Zillio Mini Mountian and 2-D Playground Review and Giveaway!

August 31, 2013April 5, 2010 by Bridgette

When I was pregnant with both children, first and foremost, I prayed they would be healthy, have their daddy’s long legs, and please God, do NOT let them have my brain that can’t do the math. I struggled with math from 5th grade and beyond. It seemed there was always just something I kept “missing.” I still have nightmares about calculus and I haven’t been in school since graduating from college in the 90’s! I have tried very hard not to instill my fear of math into my children, and instead have attempted to incorporate math into their lives in a positive way as much as possible. When I was asked to review Zillio’s Mini Mountain and 2-D Playground, I was very excited as this was just one more way to help them learn! It seems Zillo had me in mind when they designed their products! From the website:

“What truly sets Zillio apart from all the rest of educational games and math manipulatives is that Zillio provides the missing link necessary to succeed in critical thinking. The design behind this playful structure allows children to see, touch and systematically manipulate numbers to reveal the meaning behind math.”

As soon as our package arrived, it was a real attention-getter and my kids wanted to see how it worked. As a teacher, I liked the bright, cheerful colors and of course the fact that the games are hands-on. Anyone in the education field can tell you that almost every type of learner benefits from tactile experiences. It doesn’t take an education degree to tell you kids like to touch and feel everything! The Mini Mountain is inviting and instantly has kids asking, “What is that?” The mountain and playground cover all the basics – counting, addition, and subtraction for your little guys, and multiplication, division, fractions, number lines, ratios, equivalency, and algebra for your bigger kids.

Just 'cause Mom is scared of math doesn't mean I have to be!

We played the Mountain Goat Scramble using the Mini Mountain and it was a snap to set up and easy to learn. My 5 year old, Emily played with me as her partner but Nicolas, age 8, was ok on his own! I didn’t find it too difficult for him to understand once we got the basics down and he enjoyed the challenge of figuring out what combinations he could come up with using the dice in order to move one of his “goats.” As a teacher, I think the Mini-Mountain or Mega-Mountain would make a great addition to a classroom as part of small group centers. Later, we used the 2-D Playground to play Homing Pigeons. Again, Em needed a little of my help but Nicolas was a solo mathmetician and enjoyed playing. The 2-D playground is perfect when you are limited on space but still want the benefits that the Mini Mountain offers. Both the Mini Mountain and the 2-D playground come with guides giving you all the details on how the games work, and what I liked best was the listing of all the games from basic to most advanced, with a spreadsheet-style checklist of what skills are developed or practiced and you advance in your math skills. Every summer I try to do a little bit with the kids each week to keep their school skills sharp without it feeling like “school.” Zillio’s products are perfect for this! I can’t wait to enjoy playing more Zillio games with my kids.

Giveaway

I can’t let just the people in my house become Math Einsteins! One lucky winner can choose from the Mini Mountain or the 2-D playground.

How to enter:

1. Visit Zillio Games and tell me the name of one game you can play with Zillio!

Additional entries:

1. Blog about this giveaway and link to The Not-So-Blog and Zillio (10 extra entries).

2. Follow me (@BridgetteLA) on Twitter and Tweet this giveaway. Every time you tweet you get an additional entry! Unlimited! (You must have over 50 Twitter followers to qualify for unlimited entries!)

3. Subscribe to my blog.

4. Become a Fan of The Not-So-Blog and Zillio on Facebook.

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Contest ends at 11:59pm CST on April 26th. Prizes not claimed in 72 hours will be forfeited. Open to U.S. Residents only.