Welcome to Thursday is Toy Day! In a new series we will be pointing you in the direction of Mara Kaplan from Let Kids Play. She is among other things a toy expert and a parent to a son who has special needs -- so she is a double expert in our book!
Mara is doing a series on her blog 50 Toys in 50 days! Recommending great toys for your family. Make sure to check her blog daily for updates.
Stay tuned here at Knowledge Safari to WIN a great prize from Mara! Soon you will be able to WIN a phone call from Mara where she will interview you to learn about your family and then provide you with a personalized list of toys that she would recommend! How fun is that?
Take it away, Mara!
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Unbelievably it is that time a year again, when Let Kids Play brings you a series of toy recommendation over the next 50 days. This is the third year, I will be doing "50 Toys in 50 Days" and I as always I have found new toys that you might not have seen before. I concentrate on toys that children with disabilities might enjoy. This often results in a toy many children that do not have disabilities alos love.
As a reminder, Let Kids Play believes:
A toy should last a long time. After a child opens the box, s/he should play with the toy for more than a day, preferably years and years.
Natural materials are preferable to plastic.
Toys should be open-ended; meaning the child decides how it should be played with. Block sets and art projects where there is only one thing to is not open-ended.
Toys should challenge a child regardless of their ability, help grow their brain, develop their muscles, and help them learn to play together.
For the most part, there is no need for a "special needs" toy. Every child regardless of their ability has things they like to do and play with and most likely there is a toy out there in the general public that will work for them. This is especially true if the toy is for play and not therapy.
Toys are better without plugs, batteries and computers.
It is better when you can shop on-line and don't need to leave your house. Further, shipping should be free. Of course, all rules are meant to be broken and I will recommend some toys that break each of the above thoughts.
If you want even more recommendations, I encourage you to review the 2008 and 2009 "50 Toys in 50 Days". I am sure that many of the links are broken, but you should still be able to find most of the toys. Once again, I ask that if you enjoy this series that you support Let Kids Play, by starting your holiday purchases from this website. When you select one of the toy companies that you see on the side of the blog, they give me a small commission when you purchase something. It does not cost you any extra to do this and I do not pick toys based on any relationship with these companies. I make my list prior to seeing who sells what. These are great toy stores and I highly recommend them. They offer good customer service, have high quality toys, and often good deals. Throughout the holiday season, I will share any deals that they are offering, so you can get the most for your money.
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1 comment:
Can't wait to check it out! Thanks! Barb
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