A Super Fun Educational Gift for Kids (Chameleon Reader Review)

Disclaimer: The Chameleon Reader was sent to me to try out for free, but this post is not required/compensated.  All opinions are my own 🙂

Are you one of those people who waits until the week before Christmas to do your shopping, or do you have it all done by Thanksgiving?

I’m a bit of a mix.  I kind of love wandering through the stores with all of their holiday decor and music (while my kids are napping and my husband is home with them, obvi – I don’t do shopping with kids unless it’s Target.)

But, if I don’t have most of the shopping done ahead of time I start to panic a bit.  My ideal scenario is to buy everything ahead of time except for small gifts and stocking stuffers and pick those up in-store in December.

All this to say that while, yes, it’s November and not yet Thanksgiving, I’m got the gift list nailed down for everyone, even my impossible-to-buy-for husband.  If you’re still looking for a unique gift for your child, I have something really cool to tell you about today!

We recently got a Chameleon Reader and I am IN LOVE!  I actually lay in bed the night after we got it thinking of all of the different ways I want to use it…yes I am that nerdy.  I would love to wait until I’ve tried all of the capabilities to tell you about it, but this is a super busy time for our family (and probably everyone else) and I wanted to share in time for holiday shopping.

In its most basic form, the Chameleon reader lets you turn ANY of your kid’s books into audiobooks using your own voice.  You just put little stickers on each page and record yourself (or your child! or a grandparent!) reading the book.  They can then use the little pen to play the story back. (this short video shows how it works.

I love this because we experimented a little bit with story podcasts for my son the last time we traveled and while he liked them, he really only liked hearing the stories he already knew like Jack and the Beanstalk or The Little Red Hen.  He was not yet 3 at the time and I think it was too hard for him to follow/get engaged with the stories he wasn’t already familiar with, with no pictures to look at.

With the Chameleon though, I can record all of his favorite books and he has the capacity to listen to them any time he wants.  Obviously, nothing replaces reading to your child because so much of the benefit comes from the conversations you have and the explanations you give while reading.  But, I know that since having a second child I don’t read to James as much as I used to and I love that he can listen to his favorites on repeat.  He also loves being able to choose a book and “read” it independently without having to ask someone.

We are still hanging on to nap time for dear life over here, but I know that eventually (and probably soon), he will transition away from nap and I plan to replace it with “quiet time”.  I think having some books and his Chameleon reader in his room during quiet time would be perfect.

I also really wish I had known about this right when Lilah was born, because it would have been the perfect thing to offer James while I was feeding Lilah for so much of the day as a newborn.

I am frantically recording as many books as possible at the moment because I want to surprise him with some on our upcoming plane trip for Thanksgiving.  There is a headphone jack, so it’s the perfect non-screen time activity for travel.  We actually haven’t introduced screen time to James yet (though we’re thinking of starting with Charlie Brown’s Christmas this year!).  The Chameleon makes the perfect independent, quiet activity for kids who don’t do screen time yet, or if you’re trying to cut back.

Another really cool way you can use the Chameleon reader is to record a book in multiple languages.  You can record each book in up to 4 languages using the stickers.  I am not fluent enough in another language to do this, but I have a few friends who are raising bilingual children and I know they would LOVE this!  I’m going to see if they might be willing to help me record a few books in another language for James and Lilah.  James is super interested in other languages and I know he’d love this!

Here are a few of the ways I’m most excited to use the Chameleon:

• Recording his favorite music into a playlist: This is another capability and one I’m excited about because currently, I play his favorite songs on repeat from my phone/speaker, but I would love for him to be able to play them independently.
• To link the MP3s to his Music Together books so he can play those songs with the books whenever he wants.  I think he will love this because there are certain songs he loves and others he always wants to skip.
• To record messages from extended family in a photo book for him.  I’m most excited about this and hope to start at Thanksgiving since there are people we only see once or twice a year.  I have a photo board book I made him for his first birthday, so I may use that or may make another photo book.
• To invite my parents to record some of the books they’re giving him for Christmas.  I think he would love being able to hear them read to him since they don’t live in the same city!

If you have a niece or nephew or grandchild who lives far away, I think it would be SO fun to record stories for them and send them along with the Chameleon.

My other favorite thing about this?

I was excited when the company reached out to me to share the product, but I kind of thought it might be the kind of thing where you get it, and then are constantly having to buy more stickers to record more stories.  No.  It comes with 5000 stickers!  I could easily record every children’s book we have and have more leftover.  Love it.

I couldn’t recommend this more and I think it will become a go-to gift for me for 2nd or 3rd birthdays.  It does ship from overseas so go ahead and order soon if you think your kid would love it!

I definitely plan to share more once we use it a bit more.

Also, please share any ideas you have for cool ways we could use this!

What is your go-to gift for kids?  I’d love to know!

Montessori abc Book

My Montessori abc book uses phonetic sounds. Montessori teaches phonetic sounds, rather than letter names, to help children learn to read.

The book also uses one letter and image per page. This helps the child focus and not be overwhelmed. Photographic images are used to spark curiosity and encourage the child to learn about the real world.

You can purchase the book here!

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