Plus-Plus Big Learn and Explore Review

Have you heard of Plus-Plus?  I want to share with you a fun part of Timberdoodle's Preschool Curriculum Kit, Plus-Plus Big Learn and Explore.  You may remember our review on the Plus-Plus Mini Maker Tube Turkey a few years ago.  Just like their mini counterparts, the Plus-Plus Big pieces all have the same, identical shape.  They have a slightly "rubbery" texture and the pieces slide together smoothly with very little pressure while also coming apart without much effort.  The trick is that they stay together when locked!  You can build in any direction so your creations can be flat or 3D

What's included in our set?  There are 90 colorful Plus-Plus Big pieces, a green baseplate and a guidebook with build ideas.

 

One side of each piece has the words Plus Plus on it, while the other side does not.  I love the variety of colors in our set.

Plus-Plus sets originate from Denmark and are available in two different sizes as I previously mentioned - the Plus-Plus Mini (suited for children ages 5 and older) and the Plus-Plus Big (safer for younger children ages 1 and older).  Timberdoodle has both Plus-Plus Big sets and Plus-Plus Mini sets.  I personally think it's awesome to have both because you can build more things of various sizes.

F and G were both excited to build with this set!

 

Using the guidebook, kids can follow the easy directions to create a number of different builds including a house, a fidget spinner, a rainbow, a person, etc.

 

 Above you can see the directions for a house.

 

The boys' finished house.

Another build idea

 I love this one!

 

F with his rainbow.

Plus-Plus pieces are great for hand-eye coordination and fine motor skills.  They can use the guidebook to create specific builds or they can build their own creations.  The boys like to do both!

 

F built a knight for his castle.

G's creation!

The boys built a big fidget spinner and a mini fidget spinner using both sizes of our Plus-Plus pieces.

F's robot turned out pretty cool too.

There are literally endless possibilities when it comes to these pieces and kids will have so much fun constructing their creations.  Plus-Plus Big Learn and Explore is currently included in Timberdoodle's Preschool Curriculum Kit and it is such a fun item for younger kids!

 

 

Disclosure:  Huge shout out to Timberdoodle for selecting me as a Timberdoodle Blogger.  I received Plus-Plus Big Learn and Explore in exchange for my honest review.  All opinions are my own.

STEM Robotis PLAY 600 Pets Review {Timberdoodle 1st Grade Curriculum Kit}

Today we are going to take a closer look at one of the STEM components in our 1st Grade Elite Curriculum Kit from Timberdoodle, our Robotis PLAY 600 Pets.

Our Robotis PLAY 600 Pets

 

F was super excited to get started with his kit.

 

What's included?  This set is so neat!  It includes a geared motor (CM-20 with 2-way output), over 50 parts along with an instruction manual to build a bluebird, puppy and cricket.  There are also online directions (via ROBOPLUS Design App) to build a whale, goldfish, polar bear and tank.  So there are 7 pet builds.  The interactive 3D assembly instructions are fun and F enjoys looking at them from various angles.  This set builds one model at a time so you have to unbuild or destory your previous pet to build the next and so on.

 

F built the bluebird first.

And then of course, the bluebird had a great time crawling or rolling around the house.

A close-up of F's bluebird

 

Building the puppy

F built the puppy next.

And a close-up of F's puppy.

The puppy had a great time walking all over the house.  F especially liked the ears and tail.

 

F built the cricket next.

Side view of the cricket

And a front view of F's cricket.

 

At this point, F had built all 3 pets in the instruction manual so he moved onto the ROBOPLUS Design App to build the other designs.

F built the goldfish next.

 

And a close-up...

F gathering the pieces needed to build the whale.

Creating the whale using the App instructions.  The interactive 3D assembly instructions are fun and let you manipulate the design by rotating it, zooming in, etc.

Finished Whale

This set is great for fine motor skills and gives kids confidence in building and STEM.  The pieces are large and easy for young kids with smaller hands to assemble.  This is an entry-level robotics kit which allows younger students to become familiar with some of the fundamentals of simple automation.  I appreciate that no tools are required for F to build these various pets.  I love that it encourages children to imagine and expand on these designs to create their own as well!  This set is geared for ages 6 and up and I think it is perfect for F in 1st Grade.  You will need two AA batteries, which are not included.  Check out the video below to see some of F's pets in action!

Our Robotis PLAY 600 Pets is a part of our Timberdoodle 1st Grade Curriculum Kit and if you can't tell we highly recommend it!

Disclosure:  Huge shout out to Timberdoodle for selecting me as a Timberdoodle Blogger.  I will be refunded the purchase price of our curriculum kit in exchange for my honest reviews.  All opinions are my own.

Timberdoodle's Plus-Plus Mini Maker Tube - Turkey Review

I have another really fun Timberdoodle product to share with you, the Plus-Plus Mini Maker Tube - Turkey!  While this is especially fun to have this month with Thanksgiving quickly approaching, it's also fun year round as you can build the turkey and so much more.

This tube contains 70 plastic pieces in a reusable container and includes step-by-step instructions on how to build a turkey.  There is a disclaimer that Plus-Plus color mixes are not always exact and counts of each color may vary from tube to tube.  Our container actually had 75 pieces, score!  And there are 11 orange pieces needed for the turkey and we had 10.  This really wasn't an issue, you will just see that one of our orange feathers is one piece short, no biggie - but I did want to mention it.

 Plus-Plus Mini Maker Tube - Turkey

 Everything included

 Above you can see a bit of the step-by-step instructions.

Plus-Plus mini pieces all have the same, identical shape.  They have a slightly "rubbery" texture and the pieces slide together smoothly with very little pressure while also coming apart without much effort.  The trick is that they stay together when locked!  You can build in any direction so your creations can be flat or 3D like our turkey.

Plus-Plus Mini Pieces

These pieces come in an array of colors.  This set includes brown, red, orange yellow and blue.

The different colors in this set.  One side of each piece has the words Plus Plus on it, while the other side does not.

B made this flat heart!

You can follow the easy directions to create a turkey with this set and also use the pieces to build your own creations.  I really love that you can combine these pieces with other Plus-plus Mini sets to create a plethora of bigger things.  We don't currently have other sets but they are now on my wishlist!  I like that my kids are encouraged to plan and think about what colors to use in their designs as they figure out what structure to make.  Plus-Plus Mini pieces are great for hand-eye coordination and fine motor skills.  There are literally endless possibilities when it comes to these pieces and kids will have hours of creative construction.

Here you can see D building a turkey.

D's assembled turkey!

 A also wanted to build her own turkey, this one is hers.

 Isn't he cute?

 Here you have a good view of the turkey's neck.

 And here is the backside of our turkey, you can really see his feathers.

 I mentioned other creations, C built a box.

Plus-Plus sets originate from Denmark and are available in two sizes - the Plus-Plus Big (safer for younger children ages 1 and older) and the Plus-Plus Mini (which are suited for children ages 5 and older).  Timberdoodle has both Plus-Plus Big sets as well as other Plus-Plus Mini sets.

 Here is a 150 piece set of the Plus-Plus Big.

And this 1200 piece set of the Plus-Plus Minis looks awesome.

This Plus-Plus Mini Maker Tube - Turkey is extremely affordable and would make a unique gift for that hard to find child and would also be perfect to slip into a stocking this Holiday season!  You're welcome.

Disclosure:  Huge shout out to Timberdoodle for selecting me as a Timberdoodle Blogger.  Timberdoodle sent my family the Plus-Plus Mini Maker Tube - Turkey in exchange for our honest review.  All opinions are my own.