Preparing your child for kindergarten can be a daunting task. You may be worried about your child mastering all of the necessary skills. There are lots of easy things you can do at home to prepare them for that first big day of school. We recently had the opportunity to check out a learning system that offers fun ways to help kids practice the necessary skills, while providing you with the materials to track their progress.

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What is the Investigator Kids Club?

Dilly’s Tree House is a 7 month pre-kindergarten learning system that aims to help parents prepare their kids for the start of kindergarten. This fun series of stories and activities invites kids to become part of The Investigator Kids Club which encourages them to use their curiosity to learn and develop new skills. The goal of the Investigator Club is to explore and investigate the world, and each character has a particular passion or skill that they focus on. Each month, kids receive a new box based on one of the characters in the story. Each box contains stories and activities based around these adorable characters, as well as a gift from the featured character.

Activities and Games to Prepare and Entertain

The first box introduces you to Dilly Gator. The short rhyming storybook included in the box shares the story of how the club came to be. It also sets the foundation for future boxes, offering a poster for kids to add characters stickers to as they receive new boxes, as well as a CD full of fun songs they will listen to throughout the series. For parents, each box includes easy to follow instructions for utilizing the activities and stories to teach kids new skills. A quick start card gives an overview of all the activities in the box, as well as a game or activity to use with the surprise gift included in that box. To help you track your child’s progress, each box also contains a Kindergarten Readiness checklist which kids can add stickers or smiley faces to as they move through each skill.

Kid Verdict

Since she is only 2, some of the activities were a little over her head. However, it was easy for me to adapt them to her skill level and keep her interested. Her favorite part of the boxes was definitely the awesome gifts she received from the characters. The first box includes a stuffed alligator which won her over right away. The game that was paired with the alligator involved jumping over a pretend swamp. Since she loves jumping right now and she enjoys dramatic play, it was a real hit with her.

She couldn’t wait to see what new gift each box contained and she enjoyed playing the games included for each. I was really pleased with the items included in each one. They were really great quality and inspired my daughter to use her imagination and creativity! I think she really liked the freedom to play and use her imagination with the activities and materials. She also enjoyed all the hands on activities in the boxes, including making her own puppets and practicing making patterns.

Mom Verdict

Overall, this learning system is a fantastic and comprehensive way to prepare your kids for school without feeling like you are forcing them to learn. The adorable characters and activities draw kids in and allow them to have fun while they are learning. The fact that the activities in each box hit on a number of skills and subjects is very impressive. Kids are working on everything from reading and math concepts to social skills and gross motor skills. The storytelling kit even combines reading and math concepts by inviting kids to be a part of the story and match the shaped pieces to the scene. It’s a great way to get kids invested in story time while also demonstrating their skills.

I really like how well thought out and detailed the characters are. The poster in the first box introduces you to all of the characters, including birthdays, favorite things and more. The stories are short and have a quick rhyming pattern, making them easy and run to read aloud. The activities in the boxes are easy to set up and use very few additional supplies. I really appreciated that we could open the box and be doing the activities within a few minutes.

I also really like that there is a nice flow to the program and that it encourages creativity and exploration. The puppets that kids create in each box provide them with a chance to be creative and use their imagination, and to bring the story to life in their own way. As each new box is received, they will dive deeper into Dilly’s world and learn more about ours in the process!

Preparing Your Child for Kindergarten

An important thing for parents to note is that this is a learning system intended for kindergarten readiness. The activities included are a lot more structured and similar to traditional school lessons than other subscription box services. The activities are easy to set up and can be done in short segments of time during your busy day. Some activities will also be easy for kids to do on their own after you have introduced it to them. However, this is a program that relies on the parent working with the kids. (I don’t say this as a negative, because I don’t see it that way. More as a matter of setting expectations). 

If you are looking to prepare your child for kindergarten, I definitely recommend checking out this awesome system. Not only will kids enjoy getting to know Dilly and her friends, but you will feel confident that your child is learning and practicing the skills they will need when they get to school that first day!