Re: Off Topic - good thinking toys??

[Guest guest]

Hi Debbie.

I just thought I would pass along an idea for you. I came across a toy company a few months ago called Discovery Toys, and they are great for educational toys. All of their toys require thinking and maneuvering of some sort. There are no electronic beeping, singing, or any other noise-making toys. The child has to do it by themselves. These toys are excellent for children Abby's age, although there are toys for children of all ages.

The website is: www.discoverytoysinc.com

and I think you can request a free catalog there. Not sure, but you will get some ideas there. I bought a lot of Christmas presents through this company.

Kellie, mom of

Tacoma, WA

[Guest guest]

Dear Wendi, I am going to have to check these toys out for Heath and Lauryn.

I wondering, since you are an early child hood educator, if you have any

ideas for me to get my son on a good schedule. He has been staying up late a

lot lately and it is making things harder on all of us. I know this is

unrelated but, it sure could help. Thanks,

[Guest guest]

Debbie,

There's a company called " Lauri " that makes great toys. They are made

from crepe rubber and are virtually indestructible! They make puzzles

for all ages, pegs and boards, lacing shapes, etc. I don't think places

like Target, WalMart, etc. carry them but teacher stores, edcuational

stores, and the like would have them. You can also find them at

www.liveandlearn.com in the toy catalog. My four kids have all loved

them, and my 2-year-old is really into them right now. We also have

many Discovery Toys (I think Kellie wrote about that) that we just adore.

You can buy a one yard panel of fabric most places that looks like a

roadway that the kids can run cars on. Dollhouses are good for

imaginative play, too.

(2) really loves these two pegboards we have. One is from

Discovery Toys, the other from Lauri; they are made from different

materials so having two isn't a problem for me! But one thing that is

good about toys with parts is that Nate is learning to sort, count,

identify colors. Sometimes we put all the blue pegs in a pile, or stack

the red ones, or sort shapes. Really, lots and lots of things can be

" educational " if you make them out to be, so let loose your imagination!

Blocks are one of our favorites, too. My husband says we have WAY

too many toys :-) but I got my degree in early childhood ed so I LOVE

toys as much as my kids. Hope you have fun buying Abby's presents.

Wendi, mom to Nate, DOC grad

On Fri, 15 Feb 2002 18:47:05 -0000 " debbieandabby " <dj2kirby@...>

writes:

> Hi group!

> Abby's 2nd bday is 2 wks from today & I'm trying to figure out what

>

> to buy her. I really want to get her some good mind stimulating,

> educational toys - things that will help her talk better, counting,

>

> abc's (like Hanna!), all the good stuff. I looked today at Target

> with Abby (big mistake taking a 2 yr old into the toy dept, yeah we

>

> had a few fits!) but didn't see anything good and I'm also pretty

> clueless. So I figured I'd ask all you other expert parents in

> here. Any suggestions will be appreciated .

> Debbie Abby's mom 3/1/00 DOCgrad 6/22/01

> MI

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

Gosh everyone - thank you all so much! You've brought up things I've

never even thought of, like counting the stairs as we go up them to

teach Abby to count - we must go up & down our basement stairs 10

times together in a day :-). You've all just helped shape my child's

mind for me!!!!

A couple of you mentioned peg boards - Abby got one for Christmas as

a gift from Discovery Toys, she just loves it! We play with it all

the time (and mom & dad have stepped on those lovely pegs a million

times too, OUCH!).

I'm going to have to check out the Teachers Store near me. It

probably is a good idea to expand past Target & Walmart (speaking of

Walmart I have a very funny email about it I'll have to pass along,

I'm sure many of you will get a chuckle out of it!).

Thanks a lot everyone - keep the suggestions coming!!!

Debbie Abby's mom 3/1/00

MI

[Guest guest]

Debbie:

Is Abby 2 already???? Yikes! Where does the time go??????

Do you guys have Dollar Stores there? The toys that Hanna plays with most are foam puzzles of letters & numbers. She takes them out and puts them in hundreds of times/day! Well, maybe not that much, but a lot! They're not like jigsaw puzzles, but just the letter shapes cut out of stiff foamy stuff.

She also loves her Fisher Price barn.

Kendra

Off Topic - good thinking toys??

Hi group!Abby's 2nd bday is 2 wks from today & I'm trying to figure out what to buy her. I really want to get her some good mind stimulating, educational toys - things that will help her talk better, counting, abc's (like Hanna!), all the good stuff. I looked today at Target with Abby (big mistake taking a 2 yr old into the toy dept, yeah we had a few fits!) but didn't see anything good and I'm also pretty clueless. So I figured I'd ask all you other expert parents in here. Any suggestions will be appreciated .Debbie Abby's mom 3/1/00 DOCgrad 6/22/01MIFor more plagio info

[Guest guest]

Debbie:

We have had great luck with many of the basics...Dr Suess ABC book (and

video) - we had to buy four copies of the book because they all like it so

well!!! Wooden puzzles of the ABCs and numbers 0-9, count everything in

sight, repeat letters wherever you see them (on shirts, boxes of food, etc),

use magna doodles to write and draw on (the mini ones are great for the

van).

Also, there are so many good books that just go over the basics of colors

and counting. If Abby has a favorite character (Barney, Elmo, etc) get

books with this character and they will surely be a hit.

Hope this helps,

Sue

Cleveland, OH

Off Topic - good thinking toys??

> Hi group!

> Abby's 2nd bday is 2 wks from today & I'm trying to figure out what

> to buy her. I really want to get her some good mind stimulating,

> educational toys - things that will help her talk better, counting,

> abc's (like Hanna!), all the good stuff. I looked today at Target

> with Abby (big mistake taking a 2 yr old into the toy dept, yeah we

> had a few fits!) but didn't see anything good and I'm also pretty

> clueless. So I figured I'd ask all you other expert parents in

> here. Any suggestions will be appreciated .

> Debbie Abby's mom 3/1/00 DOCgrad 6/22/01

> MI

>

>

>

> For more plagio info