Lights Camera Interaction Magnetic Calendar
Written: Apr 20 '02
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Pros: Crafted by hand, non-toxic
Cons: large sized, bulky, no blank magnets for filling in miscellaneous activities
The Bottom Line: A six- year calendar for the whole family to use
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| bonniesayers's Full Review: Lights Camera Interaction Magnetic Calendar |
While attending an autism conference one weekend last March I spent almost two hours visiting the exhibitor booth displays in search of items for both of my children. The following day I went back to make my purchases after showing the brochures to my older son. This one vendor was selling this Lights Camera Interaction Magnetic Calendar for $21.95. I am familiar with this company since we have the Alphabet Art Puzzle, but had a hard time in choosing between the Responsibility Chart and the Magnetic Calendar.
The choice was made for me since the only product remaining on Sunday was the Lights Camera Interaction Magnetic Calendar. I have since found both items selling at Fao Schwartz and Toys “R” Us in the same price range. In order to write on this board you will need to use a dry erase marker, although I wrote in pen the number 7 on my son’s birthday before thinking ahead, and was able to use a pencil eraser the following month to remove the mark.
This Lights Camera Interaction Magnetic Calendar is recommended for ages four and up and conforms to U.S. Testing Standards as non-toxic and child-safe. There is a label on the back requesting all comments to be made to Melissa or Doug at 1-800-284-3948. This is a heavy wood board that is secured in the middle with two latches that consist of four hooks already fastened. There is a red string at the top for hanging this up. It is packaged in the folding position and easier to carry this way then fully opened at the size of 15.5 inches by 23.5 inches.
Without really knowing the plastic cover was to come off we kept it on for the first month even though there was a bump under one of the spaces. The day of the week kept moving down and would not stay in the spot due to this undiscovered error we made. Upon further exploration I learned the plastic cover gets removed. There are thirty-five spaces with each line containing seven, making it five rows to cover all the days in any given month. There are three headings at the top of the Lights Camera Interaction Magnetic Calendar for the season, month and year to be placed. Besides the text for each event or activity there is a small drawing depicting what will be taking place. I have listed beside each one what that diagram consists of. Some of the descriptions are self- explanatory and I have not included them.
Our current arrangement shows the first line as Spring – April – 2002. The next heading is the days of the week starting with Sunday and ending with Saturday. The bottom section of the Lights Camera Interaction Magnetic Calendar is the white board where the pieces are stored. The month pieces are either 2 ¾ x ½ or 2 ½ x ½, but the February and August ones are shaped with a bit more making them not easy to line up on the board. The years are from 2002-2007 along with the four seasons.
There are two extra date pieces to accommodate the Lights Camera Interaction Magnetic Calendar, such as 23/30 and 24/31. My son turned seven in March so we quickly switched from our paper calendar to the Lights Camera Interaction Magnetic Calendar placing the following magnets for the month of March:
First Day of School – books, ruler and pencils
First Day of Spring – bird with babies in nest
St. Patrick’s Day – shamrock’s
Easter – basket with colored eggs
Go to Doctor – stethoscope, thermometer, tool for ear
Pizza Party – one slice showing steam
School Party – balloons and three kids
Lost a Tooth – picture of mouth with missing tooth
Play with friends – boy and girl tossing ball
Go To Movies – open movie screen
Return Library Books – three books
My Birthday – cake, balloons and a party hat
There are a total of 139 magnetic pieces but missing many that I could really use, such as,
Pay bills, support group, voting day, do laundry, set VCR, therapist appt, go to eye doctor, go to chiropractor, utility appt. (like the cable man or phone man is coming to hook up, etc.) and school meeting. In looking again at the month of April tax day comes to mind as one that would be appreciated by others. I had my son place the dates on the calendar by copying what the paper one had listed. It would be helpful to either have a miscellaneous magnet or some blank ones for personal customizing.
April so far is turning out to be a slow month, no complaints though, and we have used some from the previous month as well as these on the Lights Camera Interaction Magnetic Calendar:
April Fool’s Day – a toy popping out of a box
Daylight Savings Begins – a clock
Go Shopping – filled shopping cart
Go to Library – stack of books, one is open
School Trip – school bus
There is the opportunity to add some weather related details to your Lights Camera Interaction Magnetic Calendar by using the following pieces:
Cloudy
Sunny Day
Snow Day
Rainy Day
Some of the activities that kids enjoy are listed as well:
Basketball
Baseball – a ball and bat
Music Lesson – same as school concert but different size and shape to magnet
Martial Arts – a male punching a bag
Dance – a ballerina
Swimming – kids in pool
Ride Bicycle – picture of a two wheeler
Gymnastics –girl on balance beam
Than of course these might not be high on their list but worth mentioning for the adults:
Go to Dentist - a tooth brushing with a tube of paste
Get Haircut – scissors and blow dryer
Clean Room – shows a messy room
School related events:
Study for test – an A+ on a paper
Last day of school – two kids waving goodbye leaving in a car
School play – two masks
No school – happy faces with the sun out
Test day – a pencil and paper
School concert – piano, violin, trumpet
Some of the places your family may go during the course of a year are:
Vacation – a trailer
Visit Museum
Go to park – bench and trees
Eat out – menu with a seating placement
Picnic – basket on a blanket with food
Visit Amusement park – a ride
Go to playground – two kids on a see saw
Sleepover – a child asleep in a bed
Visit grandparents – a kid in front of a house
Visit Zoo - an entrance to a zoo (no animals pictured)
Go to Ball game – catchers’ mitt holding a caught ball
With many of the magnets we are able to just move them over to another date in the same month, particularly the library and shopping ones since that is done more than once in any given month. The remaining magnets are holidays, which also include some for those who reside in Canada:
Victoria Day, Canada Day, Cinco de Mayo, Chinese New Year, Rosh Hashanah, Chanukah Begins, Kwanza, Martin Luther Jr. Day, Yom Kippur, Columbus Day, Veteran’s Day, Flag Day, Halloween, President’s Day, Independence Day, Christmas Day, Thanksgiving, Good Friday, New Year’s Day, Valentine’s Day, Passover Begins, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day and Groundhog Day. The last magnet in a category by itself would be Pet’s Birthday.
Our household does not utilize as many magnets in a month as the photo on this site illustrates. Therefore we do not have the room on the bottom part to write in any particular event or activity. This is why I would like some blank magnets to customize according to our needs. The magnets come in all sort of sizes with the largest being the months. If these were smaller there would be room for more magnets.
This is a great addition for our kitchen wall, but in all honesty we also have the paper one on the other side to include all the activities not offered in the Lights Camera Interaction Magnetic Calendar. The best part for my seven-year old is the beginning of the month so he can arrange the magnets and place the dates in their appropriate slots.
The Lights Camera Interaction Magnetic Calendar would work well in other environments such as a classroom, other relatives houses and a daycare setting. The pictures help reinforce the activity for those that are non-verbal and beginning readers. The magnets should always stay on the board as they pose a choking hazard for children under the age of three. This helps keep track of each family member’s appointments and prepare ahead of time for events relating to school.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 21.95
Type of Toy: Other
Age Range of Child: 6 to 8 Years
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bonniesayers
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