Disclosure: I was sent these items to review free of charge from MindWare. All opinions in this post are my own. I did not receive any other compensation for this review. Note: Many of these products are no longer available. I am providing links for the ones that are or something similar.
Now I have mentioned that I have not been posting since so much of my time has been going to homeschooling Hazel for the last six weeks of school. Her school year officially ends this Friday (at least at her old school). However, the items I am sharing today we will continue to use all summer because they make learning fun!! Now we needed to continue with her spelling which we had from her school, her math workbook (which is really boring) to do money and fractions plus keep her addition and subtraction facts fresh, then in science plants and space and in social studies continue with the states which has been an ongoing activity and finish up Massachusetts history. Well, MindWare came to my rescue to do some of these things and make them fun!! In fact Hazel wants to continue using these resources during the summer as well!! To start with learning about money we got the game Loose Change. Loose Change is no longer available. Amazon has some money counting games.
In this game the players take turns to add a card to get it to equal $1. If you can get it exactly to $1 you will get a point but if you have to go over you will lose a point. Once $1 is reached (or passed) you start again. Throughout the game the players are announcing the total in play.
The cards have nickels, dimes, quarters and half dollar coins as well as special cards that have multiple coin amounts. This game reinforces the coins as well as practice in adding money and finding ways to equal $1. The game could easily be changed to use subtracting or even going to higher amounts. And the best part is Hazel and I like playing it!!
To keep up with her addition I got her Double Addition Decoders: Addition by Evelyn B. Christensen. (This is no longer available.) There are three types of decoder puzzles. Each has double digit addition problems to do and then there is an activity to do with your answers. Each activity allows for learning or practicing more math skills as well. The first helps learn about directions. With the answers there are instructions to move the spaces that correspond to the letters above the tens place and ones place (N, S, E, or W).
There are also ones with pictures. The user does the problems and then finds the square that corresponds with the answer and colors the square the color written above the problem. This is a good pre-Cartesian plane activity.
The third type is to follow the row or column until you find your new answer.
Hazel likes this last one a lot. She liked that you could check your answers by finding it in your row or column.
Our final math item is Grid Perplexors: Level A. (They have some Perplexors still available here.) These are beginning logic puzzles. I LOVE logic puzzles and thought Hazel might like them as well. This book is written for ages 8 to 9 which is perfect for Hazel. She loves them as well and has done quite a few on her own. I did the first one with her, but she has done seven more by herself and often just does them without being asked. She just likes them like I do. And personally, I think it is great to start kids learning about deductive reasoning at a young age. It will get them far to understand it.
Now we will look at some of the fun activities to learn more about the states. The first thing to share is actually a bit of math (counting) as well as learning about the states. It is Extreme Dot-to-Dot: Around the USA.
Hazel former second grade teacher gave the kids these puzzles all the time. Hazel asked for this one. She loves doing them and of course counting over 1000 for some of the puzzles helps her learn her higher numbers. Since we just went to the Statue of Liberty during her April vacation we started with that dot-to-dot.
I had her start on the USS Constitution since it is part of the Freedom Trail in Boston which we started visiting recently, but haven't gotten to the USS Constitution (which is drydocked until 2018). She unfortunately hasn't finished it yet, so I took a picture of some of the solutions so you could see the completed puzzles.
You can see there are puzzles from all over the country. This is perfect for studying the states and the special places in them. Plus it helps them with their visual skills and counting skills.
To learn about the states, it is also important to learn where the states are. To help with this geography lesson we got Color Chart: United States. (Note: This product is no longer available, but you can see similar ones here.) It is a large map (40" by 28") of the United States to color in. It comes with markers and a picture hunt.
Hazel colored in a few of her favorite states as well as the ones we have been focusing on. Each state has pictures to show different things about the state from animals, nature and more! Once we are done coloring them in she is going to hang it in her bedroom!
Another fun way to learn about where the states are and something special in each state is DestiNation USA. (This amazing game is no longer available.) This gameboard is a map of the United States. The players have car game pieces and start on different states. The goal is to get to the special destination which is picked by a card and to visit the most states. To travel one has to be next to the state and have the right cards. We really LOVE this game and played it with one of my co-workers who also really liked it.
I had trouble getting a picture since we got so involved in the game. There are little disks for each state and before playing they have to be put on the board in the correct place. There are different driving cards to move around the board and then the destination cards which tells where the specified destination is. The game instructions say to play for five destination cards or when the 48 state disks have been collected. We often play more than five destination cards because we do not want to stop. We have never gotten all the state disks off. This is a new favorite game here and we will continue to play it. I love how it helps Hazel learn the location of the states as well as the special points of interest in each one (the destination cards). Talk about learning that is fun!! Some other great resources we have for the studying the states are these books.
Our final item is Extreme Mazes: Book 5. (Note: Extreme Mazes are no longer available. Amazon has these extreme maze books.) I will admit I got this one because Hazel really wanted it. She wanted this book the last time we got things from MindWare and I had gotten a different one instead. Oops!! Of course, these mazes teach problem solving, fine motor control, and visual motor skills. These are pretty extreme mazes. She however seems to love doing them!!
She has done quite a few of them but I will just share one. The details in the pictures and mazes are quite amazing. I think my eyes would go a bit batty doing them!!
This week we will be sharing many of the resources I have gotten to help with our homeschooling month and that help bring some learning to home and summertime. One project I hope to do is put together a United States postcard exchange. Would you be interested in sending 49 postcards from your state and getting one from each of the other 49 states? If you are, drop me a note and tell me what state you can do. I have Massachusetts covered!! It will be first come first served for states!!
It is time for Sharing Saturday!! This is a link party to share all of your child-oriented crafts, crafts made for kids, activities and lessons as well as your parenting and/or teaching posts.
On Sunday night we also host Crafty Weekends for all your crafts (done by any age), patterns, and craft product reviews! It is the perfect place to share your creative side!! And for all of your cultural posts come share them at the monthlyCreative Kids Culture Blog Hop.
Thank you to everyone who shared with us at our last party! It was a small party but had some great ideas! Our features are just a sampling of them so if you haven't checked them all out, you should! This week we have one group of features.
Disclosure:I was sent these books to review free of charge in exchange for an honest review. All opinions in this post are my own. I did not receive any other compensation for this review. Today we are going to share with you some wonderful religious themed books for different ages. This post will also include three Hazel's Corners! The first is Princess Prayers by Jeanna Young, Jacqueline Kinney Johnson, and Omar Aranda. This a sparkly book filled with prayers for various times of day and different events for your little princess.
This has been one of those weeks where life has gotten in the way of what I want to do. Therefore I do not have a craft or craft product to review with you, so we are going straight to the party. BUT first a quick thank you to all those who serve our country and those whose family members serve. Please know you are in my daily prayers and I appreciate all you do for our country and for protecting us! I hope all of you will take a quick time to thank those that serve and have served our country this Memorial Day!
It is time for Sharing Saturday!! This is a link party to share all of your child-oriented crafts, crafts made for kids, activities and lessons as well as your parenting and/or teaching posts.
On Sunday night we also host Crafty Weekends for all your crafts (done by any age), patterns, and craft product reviews! It is the perfect place to share your creative side!! And for all of your cultural posts come share them at the monthlyCreative Kids Culture Blog Hop.
Thank you to everyone who shared with us at our last party! It was full of great ideas including ideas for teacher gifts, birthday parties, and getting ready for summer and more! Our features are just a sampling of them so if you haven't checked them all out, you should! This week we have one group of features.
Disclosure:Penguin Random House Books gave me a copy of this book free of charge for this review. All opinions in my review are my own and I did not receive any other compensation. As in all my reviews I am providing links for your ease, but receive no compensation. Today I get to share with you a wonderful new book for the middle grades. This story is the adventure of a fifth grade class. It is called The Great Treehouse War by Lisa Graff.
Disclosure:I was sent this book to review free of charge from Storey Publishing. All opinions in this post are my own. I did not receive any other compensation for this review. I am including links to each item for your convenience but do not receive anything if you purchase them. Do you need a spark for your creativity? I think every crafter goes through a dry spell. Life gets busy or you just don't feel like creating anything right then. Today's book helps everyone find a little creativity spark. The book is Journal Sparks: Fire Up Your Creativity with Spontaneous Art, Wild Writings and Inventive Thinking by Emily K. Neuburger. You may remember Emily K. Neuburger from Show Me a Story.
It is time for Sharing Saturday!! This is a link party to share all of your child-oriented crafts, crafts made for kids, activities and lessons as well as your parenting and/or teaching posts.
On Sunday night we also host Crafty Weekends for all your crafts (done by any age), patterns, and craft product reviews! It is the perfect place to share your creative side!! And for all of your cultural posts come share them at the monthlyCreative Kids Culture Blog Hop.
Thank you to everyone who shared with us at our last party! It was a very small party but full of great ideas! Our features are just a sampling of them so if you haven't checked them all out, you should! This week we have one group of features.
Disclosure:I was sent these products to review free of charge in exchange for an honest review. All opinions in this post are my own. I did not receive any other compensation for this review. Tonight I am going to share some books for the younger readers. These books are board books and picture books and are for our youngest kids. They leave the reader with a good feeling or are just really silly. The first book is Vegetables in Underwear by Jared Chapman. From the title you can tell it will be a bit silly.
Disclosure: Tuttle Publishing gave me copy of this book free of charge for this review. All opinions in my review are my own and I did not receive any other compensation. As in all my reviews I am providing links for your ease, but receive no compensation.
So last month our plan was to have a Japanese tea party for Tea Parties Around the World, but life interfered and our tea party happened in May instead, but this is perfect since it is Asian-Pacific American Heritage Month. So through April and into May we have been exploring Japan. Now Japan is known for its tea ceremony. It sounds so fancy and has an interesting history. To learn more about the tea ceremony we read Tea Ceremony by Shozo Sato.
Disclosure: Tuttle Publishing gave me copy of this book free of charge for this review. All opinions in my review are my own and I did not receive any other compensation. As in all my reviews I am providing links for your ease, but receive no compensation. Tomorrow we are sharing our exploration of Japan and our Japanese tea party as our post for the Multicultural Kid Blogs' Asian Pacific Island Heritage Month Series & Giveaway. To kick off our exploration of Japan I thought it would be great to share two Japanese arts in one book -- origami and bonsai. The book is Origami Bonsai by Benjamin John Coleman.
Disclosure:I was sent these products to review free of charge in exchange for an honest review. All opinions in this post are my own. I did not receive any other compensation for this review. Can you believe tomorrow is Mother's Day? Where has the time gone? I suppose with all the recent changes in our lives time is really flying. A few weeks ago we pulled Hazel from her school and I began homeschooling her until the end of this school year. We will be sending her to a new school in the fall. However I have to say I have a lot of respect for anyone who chooses to homeschool. It is a lot of work and this is with the workbooks and such that she was already using this year. Go Teach offered me some supplies for Teacher Appreciation Week to make gifts and I explained I was now homeschooling, but thought they would make nice Mother's Day gifts for the homeschooler (or for end of the year gifts for a teacher). (Now I know most moms probably want something for themselves and not their classroom, but some of the supplies could be used for their own crafts as well.) Plus I have some fun books about moms and spending time with your mom for younger kids from MacMillan Publishers. We will start with some gift ideas. I was sent white board markers, glue sticks and scented twistable crayons.
It is time for Sharing Saturday!! This is a link party to share all of your child-oriented crafts, crafts made for kids, activities and lessons as well as your parenting and/or teaching posts.
On Sunday night we also host Crafty Weekends for all your crafts (done by any age), patterns, and craft product reviews! It is the perfect place to share your creative side!! And for all of your cultural posts come share them at the monthlyCreative Kids Culture Blog Hop.
Thank you to everyone who shared with us at our last party! It was a small party but full of great ideas! Our features are just a sampling of them so if you haven't checked them all out, you should! This week we have one group of features.
Disclosure:Macmillan Publishers gave me copies of these books free of charge to review. All opinions in my review are my own and I did not receive any other compensation. As in all my reviews I am providing links for your ease, but receive no compensation. It always amazes me when I get a book at the perfect time for something in our lives. Today's book is one of those perfectly timed occurrences. Hazel has had a really tough school year and has had several issues with her classmates (as well as her teacher). A few weeks ago we pulled her from her school and I am homeschooling her for the rest of the year. She was in a very bad emotional state and we knew we had to get her out of it. She is mostly back to her normal happy self and will be once we have chosen a school for next year and that anxiety can be put to rest. The most important thing for us in choosing this school will be the classmates and the potential friends. Today's book helps her see that she is not the only one who has struggled with friends in school. The book is Real Friends by Shannon Hale and illustrated by LeUyen Pham. Now just seeing the author and illustrator was enough for me to know Hazel would love this book. They are also one of the authors and the illustrator of the Princess in Black series, which we love!!
Disclosure:I was sent these books to review free of charge in exchange for an honest review. All opinions in this post are my own. I did not receive any other compensation for this review. Are you looking for something new for your middle grades? Today I am sharing three new novels about ordinary kids and their lives. They each have joys and lots of struggles. The first book is Lucky Broken Girl by Ruth Behar.
Disclosure:Leisure Arts sent me a copy of this book in return for an honest review. All opinions in this post are my own. I did not receive any other compensation for this review. The links are affiliate links where I will receive a small percentage of any purchases made through them at no cost to you. Thank you for supporting Crafty Moms Share!
Have your kids jumped into the slime wave? Hazel discovered slime a few weeks ago when one of her classmates was looking for some buyers of slime her older sister made. This was right after I had heard about the blisters and burns some kids experienced, so I decided the only way she was having slime was if we made it so I knew exactly what was in it. Enter Leisure Arts. They just published a new book called Slimed DIY.
It is time for Sharing Saturday!! This is a link party to share all of your child-oriented crafts, crafts made for kids, activities and lessons as well as your parenting and/or teaching posts.
On Sunday night we also host Crafty Weekends for all your crafts (done by any age), patterns, and craft product reviews! It is the perfect place to share your creative side!! And for all of your cultural posts come share them at the monthlyCreative Kids Culture Blog Hop.
Thank you to everyone who shared with us at our last party! It was a small party but full of great ideas! Our features are just a sampling of them so if you haven't checked them all out, you should! This week we have one group of features. The top row is in honor of some May "holidays".
Disclosure:Candlewick Press gave me a copy of this book free of charge to review. All opinions in my review are my own and I did not receive any other compensation. As in all my reviews I am providing links for your ease, but receive no compensation. Now I am sure you have heard of Sir Isaac Newton. He is considered the father of physics. You have probably heard the story of the apple falling from the tree and he discovers gravity. Well today's book tells the true story or at least as true as we currently know. The book is Isaac The Alchemist: Secrets of Isaac Newton Reveal'd by Mary Losure.
Disclosure: I was sent this book free of charge for this review in return for an honest review by The Children's Book Review & Carole P. Roman. All opinions in my review are my own and I will receive a small compensation for writing it. As in all my reviews I am providing links for your ease, but receive no compensation for your purchase.
Today we get to share a fun new book by Carole P. Roman and be part of the blog tour that includes a giveaway. Now I will admit we fell in love Carole's books back with the Captain No Beard series. Those books are wonderful picture books with imagination and lessons! Today's book is an early reader chapter book and it is her first! The book is Oh Susannah: It's in the Bag and it is illustrated by Mateya Arkova. The suggested age range for this book is 7 - 10 years old.
Disclosure:I was sent these books to review free of charge in exchange for an honest review. All opinions in this post are my own. I did not receive any other compensation for this review. Do you enjoy traveling? Ever wonder what it would be like to raise children in another country? Want to teach your kids about the world and other cultures? Or perhaps you have a big trip coming up and need to figure out what to pack? Well today I am sharing books that do all these things. These books are for different ages. Last year I had the pleasure of reviewing a book that compared Asian parenting to American parenting. Today I am sharing a book that looks at parenting from Paris to New York. It is Say Bonjour to the Lady by Florence Mars and Pauline Leveque.
My week has been very crazy with major life changes. I am now homeschooling Hazel for the rest of the school year while we look for a new school for next year. As a result I have not taken much time to make crafts this week so we are going straight to the party. Thank you to everyone who shared with us atour last party!! It was a bit of a small party. Below are some features from the party, but this is just a small sample of great ideas shared! This week we have one group of features.
It is time for Sharing Saturday!! This is a link party to share all of your child-oriented crafts, crafts made for kids, activities and lessons as well as your parenting and/or teaching posts.
On Sunday night we also host Crafty Weekends for all your crafts (done by any age), patterns, and craft product reviews! It is the perfect place to share your creative side!! And for all of your cultural posts come share them at the monthlyCreative Kids Culture Blog Hop.
Thank you to everyone who shared with us at our last party! It was a small party but full of great ideas! Our features are just a sampling of them so if you haven't checked them all out, you should! This week we have one group of features.
Disclosure:I was sent these books to review free of charge in exchange for an honest review. All opinions in this post are my own. I did not receive any other compensation for this review. My week and life has been turned upside down, so my posts may be a bit more sporadic. Sorry!! But family has to come first and right now my family needs me to be focused on them. However today I have some time to write about some fun books for younger kids. All of them involve animals. The first is Old MacDonald's Things that Go by Jane Clarke and illustrated by Migy Blanco.
Disclosure:I was sent these books to review free of charge in exchange for an honest review. All opinions in this post are my own. I did not receive any other compensation for this review. Today is the last day to enter our National Princess Week Giveaway!! Have you entered yet? Today I am sharing some Disney activity books--three of which are princess ones. Be sure to go check out our giveaway posts if you haven't already!! Our first book for today is Disney Pixar's Awesome Adventures.
Disclosure:I was sent these books to review free of charge in exchange for an honest review. All opinions in this post are my own. I did not receive any other compensation for this review. A princess needs to be strong and brave among many other traits. Even the storybook princesses, however today I am going to share some atypical princesses that emphasize being strong, brave, intelligent and more. The kind of princess that makes a good role model for our children. The first princess is the Hamster Princess or Princess Harriet. I have shared with you the first three (book 1, 2, and 3) books of this series and the first book is one of our prizes to get you started on this amazing series by Ursula Vernon. This series plays off the classic fairy tales with its main character being a hamster who is a princess who likes to fight evil. The first book is a play on Sleeping Beauty; the second Twelve Dancing Princesses; and the third Rapunzel.
Disclosure:I was sent these books to review free of charge in exchange for an honest review by I See Me! Inc. All opinions in this post are my own. I did not receive any other compensation for this review. Happy National Princess Week!! It began yesterday. Now as I have stated I am sharing some of my resources for teaching Hazel about princesses that are not all frilly and fancy. However there is a time for that. Today's post is sharing my favorite frilly princess books. They are personalized and have a child's name in it and some even have a photo of the child. The first book I am My Royal Birthday Adventure for girls or Hazel's Royal Birthday Adventure by Jennifer Dewing and illustrated by Valerie Sokolowz.
Disclosure: Tuttle Publishing gave me copies of these books free of charge for this review. All opinions in my review are my own and I did not receive any other compensation. As in all my reviews I am providing links for your ease, but receive no compensation. This past week was Hazel's spring break. We have had quite the week and a half. The last week of school included Hazel's class's Easter play and my parents came to see her and celebrate Easter with us early. Then my sister came to go to the Museum of Fine Arts on Saturday with us. Then we celebrated with my mother-in-law on Easter Sunday. On Monday we headed to the American Girl Doll Store Boston (which is not in Boston). Hazel had saved almost enough to buy herself a doll. We loaned her the last $30 since we were going. My plan had been to take her so she could really decide which doll she wanted. Seeing the dolls in person helped her really decide which were her top picks. Some that had been top picks fell off the list in person. After a bit of thought she decided on Kit Kitteredge. She LOVES the books about Kit, so I thought this was a wonderful choice.
It is time for Sharing Saturday!! This is a link party to share all of your child-oriented crafts, crafts made for kids, activities and lessons as well as your parenting and/or teaching posts.
On Sunday night we also host Crafty Weekends for all your crafts (done by any age), patterns, and craft product reviews! It is the perfect place to share your creative side!! And for all of your cultural posts come share them at the monthlyCreative Kids Culture Blog Hop.
Thank you to everyone who shared with us at our last party! It was a small party but full of great ideas! Our features are just a sampling of them so if you haven't checked them all out, you should! This week we have one group of features.
Disclosure:I was sent these books to review free of charge in exchange for an honest review. All opinions in this post are my own. I did not receive any other compensation for this review. Saturday is Earth Day and to get ready for it, we have been having fun with many different books that go along with the Earth Day theme. I started sharing some on butterflies with you last night. Today we have many more on different themes. We will start with 23 Ways to be an Eco Hero by Isabel Thomas.
Disclosure:I was sent these books to review free of charge in exchange for an honest review. All opinions in this post are my own. I did not receive any other compensation for this review. Saturday is Earth Day. Do you have any plans? Hazel and I will be visiting a friend in New York, but have been working on our garden plans. We have also been enjoying many different books for Earth Day. We will be sharing more tomorrow, but today I am going to share three books about butterflies! We love butterflies and even raised butterflies a few years ago. The first book to share tonight is The Butterfly Garden by Laura Weston.
Disclosure:I was sent this book to review free of charge in exchange for an honest review. All opinions in this post are my own. I did not receive any other compensation for this review. Today I am sharing a fun book that teaches kids about Pete Seeger. Now Pete Seeger is a name I know but I will admit besides the fact that he was a folk musician I did not know much about him. Do you? The book is Stand Up and Sing!: Pete Seeger, Folk Music and the Path to Justice by Susanna Reich and illustrated by Adam Gustavson. I learned so much about Pete Seeger from this picture book.
Disclosure:I was sent these books to review free of charge in exchange for an honest review. All opinions in this post are my own. I did not receive any other compensation for this review. Did you have a good Easter? We enjoyed a five day celebration starting last Wednesday with my parents visiting through Sunday with my mother-in-law. It was fun but time consuming. And now in Massachusetts it is Patriot's Day and school vacation week. We have lots of fun things planned this week, but I promise to do some posts since there is so much going on!! Last week's Crafty Weekends is continuing on so come share all things crafty! Today we are continuing our preparation for National Princess Week with our resources and GIVEAWAY!! I thought today I would share some resources that are legends, folktales and fairy tales including three of the books which are prizes in our giveaway (scroll down). Our first book for today is Princess Sophie and the Six Swans: A Tale from the Brothers Grimm retold and illustrated by Kim Jacobs.
It is time for Sharing Saturday!! This is a link party to share all of your child-oriented crafts, crafts made for kids, activities and lessons as well as your parenting and/or teaching posts.
On Sunday night we also host Crafty Weekends for all your crafts (done by any age), patterns, and craft product reviews! It is the perfect place to share your creative side!! And for all of your cultural posts come share them at the monthlyCreative Kids Culture Blog Hop.
Thank you to everyone who shared with us at our last party! It was a small party but full of great ideas! Our features are just a sampling of them so if you haven't checked them all out, you should! This week we have two groups of features: Easter & Other Ideas and Nature Themed Features.
Disclosure: Kregel Publications sent me copies of these books free of charge for this review. All opinions in my review are my own and I did not receive any other compensation. As in all my reviews I am providing links for your ease but receive no compensation.
We are in Holy Week already, so it is the perfect time to share with you two books that are great for sharing the true meaning of Easter with your kids. The first book is not actually just an Easter book. It shares a few of the stories of Jesus' life. It is The Three Trees retold by Elena Pasquali and illustrated by Sophie Windham.
In this game the players take turns to add a card to get it to equal $1. If you can get it exactly to $1 you will get a point but if you have to go over you will lose a point. Once $1 is reached (or passed) you start again. Throughout the game the players are announcing the total in play.
The cards have nickels, dimes, quarters and half dollar coins as well as special cards that have multiple coin amounts. This game reinforces the coins as well as practice in adding money and finding ways to equal $1. The game could easily be changed to use subtracting or even going to higher amounts. And the best part is Hazel and I like playing it!! 
Hazel former second grade teacher gave the kids these puzzles all the time. Hazel asked for this one. She loves doing them and of course counting over 1000 for some of the puzzles helps her learn her higher numbers. Since we just went to the Statue of Liberty during her April vacation we started with that dot-to-dot.
I had trouble getting a picture since we got so involved in the game. There are little disks for each state and before playing they have to be put on the board in the correct place. There are different driving cards to move around the board and then the destination cards which tells where the specified destination is. The game instructions say to play for five destination cards or when the 48 state disks have been collected. We often play more than five destination cards because we do not want to stop. We have never gotten all the state disks off. This is a new favorite game here and we will continue to play it. I love how it helps Hazel learn the location of the states as well as the special points of interest in each one (the destination cards). Talk about learning that is fun!! Some other great resources we have for the studying the states are these books. 
I had trouble getting a picture since we got so involved in the game. There are little disks for each state and before playing they have to be put on the board in the correct place. There are different driving cards to move around the board and then the destination cards which tells where the specified destination is. The game instructions say to play for five destination cards or when the 48 state disks have been collected. We often play more than five destination cards because we do not want to stop. We have never gotten all the state disks off. This is a new favorite game here and we will continue to play it. I love how it helps Hazel learn the location of the states as well as the special points of interest in each one (the destination cards). Talk about learning that is fun!! Some other great resources we have for the studying the states are these books. 
