Junior Explorers Multicultural Product Review

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 Disclosure: I was sent these items to review free of charge from Junior Explorers as part of the Multicultural Kids Product Promotion Services. All opinions in this post are my own. I did not receive any other compensation for this review.

Today I have the pleasure of reviewing a monthly packet from Junior Explorers. We received the Amazon Jaguar Mission packet. Hazel was really excited for this. In our packet we had many things including an introduction letter with your mission code, a checklist to make sure you have everything or your mission, information sheet on the region, stickers and temporary tatoos, 

animal cards of animals you may encounter on your mission, post cards, activity sheet, two mini plastic animals, a bag to store your animals and a mission button.

 After reading through our material, we went to the computer. But first Hazel got herself ready for the mission. She needed a hat to go with her princess nightgown and tutu. Doesn't everyone wear a tutu into the Amazon rainforest?

 The site is easy to maneuver around. We signed in and entered our mission code. Then we just had to follow the screen. Each junior explorer picks an avatar.

The mission starts with information about the mission. In this case it was notification that a jaguar was missing after his part of the rainforest was chopped down. The mission is to find the jaguar since they are threatened. Next junior explorers go to the mission center to get supplies. Then there is the airplane ride to the Amazon. Throughout the journey there are messages, animals and games for the junior explorer. My only complaint was some of the games were a bit hard for Hazel (and some were even a bit hard for me), however you can skip over any game if it too hard. Once the mission is complete there is a certificate that can be printed.

 Hazel LOVED this!! She felt important and of course it reminded her of her favorite show, Wild Kratts. The monthly subscription has been added to her wish list for Christmas and birthday gifts. I liked that it was educational and fun. Throughout the mission she was learning things about the rainforest, the animals and what is endangering them. The games definitely tested some logical thinking as well as visual thinking and eye-hand coordination. The rest of it got her better at using the computer and would help with the reading once she is a bit better. It was definitely not a beginner reading level.

After the computer mission was over, Hazel decided to have her own mission.

She found her binoculars that she made at camp last summer and went looking for the jaguar (well actually ours is a leopard). Along the way she found a macaw.

Then she found the missing jaguar (leopard). She tagged it with a clothespin.

Her play got more elaborate. She packed a backpack of supplies including a lantern, journal, homemade communicator/tablet (she made me one too), water bottle/sippy cup, blankets and more. 

 We had all sorts of missions. The macaw had a broken wing. The jaguar was injured. I was mission center for identifying animals and bringing the injured ones back. When I had to make dinner, she called my sister and played with her on the phone. When Hazel went to bed, I went through all of the stuffed animals and pulled some out and set them up along with her tent so she would have some place to sleep at night (they camped out on the mission). She had so much fun finding the various animals. We had a combination of Africa, rainforest and China with the animals we have. 

Overall we loved the product and will be playing junior explorer dramatic play for a long time. I am thinking we will be getting her the subscription for her birthday unless my parents want to get it. We can say we highly recommend it.