Busy Bugs are all about math, including patterning, colors, addition, and subtraction. Both of my children have adored playing with them for years. Owning these darling and brightly-colored bugs means I sit back and wait for my children to ask me for math - er, busy bugs.
2. Rainbow Fish Lotto
I posted a short review of this game here! My three favorite things about it are: 1) It's based on a storybook, 2) the pictures are bright and beautiful, and 3) even a just-turned-two-year-old can play it.3. Kumon First Steps Workbooks
These don't sound like toys, but the First Steps workbooks (for ages 2 and up) may as well be. There are Kumon workbooks for older ages, too. We have an ages 3-4-5 workbook which has been received with good grace but not the happiness with which the smaller workbooks were greeted. For ages 2 and up, we have tried Let's Cut Paper!, More Let's Cut Paper!, and Let's Sticker and Paste!
My son went from not knowing how to correctly use scissors to becoming a cutting expert! I have to stop him from finishing these books in one sitting.
4. Stringing Beads
Any type of stringing beads is a great educational toy, useful for fine motor skills and patterning. The Melissa & Doug set pictured below in the carousel has good reviews.
Fun & Engaging Activities for Toddlers, a fantastic toddler learning activity blog, has some great ideas for making your own stringing beads.
5. Magnadoodles
My children never got obsessed with these like they did with other toys, but they always liked drawing on them even when they didn't want to draw or write on paper. I have a hunch it's easier in terms of fine muscle strength, but that's just a guess. It also seems a little bit more like magic to them when the marks appear on the Magnadoodle board. My older son wrote his first letters on a large Magnadoodle.
A chalkboard, dry erase board, or yogurt on a baking sheet can all serve the same purpose, if your child likes those surfaces. They are interesting, somewhat unusual, and often easier than writing or drawing on paper.
6. Puzzles
Puzzles are simply classic. There are so many different types of puzzles out there, and levels of difficulty for any ability.
Something like the Melissa & Doug Jumbo Fishbowl Puzzle pictured below is great for babies, to get them used to the idea of puzzles and to increase their fine motor skills using the knobs on the pieces (manufacturer recommended age 1-3 years).
Other than the pick-up of 26 small pieces, we like the Melissa & Doug See-Inside Alphabet Peg Puzzle for toddlers and preschoolers (about age 22 months and up at our house, but the manufacturer says 3 years and up due to choking hazard).
The Crocodile Creek Jungle 123 7 Foot Floor Puzzle was a fantastic first jigsaw puzzle for our preschooler. It was an easier jigsaw, but just challenging enough to keep him interested for years:
I also highly recommend the Melissa & Doug Dinosaurs 48 Pcs Floor Puzzle for this level.
A high quality puzzle that was perfect for the next step was Ravensburger's 35-piece Dinosaur Playground (manufacturer recommended ages 4-15 years):
No comments:
Post a Comment