Craftsbury Kids is moving and therefore having a sale. I have several friends having babies and I just love these Jingle Blocks as gifts. They are 100% cotton and made in the USA. These simple toys are the best kind for babies. There are no worries about leaching plastics chemicals and any they give the perfect combination of auditory and tactile stimulation.

Jingle Blocks

My favorite toys for toddlers are basic blocks and lacing beads. I remember when my children were toddlers and they would play and play and play with their blocks. Besides being fun for a toddler they are an important developmental tool. They develop their fine motor skills and learn cause and effect. You can also use them for leaning to count, learning their colors and making patterns. I don’t think that their is any more important toy than these basics.

Here is another video of the Story Time Felts products being used. This is the boy weather bear that she is using, but there is also a girl weather bear available. This is something that is often used in the preschool in morning circle time when the children talk about the weather for that day. It is also wonderful to use at home to talk to you little one about the weather and you will see that they will make up stories on their own with the bear as they change the weather and the bear’s clothes.

Last week I let you know of a place where you can find American Made Baby Toys and how to choose a toy for your baby. Today, I am going to talk about American made toys for infants, the 12-24 month old. This is a lot more exciting because there are many, many more American made toys for this age range.

My favorite toys for this age range and those that can be manipulates. Blocks are an important toy. There are so many things that the infant learns from stacking and knocking over simple wooden blocks.
This set of blocks is made in the USA by Uncle Goose and are colored with a child-safe ink.

A little wood work bench is also another great developmental tool. It creates another lesson on cause and effect while developing those motor skills.

Lacing beads, pull toys and push toys are all great toys for engaging the infant and creating enjoyable learning experiences.

If you are looking for an outdoor you, Little Tykes makes much of their outdoor equipment in the USA. If you are only looking for American made products, I want to make you that you know that not all Little Tykes toys are made in the USA. This link will take you directly to their products that they state are made in the USA.
The best toys for this age are low tech and high touch.

As we get closer to the holidays I start getting asked about what toys one the market can people buy for their children that are American made. Luckily, many stores are starting to advertise the country of origin for the products they sell. Today, I’ll start with baby toys.

Craftsbury Kids is one store that labels the country of origin for their items and they have a nice selection of unique and appropriate baby toys. About 90% of the baby toys in this store are made in the USA.

The best toys for babies are simple toys that they can investigate with their senses. Texture is important because the baby will be learning about the toy with their hands, mouth and often rub things against their face. Also, those toys that crinkle or rattle are a perfect way for the baby to explore and learn cause and effect.  For babies, keep it safe and keep it simple.

I wanted to let you know about a new offering that I have. The Story Time Felts felt board stories that we offer are very popular for the preschool and kindergarten classroom and for gift giving. Many of our customers give them as gifts to their children or grandchildren and they are also great gifts for the teacher from the class.

What I have done I grouped together our three most popular felt board products at a price reduction of 23%.

This felt board collection includes three felt backgrounds, 3 CDs, reproducible coloring pages, reproducible sequencing pages and the figure to tell 17 different stories. See more details here.
As a Story Time Felts representative, if this collection does not work for you I would love to help you put one together that suits your needs and gives you savings. I truly believe that these are the types of toys that we need more of and I would love to help bring them to the children in your lives.

Yesterday I talked about a couple of every day things that you can do with your child that will incorporate math into their every day routine. But, one of the easiest ways to help your child develop their mathematical abilities is through games.

One of our favorite game in our house is Mancala.

Mancala Wooden Board Game

We have had this game for quite a while now. As my kids have gotten older you can see how their logic and critical thinking skills have developed.  This game is all about strategy and critical thinking but you can start playing this game with your child when they are just starting to count.

When my kids were little and just starting to count, that was their main focus when playing. They would count their stones and did not think about any kind of strategy. As they started to mature in their abilities you could see their thinking process develop.

One thing that I always do when playing one of these strategy games is to “think out loud.” When it is my turn I talk about what my thought process is and why I am making the move I am making. This is a way to share the critical thinking process with your child without having a “lesson.” Simple. Easy. Fun.

For the month of October our Fingerplay Fun with CD set is on sale. This is a great set for the preschool classroom or for at home.  The set comes with 55 felt figures, a sing-along CD, glove and velcro dots for the fingers.
Here is a video of out fingerplay set in use!

One of my favorite toys is on sale for the month of September, our Felt “Paper” Dolls. This sale includes our girl dolls, boy dolls, twin baby dolls, Just Like Me doll and a very cool international costumes add on set.

This is one of my favorite products because of how I have see it used by children.  It is a way for a child to easily create a new world for themselves that they can explore without the fear of social judgment. They can express their fears, desires, creative ideas and test limits in a safe and comforting way.

This type of creative play is necessary for children to help them sort out the world around them. The social, academic and educational benefits of play are limitless.

Add a new dimension to your classroom this year with a felt board story set. Felt boards allow children to interact with a story. They can retell the story in their own words and also use the pieces in a new way to create a new story. Sequencing, story telling and oral language skills are developed through the use of felt boards.
Felt board sets include stories, coloring pages, sequencing page and CD with stories. All products are made of thick, high quality, washable felt and are made in the USA.

If you have any questions about out felt board sets feel free to leave a comment below or contact us.