Author: Jenny

Several months ago, Emily told me about this great new app she loved called Artkive. And then just a couple weeks later, my boss Shelly also told me about it. Since I never do anything Emily says, I hadn’t downloaded it yet. Since I always do what Shelly says, I got me some Artkive STAT! And I’m so glad I did! Both Emily and Shelly were right – Artkive is an app that has changed my life, in a simple but amazing way.

Artkive allows you to make a digital archive of your kiddos art. It’s that simple! No more agonizing over which pieces to keep and which to throw away, no more trying to hide the ones that didn’t make the cut in the trash can, and best of all : no more pretending the trashing was an accident when your kid finds his or her prized piece of art in the trash. (Not that that’s ever happened to me, 4,000 times.) If you download the Artkive app (which is free, of course) your kids can create art, you can artkive it on your phone, and then you can enjoy it on your phone or by printing it to book form. Awesome!

Here’s my Artkive on my phone:

It’s got some really awesome stuff on it,  but it’s about to get a whole lot bigger, because of THESE babies that came home the last day of school:

And their contents:

There’s also the matter of this wall that needs to be un-decorated to make room for all the art they’ve been creating this summer! We gotsta rotate the gallery before it gets Artkived.

Allright, so Artkive RULES! You get it, right? And for all NEW Artkive users, we have a $10 coupon credit toward your first Artkive book! Say what? It’s true! But you gotta act fast – between now and July 16, if you are an iOs user, download Artkive here, then go to the ‘Account’ tab and find the ‘Group Code’ box. Type in the word “momminitup” (no quotes) and your $10 credit will magically appear by July 17, 2013.

BUT WAIT I haven’t told you the best part!!! And no, the best part isn’t that you can print your petite Picasso’s art into an awesome hard-cover book, and the best part isn’t that we’re also giving away $50 credit toward a free Artkive book of your own. The VERY best part is that Emily and I met some of the Artkive guys at Mom 2.0 and they are…wait for it…COUSINS!!!

At first we thought they were bloggers and we were all, “Oh no you dit-int, we got the CORNER on the cousin blogger market, so step off before we hafta get NASTY.” And they were all, “Hold up! Don’t cut us! We’re not bloggers! We’re the Artkive guys!” and we were all, “Yay! We love Artkive! We’ve been using Artkive for months!” And then we did a cousin fist-bump and the rest is history.

So to recap:
A) Artkive is an awesome free app that stores your kid’s artwork B)You can print the awesome artwork to a gorgeous hardcover book C) If you sign up for a new Artkive account now and use the code momminitup you will get a $10 credit in your account D) We are giving away $50 credit toward said book. E) Cousins rule the world!

Here’s how to enter to win $50 credit to make your Artkive book! (books start at just $25!)
1) Leave a comment on this post telling me what piece of your kids art you most want to Artkive.
2) For an extra entry, follow ArtKive on twitter and leave a separate comment letting us know you did so.
3) Readers who like Artkive on Facebook can also earn an extra entry, so if you already do, leave us a separate comment letting us know that as well.

One lucky winner will be chosen Thursday July 18 at 6 pm EST. Good luck and happy Artkiving!

It’s officially MID-summer, and if you’re like me you’re counting down the days to back-to-school (*cough* a mere 37 for my big kids!! *cough*). Or maybe you’re a FUN FUN FUN mom and you can’t get enough of summer. Or, perhaps, you are a homeschool mom and you’re dreading getting back to work. Whatever the case, it’s time to start getting the kiddos’ brains primed for school again. So, when School Zone Publishing came to me and asked me to review a few of their workbooks and give away a copy of what I’d reviewed I was all, “SURE!” Because honestly, Sophie, my little school girl, LOVES workbooks. She does. Girlfriend loves to learn!

We used several School Zone workbooks when I was helping Sophie work through her developmental delays, and when she wanted to learn to read at age 4, we used School Zone’s Start to Read series. So I’m very familiar with their products, and I think they’re great! I’ll tell you more about why I like them here in a second.

Since Sophie is going into the first grade, I chose the all-inclusive Big First Grade Workbook, Grades 1-2 Addition & Subtraction, and Big Spelling 1-3 Workbook. I wanted to get her some workbooks that would last a while, that she’d be able to use not only this summer but throughout first grade and beyond. I was particularly interested in the spelling book because although Sophie is a great reader, it does not appear as of yet that she is going to be a naturally good speller like Joshua is. So, I want to start practicing with her now. I know we’ll be studying for those first grade spelling tests!

I am really pleased with all three of these workbooks, particularly because of the creative presentation. The math book is not just about math facts; it’s full of all kinds of math activities so kids don’t feel like they’re doing the same things over and over. Likewise, the spelling book teaches has so many different games, and it teaches more than just plain old spelling. It uses inferences, crossword puzzles, word searches, mazes, and rhyming games to teach all sorts of skills. It’s definitely Sophie’s favorite of the set!

I have definitely seen Sophie’s word recognition and handwriting improve since we started using the spelling book in particular, and I am so glad she enjoys practicing in this fun way! I think she’s going to do just fine working on her spelling words this fall.

Want to try out School Zone for yourself? One lucky winner will win all three of these books! To enter, all you have to do is hop over here to School Zone’s Facebook page.  Just a couple clicks and you’ll be entered to win your own set!

Thanks, School Zone, for the work books to review. We are loving them!