It’s that time of year to make our lists and check them twice–and select the best toys and games for our kids and grandkids for holiday gift giving. Again, there are many helpful lists out there from Parents Magazine to Parents Choice Foundation. Check them out for their carefully toy tested lists, and kudos to Parents Choice who included a section for recommended toys for children with special needs.
Here is my list of favorite toys and games that build language skills through fostering pretend play, encouraging chat, and giving parents plenty to talk about to a baby or toddler:
Babies and Toddlers:
Cuddly Kid Mirror by Alex Toys:
Kids love to cuddle and check out faces so why not get snuggle and face time in one toy? With outstretched crinkle hands, this half ball of fun is asking for play. Strap the “Cuddly Kid Mirror”in the crib for baby entertainment, or prop him up for tummy time and crawl around exploration. Showing off his bright colors, fuzzy textures, knotted strings and bean bag legs, this buddy encourages visual, auditory and tactile investigation and is just plain fun to squeeze.
Recommendated age: Newborn and above
Taggies Go Go! Car
Cuddle up with this friendly-faced coupe, covered with soft plush and shiny geometric designed tags. A takeoff from the popular Taggies balls, this car packs more features for your baby to explore and parents to talk about, enhancing learning. Press the button on top to hear “beep, beep”
and see his cheeks light up, grab the crinkly wheels, see your reflection in the mirrored bumper, play peek-a-boo with a puppy peering out the window or pull the string to start the motion. A combination of textures, vibrant colors, and sounds, this compact car is engineered to give kids plenty to investigate and parents many features to describe, feeding your child important language to encourage learning. His endearing face invites baby’s conversation, providing practice for future chats.
Recommended age: 3 months and up
Favorites from other years:
Flow ‘n’ Fill Spout by Yookidoo:
Toddlers are drawn to running water. Since the best part of bath time is playing with the stream as the tub fills up, imagine the investigating going on with the “Flow ‘n’ Fill Spout” as it keeps the water flowing after the tap is turned off. Submerge the little pump under the water and suction the spout anywhere in the tub for continuous streams of water play. Little ones quickly learn to start and stop the flow by pushing the face, and experiment with the three friendly-faced cups, spinning a propeller, creating a shower and revealing a surprise pop up friend. Teaching the language of empty/full, heavy/light, start/stop, on/off, up/down, and floating/sinking, this joyful distraction makes scrubbing a dirty toddler a little easier.
Recommended age: 9 months and up
Taggies Rocker by International Playthings
Kids lined up for a turn on Taggies’ newest giraffe rocker, swinging a leg over his sturdy, plush back and
hanging on to the handles for a lively ride. Just the right size for a one to three year-old, this playful friend is adorned with bright colors, varied textures, crinkle ears and patterned taggies to amuse the youngest ones while the older toddlers can saddle up and hang on to the mane of ribbons. A plush, huggable friend with a cock-eyed grin, this giraffe leaves the fun and creativity to your child–no batteries needed. He’s low enough to the ground but life-size for kids to invite him into their land of imagination. Don’t be surprised if he is asked to join the picnic or play house. Watching a one-year-old greet him with a morning hug, I know this giraffe can serve to expend rockin’ energy or just be a hang around pal in the playroom.
Recommended age: 12-36 months
Preschool and Above:
PLAYMOBIL Pyramid:
Take a break from the usual monsters and dragons menu for boys’ pretend play and introduce the ancient life of the Egyptians. Available in the complete pyramid set or smaller sets of chariots, the sphinx, or tomb raiders to name a few, this newest play scenario invites a history lesson as well as creative play. Secret chambers and trap doors set up the fun for chases, captures and discoveries. Kids love to investigate, hide and surprise with all the moving parts to keep the action going.
Recommended age: 5 and up
Playdate Central Puppet Show by International Playthings
Pull out this puppet show in a box when the kids come over to play and watch it spark their imaginations. Mom or Dad can easily assemble the cloth, hanging theater to suspend in the doorway as kids make puppets, part the curtains and start the story telling. Before the show starts, kids create their
own puppet characters with six fuzzy bodies and thirty stick-on ears, faces, tails, noses or outfits. Go traditional in making a prince, princess, lion, puppy, or dragon or combine the features to make an original character. As the story develops, kids can re-figure the puppets, ripping off the reusable features and attaching them to create new characters. Moms were amazed at how well the features stuck on the puppets during active play. My three-year-old puppeteers enjoyed presenting a show and then chased each other with puppets in hand. Language learning begins with selecting a character while devising and assembling the puppets, continues during the creation of the story and dialogue, and extends through open-ended play with flexible props to expand plot possibilities. Take a seat and let your children learn language through play.
International Playthings Playdate Central Puppet Show
Recommended ages 3-6
Richard Scarry’s Busytown Eye Found it! by I Can Do That Games
Having raised my kids on Richard Scarry books, searching for Lowly the Worm, I am excited to see a new generation of children examining his delightful drawings, learning about communities of fun. “Richard Scarry’s Busytown Eye Found it! Game” is a winner in innovative, entertaining, language learning games. Unfold the six foot game board and race through the bustling town, busy airport, industrious construction site, and working farm, to board the ferry for Picnic Island to grab your lunch before Pig Will and Pig Won’t eat it. Spin a Goldberg Mystery Card and start the timer as all players work together to spot the most objects on the game board of the kind pictured on the card—construction cones, garbage cans, shovels, kites, or bicycles. Kids love to place their magnifying glass tokens on the objects when found, rewarded with a bonus move. Can you see why I hear squeals of delight when a bug card is spun?
This team game models collaboration, encouragement, patience and the satisfaction of “winning” together. Scarry’s detailed drawings teach the language of concepts, categories, association, and storytelling as little ones learn what objects, people and actions go together to build narratives. Where would we find shovels? Look in the construction site. Where would we search for letters? Check the town post office or neighborhood mailbox. What about garbage cans? Everywhere! Enjoy this game for a balance of talents and fun for kids and adults alike.
Recommended age: 3 years and up
Favorites from other years:
Horton Hears A Who-You to a Rescue
Green Eggs and Ham-Speedy Diner
Gobblet Gobblers by Blue Orange Games
Assemble your tic-tac-toe grid and off you go with a chance to place three of your gobblers in a row to win. With each turn, players can add a new gobbler to the board or move one that is already in place. Two options–to find an empty space or “gobble up” an existing smaller piece–make this game a multi-leveled game of strategy and memory. Go ahead and move your piece already on the board but don’t forget who was under him, because the littler guy will be left behind in that space and might set up a play for your opponent. Requiring visual-spacial memory and the ability to weigh different strategic options and outcomes,“Gobblet Gobblers” stretches young minds and gets them giggling as they surprise even themselves as opportunities open up to win!
Age: 5 and up
Favorite from other years:
Step2 All Around Art Tower
There’s fun all around when kids step up to this tower of artistic possibilites. The circular table allows for budding artists to work side by side and select their medium from the two bins surrounding the central pole. Don’t be fooled that this can’t be a language building toy–many kids create stories and narrate their drawings while painting and drawing. Having a friend next to them encourages the dialogue of sharing supplies and talking about what they are making. I love the feature of displaying their finished pictures or works in progress on the clips above the table. Don’t miss a chance to ask your kids about what they’ve made and to tell you the story.
Recommended age: 3 and up
Favorites from other years:
ChickyBoom by Blue Orange Games
Chicks have come to roost on their favorite perch, performing a balancing act on thick bales of hay and slim wagon wheels. Plump Mom and baby chickys peer out their adorable eyes, beckoning players to take turns, skillfully plucking pieces off the teetering perch without toppling the brood. Players remove birds and their accessories, hoping to keep the remaining pieces in place. Each piece has its own point value from one to three, so after the perch is dumped, collect your pieces, add up your score and declare the winner.
A game of fine motor skill and balance, “ChickyBoom” requires slow, precise movements so as not to disturb the roosting chicks. Strategy comes into play as risk takers remove a piece of higher value that might start the gang wobbling but adds value to their winnings. Get some math practice as you add up the numbers on your pieces to reach the highest score and win the game.
Recommended age: 4 and up
What a jump, from first words at a year of age, to saying little sentences at two. Your toddler has a tall task ahead of him to absorb the world of language and learn how to make his wants and needs known through the spoken word. Parents can use some simple strategies to encourage their tot’s talking, through his everyday experiences. As a speech-language pathologist, I often encounter well-meaning parents who are speaking for their child, robbing him of the opportunity to practice what he hears and use the words needed to begin verbal communication.
Typically toddlers at a year and a half understand far more than they can say. It is in this latter half of their second year of life that they experience a “vocabulary explosion,” where they can learn and use several new words each week, culminating in combining two words for their first little sentences by two years of age. Words begin to take over for gestures, as children take turns in conversation and name objects, people and actions in their day.
I share these easy strategies with parents to encourage their toddler’s talking during this exciting time:
- Follow the leader. Follow your child’s focus of attention and comment about what he is looking at or exploring in his environment. Give him the words to describe what he is interested in and looking at, “Yes, all the animals are riding in the wagon and the farmer is ready to start up the engine.” Use rich vocabulary as you describe these scenes so your child will learn new words like engine, or start up. Research has shown a strong correlation between the time that mothers of 12-18 month-olds shared their child’s focused interest and the size of their vocabularies later. It makes sense that children learn and internalize more vocabulary when we talk about what they are interested in and focused on at the moment.
- Name the point. When your child points to what he wants, pause and see if he will say something. If he doesn’t have the word, you provide it for him, “Juice, you want some juice, you must be thirsty for juice.” Use the word in several short sentences so he can hear it emphasized in that context. In the
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Every parent cringes when he hears his preschooler yell out, “Mine” while holding tight to a toy as his peer tries to wrestle it away. Giving up a treasured toy is tough on little ones, but learning to share is an essential lesson parents can teach over time. What should parents expect? And how do we help our egocentric two-year-old become a generous, sharing and caring kindergartner?
Sharing involves considering others outside your self-centered world—their feelings, needs and wants—by giving, caring, pleasing and including others. Two and three –year-olds have a hard time sharing, but as they develop into 4 and 5 year-olds and see themselves as part of a community, they learn to share.
Language is integral to learning to share. Modeling phrases such as “I am waiting my turn,” “You go next,” “Your turn” or “You can play with this,” “Thanks for waiting for your turn,” or “I’d like you to try this,” helps them understand the turn-taking process and label it. By talking through the emotions of sharing, “It feels good to give Sam a turn,” “I like to share and make Devon happy,” or “I helped James today and it felt good,” we help our children name their emotions, express themselves, and learn to get along with others using words.
5 Tips to Teach Your Preschooler to Share:
1. Model sharing throughout your day and talk about what you are doing with
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Hang out for day with a child, and you realize that Valentine’s Day is everyday–filled with love and hugs overflowing. Capture the spirit with a fun picture book, whether chasing a kiss through the forest, freely dispersing hugs through a carnival, or laughing out loud at Rapunzel’s new love twist. Take time to read and talk about the book, enriching your child’s experience as you expand on the story and relate it to your little one’s life.
Babies and toddlers:
Won’t you Be My Hugaroo? By Joanne Ryder
Join this mom and tot zebra pair as they journey through the carnival, offering hugs tailored to their friends’ needs. A “calming hug,” “twirly hug,” or “cheer-up hug” are just what the pig, elephant or bunny needs to face the scary slide, the spin until you grin teacup ride or a lost balloon. Your toddler will feel the energy and love these pals share as they hug their way through the day in Won’t You Be My Hugaroo?
Language and Literacy Tips:
Name your hugs as you go through the day, teaching your toddler new vocabulary like “twirly,” “calming” or “excited hug” when you are anticipating
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After the holidays, we all feel a little overwhelmed by the influx of new toys and games as the piles rise in the playroom. Where do we start to get organized, whittle down the mess and adopt a kid-friendly system to keep order? A well-organized play area is the backdrop for creative play. When a child has pretend food, menus, apron, spatula and fry pan available, he can begin to cook! If all the “pieces” are hidden at the bottom of a deep, large bin, he doesn’t have the tools for his work–creative play.
Since imaginative play builds language, as children invent stories, converse with peers, solve problems, share and take turns, a well-organized play area supports this development.
In my work with professionals in schools and families in their homes, I have seen a range of organization methods. Here are suggestions to get order in the playroom so creativity can thrive:
- Group toys by theme or category. The train, pirate, farm, school or playground bins should include props and people for that play theme. Play with the farm will last longer and be more creative if
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Now that all the lists are out–Parents Magazine, Parenting, Toywishes, Amazon and others–for the best new toys for holiday giving, parents are asking what to buy? All these lists are helpful but what I have assembled is a list of my favorite toys, many new but some old favorites, based on their value in building speech and language skills. I’ve added tips to build language to increase the educational value of the toy.
Halloween brings on excited anticipation in children as they plan the character they will “be” for the night and search for that perfect costume. I’ve already been privy to a 3 year-old’s Dorothy costume, complete with her basket and Toto. It resides on a high shelf so it won’t be worn out before October 31st.
Why not take advantage of the buzz around Halloween and introduce some new books around the theme that can capture your child’s interest and build his language through rhyme, vocabulary and clever plots to spark conversation.
Parents are always asking me to recommend the best toys for their child’s age. They are tired of spending money on toys that end up in the toy bin, ignored and a waste of money. Since I spend several hours a day playing with children from 2-8 years of age, I can tell you what excites kids and maintains their interest because it changes as their imagination ignites.
I know this sounds simple but my pick is Play-Doh. Yes, that squishable brightly colored molding clay begins as a blob of undiscovered fun and can end as a sandwich for your tea party, a chair for your play figure to sit in, letters to mail or a favorite animal to roam the forest. The next playtime with your preschooler try these tips to build language and have fun:
- Pick a theme. Choose a theme associated with your child’s recent activity–a trip to the zoo, baking cookies, playing in the yard, going for a swim or visiting the playground. Or pick a theme based on your child’s interest such as pirates, castles, or dinosaurs. This is just a starting point. You are acting as the producer of his play by offering some fun components for him to use in creating his story and dialogue. Your child will take over as the director, beginning at the zoo and maybe ending up at the park for a snack. Put out the Play-Doh and start modeling with your hands as well as your language. Take out some large props as a background for your theme–Diego’s Talking Rescue Center, the Fisher Price Little People Sweet Sounds House or the Weebles Weebalot Castle. These provide the backdrop for your child’s story telling.
- Add the little people. Now you are ready for conversation with people or animals that you can animate. You pick up a figure and start the chat with an open ended question like, “I wonder where we should go today?” or “What should we take to the beach?” Encourage your child to pick a person too and move your people for face to face conversations, planning your next play move.
- Provide the Play-Doh. Show your child that anything is possible with a lump of dough. The animals at the zoo need food? No problem. Roll out some carrots, apples or hay out of the dough. Provide some starter thoughts on what to make and then sit back and let your child lead the imaginative play. Language is more greatly enhanced when a parent is involved in play but not directing the action.
- Offer the tools. Make sure you have plenty of scissors, forks, knives, rollers or cookie cutters to start his imagination going and adding to his play scheme. Don’t go for pre-packaged sets that provide all the supplies. Instead, offer the tools to create his own food, animals, furniture or toys. While playing with a small oven, I have seen kids fashion a square of Play-Doh, flatten it and hang it up on the towel rack to dry hands after baking!
- Give movable props. Provide a little wheelbarrow, shovel and bucket or oven to cook your delicacies. Slides, swings or vehicles can move your creations or provide an opportunity to change the action. Roll out a ball of Play-Doh for the park–sending it down the slide or pushing it in a swing. Use the shovel to dig and create crabs, fish, worms or whatever to transport in your bucket. Good props are open-ended so your child can use them in many ways, changing their stories and expanding language skills.
- Expand the story. After following your child’s lead in play, occasionally introduce a new prop or idea to expand their story. Don’t take over. They are still the leader of play, but you have raised the language level when you move the theme to a new topic. While playing with a train set, you might offer a play house to be the ticket office and mold some tickets to be sold.
- Introduce some themed props. While I find it easiest to gather props from different toy sets to create new stories, I do have some favorite sets based on themes that children love. Play-Doh’s “picnic bucket” and “beach bucket,” have cutouts, rollers, and props centered around food and the beach. The Play-Doh “Fun with Food-Meal Makin’ Kitchen Playset” has all the tools to cook up a tasty treat. Kids love to open and shut the oven, baking their creations and serving them up. After a trip to the beach, grab Play-Doh’s “Sand Sensations,” the brightly colored textured dough that feels like wet sand. Kids love to make castles and re-create their water experiences.
So be the producer of your child’s play, setting out some great props, Play-Doh and a creative child and watch the action begin!
Getting teenagers to talk and confide in their parents is a hot topic. But face it. These communication skills should be modeled and practiced from the time your child is very young.
Don’t we all want to hear about our child’s day–that she was included on the playground, had someone to sit with at lunch, understood what was going on in class, and most importantly had a “good” day? Recently I heard a mom’s conversation with her kindergartner after his first day of school. Her line of questioning went something like this, “Did you have fun today? Who did you play with at recess?” “Nobody?” “Wasn’t Jimmy there?” “How about gym class?” And so on, while her little one relayed his side of the story which sounded like he was a loner all day. In reality he was happy and enjoyed his first day and mom was a wreck because of his answers.
As a speech language pathologist, I have had to start and keep conversations going with kids from 1-18 (both ages have their challenges!) for over 30 years. So I want to offer some tips for getting your preschool and elementary-aged child to open up about school when she comes home:
- Ask open-ended questions. Surely, “How was school today?” does not bring about the most conversation. For many young children it is too vague and they need a more specific question to help them remember their day. Avoid questions that can be answered in one word–especially “yes” or “no.” Rather try some open-ended questions like, “Tell me about the game you played at recess today” or “That’s a beautiful picture of the farm. Tell me about it.” or “I wonder what you had for lunch today.”
- Use their artwork or take-home papers to start conversations. A research study by Marvin and Privratsky (1999) showed that when 4 year old children brought home objects from preschool including their art projects, the children referred to recent school activities significantly more than when they did not. Take advantage of these masterpieces, asking open ended questions of your little artist and don’t forget to listen. . Showing interest in their work can increase their self-esteem as well as link school and home. Recently a mom picked up her kindergartner’s two papers. One had a few identifiable drawings of sea creatures and the other was scribbly lines. She started describing the recognizable crab and fish and then pointed to the other drawings, pausing to let her son fill in. He proudly identified the drawings in question and went on to talk about how he made them. When asked about the scribbles he said, “Oh that just says I love you!”
- Know their school schedule so you can start talking about library day, gym or art class. “What kind of books did the librarian show you today?” or “What did you find at the library?” “Tell me about the books that you chose.” Take the time to sit down and read the books with her, affirming her choice, and encouraging reading.
- Know the themes they are learning--apples and farms, communities, the seashore, China or the rain forest. Have fun exploring the topics on the internet together, learning new facts to expand on her knowledge and discussing the themes.
- Model sharing about your day. “I had a great day today. I talked to grandma and grandpa about…” or “I met a new friend and we had coffee at the beach.” It is important to share your interests, friends, challenges and joys with your kids so they see that communication modeled for them. There is nothing quite so rewarding as when my grown sons say to me, “How was your day today, Mom?”
- Take time at the dinner table to talk about a good and bad thing that happened that day. Knowing that the family gathered at dinner is a safe place to share joys and disappointments, is comforting. Recently a mom of a 1 year-old told me that at her daughter’s first year check-up, one of the many questions the pediatrician asked her was, “Do you eat dinner as a family and talk about your day?” That pediatrician gets it! If parents start modeling communication with their one-year-old on a daily basis, they are more likely to have a teenager who knows how to share her day. Make it a game of thinking of a good and bad, happy and sad, or fun and challenging event that day. By encouraging your young child to talk about a hard thing that happened that day, you can provide emotion words to help her express herself such as, “You must have been disappointed when Sally didn’t let you join the game.” or “I bet you were frustrated when they were out of your favorite dessert at lunch.”
- Use books as conversation starters. Choose a book about school and see what conversation unfolds. For a laugh out loud, read What a Day it was at School! by Jack Prelutsky. His collection of poems about school–tipping over with a heavy backpack, throwing food in the cafeteria, hopelessly competing with a classmate in gym, or emitting an accidental noise during class–is outrageously silly, getting a child laughing and connecting the stories to her school experience. After reading the book to a second grader, I asked her what happens in her school if someone throws food at lunch? She went on to tell me the rules, and all about Cody and Will when they made a mess in the cafeteria.
- Take advantage of your child stalling at bedtime. One mother shared with me that if she lingers with her first-grade son after stories are read and the bedtime routine is over, she can count on about 10 minutes of chat about his day. He’s smart–he knows what mom likes and how to stay up longer!
- Listen, listen, and listen. Once your child gets started talking about her day, hold off more questions and let her go. As parents, we tend to jump in with more questions, but pausing is important. A child gains confidence as she relates her day and you affirm her.
As parents enter the world of special education, the PPT meeting, to plan for your child’s Individual Educational Plan (IEP) can be daunting. I have had the opportunity to be on “both sides of the table”, representing the school district as their speech-language pathologist, and representing the parent as their private therapist. In both cases, I want the process to be productive for the parent. Here are some tips to lead to that end:
• Be positive. Don’t approach the school as the enemy. So many times I’ve seen parents anticipate a negative response from the school team when in fact the professionals are there to hear the facts and formulate the best educational plan for your child. School personnel can’t and won’t promise a program until it is agreed upon at a meeting with you. It has been my experience that school personnel want the best for your child, just as you do. Go in with a positive attitude and you will likely get a better result.
• Be your child’s advocate. You know your child better than anyone. Don’t be intimidated by a team of professionals around the table. You are part of the team and your input is vital. If you come to a meeting prepared and with some goals in mind, be strong in your commitment to seeing them implemented.
• Be prepared. Write down your observations to share with the team. This is invaluable. It’s one thing to say your child’s attitude has changed about school. It is more helpful to be specific such as, “He cries every morning and doesn’t want to go to school.” Or “He’s being teased by his peers for being slow to answer.” Or “She’s frustrated because she misses directions when she leaves the room for special help.” As a professional on a team, I find specific information from home a crucial piece of the puzzle. Often children can keep it together at school but will let out their feelings at home. Have a list of possible solutions to present to the team such as “increase his reading instruction” or “decrease his pull-out therapy and have it delivered in the classroom.”
• Be educated on your options. As a parent new to the world of special education, you can be overwhelmed by all the programs available—speech therapy, occupational therapy, physical therapy or behavior plans—and all the variations within each discipline such as pull out and push in programs. Make an appointment with the director of your program or principal and take the time to understand all the services available to your child. Often parents address the most obvious area of need whether it is speech, motor or cognitive difficulties, while behavior issues arise related to their child’s frustration and delay.
• Be open. Now that I am working in private practice, I have had a number of parents that don’t want me to communicate with the school, partly so their child won’t be labeled and also parents think if they don’t say anything, no one will notice. Honestly, good teachers pick up on problems right away. They benefit from all the information to best serve your child. You aren’t helping your child by holding back information. If your child is having attention difficulties and medication is not an option for you, then be honest and tell the team that. Now they will go forward and look for other strategies to help you child.
• Be flexible. A good team will come up with different recommendations. Be open to trying the strategies that they recommend. If something works for your child, such as preferential seating, or having directions written down as a reminder, then that is great. Maybe it will take trying a few strategies before the best results are seen.
• Be patient. It can take some time. Children are dynamic human beings, always changing and surprising us. Each year is a new challenge academically as they progress through the grades. It might take some time to accurately assess your child and get the best plan in place. You can be patient as long as you see professionals implementing the plan for your child.
• Be persistent. Follow up. Even with the best of intentions, some pieces of the educational plan might fall through the cracks. Since you are your child’s strongest advocate, you need to follow up and make sure that the recommendations are being implemented. If an occupational therapy consultation was recommended and two months have passed, check and see that it occurs in a timely fashion.
• Be connected. Seek out a local group of parents of children with special needs. Many districts have a PTA just to serve you, offering educational programs and the opportunity to learn from other parents who might just be a step ahead of you, in processing your child’s diagnosis or understanding the programs available.
• Be a communicator. Set up a method with the team to insure communication between the professionals working with your child, parents and any outside therapists. Weekly e-mail, phone calls or written communication—whatever is most efficient and helpful to disseminate information–should be part of the plan. Knowing the classroom themes for the week or science or social studies curriculum, helps a parent or therapist carry over concepts, vocabulary and reinforce goals. Parents reporting on the weekend such as “He went to a birthday party and was able to transition without tears” or “She had a fight with her friend and was able to tell me what happened” provide valuable feedback to therapists and teachers working on these skills.
