Brain Games Kids: Toddler Time

I really like the concept behind these books. They feature large, spiral bindings and pages of activities that you can just pull out and do with your toddler-preschooler any time with absolutely no prep and no writing. I envision using them to pass time when traveling, waiting at a restaurant, or anytime as purposeful play. Most activity pages hold 3-4 multiple pictures, each in its own brightly colored frame. Each framed picture has a simple question for the parent to ask at the top such as "How many pennies can you count?" "What is this body part?", "Which bowl is the opposite of full", or "Do you see the letter F hidden in the picture six times? Other feature pages that I really appreciate are the reading comprehension selections that appear in the Toddler Time and Preschool Prep titles. Those pages hold a well-known nursery rhyme or short story and then ask a question such as "What dried up all the rain? (Itsy Bitsy Spider) or "Where was Red Riding Hood going?" Each book features 301 pictures/questions total in areas that include language arts, math, science, social studies, physical and emotional development, fine arts, vocabulary, and foreign language.

A couple small "cons" I have to mention – the second page of each set of facing pages is an answer page that shows the same framed pictures only lightened, with the answers circled or written on top. Because of the spiral binding these are easy to hide, but since the questions are so simple, it seems a waste of paper. The other complaint is that some of the pictures/words represented on the letter pages in the Preschool Prep title are poorly chosen, such as "onion" for O, "chicken" for C, and "eyes" for E. That being said, I think you and your children will enjoy exploring these together! – Steph