Letters From Space: Book Review

Letters from Space: Picture Book Review

If you have a kid who is fascinated by space, they will adore this fun, fact-filled picture book! Written by Clayton Anderson, an astronaut who spent 152 days aboard the International Space Station, this quirky book is fun and funny! Susan Batori's illustrations bring Clayton's letters alive as he lets the readers know about day-to-day goings on as well as interesting tidbits along the way.

This is probably my favorite illustration below, as Clayton flies around:

The book is a series of letters written by Clayton, and ends with a special author's note with even more interesting facts about astronauts, living in space, and NASA. Here are a few of the quotes from the book that really stood out for me:

I thought this book was really cute! The illustrations are quirky and the information is often presented in a humorous or silly way, which always makes it more fun for kids to engage with.

Find the book on Amazon (affiliate link, read our disclosure) at:

NASA Kids Club

If you haven't already, you'll also want to check out the NASA Kids' Club, which has missions, photo galleries, tons of facts, and downloads for kids!

About the Author

Clayton Anderson is the author of A is for Astronaut: Blasting Through the Alphabet, The Ordinary Spaceman, and It’s a Question of Space: An Ordinary Astronaut’s Answers to Sometimes Extraordinary Questions. He spent 30 years working for NASA, 15 as an engineer and 15 as an astronaut. You can watch a short video about him on YouTube.

To learn more about the author visit www.astroclay.com. You can follow him on Facebook @AstroClay, Twitter @Astro_Clay, or Instagram @astro_clay.

Beginning Circuits Activities for Kids that are Easy to Implement!

Paper Circuit fun with Chibi Lights

I just adore Snap Circuits, but occasionally it's nice to keep a project together to take home or create something, like a card, to send to someone else. In these cases, paper circuits are a great option!

Disclaimer: Please note that Chibitronics did send me kits to review, but the opinions expressed are completely my own. I may earn a small commission for my endorsement, recommendation, testimonial, and/or link to any products or services from this website. Your purchase helps support my work in bringing you downloads of value and information about educational resources. The links below are Amazon affiliate links. You can read my full disclosure here.

What is the Chibi Lights Kit good for?

I think this kit is best suited for a holiday or birthday gift. It is a great way to encourage a child who is either crafty or interested in circuits (or both!). This is also a good option for Makerspaces that host afterschool or weekend enrichment classes, provided they can charge enough to cover the cost. It would be a great activity near the holidays to create a special card or display as a gift.

What is the Chibi Lights Kit NOT good for?

A classroom setting, unless you have been awarded a grant and have a special project in mind (or if you can charge a fee). It would be too costly otherwise.

 Things we liked about the Chibitronics Sticker Circuit Kit

• Easy to read, learn, and use. After unpacking the box, we had built our first circuit within minutes. You can't get much easier than that for implementation!
• The booklet includes fun activities that are engaging for kids. It also includes thorough and useful background information needed to understand and complete the projects.
• All of the components that are needed for the basic projects are provided.

A few things we thought could be better:

• Two times, we thought we made our circuit wrong because it wasn't working quite right. Unfortunately as is sometimes the case with electrical components, the LEDs were just not good. This happens with regular (large) LEDs too sometimes, but we wonder if it happens more often with the tiny LEDs. Switching out the LEDs proved that that was the issue but it was a little hard to debug. It's also possible we got a bad batch.
• The copper tape tears really easily. That is why I am recommending this for ages 10+ unless you have a very careful child.
• The one-time use factor. We knew this going in, but it would be nice to at least reuse the LEDs somehow. 

All in all, I think this is a great kit to expose kids to circuits. The guidebook/sketchbook was much better than I was expecting and is very much worth it for the educational component. The kids get excited when they see their circuit working!

You can purchase the Chibi Lights Kit here:



or find examples of projects to try by clicking this link to go to the Chibitronics Gallery.

Pin these ideas for later:

 

Rainy day fun!

Well, spring finally arrived! It rained *all* day yesterday, so I was thankful I had a new card game waiting for us to play. This one was an instant hit, which is no surprise as my kids seem to love just about every Gamewright game we have tried. The best part of this game is that even when you think you might be ahead, you could be wrong. The strategy is complex. You might think you will score big, only to lose a lot of points at the end or finish out with useless cards. The images on the cards are so adorable that you will want to snuggle the sushi! The educational factor is low (basic addition), but it's a lot of fun and fast-paced.

A fun little game and a great one to pass 10-15 minutes. You do need a score sheet as you play three rounds, however there is no reason you couldn't just play one round instead and not keep score

Please note: this is not an affiliate link, and I did not receive anything for this review. I purchased this game and just wanted to share our thoughts on it!

Game review: Zeus on the Loose

Zeus on the Loose is another Gamewright card game that we love! This is a math game where the main goal is summing to multiples of ten (up to 100). The age listed is 8+, however my almost 6yo really loves this game. In my opinion, the most challenging part is keeping track of the running total.

How it works: There are number cards and special cards. Each player places a card on the pile on their turn and adds to the running total. If you sum to a multiple of 10, you get to take possession of Zeus. The special cards have Greek gods and goddesses on them with instructions (some have you round to the nearest 10, others reset the running total to a specific number, and others just let you steal Zeus). The object of the game is to reach the top of Mount Olympus (100 points) with Zeus in your possession. If you do that, you get the letter Z! A new round starts and each player tries to spell out Z-E-U-S by reaching Mount Olympus four times. This game is simple to figure out, fun to play, and fast. One of my favorite things about card games is that they are so handy to throw in my purse if we go anywhere that requires waiting.

Skills practiced: Math, strategy
Mama Rating:4.5/5
Kid Rating:4.5/5

I should probably note somewhere that I didn't receive this or anything from Gamewright. We just have tons of games and I thought it would be helpful to others to review them!

Game Review: Frog Juice

Frog Juice is a card game made by Gamewright. We have owned it for about a year now and it continues to get regular play. Recommended age is 8-12, but if your child has a good memory or is playing with someone else who can read, I think this game is wonderful for the 5-7 crowd as well. You need to be able to read the spell cards so you know which ingredients to add to your spell. However, there are only a handful of spells so last year my 4yo (not reading) was able to remember most of them, or ask for help from his brother or me. The math portion only goes up to 12, so it is not too cumbersome for your K or 1st grade students.

Image from Amazon

How does it work? You can collect ingredient cards by summing. For example, to collect to "Fair Maid" card above (number 12), you could combine a 7 and a 5 card, or a 9, 2, and 1 card from your hand and collect it from the center. You can also use a 12 card to pick up cards that sum to 12 from the center. In the end, you don't add the face value, but just count the number of ingredient cards you have. There are also fifteen power cards, which are worth one point each. If you get a witch card, you get to sweep up all the cards in the center!

When I first read the instructions, I thought it would be difficult to learn how to play. However, it really is straightforward and after playing through once your kids will remember how to play again in the future. This is one of those games that is helpful to play as you read the instructions for the first time. For classroom use I would suggest purchasing two sets of this game. The deck works best for two players, and well for three, but for four or more I suggest using two decks (combined).

In addition to this game being a ton of fun, you will get brought back to your youth occasionally when this happens:

I know you are glad the Spin Doctors are in your head. You're welcome.

Skills practiced: Math, reading, strategy
Mama Rating:4/5
Kid Rating:3.5/5