Sing-a-Ma-Lings!

Sing-a-Ma-Lings - Silly little singing things

Part cute, part creepy. Sing-a-Ma-Lings are squeezable plush toys with three ways to play. I say plush, but there is a hard battery box inside the stomach (2 AA), a hard plastic piece in the hand that you squeeze and the mouth/teeth are hard plastic. So it feels as much hard as it does soft. She measures about 8.5" tall.

I have seen different ones and they look the same except color and dress. They also sing different songs. However, it is my understanding that if you play more than one at the same time they will harmonize and sing the same song.

You need to squeeze her left hand and it will go through three settings. For mine, the first squeeze to the hand and it says "sing, sing, sing". This is the setting where it will sing "Oh Where, Oh Where Has My Little Dog Gone". However, for each word you will need to squeeze the stomach, and each time you squeeze the stomach, the mouth opens in an O shape. She has two hard teeth and you can see a small tongue. This is where the creepy part comes in - the sound of the voice is a little odd. You must squeeze the stomach each time for the toy to "talk", so for each word of the song you must squeeze the toy once. Then if you want another setting, just squeeze her hand. After 10 seconds of inactivity it says "nighty night" and I assume turns itself off. Here are the three ways this particular toy will play:

• Sing - It sings one song - "Oh Where, Oh Where Has My Little Dog Gone"
• Harmonize - According to the video on Amazon, if you have more than one you can squeeze them together and they will sing the same song, which was not "Oh Where, Oh Where Has My Little Dog Gone". I only have one so I couldn't test it.
• Jibber Jabber - They called that one right, just nonsense noises.

I had this toy less than a week when my dog claimed it, pulling it out of my cart when I wasn't around. We were sitting in the family room one evening when we heard "nighty nite". Startled for a second to hear an unexpected voice, we turned around to see Gracie intentionally pushing the stomach with her nose to make the doll talk. She was having so much fun I didn't have the heart to take it away from her. Oh well, if it makes her happy, it makes me happy. 

If you are interested in purchasing this item or just want more information, click on the image below.

Skippity

Skippity -The challenge and look of checkers, but more fun

Skippity (just the name sounds fun) consists of a checkered game board and a box full of bright plastic checkers, called skippers in this game. One look inside the box and I'm already excited, trying to figure out how else I can play with the 100 colorful skippers (red, green, blue, yellow and orange). However, I am also a little apprehensive because of my history with checkers while growing up. 

The board measures 18" x 18". Here is an image from the back of the box that gives you a look at the board and how you will be making jumps during the game. 

After reading the rules I think I'm going to like this one.

Object:
Capture the most complete sets of skippers. A complete set of skippers includes one each of the five colors - red, yellow, orange, green, blue.

Set up:
Open the board and put it between the players. Mix the skippers and randomly put one skipper on each square on the board - color does not matter. Now take the four skippers off the very four center squares on the board and put them back in the box. This is where you will start the game. Two to four people can play, with each player claiming one side of the board. This is only important because you will keep the skippers that you get along your edge of the board (see image above).

Play:
Players take turns. Pick up any skipper on the board and jump over another skipper. You have captured that skipper so take it off the board. You can jump vertically or horizontally, but not diagonally and there must be an empty space on the other side of the skipper you jump, as this is where you will land. If you can jump again from that space, do so. Jump as many as you can, and make as many captures as you can in one turn. Change directions as many times as you need to, as long as you only jump vertically and/or horizontally. Any captured skippers should be stacked on the corresponding color circles at your edge of the board (see image above).

The game is over when there are no longer any jumps left on the board. Usually there will be skippers left on the board, and no one can claim these. At the end, the person with the most complete sets of skippers wins the game. A complete set is one of each of the five colors. Your skippers will all be lined up on your edge of the board and looking at them from the side will tell you how many complete sets you have.

STRATEGY TIPS:

• When you jump, think about what jumps you will be leaving for the next player.
• At the beginning of the game, capture as many skippers as you can.
• In the middle of the game, focus on capturing the right colors to make sets.
• Near the end of the game, try to block your opponents from getting complete sets.

Try this:

• Skip the game, sort the checkers by color.
• Stack the checkers. How tall can you go?
• Skip the game. Open the board and then place one colored skipper at a time on a square with the same background color. 
• Clear the board by picking up one skipper, then placing it on top of another skipper and pick them both up at the same time, place those two on a third and so forth. Keep going until you can't hold any more and put them in the box by the handfuls.
• Use them to make patterns. Make a line of 3, 4, or 5 different colors, or a pattern. Ask the player to copy the line and then keep going with the pattern, lining the skippers up across the table.
• Place a line of skippers on one edge of the board (one each of the five colors). Looks at them to memorize the order. Say the sequence out loud two or three times. Now pick up a set of the five checkers in that order, stacking them one at a time on top of each other as you pick them up. Place them back in the box by sets.
• Work on visual discrimination, figure ground, spatial relations, visualization, manual dexterity, planning, socialization skills, process skills, executive functioning skills, play and leisure exploration and participation

In the box: 100 skippers, game board
2-4 players, ages 5 and up

If you are interested in purchasing this item or just want more information, click on the image below.