Stuff We Love
I am a little embarrassed to admit how many toys and books I have picked up for Little Man. Some stuff is good and some stuff I can’t wait to give away. Everything in this section is Mom-e approved. Whether it is a toy that we all enjoy playing with or books that we read over and over and over and over again, these are some of our favorite things.
Stuff We Love Sub Categories
How To Get Your Child to Sleep In…This Works!
The problem with young children is that they have no concept of time. When they wake up, it is time for everyone to get up whether it is 4:30 or even earlier. And, young children can’t just go make themselves breakfast while we lounge around in bed until a reasonable hour.
We were going crazy. Sure, Little Man was sleeping through the night, but he was getting up so early that we were still loosing sleep. And, since he couldn’t tell time, it was impossible to convince him that it was not time to get up.
It took me forever to find this thing, but once I did, it changed our lives. It is not really an alarm clock. It is actually kind of the opposite of an alarm clock. Rather than telling your child to wake up, it tells them it is NOT time to get up. (Queue angels singing.)
It is simple. You set the night light on the clock and then set a wake up time. Instead of a bell ringing to wake your child up, the color of the light changes. It took all of 30 seconds to explain to our child that he cannot get up until the light turns green.
Now, instead of him demanding to get out of bed at 4:45, we hear a sweet little voice at 6:00 in the morning (or much later!) saying, “Mommy. The clock turned green. This has even made it into our family jargon. When we put him to bed, we say, “I’ll see you when the clock turns green.” And, he says things like, “Mommy, when the clock turns green can we play trains (cars, transformers, whatever.)
Oh, and it has a digital and analog display with a button that says the time out loud so he is actually learning how to tell time too.
If you have a young child that gets up way too early, you have to try this thing. You might be able to find it locally, but I just got ours from Amazon.com.
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Toddler Toys We Love: Fisher-Price Stack & Roll Cups
What a simple and beautifully designed toddler toy. A friend of ours gave this to our son Edison when he was about six months old. A year and a half later, he still loves it.
This toy is so much more than it looks. You can stack the cups two different ways, nest them inside each other, or put cups together into balls. The balls are big enough to hold little treasures like animals or the chime ball that it comes with.
But, forget what it was designed for…We use it to practice colors. I ask my toddler to close his eyes and then I put a treat like a Cheerio under one of the cups. When he opens his eyes, I tell him the treat is under the red (or whatever) cup. It is silly, but he loves it.
The cups lock together just enough that they stay together, but my two year-old has no problem getting them apart.
Versatile, durable, and inexpensive, this toy definitely packs a bang for your buck.
From the Manufacturer
Baby can learn so much through basic play, and these stackable, nestable, fit-together-and-roll-around cups offer endless versatility for lots of enriching discoveries. Includes 10 colorful cups to grasp, stack or nest, with grooved surfaces for a snug fit and easy stacking. Different colors, sizes and numbers help build early identification skills. A smiling jingle ball nests inside any cup, or fits on top of a whole stack! (more…)
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Toddler Toys We Love: Plan City Airport
We went to a fantastic toy store in Santa Fe, New Mexico that had a wonderful selection of educational toys for all ages. They had the Plan Toy Airport, already put together, and it entertained my spirited toddler for the entire time that we shopped.
Now, at home, he will happily play with it for an hour at a time (which, as we know, is days in toddler years.)
Hands down, his favorite part is the working elevator. As he moves it up and down, you can hear him whisper, “uuuuup…dooooooown…”
The airplane, luggage, luggage cart, and people that it came with are great for imaginary play. (Although…For days, my toddler preferred to make train noises when he flew the plane around, “Chooo Chooo!”)
It is well made and has done a fantastic job of standing up to our rambunctious little boy. (Incidentally, it is also made from green materials, always a plus in our book.)
From the Manufacturer
The Plan City Airport comes complete with a 2-story play area, flight control tower and moveable elevator: which connects the ground and second floors. Car park is on the first floor while the second floor features the check-in counters, luggage conveyor-belt and sky-path is connected to the plane. This play-set includes an airplane, cargo trailer and 2 figures of the co-pilot and captain, product measures 12.6″ x 21.7″ x 10.6″. (more…)
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The “Apple” Doesn’t Fall Far From the Tree
When Apple’s market research team defined the iPad demographic, I am sure that toddlers were the farthest things from their minds. I mean, really. What parent in this economy would consider shelling out that much money for a toy? Especially, for a toddler.
But, you know, many of the classic early-adopters (men between the ages of 35 and 44) also happen to have kids. Children that grew up surrounded by the latest techno-gadgets. Kids orphaned by i devices with glowing screens and tantalizing interfaces. At some point, one of these children will get their hands on an iPad and nothing will ever be the same.
Perhaps it will happen by accident. Mommy or Daddy sets the iPad down on the table to go and get a drink. Little Mary is drawn to the device like a moth to a light bulb. The intuitive interface makes even a novice look like an iPad expert and the parent returns to see their little girl navigating like a professional. After calling their friends and putting a video on youtube.com, Mommy and Daddy go on a hunt for toddler apps.
It might happen sweetly. Imagine Daddy, sitting on the couch, deeply enthralled with his iPad. 2 year-old Johnny climbs up next to him, places his little head on Daddy’s shoulder, and watches intently. There is hardly a father in existence that could resist the urge to take his child’s little finger and introduce him to the wonders of the iPad.
Maybe, it will happen out of boredom. After spending twenty minutes listening to the annoying electronic voice of Tommy’s alphabet robot, Mom catches a glimpse of the iPad in her peripheral vision. She wonders…Within five minutes, she has found and downloaded ten free preschooler apps, designed to teach her son numbers, letters, sight words, and more. Mom couldn’t be happier, and the stupid robot is retired to the garage sale box.
In our house, it was completely pre-meditated. At the ripe old age of one, we introduced our little boy to the iTouch. He learned his animals and cause and effect by playing Peekaboo Barn and other simple games. He practiced his fine motor skills by dragging, sliding, drawing, and tracing. We took to referring to it as “the Ultimate Toy.”
When we heard rumors about Apple’s new device, we followed along with baited breath. From what we read, the iPad would take everything we loved about the iTouch and make it bigger and better. And, we were not disappointed.
The large screen opened the door to new apps where our toddler could trace alphabet letters, color full-sized pictures, and complete puzzles. It still makes us smile to watch him deftly slide the bar to unlock the device, navigate to his screen of apps, and thoughtfully decide which game to play.
Just by using the interface, he can read common navigational terms like “start”, “menu”, and “done”. When he watches movies, he has no problem fastforwarding through boring scenes, finding other chapters to watch, and pausing them politely when we talk to him. He is two years old, and he is not a genius. The iPad is just so intuitive that it is as if it was made by a toy designer.
While passers-by may still gawk at our toddler’s adept use of the iPad, we don’t think it will be long before kids and iPads become a common sight. Once the devices come down in price, we may even start seeing iPads used as educational tools in preschools and high-end daycare centers.
Although Apple may not have considered children in their original marketing analysis, I expect they have caught on by now. Certainly, the iPad app developers have.
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Toddler iPad Apps We Love: Fish School HD
Fish School HD absolutely rocks! My spirited toddler will happily navigate from game to game in this fantastic toddler app. Happy little fish help him practice his alphabet letters, numbers, shapes, colors, and matching. All the while, he improves his fine motor skills. If your toddler is anything like mine, you have to get Fish School HD. They will have a blast practicing all of their preschool skills!
From the Toddler App Developer
Welcome to Fish School HD – with letters, numbers, shapes, colors, matching, and more! Brought to you by the creators of Wheels on the Bus, an award-winning, educational iPhone app – featured in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, San Francisco Chronicle, Gizmodo, Discovery Channel, MSNBC.com, Wired.com, and Daily Candy.
