Paper Dolls and Worksheets

Just want to share a couple of great finds:

(1) WORKSHEETS and REVIEWERS

Visit school.ph for worksheets for both preschool and elementary kids. Covering all major subjects, these worksheets are made by moms for moms "to help their children do well in school." Registration is FREE (though premium membership is available for full access to worksheets and the answer keys) so you have nothing to lose by trying it out. The worksheets are in PDF format so all you need is an Adobe Reader and a printer and you're good to go!

(2) PAPER DOLLS

My daughter has just hit the paper doll mania stage. If you've gone through this with your kid, you've probably also experiences that one, teensy weensy annoying thing about paper dolls in general - as cute as they are, the clothes just don't stay on with those flimsy paper tabs! WS Pacific Publications (also known as Learning is Fun) solves this with paper dolls that have small lots for the tabs to go through, which prevents the clothes from sliding off. Their Princess Sticker and Activity Book comes with two such paper dolls. Although they only have a couple of dolls, clothes, and accessories, you can also pick up a copy of the mermaid, fairy, and ballerina editions in order to mix and match. At less than ~P80 each, you can buy the whole set at SM Department Store and still get more for your money than the flimsy Disney Princess counterpart. Each book also comes with stickers and activities (including puppets, connect-the-dots, etc.). I bought one to keep my daughter busy during our 1-hour flight to Cebu. It worked like a charm and all the dresses and accessories stayed on for the duration of the trip.

Disney Princess Dress Up

Of all the dress up and paper doll books I've encountered, the Disney Princess Dress-Up (A Sticker-Activity Storybook) is by far the best and most convenient for a toddler. It features the 6 princesses (Cinderella, Snow White, Aurora, Belle, Ariel, and Jasmine). Each princess has their own sticker sheet of clothes (including their standard costume) and set of accessories. Since all the princesses sport the same size and pose, all the clothes, shoes, and jewelry can be mixed up to form dozens of combinations.

The set makes use of reusable vinyl stickers, which do not have the stickiness of regular stickers, but cling easily to the board book. This makes it more suitable for toddlers and lessens the chance of the stickers being torn apart. I also favor this version over the magnetic one, which I gave to my niece last Christmas. We discovered that it was difficult to put the magnetic accessories on top of the clothing magnets as it doesn't stick and has a tendency to fall off. Also, the magnetic pieces were quite small and not fit for toddlers. In contrast, the vinyl stickers stick quite nicely on top of each other.

My only gripe is that the vinyl stickers are quite opaque and you can see through the material, making the base garment clearly visible. This is especially evident for Ariel's white wedding dress. It doesn't seem to bother my toddler in the least, but may be noticeable to older children. Also, Ariel is positioned near the middle of the book such that a fold is formed on her dress when you attempt to close the book.