Mommy's Lil Helper: BlackBerry

LilSugar — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 06:00:06 PDT

When you don't have a pen and paper, introduce your preschooler to technology. I normally carry a notebook and pencil in my purse so my daughter can doodle if we get stuck in a long line or dressing room, but the other day an impromptu trip to the mall turned into an hour of waiting while my husband got fitted for suits. Though my purse was loaded with items to entertain an almost-2-year-old, my son slept and my daughter wasn't all that interested in toying around his Hot Wheels.

She is, however, learning to write the alphabet, so I handed her my BlackBerry, opened the memo setting, and asked her to write her name and age. Then, we killed time and sharpened her letter recognition skills by identifying different letters and numbers from the keyboard. And, of course, I taught her how to make a happy face!

Website lil Loves: Speakaboos

LilSugar — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 13:30:03 PDT

The benefits of reading with children are beyond debate. It helps teach them letter and word recognition, engages them in conversation, and introduces them to new concepts. Transferring those benefits to the online world is not easy, but Speakaboos tries to do just that. The site offers online storytelling of classic fables and fairy tales - as well as stories involving newer popular characters - by big name celebrities such as Kevin Bacon, Clay Aiken, Kelly Ripa, and John Krasinski. As the stories are told, and the words appear on the screen, the books come to life with beautiful animation.

There are worksheets, games, and e-cards accompanying the various tales and eventually, visitors will have the ability to create their own stories online, including doing their own voice-overs. Watching the tales is free, but there is also an option to download them for $1, and purchase albums with multiple stories for $9 each with 15 percent of the revenue donated to the National Education Association and The Creative Coalition.