Parents Asking About Educational Toys

[daycare]

Im doing Christmas shopping for my own DS (2yrs old) and ALWAYS find its educational. My dcp ask the same thing and I said "well etsy has a lot of nice handmade toys, sensory tubs (or you can make your own), felt boards, seek and find toys etc and amazon has a plethora of Montessori toys/puzzles that Im getting DS".

Not the answer they were looking for I think but then again if they look around the daycare they should see thats all the kids have. Stuff to get them thinking and moving. Today I ordered those big Melissa and Doug cardboard blocks and looked up some felt boards. I always lean towards the educational toys. My sil wanted to know what my ds wanted for xmas and I said "Tinker toys!" .

I have one battery operated toy on his xmas list and its a remote controlled bus.

The only electronic toy I had as a kid was Speak N Say and I survived . To be honest though, I still wish I had that for my DS .

I want to make a felt board. Still trying to figure out how. Lol

[DCMom]

I agree with handing them the Lakeshore catalog. I could spend $1000's there. It's so frustrating when parents equate 'educational' with 'battery operated'. I like some of the V-tech products and they have their place, but I only have a few and they come out on rainy days or when there is just a few kids here.

I love that storefront, bbo. If I had the room I would make one in a heartbeat. I have the Lakeshore Market and everyone plays with that thing every single day. Yesterday it was the reception desk for the doctors office. The day before it was the restaurant. Often it's a puppet stage. Funny thing ~ it's rarely a 'market', !

A kitchen with dishes and food. Kid size table and chairs. Grocery carts. All big favorites.

Building toys like Legos, MagnaTiles, Lincoln Logs, K'nex, Tinkertoys, etc.

Games. They love games. Trouble is the current favorite followed by Let's Go Fishing (batteries, but still fun!)

Fisher Price playsets are great.


Now I want to go to ToyRUs :: I love toys!

[DCMom]

I want to make a felt board. Still trying to figure out how. Lol

Daycare~

I got an old white board on craigslist for free. The finish was not the best, so I turned it into a felt board. I bought felt by the yard (I used green) and spray adhesive. I had my dh remove the pen rail because is was sharp and I planned to hang it at kid level. Then I cut one piece to fit the white part of the whiteboard (inside the frame) and attached with the adhesive. Then I cut a piece about 4" larger all around to wrap the entire thing like a gift and fastened on the backside with the adhesive spray. The double layer creates more give and seems to work better when attaching the pieces. Then I hung it on the wall.

It was really easy and probably under $20 to do.

[momofsix]

I want to make a felt board. Still trying to figure out how. Lol

Mine is so simple it's laughable!::::
My circle time area has as one of it's 'boundaries" a fairly low bookshelf (maybe 3' high), the back of the bookshelf is on the circle area side. I just bought a large piece of felt, cut it to the size of the back of the bookshelf and used double-sided tape to stick it on. I just cut out whatever shapes I want to use on it, laminate them and stick velcro on the back-they stick right on! Or I have also bought some felt shapes to use with it too. Super easy and doesn't take up any extra space at all!

[sharlan]

I've decided that Lakeshore is a BAD, BAD store. I now drive out of my way not to pass it. I have their big catalog all marked up with things I want for Christmas. (Yes, kids' toys are on MY Christmas list.)

I bought a bunch of flannel board play kits from Michael's - $1 clearanced. The kids never even looked at them twice. I set them out on the table for 2 weeks.

[SilverSabre25]

Mine is so simple it's laughable!::::
My circle time area has as one of it's 'boundaries" a fairly low bookshelf (maybe 3' high), the back of the bookshelf is on the circle area side. I just bought a large piece of felt, cut it to the size of the back of the bookshelf and used double-sided tape to stick it on. I just cut out whatever shapes I want to use on it, laminate them and stick velcro on the back-they stick right on! Or I have also bought some felt shapes to use with it too. Super easy and doesn't take up any extra space at all!

You can also make your own felt shapes--buy felt at Michael's/JoAnn's and cut it out. Voila! felt shapes. You can do whatever you want--I made Jack O Lanterns for Halloween and am going to make turkeys for Tgiving. Felt is cheap, ~25 cents/piece.

[dave4him]

I have a few parents that are asking me what would be some great educational toys

Check with your local physical therapy... usually the toys they use while working with small children are perfect for educational use at home as well.

[Ariana]

I personally love all the ELC "Happyland" toys. They really encourage imaginative play and eventhough some of them have noise it's real sounds...like the toy digger sounds like an actual truck when you press the button. They also have play figures that are non sexist and very inclusive with a female construction worker and a little girl in a wheelchair.

[laundrymom]

I had a parent ask today if I planned on buying any educational toys for the kids for Christmas..... That she would like to add us to her shopping list and what do I think they would like....I told her that I LOVED that she thought of us!! and that I would email her later with ideas,...

I emailed that we could use spare envelopes, art items, sponges, material of varying textures, Brushes, chalk, whats its and zoodles,.. I asked her if when she cleaned out her tupperware drawer if she would donate any old unwanted lids, bowls, etc... Or buckets, socks, gloves, hats, fancy clothing thats been outgrown we can use for dressup, shoe boxes, glue, pipecleaners,

I got a response that said,... well I was more thinking of a leapster type toy?

I replied with, Oh no, we would never play with such a limited thing as a battery toy. Theres only one way to play with that,.. we like open ended items that can be a multitude of things. We prefer to use our ideas to power our play, not the energizer bunny. I do appreciate you offer though and hope you find some treasures for us to use.

Im still waiting for a response.

[fionaya]

Maybe you should try this robot kit: http://www.ideann.com/6-in-1-solar-robot-kit.html.
I bought this for my nephew, he enjoys it very much!

[MissAnn]

DCK brought one once where Dora was supposed to say "Hello!...Hola!"

It always came out "Hello!...Ho!" because they kept pressing the buttons too fast !

Years ago my mom bought a GI Joe doll with a pull string......it said...."Let's go shopping"

Apparently his voice got mixed up with Barbie's

[LizFoote]

Educational toys for babies and toddler

This may be of interest. Two Australian speech therapists have just started a website that gives some easy and fun games to play with your baby or toddler to help them learn to talk.

You can download some games for free! Or download a book with a range of clever ideas to stimulate your little ones. You can even order a toy kit that gives you all the toys (at wholesale prices) needed to play the games.

[Smart Kid]

A website with educational games

Hi,

I can also recommend a website that has lots of fun educational games for kids. What about laptop computers for children such as V Tech computers? They are educational and children tend to really enjoy them.

The website can be found at smart-kid-educational-games.com

I hope you find it helpful.

Shelley

[Unregistered]

Goofy grin monsters

My daughter just got a goofy grin monster for her birthday from a friend. She loves it! She carries it around everywhere with her and pretends to do chemistry experiments (or witch brews with it). I have had to drink a glass of what she brewed and turn into a cat several times. So far, it has held up to her abuse. The detail on them is amazing.

[daycare]

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