So Much More Than Toys

When we decided to write a blog as part of the website the idea behind it was to show you - our customers how fantastic our toys are in real life. It is easy to show you a packaged toy and tell you how great it is but what we all really want to see is the benefit it has on your child in real life - the toy in action! 

Our children have a lot of the toys we stock (although they do have to earn them!) and it was recently Joshua's second birthday. As they both love art we bought him a Melissa & Doug Art Easel. Many hours have been spent covering themselves, the easel and many things around them in paint and chalk!I decided it was one of our best buys almost as soon as we had opened the box.

More recently the Easel has become an essential item for Chloe. We had a note in her book bag saying that she was struggling with a few of her words and I had noticed how frustrated and 'bored' she was of reading words in black and white off tiny bits of card. Chloe seems to learn better when she has written the word down, sounded it out and can see it clear in front of her so I decided it would be much more fun for her to use the Easel to copy down her words, sound them out as she was doing so and then make sentences with them. We then also stuck the words from her box next to those on the Easel so she could relate to the smaller version. To her suprise she remembered every single word and an hour later was able to tell me again which words were which. We used chalk this time but will use the paints or whiteboard next time to make sure she does not get bored!

We would love to hear about the toys you have bought and used in many more ways than expected. 

The Power of Play 

Today's post is all about play! How important is play? Over the last few months I have started to realise how important play is - how we play and connect with others as a child defines who we are and our strenghts and weaknesses as a person! My daughter started school in September and we have had lots of tears over 'playing' and the school playground! Sometimes play does not come naturally and it needs to be guided along, it so easy for a child's confidence to be knocked after a playground misunderstanding! This is where Social Stories are fantastic - assuring them that a fall out is not the end of the world!

My children love role play - doctors, shopping and vets seem to be a hit at the moment! They make use of anything they can get their hands on and most importantly use their imaginations! 

Chloe has always had lots of play food which she has never really been interested in until we bought a grocery store for them as a Christmas gift! The play food now has more of a meaning - something she can purchase and use money to pay for (as well as re-stock the shopping trolley when Joshua has emptied it several times!) . Play food is a great toy for group play - there are plenty of jobs to be done - setting the table for 'tea', cutting up the food (our cutting food and cutting fruit sets are great for this!), shop assistant, bag packer/trolley loader & the list goes on! It is a great way to encourage sharing and to show that two (or three or even four) sets of hands can be better than one!

Play also encourages social skills which are so important for a child and a skill they will use for life! I have never been a fan of starting conversation and I often feel nervous in new situations. Fortunately this has not been passed onto Chloe (she can talk for hours to anybody about absolutely anything) and she can often be found chatting along to herself playing a game with picture cards or books! 

Most importantly play can help children loose fear and accomplish things they never thought were possible! Only last week we were invited to play at a school friends house & Chloe hopped on a bike without stabilisers (she is very new to riding without stabilisers and is quite a perfectionist so felt angry that she could not ride perfectly previously) and with help from her friends big sister she was away riding up and down the garden as though she had been doing it for years, completely fearless of falling off or 'not being perfect' at it - nobody was judging her or expecting her to ride alone she was simply playing! 

Never underestimate the power of play!