Dreambox Learning: Where Kids Have Fun Learning Real Math

DreamBox learning is a brand new online educational teaching tool that focuses on teaching kids math skills from Kindergarten-age through 5th grade. The lessons are individually tailored to each child and offers additional games “just for fun” as rewards for the children’s work.

The registration for the site was quick and easy. I was able to set up a parent account and accounts for each of my two older kids in one step. I logged in with my email address and the password I’d just set up and called my 6-year-old over to try it.

Then I walked away to start cooking supper. M was playing the games with no help from me, which told me that the site was easy for her to understand and the games were explained well. When I returned to check on her a few minutes later she looked up at me, smiled, and said, “This is fun!”

She played for about 15 to 20 minutes before I told her it was time to log off. She moaned and whined about it, so it must have been fun. I’d watched her do a few of the learning games and could hear the site telling her how she was doing. The activities she was doing were asking her to indicate which group of things had more than the other.

K, my 4-year-old son, also tried out the games, and although he was not as interested in it as his older sister, he did play for about 10 minutes the one time he played. He won’t start Kindergarten until this summer though so he’s just not quite old enough for it yet.

M, on the other hand, asked to play again and again almost every day. Unfortunately we were pretty busy for the first few days and she didn’t get to use it as much as she wanted to.

Dreambox sent me emails after the kids used the site to tell me what they played and what concepts they were learning, which I thought was a nice feature. They also sent me emails when my kids hadn’t been on the site in a few days, reminding me that they would get the most out of the site if they played for 15 minutes or more at least twice a week. I had mixed feelings about these reminder emails, finding them a helpful to remember to ask the kids if they want to play the games (which M almost always said yes) but also finding them a little nagging because my kids didn’t have a lot of time to be on the computer every week.

The kids each had their own account and were able to choose a picture password from a group of 9 photos. The kids appreciated that feature since they see me having to enter passwords for websites and they like to be grown up too.

Both kids enjoyed the learning games, although M, my 6-year-old got more out of the site than my 4-year-old did (though he is not in the target age anyway, as I noted earlier). They seemed to enjoy the games, yet were definitely still learning.

The subscription price, however, at $8.33 or more per month is a little expensive for our family given how little time my kids actually had to play the games with all the other activities (and homework!) that we have to do each day. They do offer a free trial that I can guarantee is worth the time checking out. You will be able to see if your children have the time to devote to it.

Overall, if your child needs additional help in math, or if you just want to reinforce how well your child is doing with math concepts DreamBox Learning delivers a fun learning experience. My first-grader especially enjoyed playing and learning and liked that she recognized the concepts from her schoolwork. She was very proud of herself each time she earned a token to play the fun reward games.

Find out what others are saying about Dreambox at PBN.

The Winners

I will update this post with winners of all the giveaways here at the Zoo Review!

TRIO - Chelsea

MilkBank - Damselfly

Strawberry Shortcake DVD - Ashlie-Mommycosm

Show Me How - FADKOG

Build-A-Bear-Workshop - quitecontrary1977

Precious Girls Club- all commenters won something

My Baby A to Z - cardwear

Strawberry Shortcake

One of my best friends in elementary school had an extensive Strawberry Shortcake doll collection. When I went to her house to play, she would inevitably truck out the dolls and want to play with them together. I was more of a Barbie girl, and Hot Wheels cars girl but I still had fun playing with those fruity scented dolls.

The first time I saw a Strawberry Shortcake DVD once I had kids of my own I bought it purely for nostalgia’s sake. My son will occasionally ask to watch that when my 6-year-old daughter is at school.

So when I had the chance to review a new Strawberry Shortcake DVD, Strawberry Shortcake: Happily Ever After, I didn't hesitate to say yes.

I told the kids they'd be able to watch the DVD as soon as M finished her homework, but then we decided to keep the momentum of good will and productivity going so the kids hammered out their Valentines too. Then we sat down to enjoy what I hoped to be a berry berry good show. (You knew there would be at least one of those, right?)

Both kids were singing along with the catchy (and slightly irritating) theme song as the movie started. Honestly I have the theme song running through my head for days after I hear it.


The kids both immediately quieted down once the story began. The movie has songs throughout to help tell the story. The first song was about being pretty on the inside that not only had a great message, but also had my daughter swaying along to the beat.

My 4 1/2 –year-old son watched too and neither kid did much moving for the entire 45-minute show. It takes quite a good show to make my son sit still that long so he must have enjoyed it.

The movie was divided into two stories, one an adaptation of Sleeping Beauty and the other an adaptation of Rapunzel. I appreciated that the movie had two main messages that were both very positive: the first about not jumping to conclusions and giving your friends a chance to explain, the second about being true to yourself even when others try to change you.

Following the show, I immediately heard from my daughter “I liked that show Mommy. It was cool.” My son chimed in “Yeah, we liked that show. Can we watch it again?”

Have a Strawberry Shortcake fan at your house? Leave me a comment here telling me about any memories you might have of Strawberry and the gang and you could win your very own copy of this movie courtesy of PBN. I'll have one of my kids draw the winner on Sunday.

While you're at it, check out what the other bloggers had to say about this movie, and enter for two more chances to win.

Or if you don't want to wait, click on over to Amazon if you want to buy Strawberry Shortcake: Happily Ever After today.

Show Me How

I confess I was sent this book a while back by Harper Collins and I put it aside with the intent to look at it later. Well, later became later and later until, well, it's now.

When I finally picked up the book to check it out I was a little surprised to find that there are very few words to read in the book. Perfect! I have little time to read these days.

Show Me How: 500 Things You Should Know Instructions for Life From the Everyday to the Exotic by Lauren Smith, Derek Fagerstrom teaches the reader how to do things step-by-step through simple drawings. It really reminded me of the instructions you get for putting furniture together--well, the kind of furniture that comes flat in boxes that you can buy at Target or IKEA.


The back of the book reads: Life explained. One step at a time. Simple, step-by-step instructions on how to do 492 things practically everyone needs to know... and 8 that no sensible person would ever do. This made me want to search in the book for the things that no sensible person would ever do!


Some of my favorite things to learn from the book included weave a French braid and write with invisible ink, however the book also covers such things as what the different types of facial hair are actually called and how to fend off a shark.


Every reader will come away from this book learning at least one thing she didn't know before!

The good people at Harper Collins are going to give one copy of Show Me How to one of my readers! Just leave me a comment and make sure I have a way to contact you (leave your email address in your comment if you don't have a blog with your email posted).

I will have one of my kids draw the winner on Saturday.

Build-A-Bear-Workshop

We have never been inside a Build-A-Bear-Workshop. I’m sure they’re great fun. The one at our local mall was short-lived, and my kids were too young to realize what it was anyway at the time. Now, the closest store that I know of is at the Mall of America. We’ve seen it, we’ve walked by it, but when we get up to the Mall, my kids are more intent on getting to the rides than doing anything else.

But if you were to listen to my oldest daughter you’d swear she’s made many-a-bear, or at least is certain that she’d love it. And I don’t doubt that she would. It seems that most of her school friends are quite familiar with Build-A-Bear-Workshop and are quite willing to let M in on the particulars.

So when I was offered the chance to check out one of the finished products, I thought I’d better do it.

Hal arrived in the standard, recognizable Build-A-Bear-Workshop blue and white box. I was immediately impressed with how soft he was. Then I tried to light his antlers and I may have swooned a little.

Okay, maybe not swooned but I did immediately think Oh no I have three children how am I going to decide who gets this moose?

Hal is cute, and soft and I know any of my kids would love him and oh no I’m feeling the need to visit the store next time we go to Minneapolis to the Mall of America. It suddenly sounds really fun.

I’ve heard of people putting their children’s binkies into a bear at one of these stores to send the binkie on its way yet keep binkie nearby. I thought about doing that when we were trying to get K to give up ginkie, but I clearly was too lazy.

I also received a book about Hal and his sister Holly called Holly and Hal Moose: Our Uplifting Christmas Adventure. I’ll be honest again. My first thought when I flipped through the book? It is looooong. Nine chapters long of a children’s book. Lots of reading. Not a book to read all in one night to be sure. My kids and I read the first few chapters together and it’s a cute story. We’ll finish reading over the next few days.

If you order both Hal and Holly you receive this book for free. Hal and Holly are $12 each or $24 for both. Yes, I know that looks like you don’t get a deal if you order both, but you do. You get the book ($15.99 list price) free if you order them together.

(According to their website, if you order by Monday 12/22 @ 3 p.m. EST and use 2 Day Express Shipping you can still get it by Christmas!)

Here’s the really good part of this whole review. I also have a $10 gift card for Build-A-Bear-Workshop to give away. You can use the card in a store, or, if you’re lazy like me, online. Just leave me a comment telling me your favorite animal from the site.

Please make sure you leave an email or that your email is very noticeable on your blog (if you do such a thing). I’ll pick a winner Monday night by random.org or by one of my kids, whichever I think is less work at the time. (Or, if the kids are sleeping when I get around to it then random wins!)

By the way, Baby D gets the moose.

Precious Girls Club

A few weeks ago I was invited to review a new club for girls aged 4 to 10 years. It’s based on those adorable ceramic figurines, Precious Moments and it’s called the Precious Girls Club.

There are chapter books that follow Katie Bennett, who is new in town and needs a little help believing in herself and her ability to make friends. Her mom and aunt suggest that she start a club and invite classmates to join. So, the Precious Girls Club is born.

The books do have a religious theme to them, which is both good and bad. We do go to church but we’re not overzealous by any means. I still feel a little uncomfortable mentioning God in day-to-day life. I’m not sure why.

In the first book, A Little Bit of Faith, Katie relies on her guardian angel to help her through difficult times at her new school. She learns that being true to herself and being friendly is the best way to make friends.

M enjoyed reading the book and seemed to like the concept of the guardian angel. That was something we had not introduced before, but I can see benefits to giving her this perceived support. I remember, as a kid, thinking of deceased relatives as guardian angels, so perhaps that’s what M will do as well.

The book had a good message, which is always a good thing.

Besides the book, there is a website that girls can log into to play games and do other activities. It reminds me a little of Webkinz in that you have a character that has a room that you can decorate and that you earn credits by playing games. It’s also a safe way for girls to chat through pre-determined sentences. They click on a button and select things to say to one another like “I just finished my homework,” or “I’m going to go play games.”

I set up M’s account without telling her what I was doing. When she saw the site with the pretty flowers appearing as just the first page was loading she was beside herself with excitement. Every time she saw another girl walking around the online “world” she practically shook with happiness. “Oh my gosh Mom! There’s another girl!”

She was able to play all the games without my help, and that is a major plus in my book. There was a code in the book that we read that offered a free one-month Rainbow membership that was supposed to have added features. However, when M tried to do some of the extra features, they were not yet available. She was disappointed that her Rainbow membership ran out before she could decorate her room or buy more clothes for her person.

The Rainbow membership costs $3.95 a month, which doesn’t sound expensive, but considering you get a year of online membership at Webkinz for $15, the $47.40 yearly dues is too much for this family. We don’t get online to play games even on the Webkinz very often, so if we paid the dues it would most likely be for one or two days a month of play.

Girls can also sign up for a free membership and still play games and chat with other girls on the site, however, the points they earn playing games will do them no good other than the satisfaction of seeing the number go up. The free membership doesn’t let the girls spend their points.

The club is also developing a line of products to go with the books that includes things like stuffed animals, snow globes and jewelry. They sent me some samples to check out, and I’ll be passing some of them on to my readers.

I have 3 copies of the book, A Little Bit of Faith, to give away, as well as some jewelry, a snow globe and a stuffed animal. I haven’t decided how I’m dividing up the prizes yet.

Each item also comes with a code for a free one-month Rainbow membership online.

I also have some codes for free one-month trial memberships that you can email me for if you’re interested and don’t win one of the prizes. (I just have to find what I did with them!)

If you’d like to win one or more of these great products, just leave me a comment and include your email address if you don’t have a blog or if you don’t have an email listed on your blog.

For an extra entry, Twitter about the contest and come back and leave me the link to your tweet.

Entries close December 17th at 8 pm central time. I will draw the winners via random.org or my kids will pick from a hat. Depends on how lazy I am that day.

Eebees Adventures

I was given a DVD, a board book and a bath book of Eebies Adventures to review through PBN.


Of the three products, I like the bath book the best even though my baby is too little to play with it much. I know that when she starts taking baths in the big bathtub by herself that she will have a blast pushing the "buttons" and squirting water. It's so cleverly designed with text that tells the child to "squeeze the sponge" which makes water squirt from the book where the sponge is located on the page.

The board book, called All About Me and You, has a fold-out mirror and text that encourages learning about baby's eyes, nose, mouth, etc by looking in the mirror and reading the words that name each part. Babies always love looking at other babies, especially when those "other babies" are themselves. The shiny mirror that is included is bright and shiny which is always interesting for a baby too. My Baby D was quickly engrossed in looking at the book. We laid on the floor and I read the book to her. We looked in the little mirror together and I could see that D was smiling at herself, and at me.

The DVD, Eebees Adventures: Figuring Things Out, shows the puppet Eebie playing in different ways. In one clip, Eebie is climbing on some foam blocks. I thought this DVD might be helpful for a first-time parent, or parents who find it difficult to find ways to play with their babies. All the suggestions seemed obvious to me, but I have 3 children. My 6-month-old liked the music in the video, but didn't really watch any of it. When she gets a little older she might be more interested in the babies and the Eebie puppet.

The bath and board books were clear winners here at the Zebra house, and in time, the DVD may become more interesting. Check out Eebie for yourself here.