Play-Doh Scare Chair Play Set

Grow and cut hair with Play-Doh

Disclaimer: I don't own this exact set. I have this one, which I love, but nobody seems to sell it anymore. However, any toy that can grow Play-Doh hair that you can cut is a winner! This girly one looks adorable also.

A second note: If you are here looking for a gift for someone else's child, you may not necessarily want to go with Play-Doh! I never give Play-Doh as a gift unless I know that the parent either won't mind supervising its use or won't mind vacuuming it out of their carpet.

Age Level: 3-6 with minimal supervision, or ages 1 and up if you're planning on playing this with your child and he or she is not a major mouther of non-food objects. I do Play-Doh with my one-year-olds for short periods and I sit close enough so that I can snatch it before it makes it into anyone's mouth.

Skills/Talents:
~Identifying and labeling colors: Any Play-Doh toy is great for this. If your child is at the stage where she is just beginning to recognize colors, you can ask her, "where is the purple Play-Doh?". If he is starting to label colors ask, "which color do you want?", or, "do you want blue or purple?".

~Language: There's a lot of fun vocabulary that goes along with Play-Doh, especially since you can pair the words with the actions, such as "squeeeeeze!" and "roll". When we are pushing the head on and the hair is coming out, I can usually get even the most early emergent talkers to say "puuuuuuuush!". Often if a child has played with the toy before, I will hide the scissors before we start so that they have to ask for them. If something is motivating enough, and this toy certainly is, kids will find a way to let you know that they want it!

~Fine motor: A fun way to practice cutting with scissors! It requires a little more strength than cutting paper.

Rating: Four out of five stars. It's an extremely popular toy- many of the kids I work with ask for the one I have week after week. However, I took one star off for the mess factor!

Where to purchase this toy

Zimbbos!

Wooden Stacking Game

This is a beautiful, colorful wooden set, and the company that makes it (Blue Orange) plants two trees for every tree used to produce their games. The box that it comes in is incredibly sturdy, and has held up to being tossed around in my car and my bag, not to mention the hands of small children, for a few years now.
Take turns rolling the die and stacking the elephants in number order, but don't knock it down! The person to put the tenth elephant on top wins.

Age Level: 3-6 (although my one-year-olds do love stacking the pretty blocks!)

Skills/Talents:

~Turn-taking: When children are first learning to take turns, games with quick turns are best. It also helps that in this game, it's exciting to watch the other person take their turn!

~Counting: To set up the game, I always have the children help me set up the elephants in number order. For children with early emerging counting skills, I set up the elephants and have them count with me. Kids with stronger counting skills and better number recognition set up the elephants themselves. 

Rating: Five out of five stars. This game has it all. It's environmentally friendly, pretty to look at, reasonably priced, and kids love it!

Where to purchase this toy

Stacking Cups

Green Sprouts Stacking Cups

Stacking cups are so simple but babies just love them! They are fun for play in and out of the tub. These cups keep my girls busy for a long time. They have tiny, different shaped holes in the bottom so that when filled with water in the tub it pours out the bottom in a fun little stream. 

Age Level: 0-2

Skills/Talents:

~Fine Motor: Being able to stack requires hand-eye coordination and depth perception. Because these are round they require a little more grading to stack than square blocks.

~Speech/Language: When the girls were teeny babies they loved to take turns yelling into the cups to hear the echo. This is a great way for babies to learn to "use their voice" and to imitate non-speech sounds. 

Some vocabulary that I have taught with this toy both at home and at work includes:

• saying "up" each time I stack another cup on top and then "down!" when the babies knock it down
• "in" and "out" 
• "shake shake shake" when we put a tiny cup inside a big cup and shake it

Rating: Four out of five stars

Where to purchase this toy