Blocks And 3d Puzzles

The development of gross motor skills for your toddlers is very important! Providing your kid’s playsets with chunky pieces that they easily can grasp and play with will help their muscles develop.

Besides providing your children playsets, giant toy blocks and a variety of other wooden kids toys, Theraputty is another great idea to give your children.  Theraputty is a strong silly-putty-like material that comes in a tub.  It comes in various “strengths” so there is more or less resistance when squeezed. 

Working on a variety of hand skills, it is easy to play with anytime and anywhere – it’s fun and kids love it. Here is a website where you can purchase some Cando Theraputty.  http://www.allegromedical.com/exercise-fitness-c523/cando-theraputty-p555170.html

Each Cando Theraputty is color-coded and has a different consistency ranging from XX-Soft for strengthening the weakest grasp to X-Firm for developing a stronger grip. Available in convenient easy-open plastic containers. Store you putty in this container when play is done and seal the lid tightly so it does not dry out.

You might want to try a couple of different strengths when you first buy this product.  It is good for kids, teens, adults and seniors. It’s just good, fun exercise for your hands.

Remember to see our puzzle playsets at All I Can Imagine. There are three themes of floor puzzles; Rainforest, Dinosaur and Sealife and each of our playsets have chunky pieces that children age 3 up can play with to help them strengthen and develop fine motor skills.

Are you about to become a grandmother?  The name you pick will stick, so be careful how you choose your new name. Here are some common names you might select from:

• Big Mom
• Gram
• Gramma
• Grammy
• Grams
• Grandma
• Grandmama
• Grandmom

When your grandchild becomes old enough to talk, they themselves may christen you with a name of their own. Yet, many times women decide upon one of the traditional names in their own families.

Some grandchildren have more than one grandmother and some families choose to add the given name of the last name to the grandparent name. There is also a tendency among some modern grandparents to invent something that sounds perhaps younger or more hip than the traditional names.

Some more modern names for grandmothers are said to be:

• G-Ma
• G-Mom
• Honey
• Lovey
• MayMay
• Mia
• Mim
• Mimi

One thing for certain is that, as a grandparent,  you will begun buying your new grandbaby toys before the parents can begin picking a name for their new baby.  Be careful what you choose! 

Babies put everything in their mouths, so make sure the toys and rattles (wooden baby rattles are best), are made from splinter-proof wood and are coated with non-toxic coatings.  ImagiPLAY has a beautiful line of wooden baby toys including rattles made from all-natural Beechwood.  They are sanded baby smooth and finished with beeswax (a natural antiseptic).

See our Elephant, Bird, Fish and Hedgehog rattle on our website,  All I Can Imagine.  We also have clutching toys – Eco-adorable!

Your grandparents had ImagiBRICKS™   toy blocks when they were growing up.  You won’t find them in stores but they still can be purchased online.

Parents, educators and doctors all recommend giant building blocks for toddlers and if you want the award-winning toy blocks you will have to pay a little more.  Be careful when shopping in toy stores and on line, there are imitations that look like ImagiBRICKS™   and they have the same “brick design”, but they are not as strong and would crush if your child stood on them.

Toddlers and young children love to build tall towers and knock them down.  They also love to carry things around.  Because ImagiBRICKS™   are both strong and lightweight your toddler will build muscle strength by building structures as well as lifting and carrying the blocks. 

As toddler learning toys, these giant building blocks also help teach math concepts and spatial awareness.  Try a starter set of 16 pieces or our popular 40 piece set that includes three sizes of blocks, large red, medium blue and small yellow.

Many generations of children have played with the faithful and loyal Snoopy Sniffer, thus making him one of the most popular pull toys that Fisher-Price has ever made.

http://www.thisoldtoy.com/L_FP_Set/toy-pages/100-199/181-snoopysniffer.html

Fisher-Price Inc. is the world’s largest preschool products company. Fisher-Price has dominated the infant and preschool toy market for over 60 years and has become known for the high quality and durability of its products.

Wholly owned by Mattel Inc. since 1993, Fisher-Price consolidated with other divisions of its parent to make up a single, massive marketer of toys principally for children under the age of five. Some of its best-known products include Little People playsets and Power Wheels ride-on toys.

Your child’s toys need to entertain as well as educate.  Toddler toys have to keep your toddler occupied.

Children love wooden toys and so do parents.  They last longer, and the feel of wood is warmer than plastic.

An easy toy to keep in your automobile is a wooden bead maze toy.  These rollercoaster toys, which they are also called, come in sizes ranging from small and simple to bigger floor models you would keep at home.

These toddlers learning toys captivate and stimulate a child’s imagination.  A maze toy is one of the children’s wooden toys you will own which will help your child develop eye hand coordination.

Traveling with these wood toys has another advantage – they are safe and you won’t have to monitor your child’s play as there are no loose parts. They also improve your child’s motor planning and bi-lateral coordination. 

Help keep your child happy and active during long or short drives to the doctor’s office or just to play with whenever you are running errands. 

Remember it is more important to have fewer toys so that you can afford quality built children’s wooden toys that are painted with nontoxic paints.

You can teach your child a love of learning by example. Although your toddler will take up a lot of your attention, you can still sit quietly while she plays nearby and read a newspaper or magazine.

She may become curious and want to see what you are reading, or she may want to copy you by sitting down with her own magazine or book and trying to read also. The more your children see you reading the better.

One of the best toddler learning toys you will own is a set of Little Reader Blocks.  These toy blocks are imprinted with over 100 of the first sight words your children will have to know. Your children can play with them as blocks but more importantly they will learn individual words and how to form simple, short sentences.

Many games can be played with Little Reader Blocks and you will be surprised at how quickly your children will take out these blocks and play with them by themselves.  While you are reading you might point to a word in your child’s book and then have them find the word from their toy blocks.  It is a good idea to pull several blocks out of the set, including the one you want them to identify, so they don’t get frustrated when they can’t quickly find the word from the twenty piece set.

Wooden Toys bring back the feeling of nostalgia.  Babies and toddlers love wooden toys too.

The simplicity and effectiveness of wooden kid’s toys will make them sure winners with your baby and will last longer than other toys. 

When you purchase your child’s wood toy please remember to check that they are finished with nontoxic paints and varnishes.

One popular toy is a push pull toy. These toys are appropriate for homes, daycare centers as will as doctor’s waiting rooms and other play areas in hair salons, tennis clubs, etc.

When your push pull toy is made of wood it is easy to keep clean and will last for years of tough play making it an economical toy in the long run.  From infancy to childhood children learn while they play. 

Quality toys are important during your child’s developmental years.It would be better to spend more for your children’s wooden toys and have fewer toys.

Everyone from pioneering aviators to World War I armies used kites. The armies in WWI used kites to observe enemy troops.

If you live near the Washington, the Smithsonian Kite Festival is on March 27 and would make a nice trip for you and your kids.  Kites of all shapes and sizes will be flown. 

Other outdoor activities that day include a Rokkaku-kite battle-see how many enemy kites you can force to the ground.  Learn more at http://kitefestival.org/

I wish I lIved there; I would love to see their display of hand-crafted kites from all over the world.  If you go take some pictures for me, OK?

Another fun thing to do now that the weather is getting nicer is build a juice bar or other structure from a Quadro Junior II adventure playset.  It comes with 390 components to build 32 unique models. Build a puppet theatre, large desk or a goal.  Strong and lightweight and completely safe.

When your children reach the age of two you will notice they like to stand on tip toes, throw balls and kick them forward.

A two year old walks, runs, climbs and walks up and down stairs alone.  And they love to dig. Growing up I loved to dig in the mud and make mud pies; I probably ate some too!

A toddler will love to take things apart and put them back together and it is a good idea to have several age appropriate children’s wooden toys available to give them safe things to take apart.

Your toddler will try to assert themselves by often saying “No”  - providing open-ended games and wooden kids toys will help keep them busy and provide more playtime where they won’t need to say “no”.

A two year old will begin to play simple pretend games and they will want to imitate you while you are in the kitchen preparing a meal.  Here I would like to suggest a children’s wooden toy such as play food cutting set. 

While you are getting out your food and pots and pans they can get their wooden box (included in the toy) and take out their own vegetables and wooden knife.  While you are cutting up your own vegetables your toddler will have several of his own vegetables to cut up. 

You will have a great time preparing your families’ meal and your toddler will be learning new skills as you work and talk together.

Growing up I looked forward to Easter and coloring Easter Eggs.  I also loved the Easter egg hunt my parents always arranged throughout the house and yard.

The same coloring kits I used back in the 1950’s are still available in the stores today but I thought I’d search the Internet for a couple of new ideas (they were new for me anyway).  Here are a couple I liked:

Sponge Painted Eggs
Cut a sponge into small pieces. 
Pour some acrylic paint into a shallow dish or onto wax paper.
Clip the sponge pieces onto clothes pins, one for each color of paint. Dip the sponge into the paint and dab the egg with it. Start with your darker colors first for the best effect. Put the egg in an egg cup to dry. 
Tips: I prefer to sponge paint with natural sponge.
You can find them at craft stores or a paint supply. 
Do NOT eat eggs that have been painted!

Crayon Resist Easter Eggs
Color on the Easter eggs before placing in the dye.
Simple Dots, lines shapes swirls…The wax will resist the dye and your picture will show through. If you are dying Easter eggs with little ones
and do not want to use dye…The children can simply color the eggs with crayons and leave it at that.

Need a gift idea for your child (of any age)?  See one of our stuffed animal collections pictured above.  I especially like Nibbles, the 20” floppy eared bunny rabbit.  This stuffed animal is posable as are many of our toy animals.