Cari's Favorite Products for Toddlers & Preschoolers
Theme: Forest Friends
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Look at this...it's three board books in one! Young learners can explore up, down, and all around in the forest, meeting all sorts of animals along the way.
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7 forest animal-shaped puzzle pieces are chunky enough to play with on their own as well as part of the puzzle. Pair these puzzle pieces with the the "In the Forest" board book (link is above) to make story time more interactive.
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What a clever wooden stacking and balancing toy! The forest friends and wooden tree encourage young learners to think and play creatively, while also developing dexterity and problem solving skills. Any toy that isn't made out of plastic gets two thumbs up from me!
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A perfect first game to help preschoolers develop memory, color-matching, fine-motor, and turn-taking skills. In this game, raccoons have taken over your closet and they're having a party. The critter that collects the most costumes wins! Or it can be played as a simple memory game.
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This award-winning, "no reading required" preschool game has been a best-seller for 5 years! It reinforces color learning, helps develop matching skills, encourages strategic thinking skills, and supports fine-motor development.
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Pair these cupcake toppers with Play-Doh to expand the forest animal theme. Vocabulary and fine-motor skills can be addressed as children poke the toppers into mounds of colorful Play-Doh to make homes for each of the woodland animals.
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Look at these adorable felt animal masks that children can wear as they learn about woodland creatures. If the adult wears a mask, it is sure to draw the child's attention to speaker's face, which is important in speech therapy!
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Theme: Stacking Toys
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3 friendly monsters for stacking and nesting. Isn't it perfect that the number on the monster correlates to the number of eyes each monster has? This sweet little toy helps develop problem solving, fine-motor, sensory, and language skills. And it's TOO cute for words!
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Sometimes the simplest toys make the BEST toys! These colored cups can be nested, stacked, counted, used for pouring in the bathtub or sensory table, used as teacups for a stuffed animal tea party, "sneezed" off your head while playing the "A-choo!" game, used as food bowls for toy animals...
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10 colorful cups to stack. The cups then snap together to make 5 balls...how clever! This is a wonderful toy to develop fine-motor skills and enhance problem solving abilities.
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15 chunky rings in 5 different colors makes for loads of stacking fun! This is a strong and solid toy with flexible pegs for added safety.
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Blocks are a must-have toy for every child. These blocks are soft and safe and are therefore best for babies, toddlers, and kids who tend to throw their toys (wooden blocks hurt!). They feature bright colors and a variety of textures to support sensory development. Each block contains a colorful picture to help build early language skills. This would be a perfect gift for baby's 1st birthday!
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This is a classic toy that is made better with a wagon to push, pull, and store the blocks in. As a pediatric speech-language pathologist, I use this toy frequently to improve joint attention, teach turn-taking skills, and enhance receptive and expressive vocabulary skills. 30 blocks and a container to put them in = a perfect toy for keeping busy toddlers and preschoolers engaged!
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Okay friends, this set of blocks is TOO FABULOUS for words! American Sign Language blocks...made in the USA...printed using non-toxic, mouth-safe inks. This would be a perfect addition to any toy room, preschool, special education classroom, or speech therapy clinic! Note: Hand cues can facilitate speech development in children with apraxia. Pairing the sign with the speech sound can be highly beneficial for many kiddos with childhood apraxia of speech (CAS).
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This is one of my all-time favorite toys. I have purchased it so many times because it makes the perfect gift for 2-5 year olds. These sturdy cardboard boxes stack and nest and are easy to store. They feature letters and pictures of common objects and can be played with independently or cooperatively with others.
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Stacking, nesting, counting...smallest to largest or largest to smallest - so many ways to play with this 5-star toy! This rainbow of buckets can be played with in the toy room, in the tub, or even in the sandbox. Some of the developmental benefits of this toy: encourages children to use both hands during playtime (which is important for brain development), provides many opportunities for squatting (which builds strong leg muscles, and improves hand-eye coordination.
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These rainbow stacking blocks in 7 different sizes provide a variety of opportunities for stimulating the young child's creativity during playtime. The blocks can be tunnels, caves, little houses, hills, rocking chairs for small animals or dolls...there is no "right" way to play with this toy! I also appreciate the environmentally-friendly materials from which these blocks are made. The majority of toys manufactured today are made from hard, cold plastic...but not this one! And the paint is FDA approved (safety first!).
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Introducing RAINBOW PEBBLES! This toy is a little pricey, but I promise you it is well worth it! This fabulous toy comes with 56 pebbles in 6 different sizes that can be stacked, sorted, counted, and sequenced (left-brained skills). They can also be used to build and create animals, flowers, bridges or anything the child can dream up (right-brained skills). Rainbow Pebbles are designed for kids age 3 and up. They are BPA free and non-toxic.
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Theme: Boats
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Cute board book about boats with very few words per page...which I LOVE!
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This is a great little board book for addressing:
1) initial /b/ sound 2) final /t/ sound 3) /bl/ blends 4) CVC syllable shape |
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For very young children (or for older children with a short attention span), try using books with sturdy flaps. Keeping little hands busy will improve overall attention and time on task.
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Don't forget about songs and finger plays! Be sure to hold the child's hands as you row back and forth while singing this fun little tune! And don't forget to emphasize the final /t/ sound in the target word "boat."
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A coloring book filled with boats...how wonderful! Many young children are showing up to kindergarten with weak fine motor skills, so be sure to provide ample time for coloring. This is an activity adults and children can do together...it builds fine motor skills for kids and is a major stress reliever for adults!
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Are you kidding me? BOAT CRAYONS?! What will they think of next! Pair these adorable crayons with the boat coloring book and...voila...the cutest gift ever!
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Okay...I couldn't love this product more! While addressing the target word "boat" you can also focus on improving the child's scissor skills. I love how the level of fine-motor difficulty increases as the wind becomes stronger and the waves become higher! SO CLEVER!
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Adding small toys to story time can help keep a young child's attention and extend learning. Providing a small tub of water to float the boats in will make it even more exciting for young learners! I find that simple toys make the best toys...because the child provides all the power, all the imagination, and all the sound effects!
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Check out these colorful boats that stack! They are great for counting, learning colors, and working on speech sounds...whether playing in the toy room or splashing in the tub!
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This toy is a little more pricey, but it is well worth the extra cash! How much fun the littles will have transporting cars on the ferry boat!
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Look at this fun balancing game for preschoolers! We can still target the initial /b/ sound or the final /t/ sound while also enhancing fine-motor skills and building vocabulary as items are stacked onto the boat! Great reminder that playing is learning!
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Look! It's a boat for toddlers to ride on! How perfect for building gross-motor skills while simultaneously enhancing speech and language development! While it's technically a pirate ship, you can use the target word "boat" to address the initial /b/ sound or the final /t/ sound. You can count how many wheels are on the boat, count how many windows are on the boat, push the boat, pull the boat, ride on the boat...the possibilities are endless!
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