Education + Entertainment = Childcraft.com
Written: Sep 19 '02 (Updated Sep 19 '02)
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One of the hardest things to do when homeschooling is to keep things fun and educational at the same time. I consider myself blessed that the brood thrive on knowledge and rarely have to be reminded of schoolwork, reading or projects. Even so, I know that without the proper stimulation and educational aides chances are, that at some point in time, they will get bored. The internet has been a wonderful resource for home study materials, fun projects, field trip suggestions and all around solutions to my own personal questions about the boys educational levels, achievements and efforts. Childcraft.com caters to younger children however don’t let that discourage you from visiting the sites if you have older children. They have some excellent science and hands on kits that are guaranteed hits!
One of the nicest things about the site is the wide variety of products. If you have local educational stores and feel like you can get lost for hours looking through the books, toys, classroom supplies and supplements – then make sure your schedule is clear before you head to this site. Most of the sections only display six to eight items per page however there are usually dozens of pages to school through within each section. As an example, the math section spans a massive 28 pages and covers an impressive 218 products! The only downfall is that there isn’t a tremendous amount of information listed with each product but if you are interested in something please don’t hesitate to contact the customer service team for more information.
Navigation
Using the links on the left hand side of the page, you can pick from one of over twenty destinations within the site. Areas such as arts & crafts, science and math are a click away. Within each of the destination pages are subdirectories that help you further explore all that the site has to offer. Almost all of the products have a color photo, brief description, order number, price and product availability status. If at any time you get lost or want to return to the main page, simply click the blue “home” button located in the top left hand side of the page.
At the top of the [age is a nice navigational bar that allows you to check sale prices, get ideas for classrooms, look at the contents of your shopping cart or take a peek at the new products that have just been added to the site. Be sure to sign up for the free newsletter so you can stay on top of all the latest educational releases.
Products
Chances are if you are a parent you want the best for your child and sometimes the best isn’t necessarily the most inexpensive. Childcraft.com offers a wide array of products and in most cases the prices are comparable with those of retail stores and educational supply outlets.
Even though I will set the age range for the products offered at the site between the ages of 10 months to 8 years – there are more than a few items for infants including cribs, sheets, linens, high chairs, diaper essentials, related furniture and a ton of toys designed to stimulate young growing minds. I only wish I knew about this site when my boys were young enough to have enjoyed them. I have several friends that are expecting babies around the holiday season this year and I know for a fact that I will be doing a ton of shopping for them from this site.
The site offers the basic “building block” essential such as alphabet charts, counting bears, large lined paper, toddler building blocks [wooden and plastic], phonics, arts and craft kits and more. It’s never too early to get your child started on the road to academic achievement but the key is to make it fun. The products for toddlers are colorful, sturdy and will enrich your childs learning process. If there would be only one toddle product I’d personally recommend it would have to be Toddler Nursery Rhyme & Puppet Set [can be seen at this link http://www.childcraft.com/images/P15116B.jpg]. I ordered this for my neighbor’s daughter since she has a deep love of plush stuffed animals. She has since outgrown the book but still plays with the puppets on a regular basis.
For the older kids there are still plenty of products and items! The social studies section is a little thin but the math and science sections are abundant with items. If you have children that are into creating their own science experiments, the site offers you some ‘raw’ materials such as prisms, microscopes, magnetic components, magnifying glasses and ant farms. My personal favorite – the Chick-U-Bater. When the boys saw this they hounded me for weeks to order it even though I had my own personal reservations about having baby chickens running around the house. The Chick-U-Bater is an incubator that will hold up to size eggs and allow you to see the process of how and egg becomes a chicken. While I certainly won’t recommend this for everyone, I must admit I was a little anxious to see if he eggs would hatch. After four separate runs, none of the eggs managed to go though the conversion process.
My Purchases
While I haven’t placed many ordered with Childcraft I have spent a tremendous amount of money at the site. Almost all of the items that I ordered lasted far longer than I expected considering that four sets of hands were using them. The items that did wear out or break had seen their fair share of use and I was surprised that they lasted as long as they did.
The largest purchase was the Neighborhood Rug that I picked up specifically for the playroom so the boys could have a flat surface to build cities on. If you’d like to see the play mat you can enter this address in your browser http://www.childcraft.com/images/P464B.jpg. When it was purchased the price was about $20.00 more than what it is listed at now [$289.99] but it has held up remarkably to the everyday use, vacuuming, stains and stain removers and of course Lego’s.
Other items that were purchased included math kits, thermometers, phonics packages, geometric figures and science application and experiment books. My own personal favorite is a product called Root Vue. This interesting yet highly educational learning resource allows you and your child to see how plants grow, the complete root structure and allows the child to have the responsibility of caring for a living object. To see this item please visit the following link http://www.childcraft.com/images/P3297B.jpg. For the suggested retail price of $25.95 my children got to see first hand, up close views of how different plants mature as well as how to properly care for them in order for them to grow to adult size.
Shipping
Calculating your shipping fees is pretty simple. Anything under $999.99 is 15% of the total of the order. Example an order totaling $352.15 would cost you 15% of that total to have it shipped. Orders over $999.99 but under $1,999.99 are charged 10% of the total bill for shipping. Anything over $2,000.00 is free, providing you don’t order anything that requires freight delivery. If this is the case you can tack on an additional charge of $65.00. There is a minimum fee for shipping - $5.00. If you simply wish to try out the company and see how long it takes to receive your order as well as the quality of the products they sell chances are you will fall into this range. It’s nice to know they accept small orders as well as large ones.
I like to shop but I think even I would have trouble breaking the $2,000.00 barrier to qualify for free shipping. My orders all required the 15% method of calculation and overall I couldn’t complain about it since – to me – it seemed reasonable.
Returns
I’ve only had to return one item that I ordered from Childcraft and it was simple, easy and a complete breeze. One of the science kits I ordered wasn’t exactly what I expected when it arrived. Seeing as it was too primary for the brood I decided to see what exactly was required to make a return. After calling the toll free customer service number and getting a Return Authorization Number I was given the address to send the parcel back to. I was told to mail it out at my own expense within 30 days to receive a credit. I paid the extra money and had it sent with delivery confirmation so I knew that it arrived safely. After mailing out the package I went to the site to see how long it would take for my refund to be issued to my credit card when I noticed the 15% restocking fee. I was a little ticked that this wasn’t mentioned to me when I spoke with customer service however I was never penalized the 15% when the charge was reversed on my credit card.
Methods of Payment
Childcraft.com accepts MasterCard, Visa, American Express and Discover cards as methods of payment. If you are a day care, educational facility or feel that you would qualify as a business you can contact them about opening a Childcraft credit account. If you have a tax-exempt status you may be able to use it at this site but it’s highly suggested that you contact the site’s customer service department to see if your purchase qualifies. I’ve only used my MasterCard for purchases through Childcraft.com and have never had any issues with over billing, double billing, incorrect charges or incorrect refunds.
Customer Service
The customer service team is available to help you with additional product information, shipping requests, returns, general inquiries, bulk purchases, setting up a business account or to recommend great products for your child. I’ve dealt with them a few times and must say that they make the purchasing process as painless as possible.
Childcraft Education Corporation
Post Office Box 3239
Lancaster, PA 17604
[800] 631 – 5652 - telephone
[800] 631 – 4453 - fax
The customer service department can be reached Monday thru Thursday between the hours of 8:30 am and 7:00 pm Eastern Standard Time. Friday they are available from 8:30 am to 5:00 pm.
You can email them with any questions about products at service@childcrafteduaction.com
http://www.childcraft.com
The Bottom Line
It’s nice to come across a site that offers so many different avenues of educational resources. Some sites are age restrictive or cater to one subject. In my own personal opinion I feel that Childcraft.com is a great site for those with children between the ages of 10 months to 8 years of age. But, as I always stress, don’t let number dictate what sites you visit or what products you research.
There are more than a few educational items for kids over the age of 8 although even I will admit that finding them amongst the plethora of items is a bit tricky. The search engine is a great feature at the site but my suggestion is to just start clicking away and see what you come across.
As always, thanks for this visit!
^V^ Freak ^V^
© 2002 Freak369
Recommended:
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