A year ago life was changing in ways we could never see coming. One thing that has been been a source of comfort and familiarity to us is our love of play. Toys are a constant in our home. I’ve always looked at play and toys as a way to cement life and academic lessons. The last few months I have been sharing some of those ways with you through these Toy School posts.
I hope that while you read these posts you are inspired to look for lessons in the toys your children play with but I hope you also remember that the play is the lesson. In times with so much unknown, so much fear, so much anger allowing littles to play and create worlds free of all the yucky stuff is the true gift. Get down on the floor and play with them. Teach them lessons but learn from them as well.
Ravel Tales Series 2 – It is only fitting for me to include these in our year of lockdown post. Close to a year ago these little guys launched their series 1 and we got to play with them. Now that series 2 has been released they will be perfect for those upcoming Easter baskets and undercover learning lessons. Not only can you have fun with the unraveling but littles can get a quick lesson in sewing. They can independently make the bed for their little buddy.
Zoo Guardians – Let’s face it, screen time limits have been out the window. If they’re going to spend time on apps let’s do our best to make them ones they can learn from! Zoo Guardians is a free app that let’s you build your own zoo. You get to choose the animals that will be featured at your zoo. You get fun fact cards on each of the animals and are responsible for feeding and cleaning the animals. If you don’t take care of them correctly they can get sick and need to be taken to the vet!
FGTEEV Giant TeeV – It’s no secret we love FGTEEV. With the release of their season 3 Giant TeeV, I knew I wanted to find a way to include them in Toy School. You might say that I’m cheating on this one but remember learning is everywhere. Have your children read to you what is included in the package. There are so many things included that they will be there for a while. And with a number of collections to be well, collected, have them do some math. After opening as them how many more Micro Stax or Mystery figures they still have to find. Then play!
Jumpin’ Monkeys – During this season where we all are getting tired of just hanging around and are ready to go bananas taking a break from the world to play Jumpin’ Monkeys can crack us up and remind us that life doesn’t have to be so serious. Seriously, this game is lots of fun. We’ve had it for years. The lesson here is in practice and something to do with math and the physics around how you catapult the monkey to the tree. Think angles, pressure, and all that other stuff that I zoned out on so I can’t teach JustaBXgirl about!
Lucky Ducks – This is such a fun game for littles (and not so littles). It is all about matching the ducks. It works out littles memory skills, matching skills, fine motor skills and more. It’s also really cute.
