Thursday, December 6, 2012

Twinkl Review and Giveaway

Recently, I was invited to review twinkl, an online resource for primary teachers and parents alike.  The first thing you notice is their cute little bird logo who changes costumes to keep up with current events.


Like their logo, all the twinkl resources are lovely and well designed.  I was specifically looking at the parenting and seasonal resources, but could not help but browse through the others.  The sheer number of resources is astounding! They encompass literacy, math, science, behavior modification, seasonal celebrations, and many others.  Plus, they are constantly adding more!  They even allow users to upload resources to share with others!

So here are the resources we chose to review.  I started in the twinkl parenting section and, to my delight, found several themed timetables.  I was actually looking for something to help show the girls what we planned for the day, so this was a must! I printed out a fantasy themed one (my girls love princesses) as well as several different sets of cards.  This way I figured I could put highlights of the day along with meals, so they would also have a general time. After I printed it, I laminated it, applied velcro to the little cards and corresponding spots on the cards, applied a strip magnet to the back and hung it on the fridge. It is pretty cute, and the girls can pretty easily identify what the cards mean just by the pictures.  I am sure with a little more time it will smooth things out, so I am not always answering, "What do we get to do now?"






The second parenting resource I chose to implement was a behavior chart. They are fairly generic, so they could work for ANY behavior: eating nicely, going to bed nicely, and anything you can imagine.  We actually decided to use it as a reading chart.  I printed one for each girl, laminated it, and hung it on the fridge.  Each time they read a book we fill in a square; once the chart is filled they get a new book. Simple encouragement for their reading.


I didn't stop there; I browsed some more and found some cute snowmen activities in the calender section of twinkl.  The first was a pencil control worksheet.  They were able to trace along the dotted line to make a snowman.  They were actually really excited about this which is somewhat unusual for them.  Normally they aren't too into worksheets.





The second was a sequencing activity that I had them simply cut out the small pictures an glue them in order on a separate paper.  Again, they were perfectly content to work on it and really excited when they finished it successfully.



And for fun, I also printed out some snow themed play doh mats. Once laminated the girls could play with them over and over. They were able to make buttons for snowmen, hats for children, patterns on a scarf, and create snowflakes.  They love play doh, and were actually pretty content to follow the mats prompts.







I think they really enjoyed the graphics, and that is part of the reason they were so cooperative.  Even and 4 and 5, they appreciate cuteness!

I continued browsing and could not believe all the wonderful printables I found! You will likely see more show up in my posts as I have found several that will correlate well with other things we plan to do.  I would highly recommend taking a look if you are a parent or early childhood educator. If you don't find what you are looking for, suggest it! That's right, they want you to suggest things! Seriously, go take a look!

Now for the best part of this post! Our friends at twinkl are allowing us to give away a Premium Membership to one lucky reader! Many of their resources are available for free, but with Premium Membership you have access to everything, and you get access to newest resources first. Read more about the premium membership here!  If you want a chance to win just follow the prompts below. The contest will remain open until midnight December 10 (CST).


a Rafflecopter giveaway



Good luck to you all!