I have now been lucky enough to be given my first item to review, I couldn’t have been more excited.
The items I have been sent to review is Hot Dots Jr from Learning Resources. I could not wait to open the package and see what was inside. To review, I was given the Hot Dots Jr numbers and counting cards and the Hot Dots Pen.
The Number and Counting cards come in a lovely Colorful box, with a handle on the top so the children can carry it around easily. The lid seals shut with Velcro, which is easy enough for children of any age to open. I opened up the box and inside were the cards. In total there are 36 cards. The way this works is by putting the hot dots pen on the correct answer. If you get the answer correct the pen lights up green and says things from Perfect to that’s brilliant to clapping and cheering. If you select the wrong answer the pen lights up red and says, whoops that’s not it to hummm nope and ohhhh man. The children have three different answer they can choose from on each of the cards.
Some of the cards are just simply counting how many dogs, snails, mice, flowers etc, are there. Other cards ask what number comes after the number shown on the card. On some of the cards the answers are numbers IE, 1, 2, 3 and on other cards the numbers are written IE, six, seven, eight. Below are a few pictures of the different types of cards in this pack.
You can see the black dots next to each number or word. This is where you have to put the Hot Dots pen in order for it to pick up your answer. You can see the cards are very bright and colorful to keep the children’s attention. The are made of a glossy card material, so they are going to last a long time.
The box to carry the cards in is really well designed. The handle is a great way for children to carry the box and cards around. If your going in the car or on a plane or train etc your children can carry this around easily. The Hots Dots pen also fits inside, so everything can be carried around all together.
In addition to the cards we have been sent, you can buy other cards to add to your collection. There are Money practice cards, Maths practice, early skills cards and many more.You can also buy two other pens which have a cat and dog on the top of them. To have a look at the full range please visit the Hot Dots website. My partner and my self both think this is an excellent way for children to learn. Although our little boy is to young at the moment to use the pen, I can show him the pictures on the cards. So far he has learnt to say teddy bear and dog from me showing these cards to him.
I would give this product a 10 out of 10. It is a fun way of learning and very unique, Personally I have not seen anything like this before.
Check out the Hot Dots Facebook page, they are currently running a competition.