Posts filed under ‘Reviews’
Read & Play with Allie: Trucks
 Playing with puzzles is a teacher and parent favorite for quiet time, when kids need to calm down. When I taught preschool, after lunch but before nap was always a good time for puzzles because it calmed my students before rest time. But that’s not the only way you can use puzzles; they can be a dynamic learning tool especially when coupled with a good book.My daughter just graduated from Jumbo Knob Puzzles to Peg Puzzles. To get her started I paired Vehicles Mix ’n Match Peg Puzzle with the book Touchy Feely Trucks by Fiona Watt.  We started by playing with the puzzle. Since she is just beginning with peg puzzles, I removed three pieces at a time and asked her where they went. If I had removed them all at once it may have been overwhelming, but she had no trouble finding the spots with just three pieces to place. Her favorite thing to do was to put the puzzle piece in the wrong spot on purpose and say, “No no no no!” and laugh. Then she’d find the right one and give herself a clap. That self-congratulations is what it’s all about: finding challenges that kids can conquer themselves and helping them feel pride in their effort and success.Look how fast she is clapping! She is so proud that she got it in all by herself! That’s not all I love about puzzles though. So many great skills are being worked on in such a simple toy: matching and problem solving, for instance. And of course these puzzles are fantastic for fine-motor development; holding the little pegs takes serious effort when you are little.
After we did all three rows of the puzzle we read the book. For younger children, try to pair the puzzle with a shorter book, since attention spans aren’t huge and you want your child to learn and have fun connecting the two. Touchy Feely Trucks is a great book for toddlers because it’s a touch-and-feel book with different textures to feel as you turn each page. Great for wiggly toddlers who crave stimulation. Other great truck-themed books include I Love Trucks! by Philemon Sturges, My Truck Is Stuck! by Kevin Lewis and Trucks by Byron Barton.
After we read I grabbed the puzzle and we played a simple matching game. I flipped through the book and gave her one puzzle piece, saying “Can you put this yellow truck on the yellow truck in the book?” This is a good activity to add to the book and puzzle because you are building on the matching activity that the puzzle already sets out to teach.
We did this three times, which was just the right amount of time for her. Watch your child’s cues because once frustration sets in, learning steps out! By pairing a great classic toy like a puzzle with a book you deepen the connections your child makes and spark her curiosity about the theme of both. Check out these other great peg puzzles we love! |
Suspend Game Wins Award for Best Games 2012: Video Review
We are proud to announce that our brand-new family game SUSPEND just won Best Toys Guide: Best Games of 2012!
What is SUSPEND?
A family game of tricky hangs and steady hands! Suspend comes with 24 notched, rubber-tipped wire pieces to hang from a tabletop stand. Sound easy? Try adding another piece! Each time a bar is added, the balance shifts, the difficulty changes and the incredible midair sculpture transforms. Can you add all your game pieces without making it fall? Try this hanging balance game and you’ll be hooked! A tricky game for 1–4 players, SUSPEND is a test of steady nerves and steady hands.
Read the full review of Suspend Family Game at BestToysGuide.com!
Check out this great video that shows you just how to play!
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Val’s Crafty Corner — Exploring Form and Balance
This toy review is brought to you by Melissa & Doug, written by our Blog Ambassador, Valerie Deneen. Connect with your kids by playing new and fun games together!
We have been having so much FUN with a new balancing strategy game by Melissa & Doug called Suspend! What a great family game for kids ages 8 and up – parents will definitely enjoy it too! As soon as my daughter spotted a photo of Suspend, she could not wait to give it a try!
The concept is simple: Players take turns rolling a colored die to see which colored rod to place on top of the balancing pile without knocking the rods down. So much fun!!
I love how each time Suspend is played, different scenarios are built — a really effective way to introduce kids to the concepts of form and balance. Since you only need about 5-10 minutes to play, it’s the perfect activity for my daughter to enjoy some quality time with her dad before he leaves for work in the morning.
If you play carefully, you may even end up with a unique sculpture!
I’m not sure who’s having more fun with this — my daughter, or my husband!!
Here’s a short video of Suspend…. in action!
Valerie Deneen is a Melissa & Doug Blog Ambassador and the author of Inner Child Fun where she inspires parents to spend more quality time with their kids, and less money doing it. Inner Child Fun celebrates simple pleasures for all ages — with more than 1,000 frugal and creative projects that are sure to bring out the “kid” in you too! You can follow Valerie on Twitter, or say “Hi” to her on Facebook!
Val’s Crafty Corner: Farm Blocks + Sidewalk Scenes
Sometimes a little change of scenery is all it takes to make an old toy seem like new again. That’s exactly what happened with our Farm Blocks Set, which the kids have had for quite some time, when we took it outside and added a bit of sidewalk chalk!
Continue Reading March 16, 2012 at 10:05 am valeriedeneen 1 comment
