Happy Friday!
I wanted to share a super engaging and interactive way to read the classic Disney “little golden books” with your child! Google gifted us their Google Home Mini along with their limited edition Mickey Mouse stand and two compatible Little Golden Books! Needless to say, it was a very fun package we received, and when we got it all set up (takes about 5 minutes total!) Collins wanted to read her little golden books over, and over! We received “Coco” and “Toy Story 3” for our golden books, there are a handful of other compatible stories like Moana, Cinderella, and there’s even a Mickey Mouse Christmas one!
This would be such a unique way to read with your child. Of course, you don’t need to do this every time you read, but the teacher in me couldn’t help but be so excited for a unique way to draw a child in to a good book and develop a love for reading. By saying “Hey Google, let’s read along with Disney!” your Google Home turns into magical background music for the story you are currently reading. With every turn of the page, the music on the Google Home Mini changes! It is seriously the coolest thing! I was having such a fun time with C doing it, and she was so focused and engaged the entire time we were reading. I chuckled a few times at how serious her look was, because she was just so focused on the story and music, and I could tell she was really processing how the two were connected the whole time!
As you begin reading each page, the story music on the Google Home Mini coincides with whatever is being read, including sound effects. I even tested it by opening to a random page and going back to a previous page to reread it, and both times the background music on the Google Home Mini changed right along with me as I read. I was super impressed! This would be such a fun Christmas gift idea. A good friend of mine always said the saying “something they want, something they need, and something to read!” as her staple for gift buying for her children. This has always stuck with me. Dakota and I want the real meaning of Christmas to shine through always and the gifts themselves be minimal, but thoughtful. I love that this Google Home Mini is very reasonably priced (less than $50!), can serve as a whole family gift that everyone can find a use for, and can include your “something to read” item!
If you already have a Google Home Mini, you do not have to have anything else for your Google Home mini to be able to read the stories! All you will have to do is get any of the compatible little golden books that they have available, and that’s it! You certainly don’t need the limited edition Mickey Mouse stand, although, the kiddos do like that! 🙂 As I mentioned earlier, there are a handful of compatible books. TBH, I liked Toy Story, but there are parts of Coco that I didn’t care for. It was about the Latina Halloween Holiday in the story, Día de Muertos, and just some of the things in the story I personally wouldn’t want to read to my daughter. So, we did skip a couple pages from that story, but she has seen the movie Coco and loved it, so I did let her read some of the pages with me! I just didn’t think that particular story was totally age appropriate (maybe slightly scary things?) maybe I’m just being overprotective mama bear! Either way, the other stories they have are some of the classics, and I wouldn’t see a problem with any of them!
I know Thanksgiving is a few weeks away, so I’m going to be rounding up some of my favorite Turkey day outfit ideas on the withlovefromcourtney soon! I wanted to share this fun gift idea for Christmas though, especially before Black Friday! I have a feeling these will be on sale that day, so if you’ve been thinking about getting one of these for Christmas this year, I hope this has been helpful!
The cardigan I’m wearing in this image is linked here and under $100! Would be a perfect Thanksgiving Day cardigan! This brand carries some of the softest sweaters, cardigans, socks, pants… and is worth every penny! Would be a great Christmas gift idea for your mom, mother-in-law, or a little treat for yourself! This same brand has this one on sale right now for 50% off and is $67!! These hardly go on sale for this price! Snag them now in your size while they’re still in stock!
Hoping you all have a fabulous weekend friends!
with love,
from courtney
withlovefromcourtney.com 