Communication skills can be expanded through play.

For children with language delays, look for toys that offer repetition. Books that have repetitive phrases or toys that continually repeat concepts and directions are great choices. Electronic toys feature lots of lights, sounds, and music and encourage cause and effect. It's always a good idea to take advantage of "Try Me" packaging to test quality and sound levels. Determine the best position for the child to be in to maximize the play and educational value of the toy or game. Toys can be played with in many ways, either seated at a table, wheelchair, or someone's lap, sitting or lying on the floor, or by using a particular piece of specialized equipment.

Before shopping for a toy, be sure to collect the following information: exact age, personality type, a list of interests and skills, any special challenges that can affect a child's physical limitations and play experience, and current interests.

Suggested types of toys by age:
Infants: Birth through 1 year: Toys should expose a baby to a variety of experiences: sight, sound, touch (shape, size, texture), and taste (because many times, toys go into the mouth). Bright colors, lightweight toys such as rattles, and squishy toys encourage early grasping, holding, and exploring. Once a child is able to sit up, introduce blocks, nesting cups, stacking rings, and toys that require reaching. For crawlers and early walkers, choose large balls and push-pull toys.

Toddlers: 1-3 years Physical play should be an important focus. For outdoor play, choose ride-ons, wagons, balls, and sandbox accessories. For indoor play, choose chunky blocks. Large-piece puzzles and toys that allow a child to use excess energy and develop emerging muscle control are also good. At this stage, children like to imitate parents with play food, kitchen sets, housekeeping tools, ride-on cars, sport ssets, baby strollers, and musical instruments.

Preschool: 3-5 years Children in this group are fascinated with how and why things work. Construction sets, washable crayons and markers, paints, modeling clay, books, and simple board games encourage creativity. Introduce toys that inspire pretend play and allow children to imitate mom or dad to practice life skills. Examples include cash registers, toy telephones, make-believe town sets, doll houses, and furniture.

School Age: 5-9 years Encourage children to share and introduce toys that teach both team playing and independence. Consider toys that boost self esteem and allow children to use their personality and skills. Choose hobby sets, sports toys, computer software, problem-solving math toys, construction sets with detailed elements, and storybooks with valuable messages. Games and electronic toys are available to help children learn specific skills including counting, matching, and problem solving.

Preteen: School Age 9-12 years Acceptance from friends and self-esteem are very important to this age group. Toys also begin to seem less interesting to children of this age. Complex construction toys, board games, strategic puzzles, science toys, and activity kits are the best choices. Active and physical play should be an area of focus through team and group sports. Social and intellectual skills are refined through board, electronic, and card games.

Always supervise your child's play and play with your child often! Those memories will last a lifetime.

TEN TIPS TO SMART TOYS

Guidelines for Parents, Grandparents or Anyone with Children on Their Shopping Lists :


Adults are encouraged to view toys as learning tools with different types of toys as builders of various life skills including creativity, self-esteem and cooperation. Another bonus: a toy that is fun as well as educational will engage kids for more than one holiday season. The following are general guidelines to keep in mind when choosing toys for the child, or children, on your holiday list:

Allow children to identify their own strengths with self-discovery toys. Toys kids play with by themselves, such as dolls, science activity kits and magic sets, help teach them important lessons about responsibility, values and respect for others.

Increase confidence and build pride while children are young with self-esteem toys like art projects, model-building and construction toys.

Support open-ended play that allows free expression and lets kids use their imaginations. Bring out the creativity in kids with theater/puppet shows, cooking sets and pretend play projects such as tea parties.

Help children learn how to think independently with toys that promote concentration, competition and deductive reasoning. Thinking and logic toys include detective puzzles, ant farms, construction sets and memory games.

Build social skills and family togetherness with family interaction toys. Recommended games include dress up, board games, sports activities and battery-controlled car and boat races.

Encourage cooperation with friends and peers with relationship toys. Team communication skills are improved with sports, contests of skills, and toys such as medical and chemistry kits.

Let kids run, crawl, climb, throw and kick with toys like climbing structures and ride-on toys that use large muscle groups. Gross motor activities help kids develop balance and exercise gross motor skills.

Improve hand-eye coordination with fine motor activities that require hand movements such as grasping and pinching. Smart choices include stacking games, puzzles, writing and coloring books/activities.

Strengthen language skills and stimulate listening, speaking and imitation sounds with speech and hearing toys. Musical toys, play telephones, phonics-based sets and voice-command games are suggested.

Teach kids, especially infants and toddlers, about their environment through textures, tastes, smells and sight with sensory activities. Clay, activity quilts, blocks and shape games are all good choices.

The Educational Play Experience

Whether its playtime, spelling time or math time, toys can be tools for students to have a productive learning day. In an educational environment, toys can be an option to a textbook, chalkboard or smart board.

Developing skills is the whole idea behind an educational play experience. Look for toys that promote one or more of these skills:

Imagination: Forming mental images in your own mind without use of the 5 senses: sight, hearing, touch, taste or smell.

Motor Skills: Gross motor development is the overall muscle movement of large muscle groups in the body. Toys that encourage lifting your head, rolling over, sitting up, balancing, crawling, and walking are all examples of toys the promote gross motor movement. Fine motor development refers to the development of skills involving the smaller musclc group that include the ability to hold small objects and transfer objects from hand to hand. Look for toys that encourage use of the pincer grasp (thumb and forefinger) to pick up small objects, cutting, coloring, writing, zippering, tying or threading beads.

Self-esteem: How you perceive your own self worth. Behavior may reflect self-esteem (assertiveness/shyness, confidence) and toys that help a child with self-discovery can enhance self esteem. Board games that challenge the mind, art projects and anything creative are the best examples of toys that can help develop positive self esteem.

Speech: The vocalization form of communication. Toys that encourage talking, repeating, speaking, annunciation, phonics and singing are all enhancing the development of speech.

Letting your mind play is the best way to solve problems.

Bill Watterson

The beginning of knowledge is the discovery of something we do not understand.

Frank Herbert

The possession of knowledge does not kill the sense of wonder and mystery.

There is always more mystery.

- Anais Nin

kydzilicious!

Knowing is not enough; we must apply!

- Goethe

The whole world opened to me when I learned to read.

-- Mary McLeod Bethune