactly what to do. I did have a video of this, but it keeps distorting when I upload it to YouTube. Basically, Abbie was pretending she was a princess, and her castle was in need of repair. She was hysterical- thanking her brother for being her knight in shining armor. Where does she even get these things?!
They finally got the clubhouse assembled, and carefully attached the green fabric roof. That's when the fun began! They raced cars in and out of it, had a pretend picnic with plastic food and imaginary tea. Abbie told Grandma she wanted to read her stories under there that evening.

Then they flipped the box closed, and saw that they could make other things besides a clubhouse and the creativity exploded!

They took apart their "fort" in no time, and began to create other projects, and even made a "boat", singing as they rowed. They packed their extra pieces in the hull of their ship, and rowed it to safety from the alligator (the green fabric), an angry square fish- the instructions, and random creatures on the soft sea.. aka, the carpet. I cannot remember the last time they sang and played together that nicely.

Not only did they play, laugh, and giggle, they remembered how much fun they had with it, and have played with it many times since then, recalling what they made, and brainstorming to see if they can come up with something better this time.

Every time they play with their TikeStix, it's a new adventure! Tike Stix are geared for kids 4 and up. Our family loves this product so much, we named it one of our 4BabyAndMom Must Haves! Since kids learn often through play, our friends at Little Tikes have offered a Clubhouse playset to one lucky 4BabyAndMom reader.

Here's how:
Tell me one thing your child likes to pretend they are- ..A dinosaur? A princess?- in the comments below. Then, click on the RaffleCopter widget below.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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Classic Tinker Toys: Just As Much Fun Then, As They Are Now!

After the great Moon Sand explosion in Alex's room yesterday, I decided to redirect him and let him play with his Tinker Toys he got for Christmas.

He unpackaged the wheels, sticks and tubes, and found the directions on how to make a monorail, and his eyes lit up like lanterns! (Alexzander is obsessed with Roller Coaster Tycoon and will seriously play for hours if we let him.) "Mommy, I can make a monorail, just like at my theme park!"

Another few minutes later, it's extremely quiet, and because of the last fiasco an hour earlier, I decided to go in and peek on him. I crack open the door, half expecting to see some sort of gadget rigged to the ceiling fan, or him asleep- (a mother can wish, right?).. and instead, I see Alex sitting studiously examining the picture of the monorail, lining every stick up exactly.

We bought K'nex last year for Christmas, but it was a little too mature for him, and within days, I was vacuuming up itty bitty connectors. This is his first time playing with Tinker Toys, and I have to admit, I was a little skeptical. I thought because they were chunkier pieces that he would brush it off as being a "baby" toy, as most of his sisters toys are thicker, sturdier, and chunky. I never thought that he'd be making a monorail on his train table so that "the cars could drive under it, and the people could travel quicker on the monorail." LOL! He cracks me up!

I don't know if you can see it in the pictures, but at first he hooked up the ...um.. orange hook tube connector things upside down, and once he started connecting the tubes, he couldn't get the monorail to glide. Tinker Toys actually allowed for him to use his problem solving skills to figure out why it kept crashing at every connector, and before I knew it, he was flipping them "up side up".

This morning, not even an hour after he woke up, he started building again. I know we're only on day 2 with Tinker Toys, but I have to say I am definitely impressed. He made a microphone and stand today! The possibilities are endless with Tinker Toys!

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