Recently, I wrote about ways to enrich your bilingual child’s vocabulary over at our sister site, SpanglishBaby, and one of the tips was to try to make everything into a topic of conversation. Coincidentally, the same day, I got the product pictured above which is a table game about exactly that: questions – from the thought-provoking to the trivial – to get a conversation going.

I’ve always been a fan of board games. I used to spend endless hours playing Monopoly with my older sister (just don’t ask her what I did if I lost – yes, I’m a sore loser!). So, I can’t wait until both my kids are old enough to play them with me. I’ve always been a fan of asking questions, too – hence my choice in careers: I’m a journalist – so as soon as I found out about Table Topics, I wanted to get my hands on it.

You see, Table Topics is a game of 135 cards – which come in a cool acrylic cube – with all kinds of questions to get a conversation started. There are several different themes including: Teen, Couples, Girls Night Out and Right or Wrong. And the best part is that they have two bilingual editions, Family and Original. Since the questions come in both English and Spanish they are great no matter which is your native tongue. The Family edition has questions suitable for any age. The Original is geared toward children over the age of 12.

Here are some sample questions from the Family version so you can get an idea as what to expect:

• Which three objects would you save first if your house caught fire?
• What’s the funniest story you’ve heard for why someone couldn’t turn in their homework?
• Why would you rather be a girl or a boy?
• If you could speak another language which would you choose?

Imagine all the new vocabulary your kids can be exposed to just by answering some of these questions. And, remember the best thing to do is to keep the conversation going by continuing to ask questions from whatever answers they give. Definitely a great time to learn while having fun and spending some quality time together!

I think these are perfect especially this time of year when so many of us gather with family and friends to celebrate the holidays.

A Giveaway!!

This giveaway is now closed. CONGRATULATIONS TO OUR WINNERS #6 JULIE and #16 AMY!!!

You have a chance to win one Family and one Original cube from Table Topics. All you have to do is go to to Table Topics and tell us which theme of all their cubes is your favorite and why.

That’s all you have to do to enter this giveaway. If you want to up your chances at winning, then click here to learn how to get additional entries.

This giveaway ends Sunday, November 22nd at midnight EST.

For the part that nobody likes, but we’ve gotta have, check out the Giveaway Rules.

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Secret Phrase: "One of the greatest feats of human development is the acquisition of language. "

One of the biggest challenges of raising a preschooler is to get their focus and attention for at least five minutes.  Well, that´s the case in my house.  I mean, we´re finally getting to the stage where storytime doesn´t mean ripping and biting books!  That´s why I felt we passed a milestone yesterday when my girl and I peacefully sat down to name the colorful objects in Eeboo´s Spanish Flash Cards.  What I thought was going to turn into a room of cards flying wildly was actually a very sweet moment of communication between mom and daughter, and one where mamá was very proud at the many objects her hija knows the words for.

I was immediately attracted to the beautiful aesthetic design of all the Eeboo products.  They specialize in educational games for multicultural kids.  They have several games to develop Spanish vocabulary.  These flash cards are completely bilingual.  On one side they have a gorgeous illustration of an object with its corresponding name in Spanish and a sentence using the word.  On the other side of the card is the same illustration with the word in English and the translated sentence.  The cards are geniously grouped into seven different categories:  Animals, Clothing, Colors, The Market, Nature, The Room and Vehicles.

The recommended age is 5 and up, but we had so much fun just recognizing the objects she´s already so familiar with.  As she grows up, she´s two now, we can  make up so many cool games with these cards that will keep our imagination rolling. If nothing else, I can use them as wall art to decorate her room!

Also, if you don´t speak Spanish, but want to teach some words to your kids and learn along the way, they´ve included a phonetic pronunciation guide to get you started.

Check it out in La Tiendita.

Secret Phrase: "One of the greatest feats of human development is the acquisition of language. "

When the time comes I will need all-the-help-I-can-get to introduce my girl to numbers and math concepts.  There´s a reason why I chose to write and communicate as a profession and why  I need a calculator to figure out tips.

I really don´t want to pass along that fear of numbers to her.  Ingenio´s Math-o-matic manages to make learning numbers fun by disguising it as a colorful puzzle/game.

You can start out using it just to teach your kid numbers from 1-20 using the individual cards.  They´re all two-sided and bilingual.  On one side there´s just a large, colorful number.  On the flip side is the word for that number in both English and Spanish as well as objects to count.

Once your child is ready to start learning basic math concepts you can introduce the 22 math cards which are basically a rectangle with an equation that´s missing one number or sign.  Your child needs to use her budding math skills to “fill in the blank.”  In the process, she’ll be learning number sequencing, addition, subtraction, multiplication and division.  Just like that.

Y mamá?  Well, she gets a little, and much-needed, brain boost along the way.

All of Ingenio´s bilingual toys are available only via Amazon for now.  Of course, the best way to get them is via La Tiendita.

The Giveaway!

This giveaway is now closed. Congratulations to the winner:  Christa Marteny!!

Ingenio, the first educational bilingual toys and games brand in the U.S., has chosen you to be the first to get a chance to win every single one of their ten toys.  Today is the last day of the Ingenio giveaways.  You can enter to win Math-o-matic, awarded the Creative Child Magazine 2009 Seal of Excellence, simply by leaving a comment telling us which of the 10 bilingual Ingenio toys we reviewed these last two weeks is your favorite and why. You can find them all here.

That’s all you have to do to enter this giveaway.  If you want to up your chances at winning, then click here to learn how to get additional entries.

This giveaway ends tonight, Friday, September 4th, at midnight EST.

For the part that nobody likes, but we’ve gotta have, check out the Giveaway Rules.

{Make sure you’re subscribed to the SBFinds feed via email or RSS so that you can be notified of our weekly Finds, special discounts and awesome giveaways.}

Secret Phrase: "One of the greatest feats of human development is the acquisition of language. "

Another big hit during the playgroup I recently hosted to review Ingenio’s toys, in one word, the North American Map Puzzle, is STURDY!  I know we’ve been using this word a lot these past few days when describing this bilingual toy company’s products, but it’s the truth and nothing is more important than a toy well-built when it is to be handed to little hands which like to destroy as they explore.

Vanessa L-O-V-E-S puzzles, she calls them “copezas,” and she also finds maps intriguing. I have a big world map in my home office with pins that identify the places I’ve been lucky enough to visit or live in and she always wants to know more about it.

The pieces of this puzzle are BIG! Perfect for my daughter’s little hands and although she’s still too young to put it together on her own, we’ve had a lot of fun doing it together. I loved that I was able to show her where she was born and that because of the image of the Rocky Mountains on the piece that belongs to her birth state, Colorado, she was able to remember it when we put it together again a few days later. Each state and/or country has an image that somehow represents it. I like that a lot!

I also liked that I was also able to tell her where her big brother was born (Florida), where her Papi was born (Puerto Rico) and where part of her family on my side lives (Mexico). Unfortunately, I couldn’t show her where I was born (Peru) because as the box clearly states, the map only depicts North America. I do wish that Ingenio would either have one of South America or just add another one that includes both continents.

One of the mamis that brought her daughter to the playgroup teaches Spanish to both adults and children and she was really impressed by Ingenio’s toys. She told me all of them would be of great help in teaching kids and that she always had a difficult time finding bilingual toys that were both fun and educational!

All of Ingenio´s bilingual toys are available only via Amazon for now.  Of course, the best way to get them is via La Tiendita.

The Giveaway!

This giveaway is now closed.  Congratulations to our winner:  Kathy Pease!

Ingenio, the first educational bilingual toys and games brand in the U.S., has chosen you to be the first to get a chance to win every single one of their ten toys.  Today you can enter to win Alphabet Learning Puzzle simply by leaving a comment telling us why you would like to win this.

That’s all you have to do to enter this giveaway.  If you want to up your chances at winning, then click here to learn how to get additional entries.

This giveaway ends tonight, Thursday, September 3rd, at midnight EST.

Remember, tomorrow’s the last day of our two-week-long giveaway of Ingenio’s toys + games! So don’t forget to come back!

{Make sure you’re subscribed to the SBFinds feed via email or RSS so that you can be notified of the giveaway of one Ingenio bilingual toy every day this week and of the many, many more finds to come.}

For the part that nobody likes, but we’ve gotta have, check out the Giveaway Rules.

Secret Phrase: "One of the greatest feats of human development is the acquisition of language. "

The first thing that captured my attention on this Ingenio Animals Learning Puzzle was that it says “Two puzzles in one” on the box. I didn’t quite get it because there is just one big puzzle and it has animals with their names written in both Spanish in English. But when I gave it to my almost 3 y/o son to play with, the way he started putting it together made me “get it”.

He first built each animal or tree or mountain and then he put together those pieces which made the big puzzle. This way it makes it easier to put together. It’s like having many little puzzles of each animal and then with those having to build a big one. He had one piece of the Lion, for example, and all he did was look for the other piece: “Dónde está otro león mami? Ah, aquí está!!”

I love the fact that the words are written in Spanish, because it’s hard to find toys that have Spanish in them. What I usually do is translate the words in Spanish when they are written in English. My son doesn’t know how to read yet, but when it’s time I think he’ll be a little bit more prepared by already observing written words in Spanish.  Plus, it helps me remember some animal names in español I sometimes forget!

I’m looking forward to playing with the other Ingenio bilingual games when he’s older.  I can’t believe they have everything in both languages-LOVE IT!

All of Ingenio´s bilingual toys are available via Amazon.  Of course, the best way to get them is via La Tiendita.

Today´s Find was reviewed by fabulous graphic designer + mamá Dariela and her adorable boy Adrián. You can keep up with them thru Nuestra Vida con Adrián and Folklore Eye.

The Giveaway!

This giveaway is now closed.  Congratulations to our winner:  Jaclyn Reynolds!

Ingenio, the first educational bilingual toys and games brand in the U.S., has chosen you to be the first to get a chance to win every single one of their ten toys.  Today you can enter to win an Animals Learning Puzzle, which received a Creative Child Magazine´s Preferred Choice Award for 2009, simply by leaving a comment telling us why you would like to win this.

That’s all you have to do to enter this giveaway.  If you want to up your chances at winning, then click here to learn how to get additional entries.

This giveaway ends tonight, Wednesday, September 2nd, at midnight EST.

{Make sure you’re subscribed to the SBFinds feed via email or RSS so that you can be notified of the giveaway of one Ingenio bilingual toy every day this week and of the many, many more finds to come.}

For the part that nobody likes, but we’ve gotta have, check out the Giveaway Rules.

Today´s Find was reviewed by fabulous graphic designer + mamá Dariela and her adorable boy Adrián. You can keep up with them thru Nuestra Vida con Adrián and Folklore Eye.

Secret Phrase: "One of the greatest feats of human development is the acquisition of language. "

My daughter loves to sing and dance, but has a really hard time sitting still to “learn” anything.  It’s like she recognizes a certain “I’m-about-to-teach-you-something”  tone in my voice that makes her bolt running.

This bilingual Alphabet Learning Puzzle is one more of Ingenio’s games that has been cleverly created to satisfy a mom’s need to teach and her child’s need to play.  The 27 pieces that make up this puzzle give you two learning games in one box.  One side has the 26 letters of the English alphabet in a light blue background; flip it around to the white background and you have the 27 letters of el abecedario en español.

The puzzle is well constructed with sturdy pieces perfect for little hands.  We have fun putting it together and naming the objects in both languages.  I would like for this puzzle to include the CH and the LL as they are officially part of the Spanish alphabet and we do learn it when we sing la canción del abecedario. It would make the learning process more harmonious.  But, as I started off saying, she only cares about having fun. And fun she´s having.

All of Ingenio´s bilingual toys are available via Amazon.  Of course, the best way to get them is via La Tiendita.

The Giveaway!

This giveaway is now closed.  Congratulations to the winner:  Chrysa!

Ingenio, the first educational bilingual toys and games brand in the U.S., has chosen you to be the first to get a chance to win every single one of their ten toys.  Today you can enter to win Alphabet Learning Puzzle simply by leaving a comment telling us why you would like to win this.

That’s all you have to do to enter this giveaway.  If you want to up your chances at winning, then click here to learn how to get additional entries.

This giveaway ends tonight, Friday, August 27, at midnight EST.

Have a great Labor Day weekend and please come back on Monday for five more days of giveaways of Ingenio’s toys + games.

{Make sure you’re subscribed to the SBFinds feed via email or RSS so that you can be notified of the giveaway of one Ingenio bilingual toy every day this week and of the many, many more finds to come.}

For the part that nobody likes, but we’ve gotta have, check out the Giveaway Rules.

Secret Phrase: "One of the greatest feats of human development is the acquisition of language. "

When I heard about Ingenio, and the great bilingual toys and games they’ve created, I got extremely excited. You can probably imagine, then, just how much the excitement grew when this Spanglish mami witnessed her son putting Spanish words together.  No fuss, no saying “but mom” or “do I have to?”  Did I mention the words he was putting together where in Spanish?!?  And that he was having fun?!

Any company that helps a mamá make learning Spanish fun by making educational games like Spellable gets a G-R-E-A-T in my book.

Spellable is a new puzzle game created to help your child learn the alphabet, beginning sound words and spell three letter words in both English and Spanish. With its bright colored letters and fun picture cards it was an instant hit in our home.  My son is a proficient reader in English, but Spanish is still a work in progress for us.  Making it exciting to learn can be challenging.  With Spellable he was able to focus, look at the pictures and choose the correct letters to spell the words.  He was SO  happy when he spelled the words right that he soon started spelling more difficult words he found around the house.

What I love the most about Spellable is that it grows with your child, starting with the alphabet and working its way up to a reader.  Ingenio has it going on, specially with the very affordable price.  Go on, hurry to La Tiendita and get your Spanglish baby a new Spellable …. did I spell that right?

All of Ingenio´s bilingual toys are available via Amazon.  Of course, the best way to get them is via La Tiendita.

Today’s find, Spellable, was reviewed by Marcela Beatty, bilingual mom of a boy, a baby girl and two German Shepherds. Their cuteness is chronicled by Marcella on 8 Year Old & Babies.

The Giveaway!

This giveaway is now closed.  Congratulations to our winner:  Susan Smoaks!

Ingenio, the first educational bilingual toys and games brand in the U.S., has chosen you to be the first to get a chance to win every single one of their ten toys.  Today you can enter to win Spellable, winner of a Dr. Toy Best Vacation Product 2009 award, simply by leaving a comment telling us why you would like to win this.

That’s all you have to do to enter this giveaway.  If you want to up your chances at winning, then click here to learn how to get additional entries.

This giveaway ends tonight, Wednesday, August 26, at midnight EST.

{Make sure you’re subscribed to the SBFinds feed via email or RSS so that you can be notified of the giveaway of one Ingenio bilingual toy every day this week and of the many, many more finds to come.}

For the part that nobody likes, but we’ve gotta have, check out the Giveaway Rules.

Secret Phrase: "One of the greatest feats of human development is the acquisition of language. "