Cypher Kids Animal Cards a #cbias Shoppertunity #CypherKidsClub

One of the things that I love about my kids is that they are totally into the new technology... as soon as I opened the package of i3D Interactive Cards from Cypher Kids that I picked up at Target, Liam was right there to see what I had...

I spotted them in the electronics section of Target, along with some of the other new Apptivity toys and accessories:

Robyn and I had a great time shopping and you can see the rest of the fun we had by checking out my google + album!

It was kind of tough selecting between Numbers, Letters and Wild Animal Adventures Cypher Kids Club Cards, but I chose the animal cards because I thought they'd have the most universal appeal with my kids ages 2, 6 and 14.

Cypher Kids Club cards are an augmented reality interactive card game that allows kids to interact with digital animals on their iDevices.  Cypher Kids Club cards are compatible with iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4, iPhone 4S, iPhone 5, iPod touch (3rd generation), iPod touch (4th generation), iPod touch (5th generation) and iPad. Requires iOS 5.0 or later. This app is optimized for iPhone 5. 

We added the app to our iPad 3.  Setting the app up on the iPad was simple - I just scanned the QR code on the box and downloaded the right app software.  Setting up my registration was a little tougher -the Cypher Kids Club website link in the package went to a page that wasn't found, but I was able to poke around and find the registration page.  The next problem was the password I was assigned... they really should ban l and 1 and I in automatically generated passwords... but again, after a few minutes I was able to overcome this obstacle...

Liam was immediately drawn to the images that the cards presented and was trying to interact with the image right away:

The first two things I noticed, after the amazing graphics - is that Liam couldn't hold the iPad in place by himself and interact with the cards and that each card, if you move it away restarts at the beginning.   And there is no way that Erik, at 2, will be able to use the cards independently either... which means that when they want to play with them, they'll need Wayne, Robyn or I to sit with them too...


As we started playing with the cards, I noticed that each card is a one story card... for now, that's okay, but I would have liked each card to share multiple facts so that you could go back to it a few times and learn something new.  There are 18 cards in the package, so the pack does provide some variety.   You can also go into 'picture mode' and check out the animals without the additional graphics trappings:

Each card allows some interaction with the animals after the initial information spiel is over - for instance the tree frog sticks out his tongue and eats a bug, and the monkey jumps off the branch he's on and disappears, only to reappear and jump off again.

For us, the cards are on point with Liam's learning and interest levels and Erik enjoys watching the vignettes too.  Robyn was, as an older child, hoping for more depth of information and more interaction.   These cards will definitely intrigue your 3-7 year old, but I think that older children will find that the cards are too rudimentary for them to use more often, and with a $29.99 price tag, you don't want to buy a package of cards for a one use deal.

For the younger kids, I would totally invest in the other decks and would suggest that a great additional accessory that Cypher Kids Club could provide is an apparatus to hold the iPad at the correct height so that kids can manipulate the cards without endangering the costly tablets...

Check out the #CypherKidsClub website, twitter and Facebook pages for  more on this fun, new interactive apptivity!

Disclaimer: I am a member of the Collective Bias™ Social Fabric® Community. This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias™ and Cypher Kids Club #CBias #SocialFabric

Product Review: iHealth Scale

Many of you know that my hubby got tenure recently and along with that he also has a nice bonus - a six month sabbatical starting in June... what you might not know is that one of his sabbatical goals is to get fit and lose about thirty pounds.  Being a good wife, I want to set him up for success, so we headed out a few weeks ago and bought him some fancy new running shoes, special socks and new running shorts AND I got him a new bathroom scale with some very manly, high tech features! 

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Finding holiday gifts for Hubby is one of life's great challenges, but this year I think I found something that he likes and is practical enough that he'll use it every day - and it's not a tie or a sweater!  It's the Geminus Genius iPad Case!

Holiday Gift Guide - ChildUp Early Learning Game Cards and iCount iPad App Review

One of the things that I try to do for my kids is to make sure that they get a chance to make learning fun!  I try to ensure that the games and toys they play with have learning goals built in, at least part of the time, so when I got a chance to check out three great products for ChildUp, I jumped on the chance and want to share this with you as a great way to add a fun and educational gift to your preschooler's stocking this Christmas!

#Giveaway and Review - BabyFirstTV iPad app and more!

When Wayne got an iPad from work, I don't think he expected that the kids would have twice as many apps on it as he would... or that his five year old son would be way better at Angry Birds than he could ever hope to be, but that is the state of affairs in our house and it got to the point where Liam was using the iPad more than anyone else (including his dad who has to take it to work with him for a minimum 8 hrs a day) and we bought him his own for his birthday last week... yep, my 5 year old is rocking an iPad - and I don't even have a smartphone... and don't get me started on how the 10 month old has taken to it...


but what that means is that I was on the hunt for great apps for both Liam and Erik to use on the iPad (Erik gets to use it with me while big brother is at school -- shh don't tell Liam)


One of the names that I was familiar from their DVDs was BabyFirstTV and I was pleased to find that they have a small assortment of apps to go along with their excellent programming.  Through Mom Spark Media I was lucky enough to get a code to download Vocabularry's Things That Go and Erik has been getting a huge kick out of it!