I’m gonna be honest with you and say, I HATE SNOW. Snow clothes and all that jazz, I’m over it REAL fast. So I’m not the mom out there building igloos and slides. If you’re that mom, I have lots of snow… come on over and step in for me???
What’s challenging is not giving into the tv, electronics, video games, ipads etc. all winter long. It’d be really easy to replace that outside time with these things, but guess what. I have a plethora of solutions for you.
#1. Indoor Gross Motor Toys
I’ll show you a peek at a few others we have. But my climbing, bouncing boy… he has a huge amount of energy. He wants to jump and climb, wrestle… kick things. And if I don’t give him a safe place to do that… guess what… he’s jumping, climbing and kicking me and his sister. NOT an option. Today I’m going to talk about my Lily and River climber. It’s AMAZING.
I’m all about open ended toys. This is that. There’s not one way to use it. The slide can be at a million levels. It can also be a playdough table, a place to play cars, a ramp… and then flip it over it’s a rock climbing wall or a ramp with obstacles. I didn’t discover this on my own. I put the toy out… and then just let Charlie do WHATEVER the heck he wanted with it. I love that it can be a climber, or it can turn into a fort, a ladder for his stuffed puppy to climb. It’s AMAZING.
Highly highly recommend this toy as an indoor playground, climber, slide… and so much more.
I have a 15% off code, so don’t forget to use xolauren when you checkout!
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Why blocks? I love blocks. Blocks aren't just about building. Children are strategizing, they are building homes for bugs, they are building zoos, homes, towers. Add some airplane toys and all of sudden they are traveling the world. Add some animals, pretty soon they are taking care of an entire forest. Blocks are the most versatile toy there is. It can literally be anything the child wants it to be. And building with blocks allows for science (balance, gravity, weight, cause/effect), technology (technology doesn't have to be electronic, adding magnets is technology, installing pulley and lever system, using a ramp or a wheel, all of that is technology), engineering (planning a structure, adjusting the structure to work), math (weights, sizes, measurements, counting, symmetry). ETC ETC ETC. It's also creativity, it's art. Blocks are AMAZING.
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Think about your child's interest and abilities. These toys might work for multiple ages and stages. In one stage of sensory toys for example there could be measuring cups and rice. In another you're adding magnets, in another you're adding people and making it a whole imaginary play scene. Think outside the box and how toys work together to support developmental areas. The toys don't do the teaching, what children create with the toys does the teaching!
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Think to yourself these two questions:
What toys/activities do I have that would support these developmental areas?
What developmental areas does my child need particular attention?
Three Rules of Thumb:
1. Toys that use more senses, will generally support more development....
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