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Exploring the power of play with Very...
Playtime for babies and toddlers is so important, through play they are able to explore and learn about the world as well as themselves. Playtime helps with physical, emotional and social skills and builds the imagination and creativity in children. Play helps with language, math, and even helps children to regulate their emotions and cope with stress.
It's amazing what giving your children the right toys can do, and that's why it's super important to look for toys that suit their age group and can help with all of these things. Very stock an amazing range of Bouncers, Walkers and Swings, as well as Baby Toys to suit all age ranges, from newborn, to toddler and beyond.
My youngest, Luca, is now 15 months and has just started to get bored of 'baby' toys and prefers exploring what his older siblings have in their bedrooms, like their toy cars and lego. So, I've teamed up with Very to add some new toys to his play room that are perfectly suited for toddlers! Let's get into what treats we found...
Toys for gross motor skills
Gross motor skills are skills that children develop using their whole body, it helps them with confidence and flexibility. A toddler can develop their gross motor skills by doing something as simple as sitting, crawling or climbing the stairs! Slides are an amazing way to help develop gross motor skills, as it requires the child to climb the stairs of the slide, balancing and shifting their weight during the climb. When going down the slide, they can experiment with different body positions and feel their body moving whilst working on balance and control.
For Luca's first birthday, I bought him a rocker slash climbing frame, but he hasn't quite got the body control for this just yet, so I picked out the Indoor Wooden Slide from Very and it's perfect. Not only does it mean he's not missing out on lots of slide fun at the park during the winter months, but it's helping him to develop his gross motor skills and he absolutely loves it. It folds up and can lean against the wall when not in use too, so I don't have to worry about it taking up lots of space in the house.
I also picked out the Little Tikes Rocking Horse which is both an indoor and outdoor toy. We're going to keep this indoors over the winter months and then pop it in the garden when it starts getting warm again. Luca loves rocking away on this, and it's a great way for him to practice his strength, and to get some exercise in which in turn helps him sleep a little bit better. Anything for a bit more sleep eh mamas?!
Another great toy that I picked out for gross motor skill development is the Fisher Price Laugh & Learn Vacuum - I don't know about anyone else's todder, but Luca is obsessed with my Dyson vacuum?! He now has his very own little vacuum and he is loving pushing it around the room pretending to hoover up. This really helps with balance and coordination, and is just so much fun to play with as it lights up different colours and makes sounds. It's ideal for encouraging early role play too, which he's starting to learn about more as he watches his older siblings.
Toys for fine motor skills
Fine motor skills are hand co-ordination skills that children develop to help them with things like eating, writing, getting dressed, opening things, etc. These skills come into use academically, during crafts and play, as well as in everyday life by being able to dress and feed themselves. Between 12 and 18 months, babies start to develop their fine motor skills a lot and certain toys and activities can help them with this.
I picked out the VTech Toolbox Friends from Very which is a great little toy for supporting fine motor skills, it's got an easy grip handle for on-the-go play and includes a toy saw, hammer and screwdriver that can all come out and be played with. Luca adores this set as he is utterly obsessed with his daddy's real tools. Whenever my partner Jake is doing jobs around the house, Luca is straight over wanting to help and be involved, so I thought, what would he love more than his very own little tool kit?! It also introduces numbers and colours with sing-along songs and is great for encouraging role-play.
We also have the Little Tikes Count & Learn Hammer that has all of the same benefits that the VTech Toolbox has, along with helping to teach children about counting and colours. With each bash it lights up a different colour, and there's a numbers setting too. The LeapFrog Fun-2-3 Instant Camera is fab for fine motor skills too, as it comes with a few different photocards that you have to put into the camera, and they teach animals, numbers, shapes and colours. It has a red 'eject' button to pop it up to replace with another card, so it's super fun for toddlers who love pressing buttons.
The John Deere Key n Go Tractor is another great pick for helping to develop fine motor skills. It's an interactive tractor that comes with a key, and there's three key slots on the whole tractor which you have to insert the key in, then turn it to hear different tractor sounds and lights. One slot makes the tractor drive in four different patterns, so it's a really fun one to play with!
Toys to encourage little imaginations
One of the most important aspects of play is of course, encouraging little imaginations. My 6 year old has the best imagination when it comes to playing, he can sit on his own for hours and hours playing with cars, playmobil and lego and create an entire little world of his own. It's so lovely and means he rarely, if ever complains of boredom. It's nice to see this coming alive in Luca too now that he's getting a bit older.
I picked out some toys to encourage some imaginative and role-play playtime like the VTech Toot Toot Drivers Treehouse Set, Luca already owns a few toot toot cars that he absolutely loves, so I thought this one would be a fab set to add to his collection. He loves making all of his cars go down the slide and then parking them back up. I also got the VTech Drivers Cody's School Bus as an extra vehicle to add and this came with it's own little track too so we attached that onto the tree house set as an additional piece.
Another larger toy I picked out was the Fisher Price Little People Big ABC Animal Learning Train which is a push-along train that introduces the alphabet, counting, colours, shapes and animal sounds. It comes with 5 animals that you can sit driving the train, as passengers, as well as a little ramp that comes down at the back to let them slide off. Luca hasn't quite got to grips playing with the characters yet, but as he's only 15 months it's a great role-play learning toy.
The final toy I picked was one that I knew both of the children would enjoy playing with, and that's the LeapFrog Scoop & Learn Ice Cream Cart. Whilst Luca is still a little young to play with this, it's recommended from age 2 so it's one he can grow with. We already have a little wooden market stall with wooden food that they love playing with daily, and this ice-cream cart is a great addition to the shop role-play scene. It has a magic till, multiple ice cream flavours, cones and toppings, and a scoop that picks up the ice cream with a release button. The cart is battery operated and has a bell you can ring, as well as making syrup sounds for the little syrup dispenser. There's animal cards that you can insert to explore colours, counting, flavours and numbers, as well as playing a stacking game. You can also push the little cart around the room. It's great fun and it's been a firm favourite in our house so far!
If I was a reader of this post, I'm not sure I'd know which toys to pick as they are all such fab options and not only that, but Very has rakes more of them on their website. I'd recommend having a good browse. It's the perfect place to shop for Christmas.
Have you ever shopped at Very for toys?
Disclaimer: This post is a paid partnership with Very.
