Category Archives: Wooden Toys

Back to School with Imagine Toys… and Katie!

Posted by Lauren on September 10, 2012 4 comments

Since I was five, “back to school” has meant my getting ready to go back to school.

I remember my mom making me try on all my fall clothes and then taking me to get new ones that fit my ever-growing legs.

I always got a new lunchbox, and when I was older, a new back pack.

I remember flash cards of words and flash cards of numbers and addition and subtraction.

There were spelling words to go over and multiplication tables to recite.

When I started teaching over a decade ago, I still bought new clothes and got a new bag, but instead of quizzing myself on facts and words, I was purchasing supplies for my own high school classroom.

These days I am not only getting myself ready to go back, but my three-year old, Eddie, is interested in school too.

There has been a lot of talk about school. He knows what school is because some of the kids at daycare go to school. He has even seen a classroom.

This year he begged for a backpack and he got one.

He was so excited about it that I let him pack it with “lunch” to take with him to my classroom while I worked to get ready for the school year.

We were not in my room 10 minutes before he asked to eat his lunch at one of the desks.

While he ate we talked about the things my students would learn. He was pretty interested in all the books we would read. That boy loves to read. So does his brother, Charlie, who is 6 months old.

My boys have been unconsciously preparing for school since birth.

Not only do we read a LOT, but in all our play we talk about how many of whatever toy we are playing with there are. We name the colors of toys. We pick out the biggest of the toys.

That is why stackers are so fun for the boys.

I can get both boys involved in this kind of play. Charlie likes to dump everything off the stacker while Eddie chooses the biggest, then the next biggest, and so on to put it back together. Both are working on special learning; both are working on fine motor skills.

Eddie also likes to count how many things have been stacked, tell me what colors they are, and tell me what the stackers look like (donuts, wheels, etc.). It’s an exercise in remembering facts, but also in using his imagination. Today he told me one part of their dog stacker looked like a yellow Lifesaver candy. I told him it was pretty big for that and he made up a little story about a giant eating it in church. So fun!

So while Charlie makes up stories and practices all his pre-school-type skills unknowingly, Charlie works on his fine motor skills by manipulating a bendy toy and a musical bell toy.

Or maybe he just decapitates the stacker dog when Eddie isn’t looking.

See? I teach them defensive skills too.

Or something.

Next on my plan with Eddie? Sight words and simple addition and subtraction. And with Charlie…well, I’m just going to let him continue to try to sit up without getting a rug burn on his face.

What have you been doing to get your kids ready for school?!

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Katie Sluiter is a freelance writer and teacher who should probably be grading papers or changing diapers but is more likely blogging, tweeting, or just overusing social media in general. She chronicles all this on her blog, Sluiter Nation.

Trucky 3 is the BEST Gift for a Toddler or Preschooler

Posted by melissa.t on December 15, 2011 1 comments

Look at these beautiful wood and plastic Trucky trucks with their transparent containers! Trucks, trucks, trucks, what child doesn’t love trucks?

Two-year old Little O above loves his Trucky 3 trucks! (I’m now his new best friend.)

See the colorful geometric shapes Little O plopped into the trucks? Trucky 3 come with 10 geometric puzzle pieces which fit in the containers. As little O grows, he’ll be able fit the pieces in the trucks with more skill, and will learn important laws of physics and volume, practice visuals-spacial skills while working his fine-motor skills.

Both little O and I think these trucks are perfect for crashing, rolling, pushing, racing, and pretend playing.

What else can you do with Trucky 3 trucks?

Make roads for your trucks out of painter’s tape or duct tape. My girls made a huge city out of colored duct tape and their play lasted for days.

Or you can make truck roads plus a cardboard box village.

Then, take your trucks outside for mud and sand play – or even snow play. Trucks in childhood are practically required toys don’t you think?

Have fun playing trucks! Little O sure is.

Six Reasons Your Child Needs Pretend Play

Posted by melissa.t on December 8, 2011 1 comments

Pretend play in childhood is essential to development in social, emotional, and cognitive growth. Looking at the research, we can clearly see six reasons kids need to pretend play.

1. Better vocabulary
Courtney, S. (1999, Summer). Play matters.

2. Improves motor skills
Strickland, E. (2004). Developing motor skills-dramatically! Scholastic Early Childhood Today,19.3,9.

3. Better social skills
Elkind, D. (2007). The power of play. Da Capo Press.

4. Increases emotional maturity
Isenber, J.P.; Jalongo, M.R. Why is Play Important? Social and Emotional Development, Physical Development, Creative Development. Education.com

5. Increases self-control
Bodrova, E., & Leong, D. (2005). Why children need play. Scholastic Early Childhood Today 20,1. 6.

6. Cognitive (thinking) development

GmitrovÃ¡, V . (2003) The impact of teacher-directed and child-directed pretend play on cognitive competence in kindergarten children. Early Childhood Education Journal, (2003) Vol.30, No. 4, pp. 241 – 246.

Isn’t this so amazing?

And, pretend play is natural for kids! As parents, we can facilitate pretend play with toys that encourage imagination. Try not to give your child a toy that “does it all,” such as a doll with a television show or one that includes batteries.

Recommended Pretend Play Toys

pretend kitchen

pretend food

pretend cups and plates

pretend doctor’s kit

baby doll

baby doll crib

small fantasy and mythical figures

puppet theater

pretend tool set

dress up clothes

Of course, there are many more wonderful ideas for open-ended, imaginative play, these are just to get you started.

The National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) recently wrote that “The highest-scoring toys so far have been quite simple: hardwood blocks, a set of wooden vehicles and road signs, and classic wooden construction toys. These toys are relatively open-ended, so children can use them in multiple ways.” Read the entire article on the NAEYC website.

10 Playful Ways to Learn Your ABCs

Posted by melissa.t on September 22, 2011 2 comments

As the parent of a preschooler, you need ways to help your child learn the alphabet. Since we know that kids learn best through interactive play, here are ten fun and playful ideas to help your child learn the alphabet.

1. Sing the alphabet song while marching and dancing around your house.

There's a good reason to learn with songs — music helps us remember things! Add movement and it's even better.

2. Build with alphabet blocks.

Say the letters and you help your child build towers and buildings.

3. Read alphabet books.

There are so many great alphabet books about different things can help reinforce your child's alphabet knowledge. Make your own personalized alphabet book with this book kit software or your own digital photographs.

4. Make alphabet cookies; eat alphabet cereal or crackers.

My kids love CheezIts Scrabble tiles for yummy alphabet snacks. Don't forget about Alphabits and alphabet soups either.

5. Play Alpha Catch. (photo above and right)

Alpha Catch is an active alphabet catching and throwing game. Each ball is a letter. When caught with the mitt, it sticks with the Velcro. Say your letters or sounds and playfully practice your alphabet – it's fun and practices large motor skills at the same time.

6. Play-dough alphabet.

Get out your play dough and make your name out of your favorite color. An adult can help by providing the letters traced on a paper that the child can cover up.

7. ABC Cookie Game.

No, these aren't real cookies but a cookie jar of games and letters for young children. Brain food is yummy, too!

8. Alphabet puzzles.

I love puzzles for learning, don't you? Kids learn the letters as shapes first – which is why they're writing sometimes is backwards or reversed – the letters don't yet have meaning. Knowing the shape is the important first step in learning the letters. Puzzles reinforce this.

9. Sand alphabet writing.

Find a sandbox or make your own and write your letters in the sand.

10. Make an alphabet sensory tub.

Give your kids a tub filled with wonderful tactile things – beans, rice, pasta, and alphabet letters! If you use magnetic letters, you can "fish" for the certain letters. Or have kids scoop out letters or use big tweezers to practice small motor skills.

Everything you do helps your child learn and reinforce the learning. There is no right way to parent or teach – just find what works for your child and make it fun!

Healthy Eating Pretend Play and Picture Books

Posted by melissa.t on September 19, 2011 2 comments

Anyone else have kids who are perfectly content with a diet of crackers?

I like to call them crackeritarians.

Because of this, I'm constantly trying to find fun daily learning opportunities about health and nutrition. For kids, and adults, knowledge seems like the best way to encourage making better food choices.

Start with picture books that encourage conversation about where foods come from and how they work in your body. Books like . . .

Yummy Yucky by Leslie Patricelli

How Do Dinosaurs Eat Their Food by Jane Yolen

The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle

I will Never Not Ever Eat a Tomato by Lauren Child

Little Pea by Amy Krouse Rosenthal

The Berenstain Bears and Too Much Junk Food by Stan and Jan Berenstain

Continue learning by playing with your food. Pretend play restaurant, or kitchen. Use pretend wooden food like this Biofino Vegetable Basket, the Healthy Gormet Pit Pocket Lunch, or the Haba Fried Eggs shown above.

Other fun food learning ideas include:

Sort foods into colors.
Use cookie cutters to make shapes out of your food.
Practice cutting playdough with a plastic knife.
Make play dough foods for your pretedn restaurant or pretend bakery.

How do you get your children to eat their vegetables?

All Ages of Kids Need Block Play

Posted by melissa.t on August 29, 2011 2 comments

All kids want to play with building blocks from ages two to twelve. That’s a great thing because block play stimulates

- imagination
- creativity
- visual discrimination,
- math and science skills,
- map skills, gross motor skills,
- fine motor skills and
- eye-hand coordination. (Gaffney-Ansel , 1993)

It’s true!

Kids of all ages, even elementary-aged children, benefit socially, physically, creatively, and cognitively from block play. But since older kids need more advanced building blocks than younger kids, I highly recommend the ArchiQuest architectural blocks for them.

The ArchiQuest blocks add in the complexity of new shapes and unique culturally-based designs which my kids find fascinating – and a good challenge. They are hand-painted to match a historical period such as medieval, gothic, or Tsar-era Russa. Plus, with the sets comes an accompanying book to explain the culture and historical time period and give design ideas.

I love the book addition because while my kids build elaborate Kings and Castles Medieval Europe structures, they also learn design ideas and information about medieval life and medieval symbols such as the fleur de lis, the stag and lion symbols, a coat of arms, a barbican (walled passageway,) and murder holes. Now their block play experience is rich with historical learning and architectural planning. Priceless.

We’re addicted to medieval Europe right now because of these blocks. However, if that isn’t your thing, investigate the Dragons, Czars, and Arches set (shown above) inspired by Roman and Russian architecture or the Presidents and United States Capitol (shown below) for your house. Wouldn’t the Capitol blocks be perfect if you’re visiting Washington D.C. or studying government?