Alphabotz Superphonic Decoder Cards are flash cards depicting robots that teach children about phonics with visual clues, sound association and information about each character.  Made for ages three and up, the set includes 46  colorful, oversized cards that are printed on durable card-stock and are stored in a sliding drawer box. The cards teach kids how to use decoding keys when coming across new word patners. The stats about each character make the sounds memorable and aid in development of letter recognition and phonemic awareness skills. It is no wonder these were invented by a mom elementary school teacher who found the market lacking for a fun and engaging way for children to learn to read.

As a parent I loved the storage box to keep all the cards together. The box is very sturdy and the drawer pull out is such a cool feature. I wish all companies gave that much thought to packaging. I also love how there are detailed instructions for the cards and also extra activities and games to play with the cards at different levels!

I’m not sure what specifically draws my son to the Alphabotz but he loves to just look through all the cards. He already knows all of his letters by sight but is still learning the sounds they make. The pictures, words and letters in upper and lower case help him to see the pattern words that begin with that letter. I think the visual cues are great and the overall bright colors and fun pictures make the cards interesting for him to look at. And I must say the secret phrases, which are somewhat like a tongue twister, are just so much fun to read out loud!

My only complaint with the system is that it takes some time to learn how exactly the Alphabotz work including Alphasquads like Cool Consonant Squad and Superphonic Vowel Squad. I’m sure this will come with time but at this age it gets a little bit confusing for my three year old. Right now we are both enjoying the time spent together just reading the cards and talking about them. I do plan to use the full system as my son grows into all its features. I always appreciate a learning system that will grow with my child!

Alphabotz Superphonic Decoder Cards received a 2009 Creative Child Magazine 2009 Preferred Choice Award and they were also named this fall on Dr. Toy’s 100 Best Children’s Products of 2009 list! 

DISCOUNT: These cards retail for $19.95 and can be purchased directly from Amazon. Use this link to purchase them through Alphabotz directly and save 20% with code KSBLOGS1. But hurry, this offer expires 12/18/09.

{ Giveaway }

Alphabotz would like to give one of my readers a set of Alphabotz Superphonic Decoder Cards!

MAIN ENTRY: Visit Alphabotz and tell me something you learned or what you liked best about the character cards.

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This contest will end on 12/20/09 at 11:59 pm CST. U.S. residents only. The winner will be drawn via random.org. The winner will have 48 hours to respond to winning notification email before I draw another winner or do a live giveaway.

Disclosure: I received a sample for the purpose of this review . This has no bearing on my completely honest review above and was not influenced by any type of monetary compensation. The opinions and experiences I’ve shared with these products are my own and yours may differ.