Talking Points FOX6 Real Milwaukee 6-27-19
Toys that Will Allow Your Little Ones to Play Their Way to Brilliance
Background on Sherry:
Sherry Artemenko, Speech Language Pathologist and Toy Expert is here to share super fun toys to build language skills through creative play and storytelling, keeping brains sharp over the summer break.Today I am featuring some of the PAL Award’s latest winners that spark smart play. Information on all these toys is on my website, playonwords.com
Jet Duck Family by Yookidoo, 3 years and up ($29.95)
- Kids saw Firefighter and were begging for a bath!
- Add accessories to fuel the imagination and story
- Water shoots out fire hydrant, spins the duck around soaking everyone
- So popular in family of 4 kids, had remove it until they could share
- Flexible, open-ended play toy, kids become the story tellers
Spark Cards by Spark Innovations, 4 years and up, ($26.99)
- Sequencing is valuable language skill, break down events into logical steps/recall past experiences or logically formulate own stories
- 8 themed stories tell familiar events: library, plant flowers, beach
- 6 picture cards encourage description, interpretation, problem solve
- SLP developed, excellent questions-> predicting, analyzing, reasoning, build grammar, concepts
First Words Baby Babble Training Trumpet by People Toy Company, 7 months and up, ($8.99)
- Kids love to make noise with their trumpet
- As they can grab and shake, rattle of balls and can suck in to whistle
- When babies and toddlers round their lips to attach to the trumpet, exercising important oral motor muscles for speech: u, p, b, m
- At 2 and 3 years kids can blow out so this becomes a little musical instrument and pretend toy, became “milk” ad “water bottle”
Available at People Toy Company
Topper Takes a Trip by Peaceable Kingdom/Mindware brand, 2 years and up, ($17.95)
- Topper the pup is going to take a trip, choose destination card-grandma’s house, beach, sledding hill
- Pack your suitcase with appropriate items in that category
- Don’t forget, book, backpack, apple, lunchbox, crayons
- Close up suitcase, “travel” to destination and engage in some pretend play
- Learning vocabulary in a category, matching, sequencing, pretend play and storytelling
Available on Amazon
My Peek-a-Boo LapPup by LeapFrog, 6 months and up, ($14.99)
- Kids loved this, called it their “Puter” took it everywhere, sat down
- Learn by imitating adults, type on colored crayon keys and move mouse
- catchy phrases, rhyming songs, learning numbers, colors, shapes
Available at Target.
Under Sea Figure 8 Railway by Hape, 18 months and up, ($29.99)
- Kids love trains so now littlest engineers can hop on an underwater railway
- Magnetic train cars, movement, flexible track, bubbling fish
- Learn cause-effect in connecting train, passing over ocean floor, fish and crab dance and swim along,
- Parents have lots to narrate a child plays and configures their story, feeding child language associated with their play
Available at Hape
Dinosaur Island by Bigjigs Toys Ltd, 3 years and up ($74.99)
- Grab a dinosaur and go back into prehistoric times
- 4 scenes, several kids play at once, change story as they move
- Stegosaurus making tracks through mud, cave “graveyard,” hid behind waterfall, mamas and babies, eggs
- Hot lava integral in story
- Collaborate on storytelling
