The Best of MommyMaestra 2013

Dear friends,

It is the last day of the year. I had not planned to write a post for today, but I was inspired by Simple Homeschool. Their blog post today got me to wondering about the content here on MommyMaestra, so I decided to look back and see what posts were popular this past year. It was very hard to choose only one from each month. I want to thank all the guest contributors, as well as regular contributor, Betty Galvan, for their great posts.

I also want to thank MommyMaestra sponsors, Monarca Language, Lectura para Niños, and Spanish for You. Their wonderful printables that they create just for you and share for free. I know many of you look forward to these printables, as do I.

Wishing you all a very happy new year!

January

In Memory of Amelia Earheart

"A free spirit with the determination to break records, Amelia is probably best remembered for her disappearance during her attempt to fly around the world. But she was also the first woman to fly alone across the Atlantic and set three new records for speed."

I shared a few great resources that we used to study this amazing woman.

February

Apps for Reading in Spanish

"A Facebook follower asked me about apps that teach children learning to read in Spanish. This question is becoming more and more common, so...I'm creating a comprehensive list here for you to explore on your own."

A list of 9 apps for reading in Spanish.

March

 Celebrate National Grammar Day with Super Grammar!

"I thought the book would be fun reading for my kids, but little did I know that I would actually wind up using this book as part of our homeschool Language Arts curriculum. We have been using Super Grammar for about a month now and I have been amazed at how much my children enjoy learning grammar, AND how much I enjoy teaching it!"

Learn how I've used Super Grammar to teach my kids.

April

5 Tips for Non-Native Speakers to Homeschool Bilingually

"We are now nearing the end of our first year of bilingual homeschooling.  There have been plenty of bumps along the way, but overall I would call it a success."

This guest post by Heather Magnuson was extremely popular and a wonderful source of encouragement for bilingual homeschoolers.

May

Cricket Magazine Launches Babybug...en español!

"With early learning a critical issue for Latino families that has a significant impact on academic performance, it is important for us to find the resources that we need to prepare our children for school."

June

Spanish Preschool Curriculum Review: Monarca Language

"I have written extensively about the importance of parents working with their children at home to teach them basic concepts such as letter and number recognition, shapes, colors, and more. And now I have a new one to add to the list!"

 Read my review of another great resource for bilingual parents of preschoolers.

July

Summer Learning: Science! Raising Tadpoles from Your Garden

"Science and learning opportunities are everywhere around us. We just have to be ready to grasp the opportunities when they pop up, before the chance to learn something incredibly beautiful and real slips away."

Read about how we raised tadpoles from our backyard, and learned valuable lessons before releasing them back into the wild.

August

 The Letter M Counting Book in Spanish

"I love that the counting book is so interactive. Not only does your child learn numbers, but there is also a space at the bottom of each page where your child can practive their writing skills. And of course, each page comes with fun illustrations for your child to color. Math and reading and writing all in one librito!"

Each month, my sponsors share fantastic free printables for MommyMaestra readers to download, like this one from Lectura para Niños.

September 

My Immigration Story

"Unless your ancestors were Native Americans, you have an immigrant in your family. We all do. Even our Founding Fathers were the progeny of immigrants. The United States was colonized by immigrants, and the country was built on the backs of immigrants."

Everyone has a story. Do you know yours? Here's mine...

October

Boo Bags! Combining Two Traditions

"Leave it to this teacher-mom to find a way to combine a tradition that is new to us and to incorporate one that has existed in our Mexican culture for so long."

MommyMaestra regular contributor, Betty Galvan, shares a fantastic activity that combines traditions from both her children's cultural backgrounds.

November 

5 Things To Consider When Choosing Bilingual Homeschooling

"From my perspective, if your ultimate goal is for your children to be multilingual and multicultural, then bilingual homeschooling is definitely a great option for your family."

Guest contributor, Denise Leitch, shares her bilingual homeschooling story with MommyMaestra readers.

December

Free Christmas Board Game in Spanish

"A Christmas vocabulary and board game plus audio file. For Spanish-learning children and families, this printable is a fun activity for everyone."

MommyMaestra sponsor, Spanish for You, shares monthly printables with audio files for those of you learning Spanish!

Last Bilingual Christmas Printable for the Year

For my final post of the year, I wanted to share a free and simple activity to develop your child's vocabulary and spelling skills. This bilingual Christmas acrostic is easy for older children to fill out alone, or younger kids can work it out with an adult.

DOWNLOAD YOUR FREE COPY HERE

I'm going to take the rest of this year off to spend with my family and recharge for the coming year.

I want to wish ALL OF YOU a very happy holiday and safe new year!

Feliz Navidad...

~Monica

True Holiday Spirit: My Sons' Gift to their Abuelos

I just got off the phone with my dad. I have a feeling that he has been calling a lot more lately because he knows that we won't be going home to Chicago for Christmas. We missed going home some years ago with very good reasons; living in Tokyo or having just had a baby are good excuses to not travel around the holidays. But this year, it will be bittersweet as my youngest is just 18 months. And my parents remember having the five of us over last year, as a complete family, as if it were just yesterday.

Deciding to stay home for the holidays was not easy. Hubby and I went back and forth about it for the past two months! Travel expenses, a much needed "staycation," and the awful East Coast weather helped seal the deal to stay put. So the boys and I decided to make a really special Christmas gift for the patriarchs of both families. Both my husband's father and mine are not easy to shop for (don't tell them!), but we love them so much we want them to have something super special. Since I had given this type of gift to them many years ago after having my firstborn, I knew this present would be a hit again.

Just as we suggested earlier this year to end your school year with a scrapbook or yearbook, I thought a calendar to show how much the boys have grown over the past months would be a very neat idea. Both abuelos have their own offices and I knew they would display them with pride. A gift that truly lasts a lifetime.

For this project I chose Shutterfly and had my oldest, Diego, help me pick out the pictures and suggest what months we should place them on. He was very cute while choosing the template that has the basic seasonal themes (hearts for February, leaves for November, etc.) because, "Mami, it's a calendar." Jajaja! Right. Although we are mailing the gifts and they boys won't get to see their grandfather's faces when they open their neatly wrapped gift, for now, Diego is the only one of the three boys who understands what it means to give a gift with all his heart.

Nevertheless, even our three year old constantly asks for his abuelitos, and he doesn't quite understand that they don't live in the beautiful house down the block. My job is to always talk to them about the true meaning of Christmas, their extended family whom they adore, and the special things we can do from afar.

I hope you all have a wonderful holiday and wish you nothing but the best for 2014!!

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Betty Galvan, is helping her readers "find the positive and seek the benefits" over
at My Friend Betty Says...

Gifting Music to Children

One of the most powerful teaching tools that a parent or educator can use is music. Studies show that children learn faster when music is incorporated in lessons, which explains why songs like the Alphabet Song, Old MacDonald, and the rhythmic words of nursery rhymes are so popular.

So it surprises me that more parents don't gift music to their children during the holidays. I've made it a point to buy CD's and download MP3's for my kids over the years. I have three categories that I consider when purchasing albums:

Educational - Educational albums are those that teach something like language, math, values, science, or anything really that they can use in their daily lives or as they get older. Some songs are learned from TV shows; my kids can hum the entire theme song of MASH and when we solve math problems, they quickly launch into PBS KIDS' Peg + Cat's "The Problem's Solved."

Eclectic - Music that spans space and time. Our collection includes Sergio Mendes and Brazill '66, Yiddish music, Celtic Soul, Mondo Mambo, and Bluegrass. My kids can recognize the theme song to Grease just as easily as they can the Gypsy King's Baila Me and Mozart's Eine kleine, Nachtmusik.

Fun -We love music that makes us move. Those beats are the ones that sink into our bones and stay in our memories forever. I also like to let my kids choose albums, and one of our best finds ever? A Star Wars LP! You haven't lived until you've jumped around dancing to the Cantina Song!

So if you're thinking about gifting music this holiday, here are just a few that I recommend:

Educational:

Do we have any Daniel Tiger fans here? If so, you may be happy to know that there's a brand new Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood holiday album! The album is a mini 5-song holiday album based on the special “Snowflake Day” episode that recently aired on PBS KIDS. Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood – Snowflake Day – EP is available on iTunes now.

On the album, Daniel Tiger is joined by award-winning Canadian singer, Matt Dusk. I just discovered Dusk, and I hope you like him as much as I do!

Album details:
Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood | "Snowflake Day"

1.     Opening Theme (Holiday version) - Daniel and Matt Dusk

2.     The Snowflake Day Song -  Daniel and Matt Dusk

3.     Let Your Light Twinkle - Matt Dusk & Cast    

4.     Friends Make the Best Presents - Cast

5.     Closing Song (It's Such a Good Feeling) - Matt Dusk & Daniel

Music with Sara is a super fun album for those of you teaching your children Spanish. Sara creates her own original versions of Latin American songs and they are clever, up-beat, and funny.

I've shared Sara's songs before on MommyMaestra. You can listen to some samples of her songs here.

You can find all of her songs and albums here. Her most recent album, Más Canciones en Español, has sold out of CD's, but you can still download it on her site. It features 18 songs in Spanish for children.

Eclectic

The Best of Bluegrass (The Americana Series) - Possibly the best introduction to Bluegrass there is, this album features songs by Alison Krauss, Ricky Skaggs, Lester Flatt, and the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band just to name a few. 

The Essential Duke Ellington - I love Big Band music. It is virtually impossible to sit still and listen to it. And of course, one of the masters of BB music is Duke. This album has tons of great songs on it.

¡Flamenco Fenomeno! Pepe Romero - Recorded a few weeks shy of Romero's 16th birthday, this album is the best of flamenco. It is sizzling and fierce and beautiful all rolled up in 10 amazing songs, starting with Noche en Málaga...

Fun

All You Need Is Love: Beatles Songs for Kids by Music for Little People. Enough said.

Latin Playground by Putumayo. Really, everything by Putumayo is excellent!

Bebe Lanugo's Free Spanish Activity Book for Navidad

I love free educational resources and I know you do, too. Bebe Lanugo has just come out with their free activity book for Christmas...and it is completely in Spanish! It features all the adorable Lanugo characters that are displayed on Bebe Lanugo's baby products.

I especially like that the book focuses on tradition, displaying the diversity of our culture. For example, one of their pages talks about traditional dishes from different countries. Do you eat tamales or hallacas or montucas or something else entirely? The activity book even includes the lyrics to the villancico, El burro sabanero.

This 10-page book is a treasure and sure to keep your nenes busy learning and coloring.

You can download your free copy here.

Las Posadas Countdown Calendar Printable

Las Posadas officially start on Monday, the 16th! Truly one of my favorite times of the year and best memories of my childhood, Las Posadas are a beautiful addition to the holiday season.

The 9-day celebration re-enacts Joseph and Mary's search for lodging in Bethlehem. It is a tradition practiced in many parts of Latin America, but most commonly in Mexico and the American Southwest.

If you are looking for ways to teach your child about Las Posadas, don't forget about my Bilingual Minibook which details each of the elements in language that young children can understand (yes, the text is in English and Spanish). And all of the pages are in black-and-white so that your children can color in the images as they learn.

In addition, I have a Posada-themed bilingual minibook of words. If you didn't get your last year, you can find it here.

But my latest printable is a full-color bilingual Countdown Calendar (shown above) that begins on the 16th (as Las Posadas always do), and allows your child to countdown the days until Christmas. The calendar comes with images of elements that are most closely associated with Las Posadas, as well as brief descriptions (in English and Spanish) for each. Your child simply cuts out an image each day and glues one on to the calendar. Though Las Posadas end on Christmas Eve, I've included a baby Jesus for your child to finish her calendar on the 25th. :)

These printables (and more) are available in my TpT store.

Wishing you all a happy weekend!

Con cariño...

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New Website for The Electric Company

FYI to all my PBS KIDS readers: The hit show The Electric Company relaunched their website with a new look and feel and a completely new set of games. Now fully in HTML5 format, the site reflects the highly popular, animated world of Electric Company's Prankster Planet. If your kids are fans of the 2D side-scrolling game and immersive world like mine are, they'll recognize all the hallmarks of Prankster Planet on the redesigned series site: the headquarters, Wordsuckerupinator, the dinership, and Francine's bots.

Playable on all portable devices, the redesigned site includes a “pet bot creator,” where kids can customize their own pet bot with different facial expressions and bodies. The bots can be used to play games, too! 

Check out the redesigned Electric Company site here.

Disclosure: I'm a PBS KIDS ambassador which simply means I get to share great content like this with you from time to time! I was not compensated for this post.

App Review: Ranger Rick Jr.'s Appventures: Bears

Name: Ranger Rick Jr. Appventures: Bears
Subject(s): Science 
Brief Description: An interactive storybook about bears for kids
Price: $4.99
Language: English
Ages: 4 to 8 

This interactive app is very similar to the popular Ranger Rick Jr. Appventures: Lions. It comes with three categories: Play, Explore, and Create. The Explore category is perhaps the best place to start as it takes your child around the forest learning about grizzly bears. Kids just tap on images to learn fun facts, play games, see slide shows, watch videos, and more. Afterward, if your child would like to play the games over again, they simply click on the home page and then the Play category which features 4 different games: Jigsaw Puzzle, Where's the Bear?, Go Fish!, and Match Sounds.

The puzzle game allows your child to choose from a variety of images and level of difficulty (9, 16, or 25 pieces). In Where's the Bear?, children have to move the iPad all around to take pictures of the bears. Go Fish! requires your child to manipulate the iPad in order for the grizzly to catch and gobble up salmon as they swim upriver. And finally, Match Sounds requires your child to accurately match the animal to the sound they hear and learn some fun facts along the way.  

The Create section has a Sticker Board, and Animal Piano, and an Animal Builder that lets you take parts of different animals and combine them to create a completely new one!

What my kids like: While my kids enjoyed the entire app, they really liked the Go Fish! game best, followed by the Match Sounds game. I think they like the fact that they have to move the iPad all about in order to manipulate the characters on the screen. They enjoy learning about nature and animals then telling me all about them.

What I like: The science behind the app is always a plus in my book. And I love that the games are very clever, like Go Fish! which takes a real adaptation of the animal and presents it to kids in a fun way.

Notes: This app is available in English only.

Disclosure: I received a copy of this app for review purposes. All thoughts and opinions are my own. 

A Printable Bilingual Minibook on Las Posadas

It's time to start gearing up for Las Posadas! How many of you participate in this tradition? It was one of my favorites as a child, and I've written about it before.

Just a reminder that I have a comprehensive page full of lesson plans, activities, videos, printables, and crafts for Las Posadas.

And here is a list of 4 children's books celebrating Las Posadas.

If you are looking for MP3's of the traditional song, here are three versions I like.

You may also want to peek at my easy Posada crafts: Piñata Ornaments & Luminarias.

And don't forget about my Posada-themed printables! I currently have two available from last year in my TpT store: A Bilingual Minibook (shown above) and a Bilingual Minibook of Words. And there are more to come in the next week or two!

¡Abrazo!

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Free Christmas Board Game in Spanish

¡Feliz navidad! 

This month's free printable from our sponsor, Spanish for You, is a Christmas vocabulary and board game plus audio file. For Spanish-learning children and families, this printable is a fun activity for everyone.

The game cards and game board are available as a pdf file download. It consists of six pages with pictures and words to introduce new vocabulary associated with this holiday. The set comes with a game board and instructions for playing. There is also an activity sheet plus links to additional activities online, so your kids can practice using the words they've just learned.

As with all of Spanish for You's printables, you'll also find an audio file that you can use in conjunction with the pdf file.

Download the printable file here

Download the audio file here

Happy holidays from all of us!

Free Spanish Preschool Printables About Winter

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links.

Winter is hitting so many of us really hard this week! Are your kids stuck inside? Do they need some activities to keep them busy? Check out our winter-themed printables from our sponsor, Monarca Language!

The bilingual invierno story cards are great for helping kids develop vocabulary, and their storytelling skills. Since they contain bilingual text, they are perfect for both English- and Spanish-language learners. 

The simple matching worksheet helps your child develop their critical thinking skills by matching related objects (i.e., snow to snowman). 

Click here to download your printables

Additional reads in Spanish (All book titles are affiliate links):

• El Invierno by Nuria Roca
• Iguanas in the Snow: And Other Winter Poems / Iguanas en la Nieve: Y Otros Poemas de Invierno (The Magical Cycle... by Francisco X. Alarcon and Maya Christina Gonzalez
• Un Dia de Nieve by Ezra Jack Keats
• La reina de las nieves / The Snow Queen by Hans Christian Andersen, Arnica Esterl, Anastassija Archipowa and Guillermo Raebel

Also, don't miss my bilingual resources for winter!

And just for fun, I found this lovely video in Spanish on winter from Musicaeduca - what a fabulous resource it is! I hope you will love it!

Enjoy!

Other Posts You May Enjoy

• Winter Olympics Parts of Speech Game
  
  
• Spanish Winter Word Search {PRINTABLE}
  
  
• Free Winter-Themed Printables in Spanish for Preschoolers {Printable}

5 Money Saving Apps for Kids

An article titiled, Give the Baby a Bottle and a Bank Account, plus the upcoming holiday shopping craze, really got me thinking. Our kids are busy with Santa's lists and asking for this and that and more! For some families, it isn't only this time of year. Some kids want it all, all the time!

I started to wonder if we have a plan on how to teach our boys the value of money and saving? The article suggests that children as young as the age of four should start being included in conversations regarding family money, budgets and other financial decisions. Our oldest is about to turn seven and we are guilty of not doing any of the above. I definitely see the advantages of starting now (well, maybe after the holidays).

My first thought was to turn to what kids love: a little screen time. I found these fun and educational apps to help start the conversation in the home. Some are as simple as teaching young children what money is and its value and others go as far as helping your child break down percentages of allowances to go to different accounts, including giving money to charity. Apps can be a great educational tool and if kids already have the tablets, have them use them for good too!

My list:

Just Saving My Money-Little Critter $1.99 Here at Mommy Maestra, we love books! Hurray for this interactive one! The best way to get started with money introduction and conversation is to read about it. This app is also perfect for the youngest members in your family. Critter, the popular book character, wants to buy a skateboard and little readers will go on a journey with him to help him earn money and save.

Kids Money  Free This app is perfect for the basics in saving and spending. Your child can create a wish list, insert the cost of a product, and based on allowance or gift money, the app will help teach how much money and time will be needed to purchase their item. It teaches easy math concepts like adding and subtracting.

KidsBank Free-$2.99 Found under the "finance" category in iTunes, KidsBank means business. Targeted to ages four and up, this app is super specific, which I found to be a great money management tool.  Parents can help children earn interest, track deposits and withdrawals and even email and print account statements.

My Make it Count Free Parents will love for their kids to start looking at spending habits and this app offers just that. It's a simple, "money-in, money-out" concept but it's cute and might be a good first app to try. Another perk? A French language option is available on the app!

Earn This Save That: Allowance, Chores, Banks, Goals & Rewards $2.99 Another serious app for parents who are ready to teach their children what it takes to make money and budget it all. A little bit more kid friendly than KidsBank (with its accounts), Earn This Save That has "banks" instead. I love that they both have an option for charity but this one has time earnings too. What kid doesn't beg for extra screen time? Now they can see how time can be earned as well.

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Betty Galvan, is helping her readers "find the positive and seek the benefits" over at her blog, MyFriendBettySays.com.

Tech Tuesday App Review: The Spanish School Bus {GIVEAWAY}

I am especially excited today to share with you a new app to the Spanish-learning market! Created by Chungaboo, The Spanish School Bus is a high-quality app that teaches your child over 300 common Spanish words. There are quite a few apps available for teaching kids Spanish, but this one definitely stands out with its content, audio, and high-quality graphics. A lot of thought has obviously gone into this and it shows in the final product. 

Name: The Spanish School Bus
Subject(s): Spanish 
Brief Description:  A high-quality app for your iPad that teaches children over 300 Spanish words. 
Price: FREE - $3.99
Language: English & Spanish 
Ages: Pre-K through 6th grade

Spanish School Bus is inspired by educator Yvette Montalvo and her Montessori-based approach. There are 66 levels of play covering 22 different themes. Numbers (1-20), shapes, opposites, weather, clothes, and verbs are just a few of the subjects for which your child will learn the vocabulary. For each category, your child can study a series of flash cards and audio clips with key vocabulary words. Then he proceeds to complete three different interactive challenges that help your child master the vocabulary. These range in difficulty and require good hand-to-eye coordination. Some of the categories include an animated music video (so cute and fun!) related to that particular subject.

As your child moves through the categories and completes a certain number of challenges, she earns 24 cultural achievement badges. And at the end, she is awarded an official certificate of achievement.
What my kids like:  My son loves the music videos best. They are fun and he is compelled to dance to them. He also enjoys how some of the games are really challenging, requiring a quick hand to accurately tap on the correct image that goes with the vocabulary word. And because he is an artist at heart, he likes all of the colorful graphics.

What I like: As a parent and teacher, I like the variety of educational games for each theme and the fast pace of some so that my son doesn't get bored. And I know that he is really learning the meaning of each word, too.
But I think perhaps what I like best is that the learning can continue offline at the Chungaboo website, which offers a new Spanish Resource Center. There you'll find tips for learning at home, free games, and even books in Spanish.

Here are a few more shots:

The basic app is free to download, with an in-app purchase that grown-ups can unlock to get the full product. The free download includes the first 3 chapters and all the music videos. The full version for $3.99 unlocks all 22 chapters and 60+ levels including the ability to earn the Certificate of Completion.

THE GIVEAWAY

Chungaboo has graciously offered a 24-hour promo for ALL MommyMaestra readers TODAY ONLY to unlock the $3.99 version for FREE.

They've created a special promo page for MommyMaestra on their website that describes the steps to unlock the full version.

So get over there and download your app today!

Happy holidays!!

New Survey from PBS KIDS Reveals Tablets #1 Tech Device for Holiday Gift Giving

A new survey data from PBS KIDS was released yesterday. Not surprisingly, a little over half the parents surveyed plan to purchase/give a tech item to their child this holiday season. What surprised me, I think, is that tablets actually edged-out video games and handheld game systems!

And what pleased me the most was to see that educational content was in the list of top three things parents look for in an app. Phew! As a mom who refuses to download Angry Birds Star Wars for her children to play despite their begging (don't worry, they get to play it every now and then on a friend's iPad), it relieves me to know that parents realize that just because it is educational doesn't mean it isn't fun. I only have educational apps on my tablet. And they are still fun. We enjoy Wild Kratts, Ranger Rick, and many other apps that entertain while teaching or reinforcing key concepts and skills.

Read more about the survey and see if you can relate to any of the findings in this great little infographic below! 

Free Spanish Number Cards and Game

December's freebie from Lectura para niños includes mini flash cards with numbers & sets that Leah sends home with parents at the beginning of the year.  She photocopies the "sets" on the back of the number cards. She tells the parents, when they are practicing their number recognition, that they can practice putting numbers in order from 1-5, then 1-10 and so one once they begin recognizing their numbers.  If the child cannot remember the number, they can flip the number over and count the objects on the back. 

You can also play this game where you photocopy these flash cards and match the correct number with the correct set of objects. 

She has also included two versions of number flash cards that she uses for number recognition.  One set has numbers 1-100 with lines. The other has the numbers 1-100 without lines. The students can practice putting the numbers in order practicing number sequence. You can use these cards to play Old Maid as well. 

Download this month's free flash cards and number sets here

If you've enjoyed these and the other free downloads that Lectura para niños has shared with MommyMaestra readers over the last few months, you may like to know that they are having a Cyber Monday sale at their TpT store today and tomorrow where you can get up to 28% off her fabulous teaching materials. Those of you teaching your children/students to read in Spanish, may want to take a look and see if there is anything you can snag for your lessons!

Review: KRE-O Marina Madness {GIVEAWAY}

So I said last week that I'm really limiting the amount of tech products that my kids get this holiday season. They've been limited to two devices (from LeapFrog) plus a couple of games to accompany them.

Instead, I'm trying to focus on just a few toys that encourage active play, critical thinking, or some other skill development. Last Monday, I mentioned the Showcam and how we've been able to use it to develop their observation skills, as well as their presentation skills through assignments that use the camera/projector.

Today's review is of a product that quite honestly, I had never heard of before a month ago. KRE-O sets are hard to describe without using the word LEGO, because they are building blocks that use a similar inter-locking connection system. BUT - can I say this? - they're even better. Yikes! There. I said it.

I say that because this super fun set also has one special part to it: The deck under the building has buttons on it that make the board vibrate just a little bit causing the shark and the shark hunter, Ray Manta, to actually move across the base board. It's hilarious! My kids' shouts of excitement brought me running into the room after they had put it together, installed the AAA batteries, and pushed one of the little buttons on the side. There are actually four buttons: One turns on the vibration and sound effects (it makes ocean sounds!), the second one turns off the ocean sounds, and the final two increase or decrease the amount of vibration (it's not obnoxious or intense, thank goodness). You can remove and attach the special base pieces to any of the Kreons (and even the boat, as we discovered) to make them move across the water, too.

But really and truly, this little extra facet to the set keeps the kids going back to it and playing with it over and over even after there is nothing left to build.

This set encourages imaginative play, which I also really like. After darting the injured shark, my kids transported it to the local ocean life rehab center for medical attention before it was released out into the open ocean again. (He has a bad habit, though, of showing up at the marina over and over again, sometimes scaring the locals!)

It comes with five Kreons (human) figures and a shark. Many of the parts are moveable even after assembly, and there's even a little crane grabber thingy for moving the dangerous shark back into his cage.

The set does come with a free app code, for those of you who'd like to extend the play into another area. I think my kids spend enough time playing with apps, so we have not activated/downloaded it. Maybe I'll do it someday, but for now, I'm happy with - and prefer - their hands-on imaginative playing.

THE GIVEAWAY

One lucky MommyMaestra reader will win a KRE-O CityVille Invasion Marina Madness set!

To enter, simply use the Rafflecopter below.

¡Buena suerte!

a Rafflecopter giveaway