Blocks And 3d Puzzles

Little Reader Blocks

You can begin teaching sight words to kids as young as infants by choosing books that pair words with depictions of those words. Many pretty and appropriate books are available and will help you teach colors, numbers, and animals as well as some of the first 100 basic sight words children need to learn.

Teaching sight words only requires a few minutes and day and plenty of patience. Children start learning sight words at a very young age and you can make it fun by using Little Reader Blocks.  These 3” cube blocks are color coded and are an educational toy and make perfect preschool learning toys for children either at home or in a daycare setting.

Sight words are considered to be words that children must memorize instead of phonetically sounding out. Children start connecting written language to meaning when teachers and parents read books, signs and anything with words printed on them.

For toddlers, choose books with short sentences and colorful illustrations. For infants and toddlers, reading the same books over and over will build recognition of concepts and develop an awareness of language and sounds.

Besides books incorporate Little Reader Blocks in your lessons and young children will have fun learning interactively.  Even before they can begin to recognize different words they can learn colors from the red, blue, green, yellow and white 3” cardboard cubes.  They will love stacking them too.

Read about many activities you can use with these wonderful toddler learning toys at: http://www.smartmonkeytoys.com/instructions/LRBPlayActivities.pdf

The set includes:

3 green noun blocks (18 nouns)
5 blue verb blocks (30 verbs)
5 red pronoun blocks (30 pronouns)
3 yellow adjective blocks (18 adjectives)
2 white preposition blocks (12 prepositions)

Educational toys make great gifts anytime of the year and provide fun opportunities for parents and children to bond and have fun while learning at the same time.

Teaching your child how to build a strong sight word vocabulary is one of several essential strategies to develop reading skill and fluency. Young learners in preschool can benefit from learning common sight words.

Children will begin to learn information from their surrounding environments so it is never too early to help them develop sight word skills.  If your children are showing early signs of learning disabilities you can begin literacy skills in ways that are appropriate for their developmental level.

Here is a website we like and you many find useful in your child’s early learning education:  http://www.ehow.com/how_6122195_teach-sight-words-preschool.html.

Remember to visit our website and read more about our Little Reader Blocks. They are on Sale!

When you visit your parents or grandparents do they give you a “tech-to-do” list? Are you living in the “dark ages” just as I am?

My first experience with a type-writer (A writing machine that produces characters similar to typeset print by means of a manually operated keyboard that actuates a set of raised types, which strike the paper through an inked ribbon) was a Smith-Corona.  This manual typewriter was my mother’s (we won’t go into the century) and I remember it having a cloth ribbon with black on the top and red on the bottom.

During my working years I typed on something called a Selectric typewriter.  Goodness me, I just did a Google search and they are still selling them; read the ad I found:

“IBM Typewriters play an integral role in the business world. The superior quality of work, and the increased speed with which this work is performed, have increased efficiency in offices everywhere. IBM Wheelwriters & Selectric Typewriters offer the widest choice of options for electronic typewriters. The original manufacturer’s warranty is included, plus available extended protection option plans. We will buy, or use as trade, your old IBM Typewriter.”

I don ‘t know about you but when I wander into the electronics section of Wal Mart or Best Buy I am not able to identify 98 per cent of the products on the shelves!  Several months ago when I needed to purchase a new VCR I had to ask the sales person to help me, as I could not find them.

Back to the year 2011 and the common situation occurring all over the world; adults are not smarter than a fifth grader, or even a third grader maybe, when it comes to computer usage. If we adults have a computer and no children we are up a creek!

The solution; either rent or borrow a child or visit a website I just heard about called “TeachParents Tech.org.” http://www.teachparentstech.org/.  This is a website created by Google and it offers more than 50 two-minute videos with step-by-step instructions on everything from how to cut and paste copy to creating a blog.

Luckily, the site is set up so “kids” can e-mail a tech support “care package” to their parents or anyone needing help.  When you go to the website you can click on the topic you need help with and a video will be e-mailed to the desired recipient.

Since the inception of this website it is said to have received over 1 million views and I can only guess that you and I may be bookmarking this link!

Counting Bunnies 3D Wooden Puzzle

Now, with Christmas coming up and quickly, I might add, let’s think about simple toys.  These toys do not come with an instructional manual and you can easily play with them with  your toddlers! Educational in nature, 3d wooden puzzles and giant cardboard building blocks are still popular with toddlers.  You can visit our website All I Can Imagine and browse around all our children’s wooden toys including wood blocks and other unique toddler learning toys.

Wooden Pond Lacing Toy

Do you remember having lacing cards as a child? I do. And I remember enjoying them quite a lot. They may have had something to do with my acquired love to sew later on in high school and into my adult life.

However, our line of wooden kids toys created by ImagiPLAY has gone two steps further than the lacing cards we had as children. Not only are these two sets, OceanScapes and PondScapes made of wood they are even packaged in their own wood storage box. Our lacing toys are children’s wooden toys that are a unique and creative take on the standard lacing cards on the market today.  Our Pond has an 8″ X 10″ colorful
background that kids will love.

Preschoolers develop fine motor and problem solving skills making this toy a wonderful toddler learning toy for ages 3 and up. Your kids will be involved in creative, fun play time while designing their own pondscape.

This wooden toy pond includes 15 critters to lace to the wood background and comes with cotton laces. Each of the critters therefore, becomes its own separate toy (for ages 3 and up). The critters may be played with along with other activities or laced onto the colorful background.

For parents who home school these two toddler learning toys will help in your lesson plans and then you could allow quiet play time with the set afterwards.

What is a pond?

A pond is a small area of still, fresh water. It is different from a river or a stream because it does not have moving water and it differs from a lake because it has a small area and is no more than around 1.8m deep. Some ponds are formed naturally, filled either by an underwater spring, or by rainwater – sometimes known as ‘dewponds’; other ponds are man-made.

Pond Animals

More than 1,000 species of animals live in ponds – although you are unlikely to find all of them in any single pond. Almost every group of living creatures is represented, except starfish which live only in the sea. In a large pond you may find mammals such as water voles and water shrews – and birds like ducks, herons and kingfishers.

Even the smallest pond will have a population of amphibians (frogs, toads and newts), small fish e.g. sticklebacks, and a huge variety of invertebrates (minibeasts). Some of these are herbivores such as water fleas and snails, whereas others are aggressive carnivores, hunting down their prey, the unfortunate herbivores! One of the largest invertebrate predators in a pond is the great diving beetle – no tadpole is safe when one of these hunters is around!

There is more interesting facts about ponds on this website (where I found the above information): http://www.ypte.org.uk/environmental/ponds/84

Both our PondScapes and OceanScapes lacing cards are normally priced at $19.99 and are now on sale for $18.00. These wooden kids toys will make a very nice Christmas gift!

Visit our website at http://www.blocksand3dpuzzles.com to see all our toddler toys.

Apple Tree Wooden Bead Maze toy

You will be reading today about a favorite kid’s toy that has been a classic for over twenty years. Today’s Friday Feature products are the wire bead maze toys. They have been acclaimed to be one of the most fun educational toys in today’s market.

Also known as a rollercoaster toy, these wooden kid’s toys provide your young children a three-dimensional manipulative experience in the perceptual, motor, and language areas and is one of the most sought after toy for both kids and parents alike. Giving your young toddler a simple bead maze toy offers him or her more than just hours of delightful entertainment, it will help improve your children’s motor skills as well as cognition, detection and language.

From small wire toys to medium sized cubes (with a variety of other toys included) to large, complex bead maze toy tables, many types of bead mazes exist today. Engaging children of all ages maze toys have retained their popularity. With Christmas coming up these toddler learning toys are sure to be found on many parents and educators shopping lists.

And, as with any child’s toy parents will want to select a wire maze toy which is appropriate for the age of their children. One manufacturer of this popular wooden toy is ImagiPLAY. This company, located in Colorado, provides safe educational children’s toys painted with non-toxic paints.

If you are seeking your child’s first maze toy ImagiPLAY’s products are a good place to start as they carry a line of smaller sized bead mazes that are approximately 4 inches.  Their brightly colored selections include: green frog, brown bear, white kitty with black spots, a flower and an apple tree have been sized to fit in a stroller or your child’s car seat for great fun-as-you-go. This is a riveting toy and will keep children happy and occupied while you are busy driving.

Rollercoaster bead maze toys provide children the opportunity to slide colorful beads along wires that arch and loop interestingly around one another. Even older children and an adult can get interested in playing. This is a riveting toy that not only delights children but captivates their attention as soon as they are exposed to any sized maze toy that is age appropriate.

You will enjoy watching your child fall in love with his wire maze toy; watch him or her follow the colorful beads up and then down, and around the many gently and curves that spiral every which way. As your child moves the wood beads he can begin to count and spin each bead.  He can learn the difference between the colors and you could make a game of having him or her count the red beads, then the yellow beads and so on.

This is a great toddler toy for free play, hand-eye coordination, fine motor skills, and more. This is why you will often find a maze toy of one size or another in waiting rooms such as your dentist’s office, pediatrician’s office, racquet club, spa, or your accountant’s office.

Parents and educators will feel a sense of security as they leave children alone with one of these delightful toddler toys because there are no loose parts to swallow. The smaller models can easily and safely travel with you when you go on both short or long trips and then they can be taken inside so your children may continue to be entertained throughout the day, afternoon and into the evening.

Children love figuring out the path of the beads from beginning to end.  This wire bead maze toy offers a level of early learning complexity to play. Another important benefit is the strengthening of hand-eye coordination and fine motor skills obtained in the play process.

This concludes the first Friday Feature Article. Our series will continue through November with a new toy category each Friday.  Read our Press Release.

For over a decade, ImagiPLAY has created high-quality educational toys that inspire children’s imaginations and the desire to explore. With the abundance of toys available for children today, ImagiPLAY sets itself apart from the rest through its motto: “Toys with Integrity.” By producing quality products that connect with nature, have eco-friendly sources, and hold educational value, ImagiPLAY works to benefit the earth we share and the people that inhabit it.

Founder and President Barbera Aimes offers children’s toys that represent her true passion: our planet. After studying languages and music in Japan and across the US, this nurturing earth mother explored ways in which she could communicate her desire to make the world a gentler, move loving place. In her mid thirties, she found that the natural beauty of Boulder, Colorado was the ideal place to call home, establish her business, and create a positive change amongst the people around her. “All my life I’ve wanted to leave this earth with some kind of beneficial legacy,” Barbera explains, “If there is one thing I can leave on this earth, it would be to help children appreciate our world.” Through the language of play, Barbera and ImagiPLAY have inspired children across the globe to discover the world on their own terms and communicate with the environment. With ImagiPLAY’s child safe and earth safe toys, games and collectibles, children enrich their ability to count, learn the alphabet, and identify different animals while gaining a true sense of the world’s beauty and diversity of species.

Producing toys using only materials and processes that show respect for the planet and all the people and creatures upon it has remained ImagiPLAY’s promise and challenge. All of ImagiPLAY’s toys are made from eco-friendly materials, with plantation-grown rubberwood being a favorite. Rubber trees produce a sap that is used to make latex products. At the end of their latex-producing years (generally 25-30 years) the trees are harvested and new ones planted. But these wonderful trees have one more gift to give us - their beautiful, splinter-free hardwood, from which ImagiPLAY makes many of its award winning, heirloom quality toys.

ImagiPLAY’s factories are placed close to the neighborhoods where its craftsmen live so that the majority of them can walk or ride their bikes to work each day, enabling its craftsmen to maintain quality relationships with their own children while they make toys for others.

ImagiPLAY products have been recognized by the media, children’s advocacy groups, and parents’ organizations for their outstanding quality, design and ability to inspire imagination. It has received awards from Parenting Magazine, Creative Child Magazine, Dr. Toy, Parents’ Choice Foundation and many other well-respected groups. But most importantly, ImagiPLAY’s products have helped thousands of children worldwide to discover themselves and their world as they navigate the waters of the human Age of Exploration.

Aimes’ lifelong commitment to her values finally allowed her to discover something she is proud to leave as her legacy to this earth and a worthwhile contribution to its people. And having a kid-focused business keeps her young, young-at-heart, and joyful.

ImagiPLAY’s children’s wooden toys, toddler learning toys (including wood blocks) may be viewed at All I Can Imagine.

This term, “Nature Deficit Disorder” may be a new disorder you have not heard of.  If your child does not get outside enough and is not exposed to nature preserves and forests or parks he may be at risk.

Electronic games, computer games and other toys children have nowadays (that were not even invented while I was a child) can easily take up too much of your children’s time.  When was the last time you and your family went out to a nature preserve and spent the day exploring different trees and critters?

Kids and nature just naturally go together but if your children play too many computer games they may never find the excitement of seeing a frog or a worm or a pretty red cardinal.  Studies suggest that interacting with nature can help children develop their five senses and diminish emotional problems as well as attention deficit disorders.

Getting out in nature is also a great way for family bonding. There will be less time spent saying “no” and you can just have fun together with no strict planned agenda.  This is better for everyone’s emotional being (even stressed out moms). 

You could also plan a day out that would be consistent with some school subject or lesson your child is involved in.  Or, your child may have shown some interest in something he saw in a book and you can find a museum or park where you can let him see something firsthand.

If you live in Atlanta:  Autrey Mill Nature Preserve and Heritage Center in Alpharetta has a 46 acre nature preserve and 2 miles of hiking trails.  In Palmetto, Cochran Mill Nature Center has a log cabin and 50 wooden acres.  Gainesville’s Elachee Nature Science Center is at the entrance to 1,400 acres of woods and is the first designated nature center in Georgia.

Dental care is not something to be afraid of; but do not expect your child to believe that when he is sitting in the dentist’s chair and hears a high pitched whine he won’t become frightened. It helps considerably to ease your child’s fear of dentists when you start early on in his life and he gets a chance to become friends with his dentist.

Did you know the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry says your child should see a pediatric dentist before age one?  Ask for recommendations on pediatric dentists from friends who have already begun taking the youngsters to a dentist or do your own research in your own neighborhood. It may sound old fashioned, but look in your local yellow pages phone book.  

 As soon as your child’s teeth start to come you will want to wipe down his gums and teeth after feeding him; use a soft, wet cloth.

When to start brushing.  Have a brush on hand for when your child’s top and bottom teeth begin to appear for this is when brushing should begin.  Clean his teeth while he is lying down.  And, if you are using toothpaste, make sure you keep it pea size.

When your child is old enough to stand by himself you will need to do the brushing yourself for two minutes.  As your child develops his motor skills, usually around age 6, he will be able to take over his own brushing, but make sure he brushes for two minutes.  Nowadays you can find kid’s toothbrushes that have lights that glow or music that plays for the proper brushing time.  Or you could put on a CD that plays for two minutes.

What about flossing? You will have to do this at first, but your child can learn over time; just make sure it is being done.  This is a very important of his routine that needs to be established for good dental care and healthy gums.

To begin your child’s life cavity-free you will learn that many dentists are recommending sealants on your children’s first teeth and on his permanent teeth when they start to come in.  It is said that sealants can prevent 90 percent of all cavities.

Keeping your children’s teeth and gums healthy from an early age on is a good idea and will most likely save you extra expense and trips to the dentist later on.  Watch what you give your child to eat, too much candy and sugar filled juices throughout the day may help cause cavities because you won’t be brushing his teeth until later that day.

It is 90 plus degrees and too hot to go outside; but, still I began thinking about Christmas shopping as I picked up a few items yesterday afternoon while I was at my favorite dollar store.

Christmas shopping can be fun, profitable, and best of all, stress-free. Stay with me here; picture this. You have just discovered you have some “unscheduled time”, time to yourself and no one needs anything and you do not have to go anywhere – it can happen!

Because there is no rush and no time constraints, boot up your computer and have some fun shopping for some new children’s wooden toys either for your kids, grandkids, or extended family and friends kids.

Parents who shop early as in July, August or September have more time to explore toddler learning toys on various websites and locate wood blocks, indoor playsets and other wooden kid’s toys which you will most likely not find in retail stores.

Take your time; it is fun to meander around different online toy stores and your feet won’t begin to hurt! Think about the excitement on Christmas morning when your toddlers open up that special gift, that unique toddler toy no one else on your block has yet to provide their kids.

Maybe you will select an African Safari indoor playset, or a dinosaur puzzle playset

Each dinosaur is an individual toy.

 found at All I Can Imagine. Or you might begin getting your child (or add to a previous) set of ImagiBRICKS, giant cardboard building blocks.

Because you have chosen to shop early you will not have to worry about delivery issues that often occur in December when you wait to shop. Shopping will also be fun because you will enjoy browsing around different stores and not have to think: “I’ve got to find a nice toy today, I waited until the last minute, again, with no idea of what I want to get.

Take your time shopping for your toddler’s toys; it is only July and it is too hot to go outside. If you find a toy that is on sale so much the better.  Shopping on line is profitable even if you do not find a toy that is on sale because you saved on gas, buying a drink when driving from store to store and you were able to eat from you own refrigerator.

Yes, Christmas shopping can be fun, profitable, and best of all, stress-free and you will feel proud of yourself for being so smart to shop early!

Sooner or later you will be purchasing some ABC blocks for your young children. With the variety of ABC blocks on the market this will probably be sooner. Alphabet blocks, which are thought to be the first type of building block toy produced,  have been around since the 17th century in England.

Located at the Strong Museum, the National Toy Hall of Fame has recognized the ABC toy blocks as America’s toys of national significance. Spawned from the simple concept of the basic toy block, many toys have been developed over the years.

These types of blocks are children’s wooden toys which are both fun as well as one of the best toddler learning toys on the market. This type of block will help teach your children about shapes, colors and might very well be the first exposure your children will have to letters and numbers besides some children’s TV shows.

Another popular toddler learning toy for young kids are wood blocks with pictures on them. These  wooden toys are manufactured by ImagiPLAY, located in Colorado. Backyard animals, farm animals and jungle animals are the three sets of wooden blocks sets available.

Each set of wood blocks (mentioned above) will form six different puzzles featuring colorful animals. Each four piece kid’s toy block set comes with its own storage tray that measure 3.5″ x 3.5″ x 2.5″.

When going to a baby shower blocks with either ABC’s or pictures will make a very nice gift. Always remember to buy blocks that are splinter proof and painted with non-toxic paints.

Children, after the age of about three, will have developed pretty good language skills as well as a reasonable amount of motor skills.  Although some exposure to computer programs can be educational as well as fun will you be providing your three year with a computer?

If you decide to do so you will want to be sure the programs on the compute are age appropriate.  And, of course, you will have to decide ahead of time just how much computer time you will be allowing your child.  Setting time limits right from the beginning will cause fewer problems as the children grow and want to spend more and more time in front of the computer.

When selecting computer programs you could ask yourself, is this really necessary? Will the program fit in with your educational goals for your child? The program may seem fun but can it also be used as teaching tool?

Computers and the available programs may be enticing, but there is nothing an infant or young child cannot learn from other sources such as books and games.  You probably do not want your child to prefer to be glued to a computer screen rather than sitting in your lap looking at a picture book together.

You can create more memories with one-on-one personal time interacting with your child. What better way to bond than with individual attention given your precious child. Not only will you get to know your child better you will have more control in teaching him the values and lessons you want him to learn.

Providing your children quality wooden kids toys will enhance his creative play time. There are many unique and fun toddler learning toys on the market today that will give your child the experiences he needs for building eye hand coordination, social skills and other benefits.

Besides reading or playing a game you could sit on the floor with a pretty puzzle play set (pictured) and engage in creative, fun play. With the many animal figures, each a separate puzzle piece, you will have easy opportunities to teach your child about many different animals.

Have your child trace several different animals, cut them out, and color them.  You could make magnets out of them, or even a mobile.  Your child may likely come up with some ideas of his own.

So if you do decide to get your three year old a computer remember to also incorporate plenty of educationsl wood toys for most of his other play time.