This week’s roundup of Mom’s Choice Award winners features games for ages 10 and up, kid-friendly tech products, audio experiences, and more! Be sure to scroll through the entire list so you don’t miss any of our new award-winners! All the items you see below won a Mom’s Choice Award during October 27, 2024 to November 2, 2024.
Every week companies, inventors, and publishers from around the world send us their products for evaluation. Only the best earn our designation.
Zoomies
Help your pups make friends, become the leader of the pack, collect bones, and get the zoomies. Score by matching a dog tile and placing a scoring token. Each token adds points in one of two different ways, so players choose what to score and what to give up. Play your dogs right and you can add points to a previous token while digging up a whole new way to score.
Toys, Games & Puzzles:
Adults
What did you do at school today?
Written by C.C. Lacavera
Every parent has asked their little one questions like, “What did you do at school today?” hoping for a peek into their imaginative minds and the magic of their days. Now, through the pages of this enchanting book, you and your child can transform story time into your time for sharing your own stories.
“What Did You Do At School Today?” is not just a question, but a magical gateway into the hearts and minds of children. Set against a backdrop of vivid illustrations, the playful rhymes conjure a school day filled with new discoveries, boundless imagination and spirited antics of kids aged 2-6. From examining a bug in the playground to painting a rainbow in art class, every question is meant to spark imagination and invite sharing.
Perfect for reading aloud, this heartwarming book promotes active listening, encourages storytelling, and nurtures a stronger parent-child connection. It’s a reminder for all parents of the treasures hidden in everyday life and the magic that happens when they take a moment to listen.
Come, rediscover the magic of school days, one story at a time!
Children’s Picture Books:
Bedtime Stories
Ultimatch
Ultimatch is a cooperative twist on matching card games. Matches can be made by color, number, addition, subtraction, or even mixing colors, but you want to think through the best cards to use now and which to save for later. Players work together to remove matches from a pyramid of cards. They win if they remove all the cards but lose if they all pass. Along with the cooperative play and new ways to match, Ultimatch prompts clever decision making, offers exciting mini-wins, and encourages player interaction. Players get that just-one-more-game feeling over and over when they play Ultimatch.
Toys, Games & Puzzles:
Adults
The Four Santas: A Magical Christmas Story of Time, Toys, and Togetherness
Written by Liliane Fortna; Illustrated by Marizan; Edited by BiblioKid Publishing
Everyone is familiar with Santa Claus, but many children reach an age when they start to wonder about his origin and how — and why — he manages to deliver gifts to children all around the world on Christmas Eve. The Four Santas is an enchanting Christmas picture book that follows a young boy named Charlie as he uncovers the magical origin of Santa Claus. This heart-warming tale reveals Santa’s heartfelt mission to spread joy and love to children around the world, unveiling the secret behind his incredible one-night journey to deliver gifts.
Children’s Picture Books:
Seasonal, Holidays & Festivals
Mommy, I’m The Only One
Written by Renee Scott Creese; Illustrated by QBN Studios
Lina is so excited about her first day of first grade! She can’t wait to meet her new teacher and new friends. Because of her different textured hair, she realizes that she is the only one in her class whose hair is a different texture. When she gets back home, she tells her mother about her day at school. Her mother gives her words of encouragement. Lina is inspired by her mother’s words and teaches her classmates about her hair and being different. This story will motivate and empower readers to treat each other’s differences with respect.
This adorable picture book is a great way to teach children to respect each other’s differences and helps children understand the importance of being kind.
-Kids learn how to respect differences.
-Teach kindness towards others.
-A cute and well-written story.
-High-quality, colorful illustrations.
-Perfect for preschool and kindergarten, elementary school.
Children’s Picture Books:
Religion & Spirituality
Memory Lane
Written by Natalie Reeder; Illustrated by Daytona Ekran; Edited by United House Publishing
The best memories never fade. Journey down memory lane with a mountain climber as she thinks back to her favorite day. And discover the influence a helping hand can make.
Children’s Picture Books:
Adventure, Adventurers & Heroes
Lucky Ruby: A Hanukkah & Christmas Holiday Book
Written by Laura Lee Rittman; Illustrated by Cennet KapKac; Edited by Debora Calvert – Bibliokid Publishing
“Lucky Ruby” is about a little girl named Ruby who is being raised interfaith. Her Dad is Jewish and her Mom is Christian. They love to celebrate BOTH Hanukkah and Christmas in their home! When Ruby decides to invite her classmate Violet over for her family holiday party, Violet thinks it’s weird that they celebrate both faiths. After Violet gets to see how special the holidays are for Ruby she begins to realize how lucky Ruby really is. Great read to teach respect on how other families may celebrate their faiths and traditions differently than you but that the common thread is family and love!
Children’s Picture Books:
Seasonal, Holidays & Festivals
Love Is…
The album has a wonderfully current pop vibe as it explores the topic of love in its many varieties. Family love, community love, universal love, self-love, pet love, friendship love, and even romantic love (via an adorable penguin “meet cute” tale) each have their moments to shine. Suzanne Jamieson’s hope is that, if we give more focus to love, we can start to build a better world with and for our children.
Audio Experiences:
Ages 5 to 8
KOKODI Kids Smart Phone
The KOKODI Kids Smart Phone is a multifunctional educational toy that simulates real-life social interactions, helping children develop communication skills, cognitive abilities, and independence. This kokodi kids phone is designed to spark imagination while promoting expressive and social skills. With user-friendly features and engaging content, the KOKODI Kids Smart Phone offers a fun and educational experience that supports your child’s overall development.
Toys, Games & Puzzles:
Preschoolers
Just a Jam Jar: Filled with Endless Possibilities
Written by Erica Turzak, Dylan Turzak; Illustrated by Natia Gogiashvili; Edited by Melinda Martin
Today, I am a jam jar. I may seem empty, but I am filled with the dream of helping our planet.
Follow along with this sweet story of creativity, conservation and upcycling. Together we can discover the many uses for our hero (the jam jar) that are more than what meets the eye.
A wonderful read to me / read with me, journey that is filled with sight words and playful illustrations on one jar’s dream to help save the planet. Educational content and a lesson plan are available on our website.
Children’s Picture Books:
Green Earth
Bookbot
Bookbot is an app to build your child’s reading confidence. Bookbot assists children learning to read by providing a number of tools. The Bookbot library has the largest selection of phonics books to ensure we can support children of all reading levels to start and enjoy reading. The Bookbot app uses speech recognition technology to provide guidance to children as they are reading aloud and keeps a track record of their reading fluency and progress. This allows children to win awards and provides reading incentives. This information is shown in the parent’s and teachers reading progress app.
Bookbot’s mission is to support children across the globe to embrace reading and engage with books in new ways – not just to improve their literacy and communication skills, but also to create a happy and successful life.
Apps & Software:
Ages 5 to 8
Applaydu Family Games
Welcome to Applaydu: A Safe World of Playing and Learning
Hi there, moms! If you’re looking for a fun, safe, and educational way to engage your little ones aged 3-6, you’re in for a treat.
Why Applaydu Stands Out
For young kids 3-6 years old, play significantly boosts the learning of cognitive skills, emotional well-being, social competence, and developing creativity. Supported by recent studies emphasizing the family context in fostering meaningful play, Applaydu offers a balanced experience of Playing and Learning complimentary to Family Playtime. Played by over 68+ million families, the unique experience starts from the assembly of Kinder Surprise toys found in every chocolate egg, scan the QR code, and embark on an escapade into the Applaydu World.
Video Games:
Preschoolers
3 Comments on “Weekly Roundup: Children’s Picture Books, Parenting Books, Young Adult Games, + More!! 10/27 – 11/2”
I love the nice variety of games and books. Some great choices here for Christmas gifts. My kids would really enjoy Ultimatch.
Awesome!!
Such a great variety of things! Thanks for sharing!