I am all for learning especially when it comes to Isabella-Grace. I am always on the lookout for new, creative ideas and ways for her to learn. I was really excited when I stumbled upon Little Boo Learning, thanks to one of my Mama followers and I decided to check them out. I purchased some resources for Bella prior to the Christmas holidays and I was pleasantly surprised when they arrived just in time. When I unboxed everything, it has a lovely little note, “Hey Mama, you are amazing!” This is a nice gesture especially if nobody has told you this recently, it did make me smile.
I love the fact that Little Boo Learning have so many resources for little ones. They use different colours to appeal to children in addition to bright eye-catching illustrations. My daughter is fond of beautiful, colourful things and straightaway went to the colour and number pack eager to open them up and do some learning. She knows a lot of her numbers and colours already, but I enjoy testing her and having a focus number, letter and shape for the week. Coming from a teaching background myself, I used to do a similar thing with my class. It works for my daughter too.
I like the size of the cards, they are not too small, like some that we already have, they are large enough to fit comfortably in tiny hands. My daughter can look at the vibrant illustrations directly as opposed to the smaller flashcards which tend to be more difficult to catch her eye at first glance. I note that Katie, the owner of Little Boo Learning created her resources after realising that there were not many attractive and colourful learning materials for children and I am happy that she did! I am sure that many of her customers would also agree.
The cards can be used indoors and outdoors, by that I mean there is no harm in taking them with you and using them on the go, if you can. When Isabella-Grace and I are on our way out, the flashcards make a fun activity and helps to keep her engaged. My daughter is VERY active and rarely sits still, but when we do focused activities, I notice she becomes fixated on what we are doing so long as she finds it interesting.
On our outings, if we bring the number cards with us, then I play counting games with her. If we bring the shape cards with us then we try to spot objects with some of the shapes, this tends to be slightly more difficult, but gives her something to do and because she is such a determined little girl it does keep her occupied for longer as she tries to find the various shapes. We also discuss the shapes and I encourage her to count the sides.
We have also got the personalised name mat, so that Isabella-Grace can continue to learn how to spell her name; I have given her such a long name! When she was a baby, I often felt sorry for her knowing one day she would have to learn to spell it and write her name, but we have all started from somewhere and she's got this! I know she can do it because I am always cheering her on.
Katie created the personalised name mat when she was teaching her own daughter how to spell her name which is another reason why I decided to order from Little Boo Learning. The resources are proven to help your child to learn if used in the right way over a period of time. I find consistency is key and I incorporate learning into Isabella-Grace’s daily routine.
Another reason why I was led to order from Little Boo Learning is usually when I want to get products personalised for my daughter it is a struggle because of the length of her name, but Little Boo Learning was able to add her name with no problems. This is good as some children do have double barrelled/long names. When it comes to my daughter's name, I prefer for her name not to be shortened because her name had a powerful meaning. Shortening her name to me is like taking away the meaning. I am pleased that she also takes great pride in her name too and often corrects people if they call her “Isabella.”
The name mats are a great idea to help children to familiarise themselves with their names. They are able to remove the letters and put them back because of the Velcro which means this is an activity that can be done repeatedly. Once the letters are stuck down in place, they don't usually fall off which is super handy too as this means no pieces will get lost. As we all know this can happen with children and even with adults, so it is good to prevent missing pieces.
I would recommend Little Boo Learning resources because I am a supporter of small businesses. I prefer to support small businesses because although they are not as established as larger businesses, they work really hard and have very talented individuals behind them whose ideas often stemmed from personal experiences. Little Boo Learning sell great, affordable products, helping children everywhere to learn at their own pace with their parent(s).
To me that is a win!