Toy Review Tuesday: Super Sorting Pie by Learning Resources

The kids love the Super Sorting Pie. It's been a versatile toy since Christmas (2011) and great for learning colors, sorting, counting, fine motor practice with tongs, and even pretend play.

Three 2-sided cardboard inserts come with the pie and provides a good visual for the kids to remember how I am asking them to sort the fruits. The inserts are easily interchangeable by simply lifting the sectioned-off part of the pie.

Elizabeth enjoys sorting by color and by type of fruit.



I've even used it for simple addition and subtraction practice with Matthew.



When not sorting or counting, the kids play with it many days in the week pretending to bake a fruit pie in their play kitchen. Today, they were so cute playing together. Matthew was telling Elizabeth what fruit he needed and how many and Elizabeth listened, understood him (she usually always does despite his struggle with articulating some words), and played along. I would've taken a longer video but stopped right after Elizabeth announced, "I'm pooping." Thankfully, she still wears diapers.



As of today, it's selling on amazon.com for less than $20. It's also available on the Learning Resources website but it costs more.

Toy Review Tuesday: Melissa & Doug Pattern Blocks & Boards

The Melissa & Doug Pattern Blocks & Boards comes with 6 wooden shapes and colors - white diamonds, blue diamonds, yellow hexagons, red trapezoids, green triangles, orange squares - and 10 geometric patterns on wooden boards. The shapes can also be used to create more unique patterns without the pattern boards but for a 2-year old and 4-1/2 year old, it was simpler to start with a ready visual.

Not surprisingly, 2-year old Elizabeth can easily scan the box of mixed shapes to find all the needed pieces by herself. She can finish a pattern mostly by herself, with just a little help to reposition the pieces if they move out of place. They move very easily on the board and it may be frustrating for some.

Matthew's visual scanning abilities aren't as strong as his younger sister's and it doesn't help that he gets distracted easily. It was puzzling to me that he couldn't find the pieces he needed for the pattern he was working on even when I told him what shapes (and colors) he needed. Then I remembered that some activities weren't as overwhelming for Matthew if they were broken down into simpler steps.

To simplify the shape search for him, I had both kids sort all the pieces by shape/ color in separate piles. With all the like pieces together, he could now concentrate on counting how many he needed for the pattern he was completing instead of losing focus when digging through a jumbled pile of shapes.

We like to bring out this toy during queiter times in the day or when waiting for lunch to be ready. Elizabeth enjoys sorting the pieces by color as well as helping Matthew locate the pieces he needs.

Great for promoting mathematical thinking, creativity, visual scanning, shape and color recognition, and in our family, teamwork.

Toy Review Tuesday: Construction Site with Remote Control

His very first remote control truck toy! At age 4, we felt he was ready for one. We found the Fisher Price Big Action Construction Site with Remote Control at Toys R Us. It's also available on amazon.com.

When we first started playing with this, controlling the truck using the remote didn't come naturally to him. Being a visual learner, it helps that directions are color coded on the truck and remote controller. To move the truck forward, he has learned to push the green button. He has learned that the red button makes the truck move backward.

Some limitations: the truck doesn't move diagonally forward or diagonally backward. The left and right buttons make the truck spin left and spin right. And we can only push one button at a time on the controller. It only comes with one controller and truck. I wish there were two (so I can play at the same time.) Elizabeth isn't very interested in this toy yet. In fact, she doesn't like the truck moving toward her.

The most fun part is driving the truck on the lower elevator, which goes up as soon as it senses the truck on it. Then the top elevator descends as soon as the truck is on it.

Overall, it's been an interactive and fun toy for learning basic directions and improving hand-eye coordination.

Toy Review Tuesday: Paper Weave

In my search for "Montessori method" activities and toys, I found "weaving paper" on page 40 of Teach Me To Do It Myself: Montessori Activities For You And Your Child authored by Maja Pitamic. I bought my copy from amazon.com.

Materials needed:
white posterboard, cut into 8-inch x 8-inch square
colored posterboard, cut into 3/4-inch x 8-inch strips (2cm x 20cm)
ruler (for measuring)
pencil (for marking cut lines)
scissors and cutter

Cut out alternating strips on the 8-inch x 8-inch square posterboard so you are left with a frame containing vertical bars of paper.

The weaving activity may still be too challenging for the younger ones, like Elizabeth. But she still found it fun to play with the colored strips of paper - naming colors and watching Matthew weave his strips of paper "over" and "under" the white frame.

Toy Review Tuesday: Spray Bottles

Warmer weather is here. I'm so thankful for it! It means we can finally play outside and enjoy some new scenery beyond the walls in our house. The kids have been enjoying (almost) daily picnics on our back deck.

Something else the kids like to do on the back deck is play with spray bottles. They both like playing with water so this activity is very enjoyable for them. They spray the glass door and the glass table in an attempt to help me clean. They spray the chairs, the new seedlings, the deck, and the bbq grill just for fun.

Today, I wrote the alphabet on our wooden deck with chalk and they had fun spraying the letters. Matthew identified each letter as he squeezed the trigger on the spray bottle. I see every squeeze of the trigger helping increase finger and hand strength.

And as much fun as they have spraying each other, I like to remind them not to, especially since Matthew tends to point the nozzle directly at Elizabeth's face - at close range. She usually asks me, "tell Matthew do not spray Lizbeth." Then she turns around, armed with the spray bottle and the naughtiest grin on her face.

Toy Review Tuesday: Thomas the Train Wooden Railway

Not all kids really get into train toys. Matthew did. Our little train engineer will play with this train set for at least 15 minutes - that's relatively longer than other non-electronic toys and non-screen based games. Elizabeth, his assistant train engineer, enjoys it too. The kids started out with the Water Tower Figure 8 set and then inherited a large plastic tub of tracks from older cousins.

They have two battery-operated metal trains - Salty and Percy - and all the other trains are made of wood. Train Engineer Matthew has mastered the art of connecting the interlocking wooden tracks. Matthew is very particular about how the track is set-up and which trains are on it. If we add another train without his approval, he says "Nooooo!" and takes it off the track. Both little engineers always make sure the trains stay on track. The battery-operated trains tend to go off-track if the tracks aren't connected just so. Some reviews online cite this as annoying but I think it's a good way to hold the kids' attention.

I honestly enjoy playing with the train set too. Bill says I seem to enjoy it more than the kids when I help make elaborate railroad lines. It's just so much fun to think of the possible configurations with bridges, tunnels, twists and turns and then watch the battery-operated trains pull the other trains along the track.



Thomas & Friends books on iPad/ iPhone
Matthew, in particular, has been enjoying Thomas the train so much that I have borrowed Thomas & Friends books from the library. We also have all 13 apps on my iPhone and iPad.

The apps are mostly developed by HIT Entertainment and some by Callaway Digital Arts. The HIT Entertainment ones feature an interactive book, a coloring sheets (6 choices), puzzle, and voice recording capability. The Callaway Digital Arts ones feature an interactive book, a matching game, puzzle, coloring sheets (6 choices), and a short video excerpt of the story.

All books are narrated in a British accent. All the stories are quite lengthy (and wordy) and don't hold Matthew's attention. So I usually disable the British narration and make up a shortened story as we manually swipe through the book.

By HIT Entertainment:
Down at the Docks
Thomas and Toby
Thomas Gets a Snowplow
Thomas and the Castle
Thomas Gets His Own Branch Line
May the Best Engine Win!
Calling All Engines
Thomas-saurus Rex
The Special Delivery

By Callaway Digital Arts:
Misty Island Rescue
Day of the Diesels
Engine Activities
Hero of the Rails

Toy Review Tuesday: Pop-up Pirate

Arrrr! Ahoy Matey!

This game is rated for kids ages 4 and up but even me 1-1/2 year old lassie, Elizabeth, likes to stick the swords into the barrel. It's another way to introduce basic colors and counting. Since Elizabeth is too young to understand the objective of the game, we usually make up our own game rules or simply have no rules except to have fun.



The plastic swords are a good size for pincer grasp practice for me 4-year old lad. The barrel doesn't stay put on the base when sticking the swords in so it presents a good opportunity to practice using two hands - one to stabilize and one to push the sword into the barrel. Aye, all hand hoay (all hands on deck) with this game!

Play time will depend on ye lads and lassies attention spans.

Savvy?

Toy Review Tuesday: Birthday Cake (Melissa & Doug)

Birthdays are a fun time for kids. Birthdays can also be a difficult concept especially for kids who may think it's their birthday at every party or kids who may be overwhelmed with all the activity and excitement and people.

The time-honored birthday cake ritual of singing "Happy Birthday" and blowing out the candles was a perplexing for Matthew when he was younger. He wasn't quite sure what to do about the candles until he was 3. And people singing the happy birthday song around him brought forth his lower lip with a downward curve. (Maybe he just thought everyone was off-key and that was upsetting to him??)

With many birthdays to celebrate in our family (with nearby relatives), playing with the Melissa & Doug Birthday Cake has completely helped him warm up to the birthday ritual. Both kids even like to turn the lights off after the candles are put on the cake. Then we sing the birthday song. The lights come back on for cake cutting and eating.



We like this birthday cake set because it is fun and durable. It also nice for counting, sorting, learning to follow directions, and imaginative play. I can see it used for simple sequencing also but we haven't tried it yet.

Integrating some more fine motor work into our birthday cake play, Matthew picks up candles and pieces with tongs.

Toy Review Tuesday: Don't Break The Ice

The goal of Don't Break The Ice is to keep the polar bear on top of the ice for as long as possible. Players take turns tapping an ice block with the included plastic mallets.

Turn-taking is encouraged when playing by the simple rules of the game. My kids prefer a free-for-all game. The faster they can tap out all the ice blocks, the more fun it is. They have more fun making the bear fall through. As a result, each game lasts less than 30 seconds afterwhich they ask me to set up the pieces again saying, "More please" or "Again!"

Setting up requires more hand strength and fine motor coordination than either of them currently possess. They help me gather the pieces and I am more than happy to set it up.

It's a simple game. We can either play by the rules or not. I like it because the kids have fun with it and it's quality time spent together.

Toy Review Tuesday: Pictures on Lids of Baby Food Jars

I saved some lids of the jarred baby food Matthew used to eat. Then I cut small pictures from magazines and glued them on the inside of each lid. We've successfully used them for several activities.

Activity Ideas
"Look for something... (descriptive)" is one game we have played. We'll have all the picture lids facing up and look for something yellow or round or shiny and so on. As a learning activity, not a testing activity, if I find something first, I'll pick it up, show it to the kids, and say, "This banana is yellow." Elizabeth is usually the first echo in the room saying, "banana yellow." (Yes, she's very verbal and articulate).

Matthew doesn't process complex "wh" (what, who, where) questions yet, except he knows some simple, straight-forward ones through rote learning. If I were to read a short story to him and ask him what, who, and where questions in relation to the story, he would not know how to answer them. But if I showed him some picture lids and asked him, "What do we drive?" then he'll pick up the lid with a car. "What can we eat?" then he'll pick up the lid with green beans or other food instead of one with a telephone.

To help improve auditory processing and short-term working memory, I ask Matthew for 3 or 4 pictures out of 4 to 6 picture lids laid out face up in front of him. And I require him to give me the pictures in the same order that I had requested verbally. Ideally, he should do it without any prompting or repetition of the request. When he can't seem to remember or he gets the order mixed up, I guide him hand over hand. Matthew can usually get a sequence of 3 correctly.

Elizabeth likes to look at the pictures, verbally label the ones she knows, and drop them into the can with the slotted lid.

iPhone Apps
For the tech-savvy like Matthew, iPhone apps that are structured like the activity I described above include:
"ABA Receptive Identification by Class" created by Kindergarten.com
"ABA Receptive Identification - FFC Combined" created by Kindergarten.com
"ABA Receptive Identification by Function" created by Kindergarten.com
"ABA Receptive Identification by Feature" created by Kindergarten.com
"ABA Receptive Identification" created by Kindergarten.com

Toy Review Tuesday: Tongs

Pick up, transfer, release. It's harder than it seems especially for smaller hands and low tone.

Using tongs is one way to practice opening and closing the hand with the same motion used in cutting with scissors. This can also strengthen the hands for handwriting later on.

We use cheap plastic tongs with rubber-coated ends from the Dollar store and more expensive metal tongs from the bar supplies section at the grocery store.

The kids like to pick up small toys with them. Sometimes I make it a "pick up the color or shape game" using the foam shapes I made. Matthew concentrates and tries very hard. The rubber ends on the plastic tongs help provide gripping power to make the task more do-able. Elizabeth watches and then decides that poking the foam shapes with the metal tongs.

Doing a more meaningful activity is a more efficient way for Matthew to practice using tongs. He likes pickles. So I have him try to get pickles from the pickle jar and put them on a plate. It takes him a while but he can do it.

Big motivator + More persistence = More practice

Thankfully, he finds the challenge interesting enough to keep his attention and has not resorted to dumping the whole jar of pickles on the plate or reaching into the jar with his hand. Of course, if he's struggling with it too much and it's taking longer than he would like to get a pickle, then I help him hand over hand.

What's next? Chopsticks?

Note: Matthew has not developed a dominant hand yet. He uses his left more but he can still use his right. His occupational therapist (OT) at school has noted that he is showing a more mature grasp with his left hand. Nevertheless, we still offer objects to him at midline (center of his body) so we leave it up to him to choose which hand to use. This is done in the interest of not influencing handedness. It is up to him (his brain) to determine which side will become the dominant side, not up to us to influence.

Here is a short-list of some games with tongs/ tweezers:
Patch Bedbugs by Patch
Wok and Roll by I-Play
Avalanche Fruit Stand by Learning Resources
Operation by Hasbro

Toy Review Tuesday: Boards as Balance Beams

Walking the plank has never been so fun. It can help improve gait, which is the pattern of how a person walks (or runs).

According to the book Gross Motor Skills for Children with Down syndrome,

"walking on a balance beam will help to change your child's early walking pattern. In her early walking pattern, she will use a wide base, her hips will rotate outward causing her knees and fee to turn out, and she will take weight on the inside borders of her feet. By practicing walking on a balance beam, she will learn to walk with her legs and feet in a new position. She will learn to rotate her hips so her knees and feet point straight ahead."

As suggested in the book, we started out with a 1-inch thick x 8-inch wide x 6-foot long wooden board from our local home improvement store. I spray-painted stenciled numbers on ours since Matthew enjoys counting. It used to be an outside activity but I've since brought the boards indoors, in our hallway. Both kids enjoy walking on it whenever they are in the hallway.

Matthew has progressed to walking on the narrower 1-inch thick x 5.5-inch wide x 6-foot long board, mostly without assistance. I couldn't find the time to paint this board but it was equally enjoyable for both kids. Elizabeth walks along the narrower board with one foot on and one foot off. That's how Matthew started with the wider board.

The next step would be to walk on a 4-inch wide x 6-foot long (or longer) board, placing one foot in front of the other without assistance. I plan on getting a board that is at least 2 inches thick when he's ready for a bigger challenge. Being just a little bit higher off the ground can be scary for many kids. A 1-inch thick balance beam helps take away the fear of falling from a higher surface and focus the attention on walking within the set boundary.

These wooden boards also double as a racetrack for little horses or as a motor speedway.

Fancier (but more expensive) balance beams are also available from various retailers. Googling "balance beams for kids" on amazon.com will show many varieties of balance beams. The book "How To Teach Your Baby To Be Physically Superb" by Glenn Doman, Douglas Doman and Bruce Hagy has a detailed plan on how to make a sturdy, height-adjustable balance beam.

A word of caution: Leaving the boards in the middle of the hallway at night can result in stubbed toes. Bill learned that painful lesson one time at about 2am.

Toy Review Tuesday: Corrugated Castle

This carboard coloring castle was a hit at Matthew's birthday party. Kids from 17 months through 13 years enjoyed playing in the castle.

What's not to love? It's a fun place for a game of Peek-a-boo. Kids don't get in trouble for writing or coloring on the walls with markers. It's a great set-up for pretend play.

It came in 8 pieces with instructions. One of Matthew's uncles put it together at the party.

After the party, it was taken apart for us to take home and I set it up at home for more coloring and hiding fun.

At this time, the corrugated castle costs $34.99 on amazon.com. It was totally worth it for the party.

Another option is to make one at home with large, sturdy shipping boxes. I had made one before deciding to get the castle. I cut out a door on opposite sides and a little peep hole on another side. The peep hole is Elizabeth's favorite. Matthew and Elizabeth (and our cat) have a blast crawling through it, hiding in it, with it at home but would be too boring and unlikely to hold up well at a party with 13 kids.

We also bought the corrugated house but didn't have enough time to set it up at the party. We'll save it for a future birthday.