My Favorite Purchases For My Kids...

When it comes to buying toys for my children, I always think to myself "How many times will this be used"? Certain toys are definite staples in a house with babies - soft and large balls to roll around, ring stackers, fake keys (even though they always want the real ones), stuffed animals and board books. However, I have made some purchases for my children that I definitely second guessed at the time, but have become staples in enhancing early literacy in my toddler's day.

Every child loves to "push the buttons" on their parent's laptop or computer, so I figured it was obvious I should get my son his own laptop. At first I found the sounds of the "Little Scholar Laptop" extremely irritating but then my son started to mimic what he heard and walked around saying "The letter "w" says "wha". I then realized this was probably the best $18 I ever spent. Within a few months my son was able to make the sound of most of the consonants and with the help of "Wheel of Fortune" my son was able to recognize all of the upper case letters. There are also other games on this "computer" including "find the letter" or "spell the word". There are so many of these "laptops" out there (I know LeapFrog makes a similar one) so if you were debating it as a gift for your one year old the answer is absolutely go for it!

Remember those wooden blocks from when you were a child that had letters, numbers and pictures on them? When my son got them as a gift for his first birthday I thought to myself "What a great thing to regift since we have so many other types of blocks". I am so happy that my son ripped the box open because they truly play an integral part of his early literacy education. He can build a tower and then I help him spot the letters that spell the word "tower". Now that he knows the letters and numbers, we spend a lot of time focusing on the pictures on these blocks. It helps to expand his vocabulary and the pictures vary from elephants to ice cream cones.

One time I was shopping in the pharmacy to quickly pick something up and my son decided it would be a great idea to reach out of the stroller, grab a box of Munchkin foam letters and numbers (a bath toy) and open it up in the store leaving me no choice but to buy it. When I took them home, I played with the idea of letting these be special for the bath, but realized he would never play with them there (maybe when he starts to spell we can have spelling bees at bath time). Instead, I put them in a bin and we play a game called "pick a letter or number and tell me what it is". We take turns and we can do this for a half hour easy. You can even make this game yourself, no need to buy the foam letters. It has evolved with my son's knowledge and now when we pick a letter we also have to say the sound it makes (if you pick a number you obviously don't have to make a noise).

I love every musical instrument that my child owns. I love when he plays songs on his piano and gives them titles (my personal favorite, "Be Careful"). I love when he plays his xylophone and sings along. The instrument I love the best is his own two hands, when he hits a surface and says "I am banging like a drum". Music and rhythm is so important and helps a child focus and enjoy playtime in a totally different way. So don't worry if your pots and pans become a drum set, your child is exploring the world and learning a ton!

TOYS! AMAZING STORIES BEHIND SOME GREAT INVENTIONS

Book: TOYS! Amazing Stories Behind Some Great Inventions

Author: Don Wulffson

Illustrator: Laurie Keller

Publisher: Henry Holt and Company

Pages: 136

Grade Level: 4^th Grade and up

Rating: 5 Stars

There is so much more to History than exploration of the world and territorial wars that gets thrown aside during the school year. With the new “Common Core Standards” and push for children to read more nonfiction material, this is the best book on the market – the history of some of the most famous toys that every child will recognize. From Mr. Potato Head to Silly Putty, this book reads like a novel more than a textbook, and the illustrations are extremely entertaining.

There isn’t a single kid in the world that has never played with LEGO or has never heard of the Slinky. This book goes through twenty five popular children’s toys and games and discusses how they came to be. Every chapter is short and to the point and never feels like you are reading a history book, and the fun facts about each plaything at the end of every chapter are interesting and children will definitely be repeating to everyone what they have learned! Definitely would recommend for grades 4 and up, or for an adult to read along with a younger child.