Breaking out of the house last week, I decided to take the kids to Big W and check out the board games on offer. With my son being 4 now, he’s able to understand the concept of games and participation which makes it easier to find a game that the adults can enjoy too. While we’re a long way from playing Monopoly together, I was happy to find a great range of kid-friendly board games by Tinkers on the shelves. The best part? They were all under $10!

We’ve come home with Penguin Pile Up – where you each have a pile of penguins to place carefully on the teetering iceberg. My husband and I love this game as much as my son and we’ve been playing it every day since.

Next on our list is Tinkers Tumbling Chimps which is the same sort of concept as the Penguins, but instead it’s monkey’s on a tree. Tinkers Tumbling Game is another skill based game, but they even have Tinkers Who’S Who, Tinkers 3D Snakes And Ladders and Tinkers Don’t Fall Down for something a little bit different.

Again, each of these games are only AU$9.93 each so you are getting much needed family time at an affordable price. Playing board games with family & friends is one of my greatest childhood memories so I’m thankful there are still fun board games available to buy in store, rather than rely only on computer based ones.

Check out more great games at Big W’s website, or pop into your local store to see what’s available.

Big W
www.bigw.com.au

Kimochis are a perfect example of a great educational toy. Have you seen them before?

Not only are they adorable – they’re designed to start a conversation about how your child is feeling. Each Kimochi character has their own personality, and comes with three ‘feelings’, which are represented by colourful little critters that can sit with/in each Kimochi, and a guide book. You can purchase more ‘feelings’ to expand the selection that your child can choose from.

The Kimochi story books introduce children to the world of different feelings, and has a foreword written by a communication expert Ellen Pritchard Dodge, M. Ed CCC-SLP. It’s a great way to help parents and educators show children how to practice challenging moments where feelings come into play.

Having two small children, one who is non-verbal, I can definately see how having a Kimochi at home and in the classroom is a fantastic way to communicate without having to be intrusive. Finding a way communicate can mean the world of difference to children that are going through a rough time, or are having trouble finding the words.

I also think it’s a great way to discuss different emotions, especially the ones that kids may not have felt before. It gives children the opportunity to identify how others may be feeling, learning about how to relate to others through common feelings.

You can buy Kimochis via their official website, aswell as Toys R Us. Prices start at around $29.95 for a mini Kimochi and ‘feelings’.

Kimochis
www.kimochis.com.au

One great website I’ve found is SenseAbilities – SenseAbilities is committed to the provision of equipment and resources designed to assist with the sensory motor development of children. They provide supplies for parents, Occupational Therapists, Speech Therapists, Physiotherapists, Teachers and other health professionals – who are involved with children and adults that need help with their sensory motor development.

I will note that it’s best that you first spend some time with your therapist before you buy any toys for a child with additional needs. You need to know what works for your child first.

I ended up buying a few whistles and bubble blowers, because that’s what we’d been using at therapy and what my daughter responds to most. But there is such a range of sensory toys at SenseAbilities, it did get tempting to buy myself some fun toys!

Whether it’s language development, fine motor skills, thinking skills or visual motor skills, SenseAbilities has it covered. Any of the toys there would also be great for a playgroup or kindy class, they’re all fun and educational in their own way.

I’ve found SenseAbilities to be value for money and the shipping was super fast. All things you would want in an important resource like this

Have a browse through SenseAbilities and make sure to bookmark it if you’re looking for great toys to use with your kids!
www.senseabilities.com.au

I had the opportunity to test out The Noisy Book Games on our iPad this past month and we love it!

There are 4 sections – Discover The Sounds, 1-2-3 Sounds, Memory Games and Noisy Rap. Each section is filled with bright & colourful illustrations and great sounds that are recorded professionally in a studio.

Designed for kids from 2 and up, each game is alot of fun and is easy to use. My 4 year old loved trying to find the train sound, and used Noisy Rap to create a musical symphony of trains & cars.

Ooooh, what’s this?

What was surprising (and fantastic!), was that my 2 year old daughter with Autism really responded to the Noisy Book App also. Similar to our PECS folder images, she loved the simple layout of the images to choose from and loves to see the picture come to life when we’re in Discover The Sounds (see image below). I think that it’s a great way to share time with young kids and introduce them to the world of iPhone/iPad apps. The interaction between parent & child, and then child & iPad is a great teaching tool and the Noisy Book Games have been an asset to our daily therapy sessions at home

Here is a quick summary of the Noisy Book Games sections –

Discover The Sounds – a great place to start out, scroll through all the pictures & have a listen to all the sounds. I found this best for the younger kids or kids that aren’t familiar with iPad/iPhone Apps. You can either listen to the pre-recorded sounds, or you can read to your child.

Memory Games – Three levels of difficulty (Easy, Medium and Hard), which is perfect for all kids (young and old!). Match a pair, and the sound for that illustration will play. (You can also turn the sound off if you want).

1-2-3 Sounds – I found this a challenge myself, great for the memory. The goal is to remember series of sounds, and touch the pictures that make the sounds in the right order. Best to get familiar with the sounds first before you start this one.

Noisy Rap – Choose from 3 different rhythms and get rapping! A good way to introduce rhythm & song creation – my son loves that he can make the train sound over and over

Whilst you can find alot of free Apps, you’ll often get alot more features and use out of Apps that you pay a few dollars for. At $3.99, you’re getting alot of professional work with The Noisy Book, aswell as thought into how children interact with Apps and what would hold their attention. It’s alot of fun and having the 4 different types of games allows the child to find something they like within the 1 App and go for it.

Each of the The Noisy Book Games promotes language and memory – all while having a bit of fun!

If you have a child with Autism, or a developmental delay, it’d be a great App to check out and use as either part of your occupational or speech therapy session or as a ‘treat’ at the end of the day.

To watch the Noisy Book Games trailer (and hear some of the sounds!) – check out the video below

To find out more about the App, log into the App Store and search for ‘the noisy book games’ or click here to visit the webpage. And you can find out more about Europa Apps by visiting their website.

Before Christmas, I was kindly sent the Fisher-Price Laugh & Learn Apptivity Case to review. I’ve been an iPod Touch fan since my first pregnancy (thanks to the contraction timer that I had on it!) and now that I have 2 kids, it’s one of the best educational and recreational tools that we have at home. The Fisher-Price Apptivity Case is a perfect companion to an iPod Touch or iPhone – if you’ve ever wanted to protect yourself from sticky fingers & icky drool, and even stop roaming mini-iPod geniuses from making calls to your boss!

I’ve made a little video of my kids using the Apptivity Case –

My 2 year old daughter Jovie, who has Autism and a developmental delay, was interested in the Apptivity Case a bit more than shown in the video. Having the textured handles and rings on the side made it easier for her to grab onto the case and play with it, and the case itself protected the iPod Touch from any damage (She is not great with control, still, so things DO go flying!).

My son Jasper (4 years old) played with the case and Fisher-Price Learning Apps (free in the App Store) with more interest. The Apptivity Case has a protective plastic tab over the home button, which stops the child from pressing it over and over again. I found this to be really helpful because Jasper tends to want to move onto the next App after a minute. With the home button ‘out of order’, it meant he stayed on the educational Apps longer.

We took the Fisher-Price Apptivity Case (with the iPod Touch inside) out in the car and to Grandma’s, and it survived the many drops and orange juice spills. I found it to be a really good addition to the iPod Touch for the younger kids but also great if you want to further restrict the kids to certain Apps and features on your iPhone.

The free Fisher-Price Learning Apps are also a great addition to our iPod touch – it’s bright and fun and easy to use. Paired up with the Apptivity Case, and it’s a perfect combo for any young kid. I would recommend it as a fun way to introduce the iPod Touch or iPhone to your child without letting them go crazy on it.

You can find the Fisher-Price Apptivity Case at all good toy stores around Australia!

Montessorium – Intro to Letters

Based on the Montessori activity known as Sand Paper Letters, these activities utilize sight, sound and touch to help your child learn the letters, while also learning the correct method of creating them. We recommend it for children showing an interest in language and letters.

We love to sit with our 3 year old and go through the alphabet together! $4.99

Click here to view this App on the iTunes website

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Little Fingers Nursery Rhymes

So much fun to listen to, it’s also beautifully illustrated and will bring back memories of your own childhood! Gorgie Porgie! There is a free version with options to buy more ‘books’ if you want

Click here to view this App on the iTunes website

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Just Grandma and Me by Mercer Mayer

Little Critter and his grandmother decide to spend a day at the beach! Little Critter is a good helper, even at the beach. When his grandmother’s hot dog falls in the sand, he washes it off in the ocean.

One of the best things about an iPad is the endless amounts of books available to download 24/7. These books by Mercer Mayer remind me so much of the Richard Scarry books I had when I was a kid. The voiceover is adorable and the drawings are interactive (you click on the picture and it tells you what it is!). Mercer Mayer’s Little Critter stories, which address all the major issues of growing up, are perennial favorites of parents and children.

You can set it to read to you, or you can read it yourself – either way you’ll get alot of use out of these books! $2.49

Click here to view this App on the iTunes website

When it comes to routines, I’m a big fan. Not routines planned by the minute, but I definately like setting goals for days and weeks that I know are going to be busy (and ultimately NUTS!). So when Jo & Robyn from Magnetic Moves contacted me about their kid’s activity chart products, I couldn’t help but get excited to see that other mum’s agree with me too!

Magnetic Moves was started in 2009 as a discussion between sisters about how we manage our busy homes, and help our kids develop independence throughout the day.

We came up with the concept for Magnetic Moves as we had both created home made charts. One chart to help our kids move through the busiest times of day and another to help the little ones at home who wanted to know what they could expect throughout their day.

Magnetic Moves currently has a range of beautifully designed activity charts available to purchase from their website (a stockists list is also here). They include –

My Busy Day Children’s Activity Chart – a colourful and fun chart designed to help your pre-school age child (3-5 yrs) have input into their day. AU$29.50 plus postage.

My Busy School Week – Designed for the school age child to give them a pictorial view of what is happening in their school week from day to day. Events such as music lessons, library day, tuckshop, swimming and others can be noted in the weekly section at the top of the chart. AU$29.50 plus postage.

My Busy School Week – My Weekend Pack – New to Magnetic Moves the Weekend Pack is 10 magnetic tiles designed to accompany the ‘My Busy School Week’ Chart. AU$5.50 plus postage

My Toilet Chart – Children’s Toileting Chart – Magnetic Moves “My Toilet Chart”, is specifically designed as an aid for children of all ages that are ready to start toilet training. I personally love this one as a helpful tool for toilet training your toddler. With my son, I find that if I can give him something to concentrate on other than the messes or the tantrums, then the better the day goes! AU$29.50 plus postage.

Magnetic Moves have posted a short YouTube video to show you how simply the chart works – but definately head on over to their website. There’s more info on their activity charts, workshops and even some playtime ideas.

So if you’re looking for an activity chart for your household, Magnetic Moves is who you should see!

Magnetic Moves
www.magneticmoves.com.au

Now when mummy or daddy hangs the washing out on the line, toddler can do so aswell!

These fun threading beads by Haba are great learning tools for kids – start them early, and get them to hang their little wooden clothes on their own line. Made in Germany from solid beech wood with non toxic coatings, this superb quality wooden toy encourages hand eye coordination and development of fine motor skills.

The Haba Laundry Day Threading Beads are currently $27.95 at Peanut Gallery

Peanut Gallery
www.peanutgallery.com.au

As you’re probably aware, I love educational toys – anything that is both fun and good for developing minds gets a big plus in my book (or in this case – blog)!

Having a set of flash cards around can be handy for curious toddlers learning new and exciting words and concepts. From the alphabet, to textures, to names and numbers – playing with flash cards can also be a great way to bond with your child, in an educational way

The flash cards pictured above are –
1. Signing Stars Flash Cards – First Words – AU$16.95
2. Cavallini & Co. Flash ABC Cards – AU$44.95
3. Touchy-feely Flashcards – Dog – AU$12.59
4. Tiger Tribe Alphabet Flash Cards – AU$24.95

Spending a few minutes a day reading a book or using your flash cards is a great way to expand your child’s vocabulary!

I love toys that stimulate my kid’s minds – something that makes them think and gets them to use their problem solving skills. Puzzles are excellent for this, so the texture puzzles at Trendy Tots Toys are perfect!

The lovely wooden puzzles are perfect for infants age 1-2yrs to learn to sort colours, shapes and develop motor skills. The Animal texture puzzle have four animals, and the Garden texture puzzle, each have a texture beneath them which offers an extra level of interest and sensory interaction.

Suitable for children 1 to 2 years old, these texture puzzles are sure to be a fun favourite.

The texture puzzles are available from Trendy Tots Toys from AU$19.95 each.

Trendy Tots Toys
www.trendytotstoys.com.au