I'm a full-time mummy

Here is another app which I got to review with Ben in my search to get more educational preschool apps for him. Anyway, my review as below...

* Title: Number Sense HD
* Price: $0.99
* Category: Education
* Updated: Aug 27, 2010
* Version: 1.1
* Size: 18.4 MB
* Language: English
* Seller: EMANTRAS
* Rated: 4+
* Requirements: Compatible with iPad.Requires iOS 3.2 or later

Description from the product page:

"Mathomatix: Number Sense is back and better than ever! Endorsed by Apple as New and Noteworthy (for the iphone) this popular app for kindergarteners makes its debut on the iPad. Like the original, this first of the Mathomatix series for tiny tots comes with five fun games rolled into one app. But this time, based on the encouraging feedback we received, the games have been redesigned*. We have upped the learning quotient without compromising on the fun quotient which made the original so popular.

BOOSTER BALLS
Helps your kids learn counting from 1 to 30 by feeding some monsters. Don’t worry, the monsters don’t bite but the game will definitely keep your kids occupied.

DO THE DOTTY
A simple but engaging connect-the-dots game that will help your kids recognize and memorize numbers in the right order. Oh, and don’t be surprised if they show you a moon that they have just colored blue!

NUMBERELLA
A super hero donkey (Drizzle is his name) is all you need to get kids to compare numbers, without objects, from 1 to 10. And yeah, Drizzle can be tickled too!

FISHOONKA
This deceptively simple game uses a school of fish to demonstrate the concepts of greater than, less than and equal to! Your kids are gonna love the interactive environment.

TOOT TOOT TRAIN
From Chocolateville to Licorice Lane runs a train that relies on addition and subtraction. Curious? You will simply have to play the game! "

What's good?

* There are 5 games which came with this app and I think the one that got Ben's attention the most is the "TOOT TOOT TRAIN". Maybe because it is train? In any case, I like the idea of this game which is to teach my child the concept of numbering (adding, subtracting). For now, I'm more into focusing Ben to get used to the idea of counting 1 to 10 and seeing the objects being added or subtracted one by one.

* We didn't try further on the "NUMBERELLA" and "DO THE DOTTY" games as I have yet to start Ben into recognising numbers.

Room for Improvement?

* For the "TOOT TOOT TRAIN" game, I would love it if the number (in the star symbol) is pronounced when we touched it.

* For the "FISHOONKA" game, I was initially excited to see this game as I think Ben would love it! I thought the goal of the game is to touch which part of the screen with more or less colored fish indicated (cos Ben is able to identify which is more and which is less), but I was wrong. We have to move the colored fish so that we can fulfil the requirements. I think that is a teenie weenie bit too hard for my boy for now.

In summary, I think this app is a great app and would benefit my boy when the time comes. At the moment, we cannot utilise the games fully as Ben has just been introduced to numbers (we are taking it slow and easy), he can count 1 to 10 but he has yet been shown the numbers to relate to it. I will definitely use this app again in the coming few weeks or months.

You can purchase the "Number Sense HD" app from the iTunes App Store.

I received no monetary compensation for this review, I was provided with the promo code by the sponsor to redeem the application for free from iTunes Store in order to facilitate my review. All opinions expressed in this post are my own. Please do your own research when purchasing products, as your opinions may differ from mine. And if you'd like to read my previous iPad Apps reviews, you can do so by reading this post of mine called "My iPad App Reviews"

"Have you seen my keys?"

"Is my key here?"

"I can't find my keys! Help me look for them! I need to go out now!"

These are the regular statements I get bombarded with at least once a month by my hubby. He is quite notorious with his habits of misplacing his keys (and wallet.. and mobile phone...) and I'm normally the one who gets all tensed up trying to help him look for it ASAP. It either ends up with all of us tense up finally finding his keys or he left with my keys to rush for his appointments leaving me at home without keys (or still trying to find his keys). 

So I was delighted of course to see there is such a product in the market and decided to request for a review opportunity and without further yakking, here goes my review for the "Key Finder":

Description from the product page:

"Losing your keys can be a real drag when you're trying to get somewhere fast. Not to worry - The Key Finder has got you covered! Feast your eyes on the remarkable way that many smart people are keeping the eye on the prize! All you have to do is whistle and your keys will make sure that you find them! Whether they are in the dryer or in the couch cushions, you will never be late again!

All you need do is attach your keys to this natty looking keyring whistle and the key fob will noisily beep and flash helping you to find your lost keys in seconds!

Dimensions:
Height - 4.6cm, Width - 2.6cm, Depth - 1cm

Please note:
You will have to experiment with the pitch of your whistle as the key finder is pitch sensitive. Don't worry, you'll soon pick it up!
Whistle Range: Up to 20m"

The key finder is a small nifty little product, which is easily hooked alongside your bunch of keys. I'd love to have the red colored one but then I requested this product so I could give it to my hubby and I think the white colored one suits him better. If you look at the picture below, you can see the key finder is shorter than the lnegth of my thumb. I love that it is not heavy or bulky at all!

We immediately got down to testing out the product by hiding our bunch of keys under the pillow and hubby starts whistling. It started beeping and lights flashing as well to indicate its location. You can view the video for the Demo on How the Key Finder Works to have an actual feel on how it works.

As usual while hubby and I were busy trying and testing out the key finder, my 3 year old Benjamin was getting all excited and intrigued at the small gadget going on and off and beeping and flashing lights at the sound of hubby's whistling. So we told him to try whistle and see whether the key finder works. You can also check out the video that I took of my 3 year old boy trying to make the Key Finder work... and fails at it!

One thing that you need to take note is if you can't whistle (like me!), then it is not easy for you to use this product but I noticed there are certain sound that will trigger the beeping sound on this key finder - such as my girl squealing sound hahahaha...

Nevertheless, a very good product I say!

Now I wonder do they have similar products for wallet, watch, thumb drive, iPad....

The Key Finder is one of the many 'Gifts for Dad' items featured under the Father's Day event on the website.

Go check out their website to see a whole lot more awesome products being sold by them!

I received no monetary compensation for this review, I was provided with the product by Prezzybox in order to facilitate my review. All opinions expressed in this post are my own. Please do your own research when purchasing products, as your opinions may differ from mine.

I remembered those good old days where I stayed up late at night to play Pac-Man on my video arcade game console. Those were the good old days...! If you have never heard of Pac-Man, then you will not understand why I'm excited over this retro bag that I get to review recently. And if you know what is Pac-Man, you'll wish you have this bag too! Here goes my review for the "Skyline Pac-Man Fever 80s Retro Bag":

Description from the product page:
"What's that blip-blip sound? It's the Pac-Man zipping along chewing up dots, ghosts, Blinky, Inky, Pinky and Clyde. No, our Pac-Man Fever 1980s Classic Retro Reporter Bag Doesn't actually come with the sounds, but you could probably make them yourself while traveling with this reporter bag. With Pac-Man and the ghost images layered onto a tough retro vinyl exterior, heavy nylon lining and pocket space, all your gaming supplies, iPods and iPads, and Pacman goodies stay safe and dry in this awesome tribute to the greatest game ever made.

Pac-Man is one of the only three games that are featured in the Smithsonian Institute. This is the PacMan Fever 80s Retro Bag - Skyline Men's and Women's, in Black and Brown colors. It rocks, get one and join us.Rocking, munching dots, dodging Ghosts! This is a seriously funky bag, you'll love it."

The moment I took out the bag from the package wrapper, my boy immediately pointed at Pac-Man and its 4 enemies (Blinky, Pinky, Inky and Clyde) and he says "Mummy look, monsters chasing!". Now back to my review, I love the bag, I really do!

The leathery feel of the vinyl bag, though a bit heavy for me was soon forgotten when I inspect the bag further. I love the long adjustable strap (not easy to find one) which are secured tightly to the sides of the bag. I immediately adjusted the length to suit my requirements, which is to wear it as a sling bag because that's how I roll, oh yeah!

I like the 2 cute zippers on the bag (I get annoyed when there's only one zip on a bag), I mean, 2 zips are cool as I can open it from either sides! Upon further inspection in the insides of the bag, I discovered a zip compartment and a open layered compartment (can easily slip in my iPad, yeah!)

Then I get down to transferring the stuff in my diaper bag to the Pac-Man bag. Obviously my old diaper bag is much smaller than the new one but I like it as the new bag now looks slim and fit (unlike the diaper bag which is out of proportion and getting worn out) In the pictures above, you can see my 3 year old immediately tried to carry my new bag (he can't hahaha..) and he too, can't resist but got down to search through the contents in my new bag!

I immediately brought the bag along at the very first opportunity for a family outing and bugged my hubby to take a picture of me with the new bag, because I need to show to you guys how excited I am to be the owner of this retro bag! I feel so proud to be able to relive some childhood memories of playing Pac-Man and that this bag will be tagging along with us from now on when we go out for our family outings.

All I can say is I love this bag! I'm so happy I get to review this bag!

You can get this funky bag at: http://www.arkclothes.com/pac-man-fever-80s-retro-bag/

I received no monetary compensation for this review, I was provided with the product by Ark Clothes in order to facilitate my review. All opinions expressed in this post are my own. Please do your own research when purchasing products, as your opinions may differ from mine.