Tag: gifts

Books, Education, K-5, Parenting, Teaching Tools

Heroes for My Daughter

Terri Eichholz
A wonderful gift
A wonderful gift that you can find here

I’m feeling a bit sentimental with the Thanksgiving holiday this week, so I chose a different kind of product for today’s “Gifts for the Gifted” post.  I actually wrote about this book back in August, but it was part of a larger article.  I think it deserves its own entry.

My daughter was about to “graduate” from elementary school last year, and I started to panic.  I had seen on Pinterest all of the ideas for using the book, Oh, the Places You’ll Go, with signatures from past teachers, as a graduation gift.  But I wanted to do something a little different.  After much internet detective work, I found, Heroes for My Daughter, by Brad Meltzer. (He has also written Heroes for My Son.)

Fortunately, I happen to work at my daughter’s school – at least, I did last year, before she went on to middle school.  Also fortunately, all of her past teachers, including her Music and P.E. teachers, still work there.  I took pictures of them, and used a photo editing tool to make the pictures look like the ones in the book.  Then, I asked each of her teaching heroes to write a message to her.

She cried when she opened the gift on her graduation day.  Granted, she had already cried several times that day.  Leaving elementary school was a lot more emotionally taxing than either of us suspected.  Nevertheless, she seemed very appreciative of the book.

During the summer, we read one of the short chapters from the book each night before she went to bed.  We both learned a lot about the people in the book, such as Julia Child and the Three Stooges.

When we finished the book, she said, “I think we should read it again.”

If you are looking for a great book to give as a gift to a child, then you should definitely consider Heroes for My Daughter (or Heroes for My Son).  And, if you can, read it along with her or him. Your child will not be the only one who benefits from this gift.

Here is my Pinterest Board of Books for Gifted Students.  Previous entries for this year’s “Gifts for the Gifted” post are:  Cubelets, Sifteo Cubes, Scrabble Flash, and Make-Do.  (You can also find these on the Games and Toys for Gifted Students Pinterest Board.)

3-6, Critical Thinking, Education, Fun Friday, Games, Parenting, Teaching Tools

Sifteo Cubes

Terri Eichholz
Sifteo Cubes
Sifteo Cubes

It’s Friday again, which means another episode of “Gifts for the Gifted.”  This is a series that I do in November and December to give suggestions for those of you shopping for holiday gifts for your students and/or children.  So far this month, I’ve posted about “Scrabble Flash” and “Makedo“.  You can view more recommendations on my Pinterest board.

This week, I offer you Sifteo Cubes.  They are similar to the Scrabble Flash game I reviewed last week – but they do so much more!  Of course, with the added functionality comes a heftier price.  Based on my daughter’s reaction to them last Christmas, however, they are well worth it.

My daughter, who is 10, can quickly lose interest in gifts that she receives.   I was worried that the Sifteo Cubes, which were at the top of her list last year, might suffer the same fate.  Fortunately, there was no need for concern.  Once the gift was unwrapped, it got the entire family’s attention.

A set of Sifteo Cubes includes 3 cubes that are pre-loaded with 4 different games, and a base.  The base is the key because you can connect it to your computer to download more games.  (You do have to pay for new games.)  You can also add on cubes.

The cubes interact with each other.  If you go to the Sifteo website, you can see video of the cubes in action.  The number of people who might want to play with them depends on the game.  One of my personal favorites is “Word Caravan.”

Sifteo has provided a few resources called “Creativity Kit“, which shares how the cubes can be used to develop Spatial Reasoning, Literacy, Perception, Pattern Recognition, and Collaboration.

At a price of $129 on Amazon, the Sifteo cubes are not cheap.  But, our family has found them to be worth it.

Now, I just need to convince my daughter to let me take them to my classroom…

Education, Games, K-5, Language Arts, Parenting, Teaching Tools, Writing

Scrabble Flash

Terri Eichholz

Scrabble Flash

I am continuing my series of “Gifts for the Gifted” posts today by recommending a game that occupied my daughter for many days after receiving it for Christmas a couple of years ago when she was 8.  And, I must admit, I played it a lot, too!

My daughter and I both love word games and puzzles.  Unfortunately, she has witnessed the somewhat cut-throat Scrabble tournaments I’ve played with a few of my friends, and has no interest in challenging me in that particular board game.

Scrabble Flash, though, allows for all different levels of play.  And, as the name suggests, it does not take hours to play.

The game consists of 5 electronic cubes that interact with each other.  There are 3 game possibilities, and they can each be played individually or by a group.  For all of the games, each cube shows a letter, and the goal is to put the cubes together to form words.  It’s fun to shuffle the cubes around, and seems almost magical when they communicate with each other.

Not only is Scrabble Flash a great game to have it home, it also works well in a classroom as a center or a rainy day recess game.  And, it is relatively inexpensive.

Scrabble Flash is currently on sale at ToysRUs for $9.99.  Check here to see if it’s available near you!

For more ideas on “Gifts for the Gifted” you can check out this post, or my Pinterest Board.  Come back every Friday through December 20th for more engaging and educational gift ideas for the kids in your life!

Creative Thinking, Education, Fun Friday, K-12

Gifts for the Gifted 2013

Terri Eichholz
image from the Makedo Blog
image from the Makedo Blog

Last year, I started a series of Friday posts in November called, “Gifts for the Gifted.”  I teach gifted elementary students, and parents often ask me about possible gift ideas as the holidays approach.  If you missed last year’s posts, or would like to revisit them, here is a link to get you started.  Also, I keep a Pinterest board with gift suggestions.

By the way, don’t be fooled by the title.  “Gifts for the Gifted” just sounded better than “Gifts to Engage Your Kids in Learning While They Think They’re Just Having Fun.”

Also, I don’t get paid for these posts – so all of my suggestions are based on my very humble opinion.

To get this party started, I’m going to recommend you take a look at the Makedo website.  Let’s face it, besides when you move, the only other time you are faced with a bunch of boxes is during the holidays.  And Makedo can give your child the tools for transforming those boxes into characters, works of art, magical vehicles, and arcade games.  With guided kits, the new Box Props selection, and all sorts of child-friendly tools like saws, hinges, and clips, there will be no limit to your child’s imagination.

I got to experience the Makedo products firsthand when we participated in the Global Cardboard Challenge.  The students loved the flexibility that the hinges and clips gave them.  Some of them were frustrated with the saws, but others insisted on using them even when I offered to cut something out with the box-cutter.  More than a few completely changed their project designs when they saw the new options available to them from the kit I ordered.

You know those holiday afternoons when everyone is stuffed and zoned in front of the t.v., boxes and wrapping paper strewn everywhere? How about having a Family Cardboard Challenge?  Kids going stir crazy during those numerous days off from school?  Put them in a room with a bunch of boxes and a Makedo kit.  You will be amazed at the hours of intense concentration on creation!

If you want to inspire them, here are a couple of videos that might spark their imagination:

Caine’s Arcade

Above and Beyond

3-12, Creative Thinking, Education, Motivation, Student Products, Teaching Tools

What Are My S.K.I.L.L.Z.?

Terri Eichholz

Screen Shot 2013-07-01 at 11.00.20 PM

A few weeks ago, I posted some of my ideas for the upcoming school year.  One of my posts focused on my ideas for improving our Genius Hour, and in that post I mentioned that I would like to have a “catalog of experts” in my class.  I noticed this past year that there were a couple of students who turned to others to help them with something, such as the boy who asked the girl to teach him HTML.  I thought it would be cool to have a spreadsheet of students shared on their Google Docs, so they could see who might be able to help them with certain topics.

With that in mind, I created a brainstorming paper for the students to use at the beginning of the year.  It’s called, “What Are My S.K.I.L.L.Z.?” (You can see the meaning of the acronym in the image above.)  The students can use this sheet to help them think about their areas of expertise, and then narrow them down to topics they would feel comfortable teaching other students.  Then I can just have them type the final topics into a Google Form, and share the results with them.

I tried to make the sheet a bit more visually appealing than just a plain questionnaire.  By the way, I used some online quote generators to create the text – Quozio and Pinwords.

You can download the PDF of this document below.  Also, for those of you new to the blog, I also have a Genius Hour Resources page which might interest you.  And, yesterday, I unveiled a Genius Hour Trailer you could use to excite your students about the project.

What Are My S.K.I.L.L.Z.?

Books, Creative Thinking, Education, K-5, Parenting, Teaching Tools

Little Thinkers

Terri Eichholz
Leonardo da Vinci "Little Thinker" doll from Unemployed Philosophers Guild
Leonardo da Vinci “Little Thinker” doll from Unemployed Philosophers Guild

My series of  holiday (or any time) “Gifts for the Gifted” continues today with a set of adorable dolls and puppets from the Unemployed Philosophers Guild.  The Little Thinkers dolls include a wide array of influential personalities from different cultures and fields of study.  There are scientists, philosophers, artists, musicians, revolutionaries, and even radio hosts (N.P.R.’s Carl Kasell).  Inspire your own little thinker with a cuddly Galileo or Frida Kahlo.  And if your child has an active imagination, you might want to look at the very reasonably priced puppets – which include some of the same notable personages, but also offer a few different ones, such as Rosa Parks and Nelson Mandela.  I would bundle one of these with a children’s book; you can find several of the famous names in Chicago Review Press’ “For Kids” series, some of which are listed on this Amazon list.

I know a lot of parents are considering bestowing iPod Touches or iPads to their children for Christmas, so next Friday, I will be giving a list of apps that you might want to load on your child’s iDevice before you put it under the tree.

Here are links to my previous “Gifts for the Gifted” posts:

Craniatics

Camelot Jr.

Little Bits Holiday Kit

Wedgits

Q-Bitz Extreme

2013 Guinness Book of World Records

Also, you might want to take a look at my Pinterest board, which has even more ideas.