We know that children learn language best when it relates to their everyday experience. This is the season of several religious holidays so parents are interested in reinforcing the stories and significance behind the celebrations that their families observe.
If you celebrate Christmas, take a look at the Little People Christmas Story Nativity Scene by Fisher Price. There are a variety of sets that include kings, animals, donkey carts, hay, Mary and Joseph and baby Jesus at various prices. Kids love re-telling the story, rearranging the figures and assimilating them into their other toys. My son, Peter, reported that 2 year-old Will has been taking baby Jesus and the animals for rides in his airplane all around the house and has hidden them in his play tent too.
Wooden sets are great for older kids too who arent’ tempted to put things in their mouths. You can also assemble your own set, gathering some animals from the play room, using playdoh to make hay, a manger or figures.Encourage your child to look around and gather pieces for the scene. Then watch their imagination take off!
As you know I have an interest in families who are raising bilingual children. I have blogged about this and want to get a dialogue going among parents so we can share resources. I just got a note from a mom of 2 year old Katerina who speaks both English and Spanish. Katerina’s mom offered the following ideas for books and TV shows that have been helpful in immersing Katerina in Spanish:
In the midst of writing reviews and my list of best kids’ toys for Holiday giving, I am reminded that speech and language skills can be enhanced in any setting.
I volunteered to entertain 2 year-old Will while his mom and aunt hit the stores after Thanksgiving day. We had a marvelous time at Banana Republic. I was instructed to “sit down” in front of the jewelry case as he examined all the bracelets, as we described them, tried them on, explored the different openings and slid them back on the manikin’s arm. Then we proceeded to the dressing room where he was thrilled to see himself three times in the full-length mirrors! Naturally he had more fun exploring the toy store before we went to the clothing store but there was still a lot to have fun with.
During the business of the holidays, don’t forget to take the time to chat with your toddler about what he is seeing and wanting to look at while he is wheeled around in that shopping cart!
Recent research, by Daniel Anderson, professor of Psychology at the University of Massachusetts, looked at the impact of background TV while toddlers were playing. 50 kids aged 1 to 3 were observed for an hour of play, half in silence and half with “Jeopardy” playing in the background. During the TV-free half hour, researchers observed signs of the toddlers being focused on learning, “The child gets an intent look on their face, they lean into the toy, their extraneous body movements decrease. When they’re in that state, they’re much more likely to learn” according to Anderson.
In contrast, when “Jeopardy” was on in the background, researchers found that kids played only half as long as when they had a quiet environment for play. They occasionally glanced at the TV, were less focused in play and visibly less calm.
Since the statistics tell us that in the average home, the TV is often left on, providing “background noise” interrupting focused learning in our toddlers, as parents we need to monitor the on-off switch. Bringing your baby or toddler into the TV room to spend time while you watch a show doesn’t provide the best environment for learning. Take the time to be the “commentator” while they play, talking about the features of the toy they choose, or let them entertain themselves in quiet.
After raising three boys and just spending the holidays with preschoolers, I am reminded again of how much fun a fort can be! It brought back memories as my oldest son grabbed the pillows off the couch and made a tunnel for 2 year-old Will, much to his delight. A tunnel, tent, fort or castle—no matter what you call it—a kid sized abode becomes a place to hide, sleep, peek out and pretend. I wanted to share some of my favorite forts, old and new, to create a land of fantasy, and bring on the giggles.
Eebee Playmat: Babies can crawl across the entertaining panels or get their older siblings to attach the pieces to make a house. The mirror, window, eebee face, cut-outs and peek-a-boo curtain maintain the interest of little ones.
Yookidoo Play Hut: This kid hut made Parents and Parenting Magazines’ list of top toys of the year. Sturdy, yet easily collapsible, it provides fun inside and out. With kid-sized openings for coming and going, and shape sorting, spinning and ball play on the exterior, kids are entertained on all sides.
Circo Kid’s Frog Play Tent from Target: Enter through the frog’s wide mouth, step across his orange tongue and you can zip yourself in to this hideaway. Easy to assemble, this fort is most like a tent with four collapsible tubes to support the frog. It breaks down to fit into a compact carrying bag. Big enough to hold some friends it measures 35” high and 71” in diameter. The price is right at around $20.
Eight-month-old Caroline confirmed my excitement over the Infantino Playtime Activity Center.
This pyramid of fun has four flat sides of entertainment–a mirror in the cat’s face, crinkly bugs to uncover under textured flaps, a jingle fish to swat in his fishbowl and two birds to settle into their nest. Each side is angled just right for tummy time or a sitting or crawling baby.
Moms love the portability of this toy as you unzip the velcro and flatten the pyramid to stash in your diaper bag. Perfect for an airplane ride or family visit over the holidays.
Tell Grandma to add this to her Christmas list!
For my full review see Parents Choice 2008 toy awards.
Two Year-old Will introduced me to Blabla dolls today. He was my “shopping buddy” as we visited one of my favorite stores, Airlie Moon, in Wrightsville Beach, North Carolina. We had talked about how we would point to what we like instead of touching it and I thought that my grandmothering skills were working. I looked away for a moment and found Will inspecting these delightful dolls and then next thing I knew, he was hugging two of his chest!
They are delightfully cushy, bendable and engaging with whimsical kid colors. Grabbable and huggable, these dolls and animals are ready for kid’s creative play. Minus batteries, noises and lights, these open-ended toys are ready for your child to create the action.
Check out their website to see the fascinating story behind the company. Two long-time friends traveled to Peru and discovered entire villages of expert knitters who had been knitting for generations. They decided to use their creative talents to design products, including dolls.
One of the friends,Flo, grew up in a creative family in a chateau in France with “no TV or washing machine…just a grand piano and lots of books.” After studying art in Europe and having a career in design she started to design for Blabla. I love to see the origin of creativity. She probably made her own fun as a child and is now designing kids dolls with just enough flare to spark a child’s imagination.
Okay here is another tip for saving money–or should I say spend no money–on educational toys.
I was at 3 year-old William’s house yesterday. He is building his skills in pretend play, picking up little Fisher Price people and having conversations around a theme of the zoo, train station, pirate ship or parking garage. Mom is always looking for ideas on how to build William’s language through play. Without buying new toys regularly I suggested that she swap with friends. Trade 2 or 3 favorites for a month. It’s not a bad idea to rotate toys anyways, so kids have a renewed interest in them when they return.
Many of you Moms and Dads are in play groups where you bring a few toys to amuse your child in the group. Observe what captures your child’s interest and suggest a swap for a week or two. A new toy gives you, the parent, something new to talk about as you describe a baby toy or use a preschooler’s pretend toy in a new way. Your running commentary about the toy, it’s features, function and actions all build up your child’s language skills.
Let me know what your ideas are for saving money on educational toys, media or games. Leave a comment and I will share everyone’s ideas. Thanks!
Part of being a speech-language pathologist is looking a bit like Mary Poppins with our bags of toys and materials to excite and stimulate kids’ language. My brother actually asked me recently what I was doing to work out since my arms looked firm:) I just laughed and said I lift these heavy bags of toys every day.
Good news. I was just given a wonderful kit to review called “Come Learn With Me” by Back Country Kids, Inc. All the objects, pictures, books and reinforcers come in a light weight canvas zip up bag. You can’t believe all that it contains.
Designed for use with preschoolers with speech and language delay and disorders (up to age 5), this kit includes bags of objects by category–farm, things to ride, food, and by function. Laminated spiral books with simple backgrounds also address each category and have 66 laminated pictures to flexibly interchange on the pages, attaching with Velcro.The manual is well-organized, breaking down objectives within receptive and expressive language and cognitive skills. The ease of use makes this kit an appropriate tool to share with parents to reinforce goals that you are working on. Parents want to be involved and see what level their child is performing at.
Designed by three early childhood experts and speech-language pathologists, this kit grew out of their experience and need for materials to engage preschoolers working on language goals. Kids love the cartoon-like drawings and “ripping” off the pictures and applying them to the Velcro dots in the books. Data can easily be collected on a chart at the front of each book using dry erase pens.
For a detailed description of the kit see the website for “Come Learn With Me”.
Also for my complete review go to my Review.
There is so much going on in the field of neuroimaging research and the brain. In the August 11, 2008 issue of “Advance for Speech-Language Pathologists and Audiologists,” they cite research by Karin Harmin James, PhD, at Indiana University. “We are interested in how children’s neural activity changes as they learn to recognize letters and read,” according to Dr. James. They have shown that when children look at letters, their brain activity looks similar to that of literate adults, but only after they had practice printing letters.
One group of preschoolers practiced recognizing letters through visual practice while the other group practiced printing the letters. According to this article, “Only the group that practiced printing letters showed changes in brain a activity while viewing letters as a result of their experience.” Dr. James’ research shows the benefits of motor training as well as visual learning.
So have fun practicing printing letters with your preschooler. Identify letters in her environment that she sees regularly—maybe the brand on the refrigerator, or a letter on the title of a magazine, or in her name. Have paper, pencils, crayons and markers (with supervision) available so she can initiate that activity on her own.
