As the mother of two toddlers (Mister is 34 months and Sister is 20 months) one of the things that I struggle with is daily routines. When they were younger, all hope of routine was thrown out the window. Now we desperately need a consistent routine, but toddlers don’t understand the concept of time and are not too keen on delayed gratification. I have learned, THE HARD WAY, not to tell my kids about a special activity until about an hour before it is going to happen. Anything before that, and they will drive me crazy with incessant questions as to when the activity is going to take place.
Just recently, I accidentally mentioned that MawMaw Fredia (my Mom) would be coming over the next day. Oh my WOW! For nearly thirty minutes I heard, “MawMaw’s coming? MawMaw is coming over?” At my wits end, I dialed her number and handed the phone to Mister. She told him she would be coming over the next day, to which he replied, “But, why? MawMaw, you come over today.” Bless her heart, she arrived within an hour. Considering she lives in ANOTHER STATE ACROSS THE RIVER, I was duly impressed and grateful.
That being said, I have really been struggling to institute some sort of routine with the kids that we can all follow without them driving me bananas. We have breakfast at 8, snacks at 10 a.m., lunch at Noon, and naps at 2p.m. We have free play between breakfast and lunch, story time before naps, brush our teeth before naps. Sunday is church. Monday is pantry where we volunteer. Tuesday is Trash Truck Tuesday. Wednesday is art projects. Etc, etc, etc. But, without a real grasp on time, it is really hard for them to understand that it isn’t TIME for snacks yet. Or it isn’t TIME for art projects.
So, when I received an opportunity to review the all new TimeBuddy, from GoLearn Toys, I cried that someone out there knew my pain and jumped at the chance agreed.
About TimeBuddy
TimeBuddy is a unique new educational toy, that is fun and interactive, that aims to help young children follow daily routines that they understand (since they can visually see the series of activities to be performed). Introducing time management for kids at an early age will help them increase their chances to master this skill as adults. There is nothing like TimeBuddy in the market.
TimeBuddy™ is fully customizable for parents with 150+ activity stickers, prerecorded and personalized messages and a 24-hour clock. Children do not need to be able to tell time in order to benefit from TimeBuddy™.
Although it is new, TimeBuddy has already been awarded the Seal of Approval for 2010 by the National Parenting Center, as well as receiving two Dr Toy Awards: Top 10 high tech toys for 2010 and Top 100 Toys for 2010.
When the TimeBuddy arrived, Mister was mesmerized.
I explained to Mister and Sister that we were going to personalize the TimeBuddy and they seemed excited about the stickers.
When I removed the demo display, Mister got a little upset, because he thought I was “broken it.”
Sister wasn’t too concerned, as long as the button still worked.
We used four colors on the rim of the TimeBuddy.
We added the number stickers to the rim. We used stickers to show what time they get up, when they are supposed to eat, when it is time to read, and when it is time for art.
Programming the digital clock on the TimeBuddy is incredibly easy. It took me a bit to get used to the fact that the TimeBuddy has a 24 hour face, rather than the 12 hour face I am accustomed to on a clock. Of course, the 24 hour face allows you to include bedtime and more activities. The TimeBuddy allows you to either record your child’s name in a prerecorded message or to completely customize a message. Since our TimeBuddy will be used for both kids, we use the custom settings.
I love the fact that the stickers for the TimeBuddy are repositionable and reusable. As the kids get older, and their routines change, I can simply swap out the stickers. That is, as long as I hide them and they don’t find them. Sister has already made off with a couple of them. LOL.
The TimeBuddy requires 3 AA batteries, which it comes with.
Buy it… TimeBuddy is available on their website or on Amazon.com
The fine folks at GoLearn Toys provided me with the aforementioned complimentary product to facilitate this review. No other compensation was received. All opinions express are 100% my own and are based on my own experience. Your experience may differ.
Oh that looks like a really neat clock for kids! I will have to check that out 🙂
We can never tell my two preschoolers something too far in advance because they hound us forever about it and then they get upset and cry when whatever it is doesn’t happen immediately. Then I feel bad for upsetting them especially if it’s going to be something really fun.
This clock looks like it just might solve all that! I’ll have to check it out and put it on our Christmas lists!
These are totally neato. I want to get one for my son who is going to be 3 in a couple months.
I’m glad I came across your review. My daughter received this as a gift and we’ve gotten as far as applying a few stickers… then she seemed to lose interest. Maybe I’ll reintroduce it when we fall back.
From my own experience, it really helps when parents help direct children to “what activity its next” For instance, instead of saying, “it time to go to bed” you can ask your child, please look at your timebuddy and tell me what is your next activity. This way they tell you what is next instead of you telling them. Please let us know if it works!