Sunday, October 4, 2009

Hop over 600 Million years with this Giant Timeline

When we go to our local childrens' museum, the first place we usually hit is the dinosaur exhibit. At first, these big bones creatures were a source of fright for my daughter, but it didn't take long to quickly turned into a source of intrigue and wonder.

"Mom, these animals were really living once?" I've heard many times.

What I've also heard is: "Where did they go?" or "What happened to them?"

If you're not lucky enough to have a museum with real dino bones to visit (or even if you are), you're going to want to take that learning home with the Giant Evolution Timeline Playmat ($49) by Charlie's Playhouse.

Founded by a scientist mom, she came up with the idea for the mat after she was unable to find fun, educational tools to teach her two sons about the evolution and the time-line of the Earth.

What is the playmat exactly? At first glance, it looks like a large coffee table book. When unfolded, it's 18 feet of of amazing illustrations - depicting the history of life. The playmat can be walked on (nothing like skipping over 18 feet and through 600 million years), read like a big book or stood up on it side to create a "history fort" of sorts.

We love the mat because it goes beyond the dinosaurs everybody already knows about and has included less famous creatures like the huge Leedsichthys or the flying Dimorphodon, just to name a few.

Made of high quality green materials, this mat is not only cleanable but very eco-friendly. So friendly in fact that it was voted one of Mr. Toys "Best Green Products" of 2009.

GET YOUR OWN! The Giant Evolution Timeline Playmat (recommended for the +4 year old crowd) sells for $49 and can be purchased online. This would make an awesome educational gift or tool for the homeschooling family.

WIN YOUR OWN! We have a playmat to give away to one lucky Simple reader. To enter, visit the Charlie's Playhouse website, come back here and leave a comment letting us know how you would use this product to teach your curious kid about the animals of long, long, ago.

Additional entries (comment for each additional entry):
  • Blog about this contest linking back to Simple Reviews and Charlie's Playhouse.
  • Become a new follower to Simple Reviews.
  • Tweet this giveaway! Please include us in the tweet - we're @simplereviews
Winner will be randomly chosen and notified October 16th, 2009. Good Luck!

emilysignature

63 comments:

  1. I know my little one would love to read it every night before bed although this will take us many, many nights. Plus he always love to re-read stories over and over!

    ReplyDelete
  2. I've just started following Simple Reviews today!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Tweeted ~ http://twitter.com/susanlanai/status/4609541141

    ReplyDelete
  4. There are so many ways to teach my nephew and niece about evolution with the Giant Timeline Floor Mat, including laying it down flat to skip, jump and play.

    plur268 at yahoo dot com

    ReplyDelete
  5. LA loves dinos! We would read and play with this timeline alot!! Great company!

    ReplyDelete
  6. We would for sure be using it on the floor. My little boy likes moving while learning and making an activity out of it would be so fun!

    ReplyDelete
  7. My 3 yr old is OBSESSED with dinos, so this would be the best thing ever!!

    rbfoxy@gmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  8. I am a teacher and a mom. I could see this being a wonderful tool for either role:) I know my son would set it up as a fort and admire the creatures. Thanks for the great giveaway:)

    ReplyDelete
  9. My son loves dinosaurs and this would be a great teaching tool for that. We read alot about dinosaurs in books but this looks like it would be alot more fun and entertaining to teach with!

    danmarugg@yahoo.ca

    ReplyDelete
  10. This is an amazingly cool thing! 18 feet long it says. This would be perfect for our home school. We could easily integrate it into our studies. The visuals on this look great.

    ReplyDelete
  11. My son loves dinosaurs and have recently started asking questions as to what happened to them. This would be a great learning tool for him.
    makenacove(at)gmail(dot)com

    ReplyDelete
  12. I'm a new follower!
    makenacove(at)gmail(dot)com

    ReplyDelete
  13. lovely prize id love to be able to give to my grandson , i follow you as @weldo :)

    ReplyDelete
  14. whitty999 (Twitter)October 6, 2009 at 2:52 PM

    Have tweeted and will continue to keep tweeting your tweet!from a twittering tweeter from twitter!

    ReplyDelete
  15. i would do a sliding game with it.

    ReplyDelete
  16. My son's current obsession is Dinosaur Train. So it would be fun to try to find the dinosaurs or even just their time on the timeline after watching the show. Thanks for the giveaway!
    mommastaci33(at)yahoo(dot)com

    ReplyDelete
  17. My little one loves dinosaurs so this would be great.

    ReplyDelete
  18. This is really cool. If I were to win it, I would let my son play with it and then I would loan it out to my dad who is a geologist who gives alot of classroom talks about fossils and the geologic history of the earth.

    kerrie@mayansfamily.com

    ReplyDelete
  19. My daughter is a Dino fanatic!! Thanks for the chance.
    mogrill@comcast.net

    ReplyDelete
  20. My kids would love to use this by speading it out in the hallway and going over the information a few times a week

    timmiedeluca@comcast.net

    ReplyDelete
  21. timmiedeluca@comcast.net

    follow blog

    ReplyDelete
  22. timmiedeluca@comcast.net

    http://twitter.com/GabbyLowe/status/4698104874

    tweeted

    ReplyDelete
  23. My dinosaur obsessed son would love this visual reminder of how long ago they lived. LOVE the site- the flash cards and apparel would be wonderful for my kids as well

    ReplyDelete
  24. My son LOVES dinos and is learning to read. He would love to have this to learn about dinos, and help practice his reading. Thanks

    ReplyDelete
  25. It would be great to help the boy learn about dinosaurs. Just like most little boys he loves dinos.

    ReplyDelete
  26. We love dinos here so that's not a problem. I love the fact that it's a book, playmat, or even a fort! Very interactive. Thanks!

    ReplyDelete
  27. My son loves Dinos and it would be so great to have a visual to explain timelines to him. Thanks for the chance, justicecw@hotmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  28. Tweeted at http://twitter.com/justicecw/status/4785001547
    justicecw@hotmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  29. very interesting! I would definitely use this to show my daughter the different forms of life that existed back then, some became extinct, some survived, but in a very different form today... great educational tool!

    micaela6955 at msn dot com

    ReplyDelete
  30. I am a new blog follower as of today.

    micaela6955 at msn dot com

    ReplyDelete
  31. My son loves dinosaurs. We would use this in our home school curriculum by hanging it low on the wall so that he can see it all the time.

    pinkveganmiso(at)yahoo(dot)com

    ReplyDelete
  32. I think hanging this around the bathroom would make some good reading.

    ReplyDelete
  33. Follow and tweeted: http://twitter.com/qwills2cats/status/4852479848

    ReplyDelete
  34. I would lay it out and go over it with my child. then we could go to the museum and discover more about the creatures. Thanks!

    egreca (at) hotmail {dot} com

    ReplyDelete
  35. I would roll this out on the edge of the room and let the kids absorb it at their own pace. It would be interesting and engaging for a while as their capacity to understand increases.

    ReplyDelete
  36. My daughters love learning about history and each night would could add on to it, very fun and something for the kids to look forward and talk about!

    jeccica
    primitivelyours@hotmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  37. I am a follower of your blog

    jeccica
    primitivelyours@hotmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  38. I tweeted :

    http://twitter.com/jessa1130/statuses/4880506899

    jeccica
    primitivelyours@hotmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  39. I'd point at each pic. and talk about them.
    erma.hurtt@sbcglobal.net

    ReplyDelete
  40. I like this item as well as the one that hangs on the walls. My girls are totally in to I Spy right now so I would maybe makeup a game of I Spy Dinosaurs and go from there.
    Thanks!

    ReplyDelete
  41. I'd give this to my daughter's first grade classroom. Her teacher would love to plan lessons around it.
    Jennifer, jennem22 at yahoo dot com

    ReplyDelete
  42. I can just see my husband and our daughter sprawled on the livingroom floor, discovering the timeline. He would make a big adventure out of it so I'd give him the opportunity to do that.

    ReplyDelete
  43. My daughters are in love with dinosaurs right now. They love reading and watching anything about dinosaurs. This mat is great because it actually give you all the pronounciations of the dinosaur names which I know I totally mess up while reading to them.

    ReplyDelete
  44. I would actually probably put it up on the wall in my sons room or in the hall wall so that he could see it all the time.. Then when we want to read or look at it in details take it down and go over the years and animals...

    ReplyDelete
  45. My niece loves dinosaurs, this would be great to spread out on the floor and teach her different things with - plus it's easy to clean up when we're done!

    ReplyDelete
  46. The kids would love this so it wouldn't take much to get them interested. It's large enough to where everyone could look at it and enjoy at once, unlike a book.

    Thanks so much!

    saddleoneup at att dot net

    ReplyDelete
  47. We would read it and play with it most every night! My daughter would love this! Thanks!

    hawkgirl_16{at}hotmail{dot}com

    ReplyDelete
  48. I would put this down in our hall way so the kids could check it out when going to their rooms or he bathroom. They love dinos.

    ReplyDelete
  49. we would use this to learn about the past by using it during playtime, we love new things to learn from!

    ReplyDelete
  50. http://twitter.com/mrstls/status/4915981725

    ReplyDelete
  51. Would be put out for display and to look at and use.
    wombatspurple at yahoo dot com

    ReplyDelete
  52. I would pull it out on a rainy or snowy day and play with it for the morning! Read them the facts, etc, let them look at all of the pictures!

    laurawins286@yahoo.com

    ReplyDelete
  53. How cool. This toy should give children a sense of the scale of human evolution vs. the timeline of histoy. While not a homeschooler, I do definately believe in furthering education at home and this would be a wonderful tool to delve into Darwinian science. Thanks for the giveaway!

    kanderspina~at~yahoo~dot~com

    ReplyDelete
  54. My daughter would love to use this by speading it out in the hallway and going over the information a few times a week.

    skipsilvia at email dot com

    ReplyDelete
  55. this would be so awesome not only can the little ones learn but so can the parents

    ReplyDelete
  56. I'm sure my kids would just unfold it right on the living room floor and enjoy :)

    ReplyDelete
  57. My granddaughter is learning to read so this will be a fun way to learn to read and about dinosaurs as well.

    ReplyDelete
  58. Please, enter me, great prize!!! I would love to win this for my son.

    ReplyDelete
  59. My toddler boys show an extreme interest in dinosaurs and would lose themselves within those giant pages. I'd bring them back to reality with chore-time.

    ReplyDelete
  60. I spend alot of time with my granddaughter and would lay it out on the floor and go over the stories time and time again..she just loves it when she's read too

    cherdon@sympatico.ca

    ReplyDelete

Thank you for visiting us at SIMPLE!