The Nintendo Labo and The Institute of Play Bring STEAM Projects to Schools all Over America

Fishing with the Switch

I’m very excited to be partnering with Nintendo to talk about the Nintendo Labo Variety Kit. Nintendo sent us two of the Nintendo Labo kits to play with and review. The first that we tried out was the Nintendo Labo Variety kit. There are several projects within each kit. In the variety kit there are two Toy-Con RC Cars, Toy-Con Fishing Rod, Toy-Con House, Toy-Con Motorbike and a Toy-Con Piano. We immediately made the Toy-Con Fishing Rod. Andrew and I popped out all of the pieces and he helped me with much of the folding. I did more of the intricate parts of this but he was a big help.

More Switch Fishing

I was so impressed with how the fishing pole went together and when it was finished how it even made a clicking noise when you reeled in the fish. We have dubbed Andrew “King Mackerel” because even though he has reeled in much bigger fish he tends to go back to catching the easy Mackerel over and over. We are all trying to catch that elusive shark and I do like how it takes some finesse and skill to actually reel in the fish. What I like more is how the fishing line works with the ocean and how it rolls itself back up and gives a more realistic experience of fishing.

I’m going to give Andrew the option as to which Toy-Con we build next but my money is on the Toy-Con Motorbike. That looks like it is going to be so much fun to use. After we build everything and get used to playing with all the Toy-Cons I think we may try and tackle a bigger challenge and that is to go into the Toy-Con garage to make something uniquely new. That is very exciting to me. Knowing that both of my kids love to make their own things, I know it is going to be exciting for them as well.

I believe that this innate curiosity to create new things and discover that children have is the driving force behind the partnership between Nintendo Labo and The Institute of Play. They have this collaborative program that is beginning soon in schools across the United States. I’d love to have the opportunity to bring this program to the kids’ school. You can read all about it below.

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She-Ra and the Princesses of Power Debut Today on Netflix

Eva and the finished She-Ra sword

I’ve been excitedly waiting for the debut of She-Ra and the Princesses of Power so that I could watch with the kids. I was offered a fun DIY kit for the kids to use to make She-Ra’s sword and also her cape. This set was sent to us from DreamWorks Animation. Opinions of the kit are our own. We have not yet watched the series so those opinions will be reserved for later.

Designing She-Ras Sword

This was a nice kit that included everything the kids needed to create She-Ra’s sword, her cape and it also came with a She-Ra tiara. I had to sleep between my shifts at work and so the kids took care of creating the sword on their own. I think that they ended up doing a rather good job. They both worked on this and I think that this is very important that both kids see this show together. There are characters within the show for everyone which is important. Continue reading She-Ra and the Princesses of Power Debut Today on Netflix