Gingerbread Man Game on Starfall.com

Don't worry about missing this week's Thrifty Thursday - because I am about to tell you about a free game (well, whole site of educational games).

Today kicks of my "5 Days of Gingerbread"!

Let your kids play the FREE Gingerbread Man Game on Starfall.com. It is a fun little game that helps toddlers and preschoolers to identify both 2D and 3D shapes, as well as colors.

Starfall.com is loaded with a ton of free games and learning activities for toddlers, preschoolers and early elementary grades. They do have even more for a paid subscription, which my kids enjoy and we purchased after doing my Review of Starfall.com. 

Come back to check out all my gingerbread ideas:

• Gingerbread Man Game
• Gingerbread Latte
• Gingerbread House
• A Gingerbread Man & Woman Craft Kit
• Gingerbread Cookies Recipe
• Gingerbread Martini (this will be later this month when I share some drink ideas)

GIVEAWAY and Review: The Nutcracker Music Game for Children

We had the opportunity to review The Nutcracker Music Game from Art and Music Games. I was really excited after I learned about all the awards that they have been honored with including:

• 2004 "Mom Tested" Software of the Year Award from Parenting Magazine
• Dr. Toy's "10 Best Software" list and the "100 Best Children's Products"
• Discovery.com's Award of Excellence
• and many more.....

Thanks to the my daughter's music teacher's love of The Nutcracker that has influenced my daughter's interest, paired with my daughter's love of the "Barbie in the Nutcracker" DVD, she was thrilled to get to play a game on the computer that was The Nutcracker.

Some of the time I had to play it along with her in order to help her identify sounds, but I was impressed with how well she learned to distinguish the different instrument sounds. The Nutcracker Music Game has really helped her hone her music listening skills. She would get really excited every time she got it right and didn't want to stop playing until she had mastered a game. 

The game itself is comprised of nine different games. Each game has different activities and tasks that need to be completed to earn a magical key. My daughter has not completed all of them but she is excited to master the games and earn all the keys. 

This would make an excellent educational gift for any child ages 4-10.

From Art and Music Games:


This computer game gives children an outlet for exploring their own appreciation of music, while sharpening their listening and problem-solving skills and improving understanding of the basic concepts of music. The Nutcracker Music Game is a magical adventure that celebrates music by challenging kids through interactive participation and exciting game play.

The premise of the program is to save the Nutcracker by earning nine golden keys through a series of musical games and activities that teach students about differences between sounds, exercises their memory skills, and increases their music vocabulary.

The Nutcracker Music Game offers exceptional teaching tools, such as the ability to demonstrate, in the classroom, every instrument of the orchestra and its interaction with other musical instruments. But above all it teaches children to love and appreciate music.

The program features a multitude of innovative musical games, puzzles and riddles, as well as an animated Encyclopedia of Musical Instruments, an extensive Listening Room, Tchaikovsky's biography, the Nutcracker story, the History of the Nutcracker ballet, music trivia and more. 

ONE LUCKY READER WILL WIN A COPY OF THE NUTCRACKER MUSIC GAME ($29.95 VALUE!)

Be sure to check out the FREE SAMPLE DOWNLOADS Available!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.

#95 Use a Laptop Instead of a Desktop

I don't know much about the energy efficiency of a laptop compared to a desktop, so I am going to refer you to this article. I have to admit all I know if that it is more energy efficient to use a laptop. But is it really if I am on there 4 times as much since I can watch tv and surf at the same time, whereas with the desktop I am removed from everything else and don't tend to stay on as long. These days I am not sure I can NOT multi-task while I watch commercial-free (thanks to the DVR) television.

#1 Keep a Blog

It doesn't take too long to type up a blog post, especially if you had been thinking about what you wanted to type before you sit down at the computer.

I keep a blog for my daughter and for my pregnancy and this helps me keep our family & friends up to date on what is going on in our lives. I upload pictures all the time and it helps people to feel like they are watching my daughter grow up even if they live in another state.

It would cost me more money in postage, stationary, pens, & picture printing costs to keep people updated the "old-fashioned" way. Not to mention how much time it would take to write the same letter. 

Even though this isn't a "green" statement, but I have to wonder, does the travel costs/impact of that letter really matter. The postman is going to stop at my house every day regardless of if I send a letter or not and it will stop every day at the destination that I would be mailing to. And really, the whole system it follows in between those locations would happen anyways. Has there ever been a day where your postman didn't deliver something to your mailbox. Until companies stop sending out so much material, there will never be a day when my postman doesn't stop.

So, keep a blog. The short time you are using the energy from electricity to power your computer to keep in touch with many people will cost less than all the supplies & postage you need and you can share more information and pictures more often with more people.