Top 5 Slow Toys

Sometimes it seems that open-ended, or slow, toys are synonymous with "blocks." Indeed, four of my Top Five Slow Toys might be perceived as primarily construction toys and thus obvious choices for preschool engineering.  More than "just" blocks, each toy on this list is well-designed and lends itself to different types of construction and pretend play. They are simple and versatile and beautiful. I hope you agree!

5. Pipes/Funnels. When Mikey started occupational therapy he just loved building with pipes. That they snap together made them similar to Duplos but the mere fact that they were pipes made them awesome. So, when we had an occasion to give a gift I gave him the Quercetti Tubation set pictured here. They are durable and, at our house, they have been successfully integrated with funnels and marbles and water and sand.

4. Squigz. My husband told me that our son just loves the kitchen brushes that have suction cups on the bottom. Squigz came to mind immediately. I had seen a picture and description on fatbraintoys.com and felt intrigued. And with Mikey's birthday around the corner I finally had an excuse to buy them. Good for fine motor work, construction, and all the other things blocks are good for, these little suckers add a new element to play.






3. Bilibo. This is the only "tool" on my top five list because it can be more than a tool for scooping, dumping, pouring, or molding. It is a hat, a drum, a cave, a creature....I'm sure I cannot even imagine all the possibilities and I will only see the true potential when my kids play with them. (Admittedly I have not played with these Bilibo toys yet and neither have my kids but I Moluk's videos inspire me and I can't wait to try one out!)
http://www.moluk.com/toys.php



2. Plan Toys Blocks and Pusher. This pusher in my home  has been a lawn mower, a vacuum, a shopping cart and a stroller. The blocks have been used for building and countless other lessons in imagination, counting, building, etc. (See more on the article I wrote for Fat Brain Toys called "Why Design Matters.") This toy has been used (and abused) for more than three years and keeps on delivering!! I recommend this toy with no reservations.





1. Magnet Tiles. Earlier this week I wrote a post about the wonders of this toy that seem to happen whenever my family hosts a play date with our BFFs. These toys offer similar lessons in construction (patience, design, etc.) that blocks offer but there is an added cool factor of the magnets holding them together. The intrigue of the snapping sound when the magnets are drawn toward each other endlessly amuses all of the people who play with them. These are my current favorite open-ended toy.

[Disclosure Statement: This post contains affiliate links. If you click and purchase, I receive a small referral fee at no cost to you. To see how I spend the money see my "Philanthropy" page. ]

Magnet Tiles

We are lucky to have a family of friends with whom we get to play on a regular basis. The children are 4 years old, 3 years old, almost 2 years old, and one and a half years old. Of all the toys available around the house the Magna-Tiles are consistently the biggest hit for ALL FOUR CHILDREN.

Mechanically speaking, the magnets in these toys and the way the shapes go together are appealing for preschool engineers. From an "academic" standpoint, there is a lot of pre-STEM learning to be had. Shapes, colors, numbers, order, volume...all those things that playing with wooden blocks offer are here, too. Imagination can be let loose as well. Triangles "flap" together to be a butterfly. Homes, skyscrapers and tents are built to house various creatures. Blue tiles become rivers and lakes. Squares are lined up to become conveyor belts or choo choos to push along the floor.

What I find really amazing is the ease with which the one year olds can play along with the "big" kids. I have watched one year olds add pieces to a foundation to build up. The snap of the tiles as the magnets draw them together is fabulous and keeps the play going for hours. Hands down, these are my current favorite open-ended, or slow toy.

[Disclosure Statement: This post contains affiliate links. If you click and purchase, I receive a small referral fee at no cost to you. To see how I spend the money see my "Philanthropy" page. ]

Top 5 Songs

What childhood could be complete without music? For my fella, music is best when he connects with the lyrics. Below are some of our favorite songs/collections for preschool engineering. It will be up to you whether you download some MP3s and make a collection for your child or buy an entire album (MP3 or CD). Enjoy!



5. Water Sand Rocks and Clay. If you haven't read my article about dirt then you may not have realized yet that water, sand, rocks, and clay are some of the most mechanically interesting things in the world. But when you pause to think about it, these naturally occuring "toys" are some of the most beloved things in a preschooler's life. Brady Rymer sings about it so well for kids. If you want a grown up's song about dirt then list to Red Hot Chili Peppers sing "I Like Dirt": I Like Dirt - Californication.  (My kids love to mosh to this one.)

Song: Water, Sand, Blocks and Clay - iTunes
Album: Amazon.

4. Big Green Tractor. This song by Jason Aldean is one of my kid's favorite songs. It might just be that it accompanies a YouTube video of a little boy who has a tractor, a trailer, and a smaller tractor on the trailer...all of which he drives himself. Regardless, it is one of those songs that a preschool engineer can connect with and sing or hum along.

Song: iTunes and Amazon.

Pic from funtunesforkids.com

3. A Moose in a Treehouse. This is a counting song. A moose sings about how many cookies he is eating. First he eats 12 and then he counts by 2s, 3s, and 4s to reveal that he's eaten 48 cookies! Here is the YouTube video I made: Moose Multiplication. Or you can buy the song from Amazon or the entire album from iTunes or Amazon! Either way, counting and cookies should be a big hit for your little person.

Album: Moose Tunes for Kids - Brent Holmes & Marty the Moose, Amazon.
Song: Amazon.

2. The Hammerhead Shark and the Sawfish. The introduction to this song features a chainsaw revving the engine. What excitement for my kid to hear that shrill squeal without having the risk of an actual powertool turned on! I remember him running out of his room to share his discovery with me! "Mama, come listen!" The song is about a shark and a sawfish that build a boat that doesn't float...but that's OK because a shark doesn't need a boat that floats! Aside from the sound of a powertool, the failed attempt to build something awesome might also resonate with your preschool engineer.

Song: The Hammerhead Shark & the Sawfish - Sea Tunes for Kids, Amazon.
Album: Sea Tunes for Kids - Brent Holmes, Amazon.






1. Truck Tunes. OK, so this isn't a song, it is an entire album, but it is the most played CD in the house and car. For Mikey's birthday his grandparents bought him the $19.95 set of DVDs, CD and t-shirt. The songs are snappy, educational, and sure to delight a preschool engineer. BTW, my daughter loves it, too.

[Disclosure Statement: This post contains affiliate links. If you click and purchase, I receive a small referral fee at no cost to you. To see how I spend the money see my "Philanthropy" page. ]

Top 5 Truck Books

We all know that different books serve different purposes and it isn't any different for children's books. Some truck books are like truck porn; they have no story or next to no story but an abundance of pictures. Other truck books are educational and teach the readers about the form and function of a truck or a few trucks. Still others have a lovely story that have at their center the life of a truck.  I have read dozens of truck books with my children and these are my (our) top five picks. (Numbers 5, 4, and 1 have plenty of images of plenty of trucks but their instructional quality and/or story take them safely out of the truck porn category and into the educational category.)



5. Machines at Work by Byron Barton. This is primarily an educational book. The reader learns about the function of each of a handful of trucks do at a construction site. Byron Barton's illustrations are so simple you might want to try writing and illustrating a book of your own. Don't bother...Barton has done it for us. The storyline of this book is simple and the pictures are, too. It is a book that appeals to both my 1.5 year old and my four year old so it made the cut.




4. Dig Dig Digging by Margaret Mayo. This is an educational truck book but each lesson rhymes! Each rhyme in this book stands alone and does not flow into a larger story but that is OK. It has plenty to look at and a lot of fun truck noises with which to "play."

From Amazon:
"A perfect book for little digger-lovers!

Trucks and tractors, fire engines and helicopters -- they all like to work hard. But after a long, happy day of beep-beeping and vroom-vrooming, even the busiest engines need to rest. This bright, bouncy, noise-filled book brings together all the vehicles that children adore."

3. I Want My T R U C K by Karen Beaumont. The main character of this story has lost a beloved truck and spends his energy searching and searching for it. This story resonates with everyone in our house.

From Amazon:
"Catrow's colorfully frenetic artwork and Beaumont's flawlessly rhyming text will have children chanting along... By the end, readers will definitely know how to spell 'truck' [and] they will definitely recognize themselves in Tommy. (New York Times Sunday Book Review)"

2. Little Blue Truck by Alice Schertle. Amazon says exactly what I would tell you: "Filled with truck sounds and animals noises, here is a rollicking homage to the power of friendship and the rewards of helping others." In addition to that, I'm a sucker for the images of autumn. I am happy to read this book as much as my children want to hear it.




1. Goodnight Goodnight Construction Site by Sherry Rinker. This book has it all - lots of great images of working trucks, educational information about the form and function of each machine, plus it is a great rhyming bedtime truck story. It must be so comforting to say "goodnight" to all the awesome trucks in this book. Indeed, my kid used to snuggle with his favorite truck, which would rotate between whatever was new and had been working hard all day and an old beloved machine. This book is so loved in our house that we will have to get another copy with a nice fresh binding soon.

From Amazon:
"For all those youngsters who feel coziest with a cement mixer jammed into an armpit and a dump truck wedged at their feet, Goodnight Goodnight Construction site might be the best bedtime book ever. (Hampton Roads)"

[Disclosure Statement: This post contains affiliate links. If you click and purchase, I receive a small referral fee at no cost to you. To see how I spend the money see my "Philanthropy" page. ]

Not Again! Truck Book Review

My kid loves to read...or rather be read to. He is a little bookworm and we all have our favorite stories. Sometimes we agree about the quality of a book but sometimes we disagree. Case in point - the Scholastic "Tonka" series.

In fact, whenever Mikey gets his hands on one of three books we are rolling our eyes and wondering why we didn't donate the books while they were out of vogue. "Working Hard with the Mighty Loader," "I'm A Great Big Monster Truck," and "If I Had a Bulldozer" are just no good. The stories aren't interesting or written all that well. The images are OK but pale in comparison to Catrow's, Lovelock's and McElmurry's illustrations. Sometimes I wonder if the books were written just to have a child lust after a novel-looking truck to add to his collection of toys. Indeed, one of our most-used toys is the Tonka Trencher...it matches the image in the Tonka book perfectly! Nevertheless, we find ourselves re-reading these books with our child because it is truly delightful to see his eyes light up and to hear him exclaim about something new he's thought of this time around.

[Disclosure Statement: This post contains affiliate links. If you click and purchase, I receive a small referral fee at no cost to you. To see how I spend the money see my "Philanthropy" page. ]

Stocking Stuffers

Ha ha. Perspective is funny.

When I think of stocking stuffers I think of small, fairly inexpensive (usually) but interesting things. I'm keeping this page as a running list of toys, food, craft supplies, and other things that might be good as a small gift for a preschool engineer.


Twisty Crayons. When Mikey's preschool teacher visited our home to do a one-on-one meet-and-greet, she was not surprised that Mikey spent some time investigating the nature of the twisty crayons she had brought instead of drawing with them. "The boys always play with the crayons. The girls get right to drawing with them," she said to me. "Ah ha!" I thought, "two aspects preschool engineering. Mechanical (de)construction and design." The crayons are basically like lipstick...the wax goes up and down when someone twists the bottom. Simple, interesting, and small.






Post-it Flags. OK, this might seem weird but my kids love post-it flags. They have received WAY MORE attention from my preschool engineer than any sticker he ever has seen. I think it has to do with the interesting dispensing mechanism. I mean, who hasn't been stunned by the simple but clever design of a post-it flag? Add the favorite color-factor and you've got yourself a silly little treasure.







Color Packs of Crayons. Did you know that you could get a mega-pack of your kid's favorite color crayon? It makes sense but I was surprised and delighted to find that tid bit out. You can either buy a pack of twelve identical crayons like these Crayola 12-packs (available in ROYGBIV, black and pink) or pick one color in many hues like the Playful Purple or Hello Sunshine collections (also by Crayola and also available in other colors). I don't know about you but my kid would be ecstatic to have twelve identical pink crayons. LOL. Oh, and keep your eyes peeled at the local toy stores. I've seen these sets for ~$2 but they list for ~$8 on Amazon!

Safety Scissors. For a preschool engineer scissors are a lot like robot claws. They open and close like tongs or grabbers and they have an added bonus of cutting things. And my oh my how things have changed since I was a child! Scissor safety is still a concern but check out Crayola's "Safety Scissors." There is no blade! The super-sharp edges are enough to cut paper...and that is all they cut! Seems like a win-win for parent and child!

Chocolate Gears

Interesting Food. The holidays are a time of fun food! Just for kicks, I'll invite you to see food through the eyes of a preschool engineer. My kid calls peanut butter cups "gear chocolate" and "Annie's All Stars" also look like gears. He also picks out the Bionaturae "Fusilli" pasta at the store and calls them auger noodles. So when you're looking to splurge on new food for your children just imagine how cool chocolate gears might be received.

Silly Utensils. Whenever we travel with these "Constructive Eating" utensils we get compliments. Since acquiring these utensils I've also discovered that they have a garden set (shovel, rake, and hoe) along with plates with ramps for pushing food around and scooping and lifting at the table.





Tongs, Claws and Grabbers. Anything that makes the tongs different from the next set and valuable to a chef will appeal to your child, too. Look for toast tongs, escargot tongs, as well as specialty toy grabbers...all listed on my Listmania List.









IKEA's Hand-powered Flashlight. When we discovered this hand-powered flashlight, I don't know who was more tickled me or my preschool engineer. It is so simple and small. It is easy for a preschooler to hold and crank. Plus there is immediate gratification because the more the child cranks the more the LEDs light up.







Wind Up Toys. Don't forget simple delights like wind up toys. Here is a link to my list of some of our favs.

[Disclosure Statement: This post contains affiliate links. If you click and purchase, I receive a small referral fee at no cost to you. To see how I spend the money see my "Philanthropy" page. ]

Top 5 Apps

We're always on the lookout for good apps! Here is a list of our favs.

5. Amazing Alex. My husband found "Amazing Alex" when he was reading Wired. It was listed as a great app for a "future engineer." The premise is that "Alex" has to clean up his room. The reality of playing is that there are balls that drop and have to roll over stars to collect points and end up in a basket, box or other container. To play, your preschool engineer will have to drag and drop shelves to be inclined plans that support the bouncing/rolling balls. For any child who has experimented with slides, this will be easy and fun. There is a "Classroom" where he or she will learn the basic principles of how the game works (pictured on right) and the levels progress at a pace that is fast for a three year old but about right for a three year old and his mama, ahem. Read more on my "Inclined Planes" post.


4. World of Goo.  In World of Goo the player constructs bridges using "goo balls." When the player uses a finger to drag one goo ball out of a pile of goo balls, support beams appear. It is called a "physics puzzle/construction game." It is a wildly entertaining game and I have to warn you that if your preschool engineer asks for help - beware. When I sit down to tackle a particularly tough one I usually get sucked in to figuring out how to build the right bridge. And right when I think I have it figured out Mikey sticks his finger on the screen to look at something and it all goes out the window. LOL.
Here's the link to the Android version: play.google.com. It is also available for the Wii. Read more on my "Building Bridges" post.

3. Bad Piggies. "Bad Piggies" is our current favorite preschool engineering app. Each level of the game is set in a different setting of hills, ramps, holes, and other obstacles. The player must create a vehicle that will transport a Piggie from start to finish. This game has it all. It has an easy interface for a preschooler to drag and drop to build vehicles. It has awesome features that are available and/or required for the vehicle to succesfully complete the obstacle course. Each level offers increasingly more options to propel the vehicle including motors, propellers, balloons, punching gloves, fizzy shaking soda bottles, rockets, fans, and more! Here are links to the game in the iTunes store: Bad Piggies HD - Rovio Entertainment Ltd; and Play.google.com. There are free versions and cheap versions of the game to download.
Read more here.

2. Toca Builders. Toca Boca makes a lot of awesome games. It was hard for me to choose only two for the top five app list but after reflecting on the nature of preschool engineering I decided that Toca Builders had to be on the list. It is another construction game, like Amazing Alex, World of Goo and Bad Piggies, which is appropriate for Preschool Engineering. What makes it different? It is 3D building. Each of characters has a specialty. One drops blocks behind him as he runs and if he encounters a block then he smashes it. One, poised on a ball, leaves a trail of colored ground behind him. Another shoots spit wads of paint (for lack of a better description) that splat on a target. Defying the laws of building with real blocks, one builder can suspend a block in thin air. The player can rotate the perspective to see where he or she is and what has been built. It is an incredible game for a preschool engineer and one that will grow with the child. Available on iTunes, Android, and Kindle Fire.

1. Toca Band. This is the best app for a preschool engineer and his or her parents. Each "instrument" is located along the bottom of the screen. The player drags and drops the instrument to a circle. If the instrument is placed on one of the circle pads on the bottom row then it will have a slow tempo. The middle row has faster tempo and the top row is the fastest tempo. So the banjo plays slowly on the bottom, faster in the middle, and fastest on the top. The yellow pad that has a star is actually a lift so your child can investigate the nuances of each instrument in turn. She can pluck the strings of the harp or make the percussionist shake, rattle, and roll. Discovering how each instrument works will intrigue a preschool engineer.

Your child can create ensemble music and it is almost fool-proof. Some ensembles sound better than others and I think that is the interesting thing for a preschool engineer. Even my 1.5 year old has success with it because she can see and hear something interesting by merely touching one of the musicians pictured at the bottom. Still learning how to touch the iPad, she even has some success dragging and dropping the musicians to a place on the band stand!

[Disclosure Statement: This post contains affiliate links. If you click and purchase, I receive a small referral fee at no cost to you. To see how I spend the money see my "Philanthropy" page. ]

Gravity & Apps

Simple things make me happy. For instance, I really like when iPhone apps reflect gravity. Holding and tilting the phone makes balls "fall" appropriately shouldn't be so delightful for me but it is. Something that I hold as a three-dimensional physical phenomenon depicted well is just neat. One of my favorite uses of gravity in an app is part of Sago Sago's "Sound Box."

Sago Mini Sound Box is a musical game, perhaps one that isn't readily apparent as a Preschool Engineering app. Two not-so-obvious aspects of the game make it STEMy, or STEAMy. First, the screen is blank but the space is broken into a piano-like keyboard. Tapping from left to right the player will hear a pattern of sound similar to playing a piano. Second, it is how gravity works in to music playing that makes it even more STEMy, or STEAMy.

This is how the app works: The player can choose one of nine instruments. Today, my 1.5 year old daughter and I chose the piano. Each time she tapped the screen a circle (ball) appeared and we heard the sound of a piano key being played. Tapping many times she acquired many balls. Tilting and turning the phone made the balls fall with gravity and when they rolled into each other the piano music collided. The tinkling sounds were lovely. Then my daughter got another delightful surprise. If she held her finger long enough the circle grew and grew until an animal "hatched." "Doggie!" she'd exclaim, or, "Birdie!"

Sometimes it is a simple but beautiful physical phenomenon that I find intriguing. If you want to see gravity used simply and with whimsy then check out Sago Sago's Sound Box here.

[Disclosure Statement: This post contains affiliate links. If you click and purchase, I receive a small referral fee at no cost to you. To see how I spend the money see my "Philanthropy" page. ]

Top 5 Working Trucks

Vehicles are meant to be pushed around. Whatever toy vehicle you purchase should be able to withstand hours of full-bore pushing, racing and crashing. That means the body and chassis need to be sturdy. The wheels need good traction. The axles shouldn't break or snap when landing from being launched from a slide. In short, it needs to be designed with tough play in mind.

Working trucks all have the same basic work - scooping and dumping. However, some toys are built better than others for true preschool play and I've compiled a short list for you to peruse. Below is a list of the most popular trucks in our fleet...and our fleet is HUGE thanks to generous grandparents, great grandparents, friends and other relatives.

I've dropped them all in one spot on Amazon.com. Click here!


6. This Backhoe by Bruder has been bumped from the top 5 list and replace by the Tonka Grader. 5. Backhoe. Backhoes are probably appealing to children because they have TWO scoops. Our Caterpillar brand backhoe was well-loved but not designed to withstand the actual digging and hard play that my son engaged in. The first thing to go was the supports on the boom for the front loader bucket. Then the lights and buttons failed because sand got in. I didn't sweat it nor did my son but the next backhoe will be a different brand. Bruder's ROADMAX series is a crazy-durable line of trucks that can handle the really rough sandbox play of a preschooler. This backhoe has no frills (lights and buttons), which is just the way I like it. In fact, one is hidden away in the closet for someone's birthday. Review to follow. [Update: 11/24/2014. This Bruder backhoe is good for gentler play than my kid does. The backhoe, stabilizers and cab broke shortly after the first trip to the sandy park near our house. If you're looking for a backhoe then I recommend the "Tonka Trencher" over this one.]

5. Tonka Grader. For details see my Toy Review of the Tonka Grader here. In short, it is awesome. I have no gripes about the grader. Ours has endured many hours of rough play in sand, wood chips and snow.










4. Tonka Garbage Truck. Garbage truck drivers everywhere are local heros to toddlers and preschoolers. Indeed, they wave at children when they go by the park and our family has a weekly ritual to run out to see them go by to collect our personal trash. So what truck fleet would be complete without a garbage truck? My son sleeps with the garbage truck toy as a lovey. While I am not wild about the amount of noise the lever makes when he pulls it, he LOVES it. Plus, when the handle on the lever is squeezed, it raises the trucks boom to unload the contents of the bin. The wheels have great traction and the bed is easily cleaned out after a day at the park. The black bin can be removed for easy driving. (The bin and boom fit tightly so it is usually replaced by an adult after my kiddo tries by himself for a while.) All in all, this is a fav...durable, usable and easy on the eyes (if not the ears). [Note: Whoa! I just saw the price of this truck on tripled what we paid for it. I'll keep my eyes peeled for a good substitute!]

3. Tonka Trencher. This is essentially a backhoe loader with one very important feature - track wheels. The scoops are sturdy and easy to manipulate. My kid sometimes pushes it through the sand with the front scoop down acting as a bulldozer blade while is smashes the backhoe, fully extended, into the ground to drag and dig a trench. The rubber tracks stay on very well but when they are removed they are strong enough to be "conveyor belts"or chains for a newly invented machine. They are easy to put back on, too, and the longest lasting tracks of any of our tracked trucks. It is a very tough truck and is highly recommended for preschool engineers.

2. Dump Truck. There are two important things about a dump truck. First, the bed should be designed to actually contain the load. Our best dump trucks have a bed that has an angled bottom so stuff doesn't fall out en route to its destination. Second, the wheels should have some traction. Our Green Toys dump truck gets next to no use because the wheels can't actually work on any surface (carpet, sand, sidewalk). If you want to save yourself some clean-up then a third option to consider is avoiding buttons, lights, and crevices. Our most used dump trucks (Little Tikes Rugged Rigs) have a beautiful bed and great wheels but sand is ALWAYS falling out...even after a power washing; it is a mystery to me why the bed needs creases and folds. This "Funrise Dump Truck" seems to be a perfect upgrade for my kid.

1. Battat Front Loader. This front end loader is awesome. It is big enough and durable enough that my four year old still uses it after two years of hard work. It is light weight enough that my one year old can articulate the loader bucket and carry it around the work site. On occasion, the screws that hold the bucket to the boom fall out but they are easily replaced by a trip to the hardware store (I've only had to do this once). I consider this the number one truck for a preschool engineer's fleet because it is versatile in terms of work potential as well as age suitability. The bucket can be positioned in a number of ways to carry a load and it can be turned upside down to act as a blade to push sand around. Listed for 18 months old and up, this truck is a must-have.

Stay tuned for more gift ideas for truck-lovers including books, videos, and songs...

[Disclosure Statement: This post contains affiliate links. If you click and purchase, I receive a small referral fee at no cost to you. To see how I spend the money see my "Philanthropy" page. ]

Juicing

Does your child know that juice is squeezed from fruits and vegetables? My kids are amoung the lucky few who get to see juice get made from raw materials. We have an orange tree in our back yard from which we gather fruit by the bucket load to squeeze fresh juice. We also have an Omega 8006 Juicer that we use to make juice from kale, carrots, cabbage, apples, celery, ginger, watermelon, and many other foods (not all in the same recipe!).

I think that helping make the juice is an invaluable experience for my kids to have a sense for the economy of food but I think they like it for other reasons. My 1.5 year old likes to help...it doesn't matter what she's helping with as long as it is meaningful. My preschool engineer on the other hand like the machines. He likes the press for the oranges with its lever and obvious rack and pinion gear. He LOVES the worm gear that he can watch turn while the Omega grinds and squeezes juice from food.

Last week we were on another juice kick...making vegetable juice every morning and Mikey choosing to watch "George Meets the Press" every afternoon. As you can see from the picture above, the mechanical wonder of the apple press in this episode is super cool. There are belts and gears and a conveyor belt. It is, of course, a barn-sized version of what we do in our kitchen: wash the food, chop the food, press the food, pour the juice.

Watch for free on YouTube or buy it on Amazon.

[Disclosure Statement: This post contains affiliate links. If you click and purchase, I receive a small referral fee at no cost to you. To see how I spend the money see my "Philanthropy" page. ]