The Game's On - Introducing Board Games

I love family game night, I loved it as a kid and now I love that it is something we have incorporated in our family. We introduced board games to my daughter when she was four years old. We went all out and got Monopoly, Sorry, Mouse Trap, and Scrabble Junior.

Though I love board games, I feel strongly that not all games are created equal. When looking for a game to add to your collection there are some important things to keep in mind. This is specially true when the age range of the players is significant, say parents and their preschoolers. You want to make sure you choose a game that you will both enjoy playing after the 100th time, because unless there are other children who will be available to play the game, it will most likely be the parents who will be the other player. I made the mistake of getting Cherry Orchard for my daughter as a first board game and now I am quite over it to put it mildly.

A good board game will be one that will challenge your child, if it is too easy they will be bored of it quickly. It's fine if you have to modify it so that they are able to play it and enjoy it, this will mean that as their skill level increases the game is still interesting and challenging. A game should promote things like critical thinking, problem solving, basic language or math skills, creativity and imagination.

Games are also great tools to introduce the concept of winning and loosing to your child. At first, expect that they will be upset when they loose and though you don't want to get into an intense competition with your preschooler, it is important that they start understanding that in games there are those who win and those who loose.

As well, games teach young children about following rules, cheating, taking turns, cooperation. All very important life skills that they will certainly need as they go into school. As parents, this is a great time to start introducing certain vocabulary to our children around following rules, cheating and taking turns and its important to help them communicate and understand their feelings about each of them.

The most important thing about a game night is that you spend it together as a family and you can use it as an opportunity to be together and have great conversations with your children.

What are yours and your child(ren)'s favourite board games?

Happy Travels

'Tis the season for family vacations, whether you are able to escape somewhere sunny and warm or just heading a couple of hours out of town to visit family and friends, good travel toys are essential to keep the little ones entertained and in their seats.

We just got some great toys that are perfect for playing in both the seat of a car or an airplane.

The first ones are our newest addition from Melissa & Doug, their new magnetic bead mazes. Both the Magnetic Number Maze and Magnetic Colour Maze will keep your little one occupied for quite some time as they work to slide the beads in the correct hole. Both toys are great for the development of number and colour recognition, as well as matching and fine motor skills.

Another great travel toy is the Mini Bingo from HABA, the classic bingo game for up to four players that comes in a charming tin container. A great assigning game that all will enjoy playing.

A great travel toy for younger children are both books from HABA. Both Alex at the Zoo and Dino and the Dinos are a 3-in-1 toy: they are a book, a puzzle and a game. Younger children will enjoy reading about their favourite dinosaur or zoo animal, while older children will have fun putting together the five jigsaw puzzles and playing the game.

No matter how far you travel this season, these toys are sure to keep everyone happy.

In the News - The Importance of Make-Believe

Recently Susan Linn, a psychologist at Harvard’s Judge Baker Children’s Center was interviewed by USA TODAY about the importance of make-believe play.

The article talked about the benefits playtime at home and the importance of playing as a family. It also gave a number of helpful tips for parents to encourage pretend play at any age.

Article link : Is make-believe vital to kids? You better believe it

Stack'em Up!

I remember when my daughter started stacking everything and anything. I found it just fascinating given that just a couple of months prior she would knock down the "towers" that I would build.

Stacking aids in the development of motor and cognitive skills. In fact you can say that stackers are babies' first puzzle since it must be stacked in a certain order.

At BabyThoughts.ca we carry a stacking toy for all ages and stages. For Infants we have the NooBoo Symphonic Stacker, a great toy for young babies. Its soft thick rings and stand, different textured fabrics and fun sounds offer young children lots of sensory stimulation. One great feature of the Symphonic Stacker is that every time a ring is placed over the post a different sound is heard. When all rings are stacked in the correct order a fun song is played, this reinforces cause-and-effect learning.

The vibrant Rainbow Stacker from Melissa & Doug is made of smooth wooden rings to be stacked on a solid-wood rocking base. Your little one will love this beautiful and classic toy.

Two other fabulous stackers for Toddlers are the Plan Toys' Stacking Clown and Cone Sorting. These two stacking toys will certainly challenge your little one. The Cone Sorting will teach them about depth, height, size and sequence as they assemble this colourful cone.

With the Stacking Clown, children will learn about arranging in order of width, form and colour. Each shape consists of two sides for colour-and-shape matching. Thus, a child can build up the clown step by step. A great challenge for your toddler.

Enjoy watching them stack'em up.

Arts & Crafts for Little Hands

My daughter's favourite time at her day care is sensory time, she absolutely loves getting her hands full of paint, glitter, goop, and playdough. In fact she likes everything about arts and crafts. We went through a period when every time I would pick her up she would be wearing her change of clothes and still be full of paint. Her teacher told me that she liked to become one with the paint and they just could not stop her. Now she has to be changed into her arts and craft 'outfit' so that she does not dirty all her clothes.

Arts and craft is very important for young children, it is such a great way for them to learn, to explore, to imagine, to be creative and even more importantly it gives them a sense of accomplishment and confidence. I personally like to draw with my daughter and teach her about animals, shapes, colours, and all the things around her. I draw pictures for her and then I tell her the names in Spanish, this is just another tool, along with the signing and reading that I use to reinforce the language.

Here are a few arts and craft ideas:

- You can never go wrong with a box of crayons and a big pad of paper. You can draw along with your child and print the words of the object that you draw.

- You can get some construction paper of different colours and make masks. The eyes, nose, mouth, and ears can be made out of different shapes, for instance, the eyes are circles, the nose a triangle, the mouth a semi-circle and so on. This will help children learn their shapes.

- You can make just about anything you can think off out of corrugated boxes. You can make a sail boat, a car, a stove, a robot, or anything your imagination or their imagination can think off.

- Using paint is the most fun of all. You can collect leaves, twigs, use cookie cutters, rubber stamps and dip them in paint and make great works of art.

- You also can't go wrong with playing with playdough. Having different colours and letting the kids mold it, roll it out, pat it and use their imaginations to create all kinds of things is so much fun and a great learning experience.

For more great ideas take a look at an article written by Ann Douglas, she has some other suggestions that will certainly keep everyone entertained.

Allowing children to be creative is very important for their development, it will help with both their cognitive and social-emotional development. It is a fun way for them to learn valuable skills that they will use throughout their academic career.