We've had parents asking which toys their children like to play with in the classroom. Here are some of the popular ones:
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| Snapbots. The children love snapping these together in different combinations. |
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| Turn & Learn Magnetic Gears. Put them together and problem solve so all the gears turn when you manipulate just one of them. These are played with a lot. |
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| Every day kitchen items. Yes, the kids love the wok, pots and pans, dishes, utensils, big spoons and whisks. Toasters, hand mixers, realistic looking plastic foods, and empty cartons of brand name items. Those brand name items? Those are great for logographic skills which is part of pre-literacy. |
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| The little LED flashlights you can get for a buck or two? Perfect size for little hands. Great for exploring, making patterns, and playing hide and seek. We sometimes turn the lights down to play hide and seek with them. Kids LOVE these! |
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| Cash registers and pretend money are great for playing store and restaurant. We don't worry about denominations, but count the number of coins and paper money. |
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| MotorWorks. It comes with a screwdriver , drill, and screws to help put together cars, planes, and motorcycles. |
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| Counting Cakes. Each cake has a number that corresponds with the number of holes for candles. |
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| Not only do we have fun counting, but we work on More and Less. We also sing Happy Birthday.....A LOT! For some reason the kids always want us to sing Happy Birthday to them so they can blow out the candles. It never gets to be the teachers' birthdays. For something so simple, this is played with every day. |
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| Old cameras from secondhand stores. Even though most people take pictures with their smart phones, the children know that these are cameras and love playing with them. Teachers are asked to pose and "Say CHEESE!" |
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| Marble Runs. This is a great STEM toy for problem solving. The children pull it out nearly every school day. |
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| Plain wooden blocks. This is another toy pulled out every day. The children build buildings, tracks, walls, and use them to delineate space. |
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Regular therapy ball. The children love to bounce and roll on it, or bounce and roll it to teachers and peers.
Stay tuned for a post about favorite books! |
