Introduce your child to Playmobil’s “Wildlife Care Station” and you’ll lose them to great creative play involving compassion and care for the injured animals. Two wildlife workers have the tools to round up the hurt animals in the fenced yard or padlock them into the crate for safety as they recover. With plenty of sticky bandages and re-usable casts, your little veterinarians can feed the baby leopards from a bottle or offer their parents some delicious grass or carrots. This little playhouse in the jungle offers lots of places to move the people and animals to change the action. Turn the station around and the wildlife workers tend to their paper work on the laptop computer on their desk or get a little sleep after pulling down the murphy bed from the wall. Lots of shelves can hold their supplies–rope, maps, or medicine. My little play partner spent hours spinning stories as different animals approached the station and the workers took over. The band-aids were especially interesting as the rhino ended up covered from head to toe. Apparently her recovered because today they are gone!
The opinions expressed in this review are solely those of the author. “Wildlife Care Center” was provided for review by Playmobil.
I’m a fan of “Snappy Books” because I like the big bold drawings, pop-ups and rhymes. In their newest addition, Snappy Builder Noah’s Ark, your little one, 3 years old and up, can hear the story and then make her own ark, complete with animals. The story moves from Noah drawing his plans for the ark, through Mrs.Noah checking in the animals, two by two, the rain falling for forty days and forty nights, Noah sending out the dove in search of land, to the promise of the rainbow.
I read the story with my 3 year-old friend who then proceeded to punch out the thick cardboard pieces. We gathered the animals first who had clever printed fronts and backs, and then began assembling the ark. With clearly illustrated instructions, kids can be the leader, as they put the boat together piece by piece. Lots of slots are provided on the ark floor to insert animals around the cabin and change the scene.
Proud of his finished project, my little friend started to sail the ark and brought in a favorite pirate ship to add to the action. 3-D interaction reinforces the story and gives kids a launching point for adding to the story. Noah can go in the cabin to sleep, other animals from play might join him or boats sharing the sea can come along side the ark. Pretend play has begun.
The opinions expressed in this review are solely those of the author. “Snappy Builder Noah’s Ark” was provided for review by Silver Dolphin Books.
Cuddle up with a good picture book, add a plush character from the story and you have literacy plus play! I introduced Opal from Toot and Puddle: The One and Only, by Holly Hobbie to little Caroline. She immediately tucked sparkly Opal, in her double pleated voile tutu, under her arm in anticipation of the story.
Bubbles seems to think everything Opal does is peachy. Her admiration comes in the form of mimicry as she copies Opal’s every move. If imitation is the highest form of flattery then why protest, but Opal’s friend, Daphne can’t stand it! Finally there is something that Bubbles can’t copy–the dance steps for their “May Extravaganza.” Opal must save the day and teach Bubbles the steps. In the end, everyone knows that Opal is the only “one and only!”
Leading the reader through the holidays, Halloween, Thanksgiving and Valentine’s day, the author delights children with her drawings of piggies dressed up in costumes and Opal and Bubbles drawing a “Cupig” for Valentines Day. Two year-old Caroline loved the humor in a silly word that is close, but off target. But her favorite scene was where Opal taught Bubbles the dance steps to “Hop, step and kick.” chiming in with the dance directions, Caroline activated her Opal doll to the chant of, “Hop, step, kick!”
Kids love a stuffed toy and better yet when it is a character in the story who they can relate to. Children act out parts of the story with their figure and then extend the story by inviting their Opal to a tea party with other friends or taking a nap with favorite stuffed animals. Using the toy to carry on conversations builds language skills and encourages turn taking while talking. When Opal steps out of the book, she becomes real. Wouldn’t any little girl want her name embroidered in pink on her ballet tutu?
The opinions expressed in this review are solely those of the author. “The One and Only” and Opal were provided for review by Yottoy.
Summer vacation never looked so good. Load your family of four into their SUV, hook up the boat trailer, pack a picnic and grab the sand toys. This new Playmobil adventure set highlights the company’s incredible engineering and attention to detail in their props for pretend play.
When you arrive at the beach, unwind the winch and watch the speed boat lowered off the trailer to launch into the water. Mindful of engaging accessories, the creators have provided life jackets, flip flops, hats and sunscreen for the kids, as well as a bucket, sand screener, pitcher, shovel, rake and sailboat for play. Mom and Dad have a roller suitcase to hold their belongings as well as a duffel bag. Cups and a picnic basket transport lunch on the boat. After a day on the water, just hook up the boat and watch it slide back onto the trailer.
The fun in the sun theme appeals to both girls and boys who played with this set. With each added accessory, a child’s pretend play was extended–a water bottle for a drink, a suitcase to plan packing for a trip, cups to create a meal, sand toys to cast in the beach, and a dog to add to the mix. Kids invented rich stories with these props, and were mesmerized with each new action or participant.
We floated our boat in the water but my next move is to get the Playmobil motor to attach to the boat so we can take our story on the water.
Sherry Artemenko, MA-CCC, is a speech-language pathologist with more than 35 years experience and founder of Playonwords.com. The opinions expressed in this review are solely those of the author. “Family Van with Boat and Trialer” was provided for review by Playmobil.
Now that temperatures in the northeast have gone from the 50’s to the 70’s in one week, it is time to take speech therapy outside–spring is here!
This week I commented to a mom that it was so sunny on her front steps. She asked if I would like to work with James outside. Sure. We read our books, played with our props and then he took off playing hide and seek with his crocodile, asking me to count with my turtle. (We are working on pragmatic language skills through play). After hide and seek, I suggested we take our animals on a trip. We looked for a fitting airplane among the sticks and yard debris and came up with a hollowed out branch. I couldn’t have done better at the toy store. I asked him where he was going and he replied that he was going south. We chose Florida. We flew into the back yard, planning our trip as we approached his swing set. A bit ditracted, he set down “the plane” and started to swing. I said, “Wait a minute, what about the animals?” He cleverly referred to where he had ditched the animals and replied, “That’s their swinging place!”
The outdoors is a great backdrop for pretend play. Leaves can become boats, sticks can become airplanes and grass can be seaweed if you are in the ocean. Take advantage of props from outside and bring them into the therapy room if you can’t take your students outside. Fortunately, I deliver services at the child’s home, so I can utilize the great outdoors.
How do you use the outside as a backdrop for therapy? Let me know through the comments below.
A good language enhancing toy will spark a child’s imaginative play. It is a delight to watch them build on their story as they take a prop and change the action, surroundings and storyline.
Yesterday, I made a “Silly Roller” critter with my little four year-old friend, Duncan. Choosing from the three roller options–a pineapple, ladybug or elephant, Duncan chose the pineapple car to make, complete with a banana for headlights, grapes for the exhaust, a pear man to drive and a blueberry girl as passenger. The double-sided cardboard shape, made by Alex Toys, came with lots of stickers and punch-outs to assemble the car, as well as a set of wheels to pop on the completed vehicle. Assembling the car was just the beginning of the language fun. Talking about where the pieces go, what their function was and asking for the next piece spurred on 
conversation. When Duncan’s pineapple car was complete, I sat back and watched him enter a land of imagination for an hour.
He stepped outside and sat down with his car. He rolled it across the patio, through puddles to make tracks, down steps to the grass, over sticks, down the slide and past a rock. Grabbing a piece of blue chalk, he started drawing a line on the big rock, declaring it a road for the pineapple car which then navigated the craggy rock. Back down the rock, the pineapple car rolled across the lawn to more puddles.
When it was time for me to leave, Duncan was asking for the glue so he could add some small sticks to decorate his pineapple car. More ideas–more action to come.
Mix a little art and creativity and you’ve got a great language learning and 
play day.
The opinions expressed in this review are solely those of the author. “Silly Rollers” were provided for review by Alex Toys.
Certain books make it easier to teach language. Give me beautiful, clear illustrations, a simple but engaging story and I can use it to work on many different language goals.
The Very Greedy Bee by Steve Smallman is the story of a not so nice bee who spends his time “gobbling pollen and guzzling nectar!” Landing in a meadow of juicy flowers, he declares them his own, with no intention of sharing. As the day progresses he gets fatter and fatter and fatter until he falls fast asleep. Awakened in the dark, he found it impossible to fly home due his rotund tummy. Two friendly fireflies came to his rescue to lead him home, only to encounter another obstacle where the greedy bee had to rely on helpful friends. This turnaround story ends with a honey party and a not so greedy bee!
I used this story with kids on the autism spectrum as well as typical kids working on their articulation skills. The following language goals can be addressed:
- answering wh-questions-How did the fireflies help with the leaf” “What did the ants do?”
- completing statements– “The bee couldn’t fly because…
- talking about emotions and descriptive adjectives: happy, sad, disappointed, greedy, helpful, sharing
- prediction–”What do you think the lights are? A monster?”
- descriptions–tell what you see happening on a page
- beginning, middle and end–tell what changed as the story progressed
- application–When are you greedy? When do you share? How does that make you feel?
- preliteracy–point out the fun words in bold print that get kids laughing like “Slurp! Slurp! Burp!”
I was volunteering in a children’s Bible class this week and loved sitting back watching someone else manage the lesson. I was assigned to help in a 4 year-old class whose lesson was the story of Jesus’s miracle of feeding the five thousand. The kids gathered around a table and started to make their own picnic basket like the little boy who offered his lunch. They were given five cut outs of loaves of bread, two fish and a red checked table cloth, as the teachers told the kids that in Bible times they didn’t have a zip lock bag so they wrapped their food up in the cloth.
It was fun to see how each child had such an individual approach to the craft. They were given a cut off brown paper bag with a pipe cleaner for the handle, lots of glittery fish stickers for decoration, a heart with their verse on it, and the food contents. As they progressed, some completely covered the bag with stickers, others just along the edge, and some started to plan their picnic, One little boy started gluing all his food onto the tablecloth and then added lots of glittery fish stickers. After completing his basket, he got up from the table and announced “I’m going on a picnic!”
I love to see parents evolve into great play partners for their children. Part of the therapy I do with kids is to educate their parents on how to be involved in building their child’s language.
Today I was working with a 2 1/2 year-old who is working on expanding his language and pretend play skills. He really enjoys the Fisher Price Sarah Lynn Camping Adventure–as do most kids so his mom was looking into ordering it. She ran across my review that I had posted on Amazon and was commenting on how helpful it was. I discussed the importance of letting your child be the director of play, while you are the producer. As the parent, you set out inviting toys and props to get your child’s imagination going and prompt a story. This mom said it changed how she played with her child all weekend. She would ask her child, “Where are they going?” or “What should they do now?” as he was moving his little people and vehicles around. When there was a lull in the action, she might give a suggestion, but then hung back again and followed his lead.
Actually it is a lot more fun to sit back and watch your child’s imagination take over. Kids think of things that we don’t. I was just playing with a two year-old with a companion Fisher Price set called the “Fairy Treehouse.” This little girl decided that the fairy should sleep in the barn with the unicorn and share his apples. Then her fairy stood in the trees, supervising the unicorn as he went for a swing. Let your child do the work because that is how she learns.
I love to read books that connect language with art. A Day With No Crayons is a clever story about a little girl who-you guessed it–lost the use of her crayons for the day. This would be a great book for an art teacher to use to introduce colors. Little Liza loved apricot, fuchsia, tickle-me-pink, and screamin’ green. When she ran out of paper, she decided to continue her drawing on the one blank canvas left, the wall. Just like so many kids who lose themselves in the creative moment, little Liza didn’t realize what she was doing. When Mom snatched up her crayons and put them away for the day, Liza couldn’t imagine a day without them. She managed to create her own palate of colors by squeezing the blue toothpaste, dragging muddy feet on a basketball court, and brushing her grass-stained knees. Suddenly she saw color everywhere. By nighttime, when the crayons were to be returned, Liza had so filled her world with color and pattern that she considered going one more day without crayons.
Use the story for prediction. What will happen when Mom sees the wall? Where will Liza find color without crayons? Take a picture walk before reading the story and describe how she got color on the basketball court or made the camels. Make up fun descriptive words to precede the colors just as Liza did with “laser lemon.” Brainstorm, “Where would you go to find color during your day?” Finally, make collage pictures of a face, dog or other object showing that art can happen without crayons.
