The Battat Shape & Sounds Sorter is one of my favourite toys to use with little ones.
Children love watching as the shapes slide down the tubes and listening to the funny sounds that they make.
The big, chunky shapes are easy for little hands to hold and your child will soon learn how to fit the shapes into the holes themselves.
As they play with the shape sorter, your child has opportunities to learn about cause & effect, sound, shapes and colours and to develop their fine motor skills.
Battat recommends this toy for children from 18 months.
Remember to sit back and watch how your child wants to play with this toy then join in and play together.
Pop-Up Toys are lots of fun for little ones. As they play and explore these toys they quickly learn how to push to a button to make the toy pop up!
This is exciting because your child is learning that by pushing a button they can make something happen – that’s called “cause and effect” and it really helps your child to begin to make sense of the world.
It’s quite a challenge to start with but your child’s natural curiosity will help them to problem solve until they work out how to slide, push, pull, twist and turn the other switches to get more of the colourful animals to pop up.
Your child will have fun learning about different actions, shapes and animals while building their fine motor skills.
They will also learn that the little animal is still there (even though they can’t always see it). That’s called “object permanence” and is another important step in your child’s cognitive development.
This toy is recommended for children from 9 months and is a great one to have in your toybox.
I can remember having fun playing with Mr and Mrs Potato Head when I was little.
These lovable cartoon characters are easy to put together and fun to play with.
It’s a great idea to have two of these so that you and your child both have one to play with.
When your child is younger, they’ll learn about putting the pieces in and taking them out.
They’ll learn the names of the body parts and begin to put the pieces in without needing so much help.
As they get older, they might pretend to give Mr Potato Head a drink or put him to bed.
The possibilities are endless (just remember to let your child show you how they would like to play with the toys and then you can join in with the fun!)
Kath McLaughlin 