When Ethan was younger, before his diagnosis, his Christmas and birthday list’s were full of the latest pre-school electronic gadget. The more buttons and flashing lights the better. Ethan enjoyed them and we were happy to indulge him.
Going through the diagnosis process and having visits from our family support key worker I have realised that for Ethan to move forward with his learning we need to go back to basics. This should be such a simple task but walking around our local toy shops we discovered that non electronic plastic toys are few and far between.
Then I discovered The Toadstool on twitter, an online shop selling the toys that will bring on Ethan’s development.
Last year The Toadstool recruited toy testers to test their products, this year they are running a competition for a chance to become next years toad testers. This is our entry.
Ethan is three years old, but because of his developmental stage toys that are for younger children are still suitable for him. So I have spent quite a few days going through The Toadstool’s website looking at all the items they have on offer.
So I have picked the following items for Ethan’s ‘The Toadstool’ Christmas Wishlist.
P’KOLINO ROBOT GEARED SHAPE SORTER
This shape sorter will help Ethan improve his fine-motor skills and problem solving. We will also be able to use it to help Ethan identify the different shapes and colours. I would be able to ask him to select the green one, or the heart etc. As this toy is a shape sorter it also means that Ethan will be posting the shapes which helps him identify that the task we have set is completed.
LILLIPUTIENS ROMEO THE WELL FED TOAD SOFT ACTIVITY TOY
Ethan’s family support key worker introduced What’s In The Box to us. It’s also a game that Ethan plays at nursery. The well fed toad would be perfect for this. We will be able to sing the song and Ethan will be able to pick an object from the toad. The toad also looks big enough that we should be able to add different items in it’s tummy, changing the game all the time. So with this toy we will be able to work on Ethan’s turn taking, work on increasing his vocabulary and bringing on his communication skills.
WONDERWORLD COUNTING SHAPE SORTER
Another shape sorter again helping Ethan with his fine motor skills but this one reminds me of the peg board set that we had to do for homework one week. There are four pieces for each shape so we will be able to repeat the names of the colours helping his vocabulary. We would also be able to work on his counting with this item.
JANOD ALPHABET BEADS
Ethan loves letters and threading is another task that has a start and an end, perfect for the way Ethan learns. We would be able to use these to teach Ethan his letters and the alphabet, we may even be able to progress on to spelling at some point in the future. It will also improve his fine-motor skills and coordination.
HABA MAGICAL SOUND FLUTE
Ethan has very recently shown us that he can blow, a skill I thought we would have to try to teach him for years but one he picked up all on his own. It is now our job to encourage this new skill and this flute will hopefully help with that task.
The JANOD MUSICAL SPINNING TOP CAROUSEL and the HABA DISCOVER OPTICS SET SPINNING TOPS
Ethan loves to spin and all things that spin so without a doubt these have to be added to our Christmas wish list as I’m sure he will have so much fun with either of these items.
PLAN TOYS BEEHIVES GAME
I love the look of this game, I think it will be a great way for Ethan to improve his fine-motor skills. We would be able to take the bees out, or put them in their beehives learning colours as we go. We would also be able to work on Ethan’s turn taking skills, and even get nanny and grandad playing with us!
PLAN TOYS TIE-UP SHOE
Recently Ethan has become fascinated with shows. He likes to put ours on and even attempts to put on his own. He finds laces very funny and is always watching when I tie his. I do think he is a bit too young for this toy but I would love one of these, when he is ready, so we can teach him how to tie his own shoelaces. A skill that will be very handy in the future.
HABA MY VERY FIRST GAMES – FEELING AND TOUCHING
I think Ethan is ready to start moving onto games like this, we would be able to use this to teach him the different objects included in the game and for him to be able to post them in the bags. If we are really lucky we may even be able to play the games according to the rules as I think this is one that he would be able to understand and take part in.
There are so many items in The Toadstool that I would have loved to have added to our list, but I think we have enough to be getting on with!
