STEM Learning Made Fun at Snapology & LEGO Set Giveaway

If you have a child in school, you are probably familiar with the acronym STEM, which stands for science, technology, engineering, and math. The importance and necessity of STEM education have been widely acknowledged among parents, teachers and education experts, for STEM is closely linked to every aspect of modern life while STEM education helps develop transferable skills that are essential in both STEM and non-STEM fields, such as creativity, communication, critical thinking, problem solving, and data analysis. Due to the complexity and difficulty of STEM subjects, there is a misconception that STEM learning is intimidating and frustrating. In fact, however, STEM learning can be nothing but fun and can be accomplished through various activities, including PLAY!

STEM Learning Through Toys
Making learning fun and enjoyable is the key to nurturing the love for knowledge. The number of educational toys that promote STEM-related skills is on the rise. You may already own such toys without realizing their connection to STEM education. Well loved by both boys and girls, LEGO bricks are known to stimulate creativity, spatial thinking, problem solving and teamwork. There are also STEM certified toys that are specifically designed to integrate play with STEM learning.

STEM Learning Through Books
Wouldn't it be great to encourage your child to fall in love with reading and STEM learning at the same time? Luckily, there are quite a few well-written books that teach STEM subjects in fun and engaging ways for students at different stages of learning. Some of our favorites include the Magic School Bus series, the Little Scientists books, and DK's awarding-winning new release Maker Lab.

STEM Learning Through Hands-on Activities
Children learn fast and best through hands-on activities. You can try to come up with DIY projects at home or send your kids to more structured STEM programs like those being offered at Snapology. Rated one of the Best Kids' Franchise, Snapology discovery centers provide hands-on, interactive activities for children ages 1-14 using LEGO® bricks, K’Nex and technology. They create STEM learning experiences through classes, workshops, camps, birthday parties, school field trips, scouting events and more. They also offer amazing franchise opportunities that are affordable, flexible and can provide quick profitability. If you've been thinking about becoming your own boss, this could be the best opportunity. Please visit Snapology.com to learn more about what Snapology has to offer.

Brick Loot October Box Review & 10% Off

Got a LEGO fan in your family? Why not surprise him with a monthly delivery of LEGO goodies instead of sending him just one set that he may get tired of playing with in a few days? Brick Loot makes a perfect holiday gift for your little LEGO enthusiast by promising an exciting unboxing experience every month! Choose the subscription plan that offers the best value and save 10% with code usfamily.

Brick Loot is a box subscription service for LEGO and Brick fanatics. Subscribers will receive a monthly box filled with unique, custom and never-before-seen items that work with LEGO bricks and custom building. Each month your Brick Loot box is filled with 4-8 items that were hand picked by Brick specialists who scour the world for the newest and coolest products for you to collect.

Brick Loot kindly offered me a free trial of their service. My boys, who are crazy about LEGO, were thrilled to receive their first Brick Loot box.

Here are the fun stuff they found inside the box:

• Exclusive Brick Loot Arcade 100% LEGO build designed by BrickBuildersPro
• Pixel Monster
• Head Case
• Gamer Custom 100% LEGO Minifigure Limited Edition
• Exclusive Art Print
• Game On! Sticker 

The box contains a good mix of LEGO building sets of different difficulty levels, minifigures and accessories. The inclusion of exclusive items makes my kids feel special and ensures that their collection keep growing with items they don't already have. While the Arcade and Pixel Monster are fun to build, what my boys love most is that the pieces from those kits are fully compatible with the LEGO pieces they already own. The possibilities of new creations are endless! My little builders rarely rely on the instructions when they play with LEGO. They prefer to follow their passion and imagination to build something unique with whatever pieces they have on hand.

My favorite item from the box is the Head Case because it provides a great place to store and carry small LEGO parts and minifigures. It's a cute and useful accessory to help LEGO players get better organized and to prevent the loss of tiny pieces.

Subscribe to Brick Loot today and you'll start getting custom LEGO kits, minifigures and accessories delivered to your door monthly! Invented by a 9 year old, the box is fun for ages 6 - 99. Be sure to use code usfamily for 10% off your subscription.

Disclosure: I received free products to facilitate my honest review. All views and opinions expressed are my own and may differ from yours.

BrickSwag 20% Off LEGO Monthly Subscription

I wouldn't be surprised if many kids have LEGO sets on their holiday wishlist. Who wouldn't love hours of fun building and creating? Sign your child up for a LEGO club like BrickSwag and start receiving a box of LEGO Swag each month. It will sure make a gift that your little LEGO enthusiast will appreciate from the bottom of his heart!

BrickSwag is the #1 membership program for LEGO fans. Each monthly LEGO subscription box includes official LEGO kits to build and keep, exclusive t-shirt, Build magazine, Funky Fig trading cards, and more surprises. It is Brickswag's mission to inspire, educate, and entertain with LEGO bricks.

From now through 11/20, you can receive 20% Off each BrickSwag subscription with coupon code FAM20. Get started here before the offer expires.

Disclosure: I will receive free products in exchange for this publication.

Try Out The Most Popular Building Sets Through Pley

This post contains affiliate links and I will be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking on my links.

Have you been searching the toy store shelves for the perfect LEGO®, K’NEX, or PleyWorld product for the little builder in your world? Sometimes, it can be tough to shell out the cash for something you know will only be played with once, and will spend the rest of its life collecting dust. Pley is the perfect solution. They have all the coolest toys kids love, and the subscriptions start at just $25 a month. Here are some of the most popular products available now for Pley members:

Star Wars Clone Commander Cody & Jango Fett LEGO® Set: They can battle it out with these LEGO buildable action figures: Jango Fett and LEGO Clone Commander Cody! They're fun to put together and even more fun to battle play!


Star Wars Millenium Falcon LEGO® Set: If you thought the last Millenium Falcon was cool, you’ll ooh and awe over the renovated version of The finely detailed interior and exterior of the LEGO Star Wars Millennium Falcon is sure to get their adrenaline rushing for adventure.


Unique BB-8 LEGO® Set: The BB-8 is available to all Pley subscribers by popular demand! You can actually use your smartphone or tablet to control BB-8 and explore together!


Knex Angry Birds Mission May'ham: Retrieve the golden egg with the K’NEX Angry Birds Mission May’ham building set! You can get back the egg the piggies stole from the Angry Birds!


PleyWorld Mars Colony: Mars Colony is a Pley exclusive LEGO set. In it, you will find oxygenated domes covering all the essentials of human life-- city, farmland, and even a communications satellite and launch pad!


Discover all the great products Pley has for subscribers and sign up for Pley today!

Five Favorite Family Time Ideas

LEGO® and TwitterMoms have teamed up for a fun new blogging program! Share five of your favorite family time ideas in a blog post and the first 30 qualified participants will get a LEGO prize pack that includes 2 games for your next family game night! In addition, 10 random winners will get a complete set of LEGO games! Woot! Woot!

Here are five of my favorite family time ideas:

1. Game Night
Playing games together is a great way to spend quality family time. Time usually flies super fast during a game night. I'm often reluctant to say "Let's call it a night". Our favorite games include Monopoly, Clue and Charades.

2. Movie Night
Everyone in our family loves watching movies. During a movie night, we eat snacks, chat and enjoy the show. We usually have a lot to discuss even after the movie. It's a fun way for us to bond and communicate.

3. Book Night
I've stressed more that once that it's important for parents to spend time reading with their kids. One way to make reading more entertaining is to have a book night party. We pick an interesting book and read it together with cheerful music playing in the background. After familiarizing ourselves with the story, we act the story out by taking different roles.

4. Picnic
We love to eat together and to stay close to nature. Picnic is the perfect activity to meet both of our preferences. Preparing food and gear for the picnic is part of family fun too. It's simply marvelous to savor tasty food and admire natural landscape at the same time!

5. Fishing Trip
One of our favorite family outings is to go fishing together. Although hubby is the only one who knows how to fish, my son and I love to watch him and be busy helpers. We make a good team! My son is still too young to learn fishing, but he learns about different kinds of fish and he's mainly responsible for counting the fish in the bucket. Fishing is an awesome way to get everyone in the family involved and to create lifelong memories.

About LEGO®:
The LEGO Group is a privately held company based in Billund, Denmark. The company is still owned by the Kirk Kristiansen family who founded it in 1932.

The LEGO Group is engaged in the development of childrens creativity through playing and learning. Based on the world-famous LEGO brick, the company today provides toys, experiences and teaching materials for children in more than 130 countries. The LEGO Group has approximately 8,000 employees, and it is the worlds fifth largest manufacturer of play materials.

Join LEGO® on Facebook and take the LEGO Games Challenge!

Disclosure: I wrote this blog post while participating in the TwitterMoms and LEGO blogging program, making me eligible to get a prize pack. For more information on how you can participate, click here.