learning toys

What Are The Benefits Of Sensory Play In Child Development?

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Read time: 10 minutes
children playing with sand-importance of sensory play

Children are born explorers. A little child learns by using his senses and interacting with his environment. This natural leaning of a child to learn through curiosity and exploration is something parents must nurture and trust.

Our little one is making sense of his world by touching, smelling, seeing, tasting and hearing. Sensory play can therefore be a key tool in child development.

This post is sponsored by Alt Retail, but all opinions and thoughts expressed are my own.

In case you are wondering,

WHAT IS SENSORY PLAY?

Sensory play is any type of play that engages the child’s senses. These not only include sense of smell, touch, sight, taste and hearing but also include body awareness and balance.

Sensory play can happen anywhere at home or outside in nature using natural elements. 

One important point to note here is that the child needs a safe space to explore without any interruptions. Read here to understand how you can build a safe play space for your child.

what are the benefits of sensory play

BENEFITS OF SENSORY PLAY IN CHILD DEVELOPMENT

Sensory play helps brain development

Play experiences that allow the 5 senses to interact with each other build nerve connections in the brain that aid cognitive development. 

Let’s take an example of a child playing in water with some cups, droppers and loose parts. He is observing the movement of the water as he applies force with his hands and splashes it.

He notes the flow of the water as he transfers it between cups, all the while learning to grasp and manipulate his fingers such that he gets the effect he desires.

Watching his toy objects sink or float makes him curious about why certain objects sink to the bottom of the tub and some float.

All of these are early learning experiences that help the child question, formulate his own reasoning and answers.

In short, discovery, observation, reasoning, memory building, experimentation all happen at a sensory table. These cognitive skills the child develops whilst exploring on his own help him with math and science problems later on.

Sensory play helps in emotional development 

Sensory play also has a calming effect on children. Set up a sensory bin or art based activity on days you find your child has difficulty regulating emotions and watch how such play helps the child feel more centered.  

Engaging in sensory experiences like pouring water, painting with finger paints or a sand bin reduces some of the internal discomfort the child is feeling. 

Once the child is calm you can then help him process emotions.

For older children, art itself can be used as a tool to express some of the uncomfortable emotions and process feelings.

Sensory play supports development of motor skills 

Playing requires the use of gross motor skills, like getting up, bending over, crossing midline, balancing and fine motor skills like pinching, grasping, picking, and weaving. 

Such play provides a child the opportunity to manipulate objects with his hands and master motor skills through repetitive movements.

Even before your child holds a pencil and learns to write he needs constant exposure to different types of rich sensory tools and experiences that provide him a chance to hone pre-writing skills.

Sensory toys like play dough, play dough tools and sensory tray tools can help with fine tuning these skills.

Sensory play as a tool to weave down time in the day. 

I don’t really have to make a case for down time to tired parents. We all love those quiet pauses in between the otherwise chaotic parenting day.

Sensory play can be a great tool to weave in some down time into the day. Tired mothers everywhere know that if you give the child a sand box or a water bin with spoons and cups you are guaranteed 15 minutes of quiet play.

Plan your toddler routine with some sensory play daily. You can sit back with a cup of coffee and watch your child have a go at his activity. Lay out a large splash mat to keep messes to a minimum. It makes the day that much easier with a toddler around. 

Water play was my go-to for years. My son enjoyed it so much, he washed his cars, tried out his own sink and float experiments and most importantly was happier and settled after each such play session. That is how water play became my number 1 choice for days I was tired or when he was having a rough time with his emotions. 

Sensory play supports language development

Sensory play can help build vocabulary and better the understanding of what words mean. During the play session describe how objects look and feel – for e.g. red spoon, squishy dough or use action words like mix this, spread here, touch this etc.

Each time the child holds a sensory tool and uses it in his play he is learning new words and their context to his play.

Such sensory play is not just restricted to play time, but also at the table when the child eats. Let the child explore food with his hands, not only does this encourage self-feeding, but also exposes the child to new vocabulary around food as he feeds himself, for e.g. hot soup, squishy blueberry, red sauce, creamy soup, cheesy pasta. You get the idea?

In fact, all the new fruit and vegetable names our son learnt were through meal times. You don’t need special books, real experience with the food at the table matters in language development.

Sensory play encourages self-directed play

Open ended toys and sensory play encourage more independent play. But, are you ready to let your child explore freely?

Set up a few open-ended sensory toys with no other distractions in the environment and let your child take charge of his own play. 

What looks like unstructured random actions to an adult is actually the child figuring out his own process.

Over the years I observed that a child goes through several stages of play before making solid connections and learning something new. But all the previous stages were important in the child coming to learn that concept on his own.

Watching a child’s self-directed play is like watching scientists observe the world, seek unanswered questions, look for solutions and problem solve.

Children who have the freedom to play will therefore learn to take initiative, solve problems and then learn from the process of play. Such knowledge is retained much better than forcing concepts on a child who is not yet ready to learn them. 

Ultimately, the more a child leads his own play the more confident and self-assured he will be.

Sensory play as a tool for connection

A sensory activity can also be a way to connect and bond with your child. Not only is it calming and relaxing to spend time coloring or painting with your child, but it can be a time to gain insight into your child’s heart and connect by spending quality time together.

Sensory play is fun!

And the most important reason why you need sensory play is simply because it’s fun. Children love to engage with their environment by using their senses, they love squishy slime, vibrant paints, soothing water, bumpy rice bin. Each is providing the child a new experience while the child is having fun and gaining all of the above-mentioned benefits even without knowing it. 

The beauty of sensory play is that there are no rules. So, make sure that you keep play simple and let the child lead you rather than make it a learning task. If play loses its fun factor the child won’t gain anything.

Some children may be sensitive to certain sensory stimuli and while we want to challenge our children and provide varied exposures it is also important to take it slow if the child finds some sensory textures overwhelming. Where needed reach out to experts in the field to guide you with an individualized plan to help your child.

EASY SENSORY ACTIVITIES FOR BABIES AND TODDLERS

children playing with sensory bin
Picture courtesy Alt Retail

You don’t need a lot of sensory toys or tools to develop your child’s sensory skills. Some simple activities that you can prep using readily available materials are :

  1. Water play – A water tub with spoons, beakers, cups, colored pom-pom balls for rescue or a car wash for your child’s cars with some soapy water, brushes and towels.
  2. Foam tub – You can use shaving foam and some liquid color to make colored foam bins and add toys that the child needs to fish out.
  3. Rice bins – Colored rice bins are easy to set up with any theme that your child enjoys. Add in some themed props, pebbles, dolls and figurines for pretend play.
  4. Bean bins – Similar to the rice bins you can make sensory bins with dried beans and some construction vehicles.

For more easy toddler sensory bin ideas check this older post.

Important note : All play should be monitored by adults to ensure safety, especially around toddlers who still mouth toys.

HOW TO PROTECT YOUR HOUSE FROM MESSES

Sensory tray for play
Picture courtesy Alt Retail

Here are some of the tips that worked for me and saved me some of my sanity when it comes to the messes after play.

  1. Find a spot that is clear of any furniture either indoors or outdoors.
  2. Lay out a splash mat or newspapers to reduce volume that needs to be picked up later.
  3. Enlist the help of the child. I let my child have a go at clean up first and give simple instructions on how he can help. Once he is done, I pick up or mop out the rest. Getting him to help from an early age translated into more independent clean up in the later years that needed minimal supervision. He had the clean-up routine memorized by then.
  4. Choose a time of day that is convenient to you. There will be hand-holding involved at times, at other times you will have to jump in and clean up, especially with toddlers left to play on their own. It is therefore best to pick a time you are relatively free to drop what you are doing and go help the child. Our favorite time of day for sensory play is post lunch or early evenings when our routine slows down and I am available to help.

I hope this blog post encourages you to add more sensory stimulation activities to your child’s daily routine. 

Does your child enjoy sensory play? What are some benefits of sensory play you noticed? Also, leave me your ideas of sensory play in the comments below. All of this can be helpful to other parents reading too.

Loose Parts From Nature : Gifts for Open-Ended Play (and learning!)

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Read time: 8 minutes
Nature's loose parts

Open-ended toys are growing in popularity because they encourage a child’s creativity and problem-solving skills. Did you know that you can find free or inexpensive open-ended toys that your child will treasure? And, what’s more valuable is that many of these open-ended toys can be collected lovingly from nature? The kind of nature treasures that are available probably won’t surprise you (rocks, flowers, and shells, oh my!), but let’s take a whole new perspective on them today as I introduce you to Nature’s Loose Parts! Read on to know more about the value of loose parts, which one’s to find in nature, and some simple open-ended activities using Nature’s loose parts.

What are Loose Parts?

Loose parts are objects, in our case children’s play-things, that are free from a predefined use and can be moved, manipulated, and used in an endless variety of ways. This means that they are, by their very definition, open-ended toys. Some examples of loose parts are small cloth pieces, blocks, bowls, shells, and sticks. All of these objects have many possible uses: they can be stacked, lined up, tied together and they can be imagined into any kind of pretend object. For example, a stick can be a spoon, a sword, a wand, a pencil, or a broom; the possibilities are limited only to a child’s imagination!

The real value of adding loose parts into child’s play is providing them to children in open-ended activities and play. In this way, a child can determine what to use, how to use it, and the process of how to implement their decisions and goals, which involves a whole lot of thinking skills that are invaluable to their brain development.

A Quick Peek into Play and Brain Development

Open-ended play with open-ended toys, a.k.a. awesome loose parts, supports the development of executive function skills. Executive functions are like the CEO skills and tasks of the brain. These skills include organizing and planning, starting tasks and keeping focus, paying attention, regulating emotions, and self-monitoring. Just as a great CEO can lead a company to great success, well practiced and refined executive functions developed in a variety of experiences and with a lot of repetition (lots of play!), can lead a child to great success. In fact, executive functioning is an important predictor of school readiness in young children. Open-ended play supports executive functioning by:

  • Letting the child choose what to play with and how to play with it
  • Engaging children in self-motivated, focused play (learning!)
  • A child sets a goal for a play outcome then plans and organizes to reach that goal
  • Involves problem solving, creativity, and emotional regulation (which are also valuable in social play where they can practice empathy, communication and collaboration)

Before we get to the examples, here’s one more bonus of playing with a variety of loose parts: multi-sensory experiences in everyday play! Rich sensory play with a wide variety of textures, smells, colors, and sounds (that means more than just plastic toys and just wood toys) help the brain build more complex and stronger networks of neural pathways. And nature has so many sensations to offer, right?

loose parts-nature play

Abundant Loose Parts from Nature

Loose parts from nature help children build a personal connection with nature that instills value and compassion for natural and living things.

If you remember anything from this post, remember this: when you go out with your child to collect these precious treasures from nature (or any other toy for that matter), I want you to think about the immense opportunity for open-ended, multi-sensory play that they offer. Some of us (yes, I am in this group too!), with the best intentions, may go straight for the educational opportunity, as in the science, math, and knowledge to be taught about each object. But at a young age, children benefit most from the experience WITH the object in play, the rest can be worked in gently through books, stories, and conversation after their curiosity has been piqued.

And now, here are our favorite loose parts from nature (but, of course there are so many more!):

Nature’s Loose Parts Materials List

  1. Rocks
  2. Sticks
  3. Leaves
  4. Flowers
  5. Seeds/cones (many plants have dry fruits that look like little capsules, these are great and in such huge variety!)
  6. Shells
  7. Tree cuttings (they can be sawed into shorter pieces or left as is for some large and interesting construction opportunities)

List of Nature's Loose Parts-1

Easy peasy, right? Just remember to collect with sustainability in mind. If there’s only one, don’t pick it, and never take more than what you need. We mostly try to pick leaves, flowers, seeds and cones from the ground. Exceptions may be if there’s a specific learning objective about those items or if they are from your own garden.

Using Nature’s Loose Parts

Everyday Pretend Play

Now that my children are used to playing with loose parts, as opposed to toys with predetermined uses, they’ll pick up loose parts from nature for use in any sort of pretend play they are involved in, from making a soup for the baby to building a garden or home for their fairies. We keep a few sticks, rocks, and seeds available at all times specifically for this purpose.

There are also many amazing play activities that we can set up with these loose parts. These activities are great if you want to introduce or expand a particular area of learning (like letters, shapes, colors, construction, etc.), and they give children who may be new to loose parts an opportunity to expand their creative ways of using them. Once they get started, believe me, they’ll be picking up any stray objects to use creatively in their everyday play!

pretend play with loose parts
Pretend play with loose parts

Activities with Nature’s Loose Parts

Here are few ways to set up open-ended activities that can be set up inside or outside (note: it’s best and more interesting to go outside and collect objects WITH your child).

  • Letters and shapes with rocks or sticks (add sand for extra excitement!)
    • Make or use simple letter or shape “flashcards”. Set out 1-3 flashcards for children 0-3 yrs. For 3-6 yrs, start with 1-3 and then slowly add more.

Letter and shape Activity
Letter and shape activity

  • Nature kitchen
    • Gather leaves, flowers, and seeds in separate containers. Provide bowls or buckets, sticks, and water or sand, if you’re brave, to create a Nature Kitchen. With the first experience, you can make a soup, magic potion, or your child’s favorite dish together, and then set them loose to create their own masterpiece. This is a favorite and repeatable activity!

nature kitchen-loose parts
Nature kitchen

  • Build a TeePee
    • You choose the size! You can use large sticks or small sticks with string or rope. Provide cloth, rocks, leaves, and animal or peg doll toys to decorate and inhabit the structure.

build a teepee-loose parts
Build a teepee

  • Nature fairies
    • Use peg dolls, paper cones, corks, or cardboard paper rolls as a base for the body, and then glue any variety of loose parts from nature, or from home (beads, yarn, etc.), to the doll bodies. Then be sure to PLAY with them afterwards!

Nature Fairies - Loose parts
Nature fairies

  • Leaf art
  • The possibilities are endless here, so I will leave you with several ideas!
    1. Leaf prints with paint
    2. Use a leaf as a painting canvas
    3. Leaf etchings with crayons or colored pencils
    4. Leaf men with leaves glued to paper
    5. Leaf face with other loose parts glued to the leaf to make a face
    6. Leaf necklace
    7. Sewing on the leaf (best with a large blunt darning needle, yarn and big fresh leaves), allow your child to poke holes and pull the yarn through in whatever design they like. This idea is similar to lacing activities, except instead of a lace, they can use a needle and thread.

Leaf art - loose parts
Leaf art

BIG TIP: Keep in mind that, while you may be introducing concepts or learning objectives in some activities, like with letters and shapes, the direction that the child takes the activity may not have much to do with your original intent, and that is OK! Open-ended means that they can choose how to play with the activity and if you observe their choice, you will learn a little something about what their interest is! Plus, simply seeing the letters around them in many ways and repetitively will develop an interest that they will eventually pursue. Enjoy!

Images credit : The Frolicking Tree

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Loose parts article author

Kimberly is a former teacher, forever researcher, and a mother of two, soon to be three, homeschooling kiddos. She started The Frolicking Tree to help parents encourage and inspire a child’s curiosity of the natural world to develop self-motivated, passionate learners by providing activity resources and ideas to create child-led nature explorations.

10 Most Age Appropriate Toys For 3-Year-Olds

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Read time: 5 minutes
age appropriate toys for 3 year olds

There are two criteria for selecting toys for kids, safety and age appropriateness.  Many enthusiastic parents buy toys without giving any consideration to the age of the child. Before you buy the next trending toy, ask your self, does this toy match my child’s current skills?

Each child develops at his own pace and often buying toys meant for higher age groups only leaves the child overwhelmed and disinterested.

In order to encourage creativity in play you first need to buy materials (toys and games) that are suited your child’s current skill set.

I always look to my child when I need to buy him a toy. What is his current area of interest? What skills do I see him develop at the moment? Has he spotted something that he wants to try? Using his innate curiosity for things around him we slowly introduce him to new concepts and materials.

There is no rush for him to try everything within a specified time frame. There have been times I buy something I like and my son rejects the toy immediately.  Then after a while has passed I see him take a liking to the same toy he rejected earlier. This is because he was not ready to explore when he was first exposed to the toy.  There is no rush. More on child led learning here.

Here are a few toys and ideas I think 3-year-olds will enjoy. These are age-appropriate toys for 3-year-olds, some of them also make great 3-year-old birthday gift ideas.

best toys for 3 year olds amazon

Age Appropriate Toys For 3-year-olds

  1. Puzzles And Pattern Blocks

You can introduce puzzles at age 2 and by age 3 most kids can solve 9-10 piece puzzle sets. This is also a great time to use pattern blocks and allow the child to use his creativity and come up with his own designs.

A few puzzles and pattern blocks to try;

Creative Educational Aids (5 – 9 piece puzzles)

Shumee Animal Floor Puzzle

Melissa & Doug Pattern Blocks

  1. Magnetic tiles

Magnetic tiles is one of the best birthday gift ideas for 3-year-olds. By now most 3-year-olds know how to build using building blocks and magentic tiles add another level of creativity to the mix. The colored tiles hold 3-year-olds attention for long periods of time. This is one toy our son can be seen playing with first thing in the morning.

  1. Coloring And Art

Toddlers love using crayons and paints and getting really messy with them. Copy coloring becomes a particularly interesting activity at this age as toddlers begin to figure out how to color within the lines.

Paint using materials from the kitchen like okra or potatoes. Paint on stones or eggshells. There are many ways to add variation in art and craft.

  1. Outdoor Toys

As 3-year-olds develop gross motor skills engage them in a variety of outdoor play and activities. Toys like a sandbox, trampoline, cricket bat and ball, football, and beach toys all engage little ones to get out there and catch some Vit D and exercise.

  1. Ride-on Toys

This age group also enjoys ride-on toys. They are figuring out balance and motion and ride-on toys are a lot of fun.

Example: Ride on tricycle, bicycle, scooters, and cars

  1. Vehicle Sets

Anything that moves and has wheels can catch the eye of little ones. Most 3-year-olds are beginning to name the different modes of transport and this is a great time to introduce them to pretend play with vehicles

Some of great vehicle toys,

Melissa & Doug Car Loader Truck

Hape Classic Train Toy

Hape Wooden Train Set

  1. Activity Subscription Services

Activity boxes are a great way to introduce little ones to different themes and learning concepts. There are many subscription services these days that provide interesting materials for art and craft activities. These are to be done with the help of a parent and can be used as a way to have conversations around the themes and gauge the child’s interest and likings.

Some of our favorite subscription activity boxes are,

Firstcry Intellikit

Flintobox

More educational toys for 3 year olds.

  1. Dress-up

Pretend play is a huge part of a young child’s games. If your child is enjoying a particular role play buy him that outfit for dress up. Dress up games are a great way to allow the child’s inner creativity to shine.

  1. Blocks

After using the mega blocks since age 1, it is now time for your child to graduate to building blocks that require advanced motor skills.

We really like these bristle blocks, our son finds the texture of the blocks interesting and they require the use of fine motor skills to be made into different structures.

  1. Pretend Playsets

And of course, I am going to end this list with pretend play. If you follow me on Instagram you know we are big on pretend play in our house. We use a Kitchen set, a teepee tent and lots of stuffed toys to build endless hours of fun.

You can catch my reviews on our Hape kitchen set and Cuddly Coo teepee tent here.

Use your child’s interest and find toys that cater to his creativity. There are so many pretend play toys out there from doll houses to doctor sets. Find a few that interest your child and use pretend play as a way to spend one on one time with your child.

I hope this list is handy to moms of three-year-olds. What toys does your child like to play with?

10 Wooden Toy Brands For Kids: Non-Toxic Toy Guide

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Read time: 6 minutes
wooden toy brands - wooden toy companies

When it comes to children’s toys, the quality of the toy is of utmost importance. Especially in the first 2 years of the child’s life, when they love to chew and mouth toys, choosing the right material is very important. Plastic toys may contain phthalates, PVC and BPA. Finding quality toys preferably made of wood is one of my biggest mommy missions. So here are 10 wooden toy brands for kids that are tried, tested and toddler approved!  Hoping my recommendations are useful when you are making a choice for your kids.

ADVANTAGES OF WOODEN TOYS

1. Non-toxic material: Unlike plastic toys, wood is non-toxic material, that is safe for young children to play with. At the same time, I will add a cautionary note here, you must invest in good quality wooden toys where the brand clearly states the certifications on the labels and use of non-toxic paint. Whenever you find labeling vague or incomplete do not buy such a toy.
2. Generational toys: Wooden toys are durable and can be passed down the generations.
3. An Eco-friendly option. Battery operated toys are not only overly stimulating to the child they are also toxic to the environment.
4. Since most wooden toys are open-ended in nature they provide an opportunity for imaginative and creative play.

More toys related posts:

The only toys you need for baby

Toys for 1-year-olds

Toys for 2-year-olds

Toys for 3-year-olds

Toys for 4-year-olds

Toys for fine motor skills

Open ended toys for toddlers

wooden toy brands-age appropriate toys

TOP 10 WOODEN TOY BRANDS FOR KIDS: A NON TOXIC TOYS GUIDE

1. Maya Organic

Starting this list with wooden toys made in India, and Maya Organic. Maya organic makes traditional Indian wooden toys that are made using natural materials like lac (resin), natural dyes and wood. They are a fair trade organization that supports local channapatna artisans. These beautiful channapatna toys are sure to remind you of your own childhood. I look at these pieces as legacy toys, toys to be cherished and loved by generations.

Favorites:

Wooden stacker toy

Wooden pull toy

Wooden push toy

Stack and play wooden pull toy

2. Skola Toys

If you are looking for good quality educational wooden toys then Skola Toys is your answer. They design toys based on skill levels for each age group with an opportunity to play with the same toy repeatedly as the child grows. I love such open-ended toys that can be used over and over. Not only are open-ended toys a great value for money but also help spark the child’s creativity and imagination. Skola Toys even makes affordable wooden toys for birthday return gifts.

Favorites:

Wooden twisty stacking toy

Rainbow roof stack and nest

Wooden building blocks

Dino magnetic number maze

3. Shumee Toys

When I first started looking for wooden toys made in India I came across Shumee Toys. Some of their pretend play toys caught my eye for their cute and whimsical designs. Shumee Toys designs non-toxic toys that are fun and open-ended in nature.
They now boast of a huge range of wooden toys, covering everything from wooden rattles to wooden puzzles.

Get a 15% discount on Shumee wooden and educational toys, books and nursery decor. Use code LYLEASYMOM at checkout.

Favorites:

Bruno dog pull along toy

Shape sorter puzzle

DIY wooden build a house-dollhouse set

4. Hape Toys

Anyone who follows me on Instagram, knows I am a big fan of Hape Toys. Over the years we have built quite a collection of Hape toys in our home and I am never disappointed with the quality. The toys are aesthetically pleasing to the eye, built with solid wood in most cases and feature rounded edges that make them a safe option for the roughest of play.

Favorites:

Fruit and vegetable set

Wood maple blocks

Classic train toy

Chunky alphabet puzzle game

5. Skillofun

Another brand of wooden toys we use in our home. They make a wide variety of toys that are affordable in price. If you are looking for wooden educational toys for preschoolers, Skillofun has a huge range of toys in this category. In fact, Skillofun even designs special Montessori tools and equipment, making this brand the first choice when setting up an at-home Montessori environment.

Favorites:

Wooden shape tray

Number shape tray

Sewing toy

Wooden lacing shoes

6. Brainsmith

A new entrant in the Indian toy industry. Brainsmith started their collection with flash cards and educational material for older kids moving into the early years with wooden toys for pretend play and motor skills development.

Favorites:

Multi-shape sorting board

Memory game

Kids logic stacking toy

Shape sorting lorry

7. Ikea

The Ikea launch in India has been a grand success. Mothers like me are always looking to Ikea for functional, affordable and chic styled products. Their kid’s range and toys are up there when it comes to matching expectations. We bought Ikea cars for our son on his first birthday and since then have added many other toys to our collection. I love the build quality and simple designs of Ikea toys.

Favorites:

Basic train set

Abacus

3 piece train set

Crane with blocks

8. Goki

I first saw Goki toys on Hopscotch.in. Though we have personally not bought a toy from their collection we have used some of these Goki toys at play areas around the city. Goki toys feature functional design made with good quality wood. I especially loved their wooden puzzles for toddlers. These puzzles are on my wishlist.

Favorites:

Shape and color sorter

Wooden shape sorter

Wooden workbench

Tumbling tower

9. Melissa & Doug

What wooden toy list would be complete without a mention of Melissa & Doug. Melissa & Doug are known for their puzzles, cooking related pretend play toys and arts and crafts toys. Their toys are focused around imaginative play and creativity.

Wooden pound a peg

Take along toolkit

Farm animals puzzles

Wooden vehicle peg puzzle

10. Little Genius

I stumbled across this brand when I was going about preschool hunting. I noticed most schools here use Little Genius wooden toys and materials in class. On more research, I found their toys affordable and geared towards preschoolers. Little Genius toys are focused on educational concept learning.

Favorites:

Fruits with big knob tray

Geo sorting board

Rolling shape sorter

Chakla and belan

That’s it for now. These are the 10 wooden toy brands that we have used. As always I will leave you with a note to buy only the most basic toys and not go overboard buying everything you see. Even a minimal collection of appropriately chosen open-ended toys can bring the child joy and can be used over and over again in different ways.

Do you have favorites from among the wooden toy brands I mentioned here? Do leave me a comment below on your child’s most played with toy.

11 Must Have Toys For Fine Motor Skills Development

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Read time: 6 minutes
toys for fine motor skills development

One of the key skills your preschooler needs as he starts school is fine motor skills.  In this post, I list toys for fine motor skills development. Hopefully, you find this list useful. Here goes,

WHAT ARE FINE MOTOR SKILLS?

Fine motor skills are needed for smaller muscle movements in wrists, fingers, and hands.

Simple everyday tasks like buttoning a shirt, tieing a lace, putting on a belt, writing, all require fine motor skills

FINE MOTOR SKILLS FOR PRESCHOOLERS – WHY ARE FINE MOTOR SKILLS IMPORTANT?

Many school-related activities like writing, drawing, and craft etc. require a preschooler to use his fine motor skills.

The toys in this list can help them exercise those muscles and become adept at these tasks.

TOYS FOR FINE MOTOR SKILLS

Such hand-eye coordination toys for toddlers make great gift ideas. So much better than noisy electronic toys that don’t offer any challenge.

Not to mention these toys for fine motor skills are engaging and fun to play with and your toddler won’t even miss his electronic toys.

You don’t need to buy each of these toys to develop fine motor skills, even a few in your toy collection will go a long way in helping your child.

These days the market is flooded with toys to develop fine motor skills and none of these options are difficult to find.

MUST HAVE TOYS FOR FINE MOTOR SKILLS

  1. Stickers

We started using stickers around 14-15 months of age. A great way to practice pincer grasp and learn hand-eye coordination. Initially, I bought individual 3 D sticker sheets, since these are thicker in breadth and easier for younger toddlers to get a good grip.

Once they become adept at using these, move on to using the Melissa and Dough reusable sticker pads. The sticker pad comes with 4 different scenes and offers a variety of stickers for the toddler to use in different combinations. It’s reusable making it an eco-friendly and cost-effective option.

I also like that the 4 scenes showcase different animal habitats – aquatic, farm, jungle and prehistoric. This encourages creativity and learning in a fun way.

  1. Fruit cutting tray

A great toy not just for fine motor skills but also for pretend play. My son has spent many hours with his pretend vegetables and knife set.

  1. Cooking set

Again, not only do toddlers love the pretend play aspect but they are also developing those fine motor skills as they go along pretending to cook.

A cooking set is an age-appropriate toy for 2-year-olds beginning to learn about the nuances of the world they live in. There is so much to learn through such toys, fine motors skills aside.

  1. Toolbox

A toolbox contains tiny pieces that need to be rotated using fingers, pushed and pulled, hammered in and basically be tinkered with. Each of these actions requires the use of muscles in the fingers and wrist.

Also, the toolbox is another open-ended toy that toddlers can use in many ways making it a must-have in any toddlers toy collection.

toys for fine motor skills

  1. Latches Board

Opening and closing latches and doors, this latches board toy is an engaging and challenging toy for toddlers. Many brands introduce different concepts like farm animal sounds, shapes, or colors alongside to make the board more interesting and educational for toddlers.

  1. Lego

Another open-ended toy that requires hand manipulation and hand-eye coordination. The endless possibilities of play with Legos make it an absolute essential in your child’s toy collection.

  1. Sewing toy

Putting the sewing tool through the tiny holes and making patterns helps with hand-eye coordination and develops those small muscles in the wrist and fingers. A sewing tool is an age-appropriate toy for 2- 3-year-olds.

  1. Wooden lacing shoes

This lacing toy enhances the child’s hand-eye coordination, and focus, ultimately teaching key life skills like self-reliance. A lacing toy helps the child practice lacing his shoes, a fun way to teach through play.

  1. Busy books

Busy books combine different themes appropriate to the age of the child. Containing pages on different concepts. Some busy books focus on life skills, some on shapes and colors. Each page contains an activity that needs the use of the pincer grasp, wrist muscles along with logical reasoning and basic concept understanding.

  1. Peg and Knob Puzzle

Peg puzzles are great for toddlers hand-eye coordination and fine motor skills. Also trying these simple puzzles gets their mind trained to focus for short periods of time. These are a few types of peg puzzles and knob puzzles to try;

a. Skillofun Peg A Puzzle – Engine

b. Skillofun Geo Sorting Board

c. Hape Wooden Toddler Knob Puzzle

d. Skillofun Wooden Identification Tray Vegetables with Knobs

  1. Play-doh

I love the use of play-doh for fine motor skills development. Simple activities like pinching the dough into pieces, making round balls out of the dough and trying to make different shapes all require the use of the finger and wrist muscles. The endless opportunities to play with Play-doh is just another reason why this classic toy is found in every preschool class.

Here are some previous posts on toys that you may also find interesting:

Toys for the first year

Toys for 1 year olds

Toys for 2 year olds

Best educational toys for toddlers and preschoolers.

Toys for fine motor skills development

FINE MOTOR SKILLS ACTIVITIES TO TRY AT HOME

There are a number of fine motor activities you can do at home and not necessarily rely on toys as the only option. A few examples of fine motor activities at home would be;

  1. Peeling garlic or peeling hard-boiled eggs.
  2. Chopping soft vegetables like boiled potatoes.
  3. DIY cardboard board with zippers and laces.
  4. Buy tongs from a local store and build activities that require the use of tongs. For eg. Sorting different colored pom-poms into containers using tongs.

Instead of buying a large number of toys, buying a minimal set of toys that cater to a variety of skill sets is best in the long run. Open-ended toys like a toolbox, legos, and play-doh meet these criteria offering endless hours of play over the early years.

I hope you found this post useful. Which toys does your child enjoy playing with?

5 Age Appropriate Toys For 2 Year Olds

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Read time: 4 minutes
age appropriate toys for 2 year olds

When my son’s 2ndbirthday started drawing closer I began my search for new toys to gift him. I realized that we had every kind of toy in each category and he still enjoyed playing with his toys. I was lost for ideas and ended up researching age appropriate toys for 2 year olds and found new suggestions to meet the gap in our current toy collection. Each of these toys focuses on his current developmental needs.

By 2 years of age, most toddlers have a varied vocabulary and advanced motor skills. They are rapidly learning from their environment so pretend play and mimicking adults take center stage as forms of play.

At the same time Toys for 1 year olds like Balls, Vehicles, kitchen and coloring sets will continue to be a favorite with this age group.

These days the market is flooded with toys for kids and it can be overwhelming for parents to decide on which toys to buy. But a look at the current toys your child enjoys coupled with new skills he exhibits should help you decide on what toys to buy.

 

age appropriate toys

AGE APPROPRIATE TOYS FOR 2 YEAR OLDS

  1. Puzzles

At age 2 toddlers are beginning to get familiar with matching objects and recognizing patterns. Introducing a variety of toddler-friendly puzzles is a great way to help with memory building and developing motor skills. Knob puzzles help develop fine motor skills in 2 year olds. Other than knob puzzles look for puzzles that allow for some sort of grading, sequencing or pattern recognition. All these types of puzzles aid early math skills.

Recommendations

Skillofun Wooden Identification Tray Fruits

Melissa And Doug Sea Life Jigsaw Puzzle

 

  1. Cleaning Set

Pretend play plays a huge role in toddler development. While a play kitchen set teaches them about food, cooking, social etiquette around the table. A cleaning set shows them how to care for their environment by cleaning up after they are done playing. Introducing such toys is a way to instill a sense of responsibility towards household chores.

Recommendations

Brainsmith Spic And Span Set

 

  1. Busy Books

2 to 2 and a half years of age is a good time to introduce busy books. These books contain pages of activities a toddler can complete on his own. They need guidance at first, but once familiar with the activities on each page they continue playing on their own. Busy books encourage independent play and teach a variety of concepts depending on the topic of the book.

Recommendations

Cubs And Calves Unicorn Quiet Book

Cubs And Calves Oh Boy Quiet Book

 

  1. Play-Doh

Play-doh encourages creativity, imagination, and conversation through pretend play. Making different shapes, pretend kitchen utensils or animals improves hand-eye coordination and motor skills.  Age 2 is the best time to introduce play-doh because children are no longer mouthing toys and understand instruction on how to use it. Caution: Always use play-doh under adult supervision.

Recommendations

Play-doh Classic Fun Factory Set

Eco Kids Natural Plant Dye Modelling Dough

 

  1. Musical Toys

2 year olds have a greater appreciation for music. You will find your toddler swinging to his favorite songs and walking around the house singing nursery rhymes.  Musical toys are therefore one of the most age appropriate toys for 2 year olds. Some musical toys that aren’t as irritating to the adult ears are listed below;

Recommendations

VTech KidiBeats Drum Set

Hape Wooden Little Drummer

 

age appropriate toys for 2 year olds

Previous book and toy recommendations

Toys for the first year

Toys for 1 year olds

Books for the first year

Books for 1 year olds

 

I hope you found this list useful and find new toy ideas to gift your 2 year olds. Leave me a comment below on what toys your 2 year olds like playing with? For more fun recommendations and reviews follow me on Instagram where I share our experiences with different toys, activities and other baby products.

Feature image by, Moose Photos via Pexels.com

This blogpost contains affiliate links. These links provide me with a small percentage commission but don’t cost you anything extra.

10 Memorable Birthday Return Gift Ideas For Kids

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Read time: 5 minutes
birthday return gift ideas - first birthday return gift ideas

Are you planning your child’s upcoming birthday party? You probably are racking your brains for some birthday return gift ideas that are memorable and unique. Birthday’s are all about creating memories and as the host of a party, you want your guests to leave you with some great memories of a fun party. Birthday return gifts are an extension to the party as a way to send off your friends with a memento of a lovely time spent together.

This post is sponsored by Skola Toys. But all views and opinions expressed are my own.

With so many kids products and toys these days the market is crowded with cheap and generic return gifts for birthday parties. But if you want to leave your guests with an impactful memory you have to end the night with a well thought of gift. Here are a few birthday return gift ideas that will wow your guests.

birthday return gift ideas for kids - best return gifts

Memorable Birthday Return Gift Ideas For Kids

1. Books: It is easy to find age appropriate books for kids attending your party. There is so much variety to choose from, activity books, educational books, and storybooks. Parents will also be pleased to receive a birthday return gift that encourages reading.

Some of my favorite books to give as return favors are:

Brown bear, Brown bear, What do you see? by Eric Carle – Perfect for 1st birthday return gifts.

Sticker books like this animal sticker book. You can choose sticker books based on the birthday theme.

2. Crayons and coloring materials: Promoting art and messy play is an integral part of early childhood development. Also, every child will be happy to receive coloring books, crayons, and other such paraphernalia.  

You can even make art-themed goodie bags for the kids to take home. Decorate the goodie bags with stickers to add a fun twist to the gift packing.

[Get a special 10% discount on organic crayons in fun shapes by Dabble Play Art using code DM09 at checkout]

3. Customized stationery and school supplies: These days there are many services that offer customized school supplies like pencil cases, lunch boxes, water bottles, crayon boxes, bags, etc.

Kids love receiving such return gifts with a personal touch. They will be raving about these for days after the party.

4. Piggy bank: What better way to teach children about saving money than a cute piggy bank. This toy acts as an introduction to the concept of personal finances.

It’s a great way to get children thinking about how money is used and spent and once again parents will also be happy to receive a birthday return gift that teaches their kids something meaningful.

5. Bubble-making toy: If you have an outdoor-themed party a bubble-making machine is a great giveaway idea. The kids can start using it at the party itself and before you know it you have kids chasing bubbles around the park!

Adding bubbles to the mix is a fun party for any age. To present the gift put the bubble makers in a tiny gift bag with chocolates. This makes for a simple but enjoyable return gift for kids of all ages.

6. Puzzles: Puzzles are a unique return gift idea. This toy is especially apt if you have toddlers at the party. It’s an educational and engaging birthday return gift for little kids.

7. Plant seeds: Another unique return gift idea is gifting plant seeds. This return gift instills the love of nature. I still have warm memories from my own childhood of planting saplings that grew into trees.

Gifting plant seeds are such a beautiful way to introduce children to nature and get them involved in nurturing a bond with trees.

8. Cute kids mugs: With so many varieties in the market you can go crazy with this idea. Make it customized mugs for a personal touch or add in more bits and bobs inside the mug as a surprise for the kids.

Fill the mug with crayons, pencils, bows, hairbands, and stickers. The options are endless. Since children like mimicking adults, I am sure they would love their own mugs just like mommy and daddy.

9. Birthday goodie bags: If you have a bigger budget use all the ideas I mentioned above and make a huge birthday goodie bag for the kids. Who doesn’t like receiving a bag full of surprises? You can customize the bags according to your party theme or just add an array of different little return gifts for each kid.

Some unique birthday return gifts you can add to a goodie bag are :

Marble Painting Kit

Sequin Art Kit

Rock Painting Kit

Scratch Art Kits

10. Return gift website: Don’t have time to come up with ideas or go shopping for gifts? A great option is to buy from websites that sell return gifts.

Skola Toys has a return gift section on their website with a collection of age-appropriate toys for little ones. They even offer various discounts on bulk orders, which makes it an even more suitable choice when you throw a big party.

Next time you are racking your brains trying to come up with memorable birthday return gift ideas you have a one-stop-shop destination to reduce all that stress.

What do you give as return gifts for kids’ birthday parties? Did you like these birthday return gift ideas? If you use these or have some fun ideas of your own do leave me a comment below.

Planning a birthday party on a budget? don’t miss these practical tips.

For ideas on how to throw an ocean-themed birthday party and a construction-themed birthday party check these posts.

Until next time!

Learning With Age Appropriate Toys: A Skola Toys Review

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age appropriate toys-skola toys

Finding the most age appropriate toys for little ones is what every parent wants. We want our children to learn through play since it is the most effective way to help a child understand concepts. If you are wondering how to select such age appropriate toys for your children you can check my last blog post on the same.

This post is sponsored by Skola Toys. But all views and opinions expressed are my own.

Skola Toys is one such wooden learning toys company that is known to make developmentally appropriate toys. They have developed toys that take the child through learning journeys designed as play. The different learning journeys explored by Skola Toys are Dexterity, Environment, Language, Numbers, Our World, and Cognition.

Review Skola Toys Pull Along Bus

I am always looking for age appropriate toys for my little one so I was quite excited to receive the Skola Toys Pull Along Shape Bus to review. This toy belongs to the learning journey through Motion. And is best suited for a 2-year-old.
age appropriate toys-skola toys review

Packaging

The first thing I noticed was the box the toy was sent in. It had lovely doodle design all over. The box itself is so decorative and fun, I imagine buying a Skola toy and gifting a child the same without any gift wrapping needed, just this lovely box. You also get a complimentary set of crayons with your toy along with an instruction manual on how to use the toy in different ways. All these simple touches add to the customer experience when receiving the product.

What I like about the Skola Toys Pull Along Bus

  1. The pull along toy is a bright orange colored bus that is made of lightweight wood. The fact that the wood is light in weight is important because my son finds it easier to maneuver the bus. The color orange is also quite attractive to a toddler.
  2. Skola toys are made of wood, sourced from renewable sources, making them natural and environment-friendly. The toys are compliant with international safety standards and paints used, conform to European EN-71 Part-3 guidelines for toys. If you want to know why it is important to consider these things when buying wooden toys you can read my post on toys for toddlers, where I speak about safe wooden materials for toys.
  3. The bus has rounded edges and no sharp parts that can scratch my son.
  4. The child learns about motion by applying external stimuli to set a toy in motion. This age group of children is just learning how they can cause an effect on things. By gripping on to the toy and pulling it along they learn about their role in setting a bus into motion. Pulling a toy and walking is challenging, but this type of challenge brings excitement to the child.
  5. This bus also doubles up as a shape sorter. The bright red colored shapes caught my son’s eyes immediately.

What can be changed

I am happy that we have companies like Skola Toys that are striving to provide quality learning toys for kids. On receiving this product I can see the thought that has gone into designing such a toy.

The only thing I would change about this toy will be the length of the thread. The thread is long for a 2-year-old to be able to maneuver around. I tied up a portion of the thread just to make the length more manageable for my son.

Everything else, from the wood to the paint and build quality of the toy was on the mark for me.
age appropriate toys-skola toys

Ways to play with the pull along bus

The same toy can be used in four different ways to encourage the child’s creativity and imagination.

Activity 1: Triggering Movement

Show the child how to hold the thread and pull the toy. Children start to try different variations of force to trigger the pull and put the shapes inside the box then removing them outside again to see how this changes things. All these variations teach them about cause and effect along with encouraging them to play more creatively.

Activity 2: Pull Along

The activity of pulling the toy and walking requires a lot of balance and skill. When the child looks back to see the bus follow, it excites them. They try harder eventually learning to pull along without toppling the bus over.

Activity 3: 2D-3D Connection

Trying to put the correct shapes in requires a lot of hand-eye coordination. An analysis and clear understanding of 2D and 3D association of shapes are needed.

Activity 4: Name Game

You can ask the child to name the different shapes as they get familiar with them.

Such type of open-ended toys allows the child to explore the toy in an in-depth manner making use of their own mental resources in order to work with the toy.

Price

₹945

Available at

Skola Toys website and Amazon

How do you select age appropriate toys for your little ones? Which toy is their favorite? Let me know in the comments below.

This post is sponsored by Skola Toys. But all views and opinions expressed are my own. I only review products that I would buy for my own family or have used in the past and loved.

This blogpost contains affiliate links. These links provide me with a small percentage commission but don’t cost you anything extra.

How To Select Learning Toys For Children

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Read time: 4 minutes
learning toys - open-ended toys- building blocks

I often get asked on how to engage a toddler with educational and learning toys. While every parent wishes their toddler learn and develop through play. The key lies in introducing activities that are age appropriate and match the developmental milestones. A good learning toy can help foster the child’s imagination and creativity.

This post is sponsored by Skola Toys. But all views and opinions expressed are my own.

So how do we as parents choose the correct educational toys for our children? A few key criteria in toy selection can go a long way in enriching our children cognitively and simultaneously build a collection of toys that lasts a long time.

Selection Criteria For Learning Toys

Safety First

That shiny train set staring back at you from the toy store window may look like the best gift for your child, but you need to check a few things before you go ahead and buy it.

Always look for the age group indicated on the toy. This is a safeguard against buying toys meant for older children that contain small parts that pose a choking risk to your young child.

  • Check that a toy has smooth edges and is devoid of pointed parts.
  • It should be made with sturdy materials that can sustain extensive rough use.
  • The size, shape, and weight should also be manageable for your child.
  • Paints used in the toy are lead-free and use natural pigments.

Age Appropriate

Each stage of development goes hand in hand with a certain set of skills. As children grow they become adept at performing certain tasks. The toys you choose should also match the difficulty level according to the age of the child.

If a toy is too complex the child can get frustrated with it and may not be able to enjoy the toy. The recommended age group specified on the toy should help you in making this decision.

How to select age appropriate toys? Ask yourself these questions when you are shopping for toys the next time

  • Does the toy allow age appropriate problem-solving?
  • Is it challenging the child in an incremental manner as he grows, allowing the child to use the same toy in different ways?

A simple example can be stacking toys that vary according to age and skill level of the child. These toys challenge the child’s age appropriate skill level and their simple design foster creativity to use the toy in different ways. Look at the below example of a stacking toy designed for age and skill level of the child.

Durability

It’s a simple fact that wooden toys outlast plastic toys. There is a reason why they are called generational toys. They serve as toys when we are kids and take us down the memory lane, as we grow older. It’s important to check that the wooden toys are made out of hardwood and use safe natural paints.

Simple & Open-Ended

Toddlers are great at repurposing household articles; a rectangular cardboard box can serve as a bus one day and a house the next.

Open ended toys are often simple and don’t overwhelm the senses, on the contrary they challenge children to use their creativity. Great examples of open ended toys are building blocks and stacking/nesting rings. These toys allow the toddler to take charge of how to play with them. They grow with the child and provide limitless opportunities for play.

Battery operated toys often overwhelm a child’s senses. This is especially true if a single toy contains varied colors, shapes, textures, flashing lights and loud music. The child may not be able to focus on any one learning concept.

However a simply designed wooden shape sorter, for example, allows the child an opportunity to focus on shape sorting and from there to move onto other concepts.
select- learning toys-children
In my quest to find such educational toys I came across Skola Toys. They design wooden educational toys that are researched to target developmental milestones. Skola Toys aims to break down key developmental skills and learning concepts as per the age of the child. This helps cement learning the concept through play. They call this the Learning Journeys.

They cover learning journeys like Dexterity, Environment, Numbers, Language and Cognition through their wooden toys.

These type of learning toys are more enjoyable to the child and help in the better understanding of concepts. You can check all their learning toys here.

What criteria do you use to select toys for your little ones? Leave me a comment below.

Posts on toy gift guides:

  1. The only toys you need for baby (0 – 12 months old)
  2. The only toys you need for your toddler (1 – 2 years old)

This is a sponsored post. However, all thoughts and opinions expressed here are my own.