This is a sponsored post, all opinions are my own.

Lately, I’ve been concerned with the amount of time my 5-year-old is spending on her sister’s iPad. It’s YouTube or Netflix and even though it’s all kid shows and some of it educational I fear she’s spending more time staring at the screen instead of actively playing and developing other integral parts of her little brain.

She’s not ready for kindergarten yet but Mike and I thought it would be best if she still went to pre-school because we wanted her to get some social skills and to have some hands-on learning with the activities they provide.

If you’ve ever taken a serious look at what a young child’s classroom has in terms of toys, you’ll see it’s all still educational, creative, imaginative play. you’ll find the same if not similar products and resources from Lakeshore Learning. Keep reading…

Lakeshore Learning

If you’re not familiar with Lakeshore Learning here’s what you need to know… Lakeshore Learning creates award-winning educational toys and products that get kids excited about learning. They sell a vast assortment of educational gifts for your young growing minds, created by teachers, for kids and classrooms ages from infancy to 11 years plus.

Lakeshore has 60 stores nationwide, including two in Minnesota – Maplewood and St. Louis Park. You can find your closest store here. You can also shop their wide selection of products at LakeshoreLearning.com

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5 Reasons We’re Loving Lakeshore Learning Right Now

1. Products

Alpha-Bots, Play & Explore Rocket, Carry Around Animal Town, Ultimate Fort Builder, are all just a handful of our favorite products you can find at Lakeshore Learning. You can shop by age; infant to 6th grade… Or by categories like Active Play, Dramatic Play, Stem, Arts & Crafts, Science, Sensory Exploration and even Books, Music and Puzzles.

These products for growing minds help with social and emotional development, with featured assortments such as Design & Build, Young Scientists, Babies & Tots Creative Kids and much more.

2. Holiday Gift Guide

The holidays are soon approaching and Lakeshore Learning should be one of the first places to visit for educational gifts for the young growing minds on your list this year. We’re loving the Multiplication Machine, Magnetic Color Maze, Alphabet Learning Locks, the Royal Kingdom Adventure Castle and the Real Working Cash Register to name a few.

3. Customized Learning Solutions

One of the things I’m loving with Lakeshore Learning is that they don’t stop at the products they are selling, they understand that it’s not a one size fits all when it comes to educational products for families. This is why they offer customized learning solutions for families and classrooms with exclusive products that are designed by teachers t foster a love of learning.

Here are some options we’re loving:

4. Online Resources

On the Lakeshore Learning website, you’ll find an entire section of free resources for parents and teachers. I would definitely bookmark this page 🙂

Here’s a list of resources you’re going to love:

• Lesson Plans
• Printable Worksheets
• Calendars, Templates & Clip Art
• Craft Ideas & Activities
• Writing Practice Templates
• FlashCards
• Award Maker (our favorite)
• Word Search

5. Pop Up Location

For those of you more familiar with Mall of America, you can find a limited time Lakeshore pop-up shop located on the 3rd floor near the Crayola entrance until December 31st, 2019. Lakeshore’s first pop-up feature a wide selection of one-of-a-kind learning toys and gifts for ages 0-11 from their Growing Minds collection.

The pop-up also features free, hands-on play stations that encourage children to play, discover and learn!

They also host teacher’s workshops and crafts for kids at select locations.

These are just a few reasons we love Lakeshore Learning but when you get right down to it, I love it when I can find toys and materials to make learning fun and educational at the same time, not only for my kids but these products are perfect for gifts to other kids or for classrooms too.

Check out Lakeshore Learning now or head to one of their many locations close to you found on their website.