SB Finds

Why did I not know about Latin Baby on-line boutique two years ago when friends and family were showering me with gifts for the upcoming arrival of our girl?  I would have been such an original if I´d set up my baby registry with them, a site that celebrates our hispanic culture and traditions. My registry would have included these for sure: Del Sol Quilt–OK, I know they´re pricey, but so one-of-a-kind. I would have settled for one! Ellaroo RebozoRead More ...

This is definitely not your traditional Spanish music for kids.  Not at all.  These are some tunes that will get la familia entera dancing with ritmo y sabor.  This is a CD you’ll be asking your daughter to play más y más. Dan Zanes and Friends’ ¡Nueva York! is the first all-Spanish album the family musician has created and also his personal favorite.  With eleven of his CDs released to date, that’s a huge statement for Latino music. The fiestaRead More ...

When the time comes I will need all-the-help-I-can-get to introduce my girl to numbers and math concepts.  There´s a reason why I chose to write and communicate as a profession and why  I need a calculator to figure out tips. I really don´t want to pass along that fear of numbers to her.  Ingenio´s Math-o-matic manages to make learning numbers fun by disguising it as a colorful puzzle/game. You can start out using it just to teach your kid numbersRead More ...

Another big hit during the playgroup I recently hosted to review Ingenio’s toys, in one word, the North American Map Puzzle, is STURDY!  I know we’ve been using this word a lot these past few days when describing this bilingual toy company’s products, but it’s the truth and nothing is more important than a toy well-built when it is to be handed to little hands which like to destroy as they explore. Vanessa L-O-V-E-S puzzles, she calls them “copezas,” andRead More ...

The first thing that captured my attention on this Ingenio Animals Learning Puzzle was that it says “Two puzzles in one” on the box. I didn’t quite get it because there is just one big puzzle and it has animals with their names written in both Spanish in English. But when I gave it to my almost 3 y/o son to play with, the way he started putting it together made me “get it”. He first built each animal orRead More ...

These cards are similar to the ones Ana Lilian reviewed here, except that instead of opposites, they illustrate the English alphabet on one side and the Spanish one on the other. The Alphabet Learning Cards was the first toy we opened when we got the box from Ingenio and my daughter, Vanessa, had no problem calling out the name of whatever picture she saw on them. She did it all in Spanish and I’m happy to share she recognized mostRead More ...

The Smart Projector was definitely the winner during a meetup I recently hosted for some of the kids from our bilingual playgroup to check out the toys and games Ingenio sent us to review. At first, I had been a little worried about how it was going to turn out because none of the kids are older than 4 and even though this company’s toys are recommended for those 3 years and older and Vanessa had already played with someRead More ...

My daughter loves to sing and dance, but has a really hard time sitting still to “learn” anything.  It’s like she recognizes a certain “I’m-about-to-teach-you-something”  tone in my voice that makes her bolt running. This bilingual Alphabet Learning Puzzle is one more of Ingenio’s games that has been cleverly created to satisfy a mom’s need to teach and her child’s need to play.  The 27 pieces that make up this puzzle give you two learning games in one box.  OneRead More ...