TOS Review: Dive Into Your Imagination

Even though the calendar disagrees, it has been summer here for over a month.  The hot sunny days have certainly been making us wish that a trip to the ocean was on our list of to dos this summer!  Unfortunately, it's not going to happen this year.  But, we have been enjoying the next best thing.  The ocean has come to us!

We have been watching this super fun DVD, What Makes A Fish A Fish?, from Dive Into Your Imagination.

  Dive Into Your Imagination was founded by Annie Crawley.  Ms. Crawley, also known as Ocean Annie, grew up in Chicago and followed her dreams to become an underwater videographer, author, photographer, award winning youth speaker, and a producer.  I really enjoyed reading all about Ocean Annie's exciting adventures in her biography.

What Makes A Fish A Fish? is one of three DVD's in the Dive Into Your Imagination series.  It teaches children about astounding fish from around the world.  It contains 8 different segments including:

*Frogfish are Funny

*Hide & Seek on the Reef

*Bath Time for Fishes

*Don't be Afraid of Sharks

*Dinner Time for Fish 

and more!

The DVD run time is 37 minutes, so each segment is pretty short but not too short.

The Dive Into Your Imagination Series retails for $19.95 each and are available on the Dive Into Your Imagination site and on Annie Crawley's website.  

So what did we think?

We really enjoyed this DVD!  The pictures are BEAUTIFUL!!  They are extremely high quality and very well done.  I felt like not only had the ocean come to me, but also a science center or aquarium, it is that good.  Ocean Annie kept the attention of myself and all four children with her enjoyable information and amazing video.  The information included is wonderful.  Even I learned new things and saw many new fish.  

And, not only are the DVD's great, but there are also teacher's guides to go with each DVD.  The teacher's guides are awesome!  The guides are almost 300 pages in length and are FILLED with great ideas on how to bring the DVD's to life.  There are complete lesson plans and printable packs for every single chapter in the movie!  The teacher guides come in either grades Pre-K through K or 1st-3rd.  

The Teacher Guides include art and craft ideas, math, literature, writing, and spelling activities.  Combine the DVD and Teacher's pack and you have your entire summer curriculum! 

The Teacher Guides are available in a print edition for $299.00, or PDF for $69.95.  But, if you are a homeschool parent, when you order a DVD, Ocean Annie with include the PDF for FREE!  This is for a short time, though I'm not exactly sure how long. So, if you are at all interested this would be the time to order!  When you do, write that you are a homeschool parent in the memo so that you can get your guide.

For the entire months of May and June, shipping is also FREE, so be sure to take advantage of these generous offers on the Dive Into Your Imagination DVD's.

I really can't say enough great things about the Dive Into Your Imagination DVD's and fabulous Educator Guide.  They have made learning about the ocean a lot more fun at our house this summer!  But, don't just take my word for it, check out this sample chapter,  Frog Fish:

You can also read what my fellow crew mates had to say about Dive Into Imagination by checking out the TOS Review Crew Blog.  

Thanks for stopping, er swimming, by and God Bless!!

Disclaimer:  As part of the TOS Review Crew I received a free copy of What Makes A Fish A Fish? DVD and a PDF download of the Educator Guides in exchange for an honest review.  I was not required to write a positive review.  All opinions expressed are my own.  I was not paid for my review. 

Product Review: Hermie: Who is in Charge Anyway?

Meet the Garden gang before they grew up!

Sitting around a camp fire on a beautiful star-lit night, the garden gang is talking about their favorite memories. Antonio recounts the Garden Olympics, but admits he was a scrawny kid-ant whose parents did not think he would ever amount to much. Flo confesses she used to be shy and introverted. Turns out all Hermie and Friends’ adventures are made possible by the things that happened to them as kids. And it’s also clear that God has had a plan for all of the garden characters right from the start – as long as they had the sense to listen and follow God’s message. Includes new and previous animation.

We recently received this cute movie for review. I was excited to share a Christ-centered movie with my children. They really enjoyed the cute characters and fun songs. I LOVED the graphics, which reminded me of Miss Spider's Sunny Patch Kids.

Unfortunately, I felt like the story line was a bit of a stretch. There were tons of flash backs to previous Hermie stories, and Who is in Charge Anyway? was a story about other stories. The clips from previous stories looked like they were very cute story lines and I wished I was watching one of them instead of this one. So, I would recommend trying one of the other Hermie movies before this one.

To find out more about Hermie: Who is in Charge Anyway?, check out the Thomas Nelson product page. Hermie: Who is in Charge Anyway? retails for 14.99 and is available at most Christian book stores and online. God Bless!

Thank you to Thomas Nelson Book Sneeze for providing a complementary DVD for my review. All opinions expressed are my own.