I’m sure everyone has heard of Alex Toys. They’ve won over 250 awards for their fabulous products and can be found on shelves worldwide. In 1986, they began their company selling children’s arts and craft supplies. Recently Alex Toys has realized the demand for Eco-friendly products and has designed a new line of educational toys using recycled paperboard and printed with soy ink and water based varnishes.

Homeschooling a preschooler is quite different than homeschooling a second grader. Preschoolers have limited attention spans and aren’t going to sit there and listen to a lecture about their ABC’s or how to count. From what I’ve read, pressuring a preschooler to learn will cause them to show less enthusiasm. So if you choose to homeschool your preschooler, you need to make it fun, laid back and follow your child’s lead. If they start to lose interest then switch to something else. Set small goals of what you’d like to accomplish that day and keep the activities short. Remember they can be spread out throughout the day and don’t have to be crammed together.

We got to review the Monsters Play All Day Eco-friendly set from Alex Toys and it’s been a huge hit in my house. The set comes with the Moody Monsters Matching Set, Cards, and Memory Game. So how are these games educational? They teach early math skills and logic. I’m going to talk about each game so you can see how.

The Mix and Match Puzzle Game has 4 monster cards where you can match monster parts to the body. For beginners you can just lay down the cards and have your preschooler match the heads, bodies and legs. This promotes logical thinking for turning the pieces in the correct direction- like the legs and arms and they have to match the patterns and colors. Once your child masters this you can make a game out of it. Each person gets a card and you take turns turning over pieces to see who can build their monster first. Ella loves to match anything, so this has kept her occupied for hours. Yes, hours.The Memory Game is awesome! This was my favorite game as a child so I was really excited to play with Ella. When we first got our set, I laid them all face up and had Ella match the cards to get familiar with them. This was great for working with colors and having her focus on the backgrounds to find the pair. Each card has a monster face with an emotion on different backgrounds. They are all fun colors and silly designs with the emotions written on the cards. After Ella got used to the game, we started out with 6 cards and turned them face down and she got it! Over the past week we’ve gone up to 12 cards.The Playing Cards can be used for numerous activities. The first game we played was Slap Jack. This was tons of fun and Ella enjoyed smacking the Jacks. When we would turn over a new card we would say what the number was, count the shapes and talk about the colors. They are large, child sized cards and come with fun Monster game instructions. We haven’t tried the Monster games yet, but I want Ella to become more familiar with the cards before we try so she doesn’t get overwhelmed.

Ella has truly enjoyed playing all of the games. The awesome part is that she’s learning important concepts without being forced. This set has won the Preferred Choice award by Creative Child Magazine.

Want one? You can purchase the Monsters Play All Day set from Alex Toys online or a toy store near you for only $34.99!

The Giveaway: Alex Toys would like to offer 1 lucky winner a Monsters Play All Day Set!
Rules: You have until 11:59 p.m. EST October 20, 2009 to enter. The winner will be chosen by random.org and announced after they respond to the winning email. The winner has 48 hours to respond to the winning email, or a new winner will be chosen. You must leave your email address! This contest is open to the US.

2. Become a fan of Mkokopelli on FB, Mkokopelli on Twitter, or Follow my blog
3. Subscribe to my blog by email (on the right sidebar) You must verify and be active at the time of the giveaway- those who are unverified will become disqualified

5. Enter another giveaway I have going on and tell me which one or leave a comment on a non-giveaway post (1 extra entry total)
6. Become a fan of Alex Toys on Facebook
7. Follow Alex Toys on Twitter
8. Enter Alex Toys Ready, Set, Create contest for a chance to win free art supplies by October 15 (5 extra entries) details below and on their FB page
9. Grab my Homeschool your Preschooler Week button

The Alex Toys Ready, Set, Create contest:
Mom, we want to know: How do you encourage your preschooler’s creativity? Send us 1-2 paragraphs about how you create an environment that stimulates your child’s artistic imagination.

Tot: The proof’s in the pudding! We’d like to see some original artwork by you that illustrates just what mom does to let your creative genius shine. Ask your mom to scan or photograph an art piece of yours. Whether it’s a crayon-drawn masterpiece or modeling clay extravaganza, it’s up to you!
The winning teams will be chosen by the ALEX Toys Arts & Crafts Panel.
The art submissions from all winners will be displayed on the ALEX Toys website (www.alextoys.com)
The deadline to enter is October 15, 2009. Winners will be announced by October 25th.
Bragging rights included. To enter:

– Become a Fan of ALEX Toys on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/alextoys
-Send a single email to contest@alextoys.com with a .jpg of your tot’s artwork and your 1-2 paragraph submission.

The photo may be attached but your submission should be included in the body of the email with your full name, child’s first name and age, email address and phone number. Children ages 3-5 are eligible for this contest. Mom’s age may vary.