Grow-With-Me Toys: Choosing Sustainable Toys with Aimee Ray

Greetings!
I’m Laurie’s daughter, and a new co-blogger for her Parenting by Faith blog. I am an early childhood educator turned mama, with a passion for building a strong foundation for little hearts and minds. It is such a joy to see children learn about the world around them starting in infancy and I hope to foster that joy in others by supporting intentional play.

As any parent knows, the choices are almost endless when it comes to finding toys for your child. From the day your little one reaches for her first rattle, all the way up to engaged hours of independent play, it can feel overwhelming to choose toys that will captivate little hands and minds for more than a few months.

There are a few criteria I look for when deciding whether or not to purchase a toy for my child (the same criteria I used when purchasing materials for my classrooms of infants and preschoolers before starting my own family).

* Quality materials: is the toy durable, made to last through multiple children and perhaps even multiple generations? Not only does this cut down on the waste of broken toys being tossed after one tot, but it generally results in toys that are much more pleasant to look at, touch, and play with.

* Multiple uses: can it be played with in more than one way? Can it be used in open-ended play, leading to discoveries in language, motor skills, and mathematical or scientific concepts (shapes, colors, movement, sound, and much more)?

* Aesthetic appeal: Now this may seem unimportant, but toys that you think are beautiful, well-made, and engaging will be toys you want to have out and available to your children. They will teach your child to appreciate their environment and value beauty around them. One aspect of Montessori philosophy I hold dear is the importance of instilling a sense of belonging in your child’s environment with carefully chosen materials, which promotes creativity, learning, and a desire to care for and maintain that environment.

That being said, a few intentionally chosen toys will save you money in the long run, cut down on waste, and promote a play environment which spurs intrigue (rather than spurring the need to purge toys every three months!). Tune in for my next post with a review of a toy that is providing my 9-month-old with endless entertainment. In the meantime, look at your child’s existing toy collection. Do any of your toys meet the three criteria above? Tell me about them in a comment below!

Aimee

 

 

Delighted or Disillusioned? Low energy parent, high energy kid

Mom, can’t we please go to the park?” seven-year-old Elisa asked as she pulled on my arm.

Arghh. I’d just settled—finally—into the recliner for a little coffee break after working all afternoon at my in-home office. I’ll get so cold standing on that playground watching her! Do I have to? I thought.

“Are you sure you wouldn’t rather cuddle and read a story?” I asked.

“Aww, c’mon, Mom. I want to swing on the monkey bars.”

Sigh. “Okay,” I said, struggling to hide my exasperation. I knew she simply had to get outside to do something active or she’d beg me all evening to take her out. It was simply the way she was wired. Chalk up one more to the sacrifices of motherhood. I got our coats.

At the park, I impatiently shifted my feet back and forth. I blew out my white breath. I clapped my gloves together to keep warm. “Just ten more minutes!” I called out, as Elisa shimmied up a pole to some very high bars.

She swung powerfully, back and forth, back and forth. Startled out of my discomfort and impatience, I marveled at her coordination, and not for the first time.

“Wow, that’s great!” I cried out. I never could have done that as a kid—nor would I have even wanted to! What makes her that way? She obviously didn’t inherit the klutz gene from me.

While Elisa played, I thought about how she’d always used her whole body to express her personality. She never walked downstairs, she leapt—four steps at a time. She was compelled to get in her quota of at least 1,642 cartwheels per day. I wondered: when was it that she first earned the nickname Monkey?

Perhaps it was when, at age two and a half, she declared she’d climb the rock wall at the outdoor store REI (and did so a few short years later). Or perhaps it was the day when she was only sixteen months old when, horrified, I spotted her crawling across the top of the monkey bars on our backyard swing set. As I ran to save her, she nonchalantly climbed back down! Hmm. Or was she already our Monkey at a mere three months, incessantly standing on our laps as we held her? I wondered: if she could have grabbed my rib cage before she was born, would she have swung from that? What makes her so nimble and so adventurous?

Suddenly I realized we had to scoot to make it to Costco before the store closed. Elisa and I left the park, picked up Aimee, and I fought traffic as the kids bickered in the backseat.

“Stop that!” I said.

“It’s her fault!” they chorused.

“It takes two to make a fight!” I replied very loudly and impatiently. (And that made three.)

As we entered the warehouse, Elisa’s face lit up at the sight of those wonderfully wide, long aisles. She impulsively cartwheeled through the office-supply section. I cried, “Look out!” as her foot nearly connected with a customer’s chin. I apologized, embarrassed. Frustration mounted as I approached the long checkout lines.

Later that evening, I guiltily looked forward to a quiet house with kids nestled in their beds. But my first request to “Get on your PJs and brush your teeth now” fell on deaf ears, as Elisa attempted some last-minute acrobatics.

“Okay, okay,” I grumbled, “just three more somersaults down the hall and that’s it—uh-oh! Watch the lamp!” So much for the trip to the park to help release her energy.

Eventually, Elisa’s sweet, high voice called from down the hall, “Mommy, Daddy, tuck-in!” We went into her room and bent over for the obligatory chain of butterfly kisses, fishy kisses, and Eskimo kisses. But as I nuzzled her soft face, I was drawn in. I lingered. My little pixie grinned charmingly—minus a few teeth the tooth fairy had taken—and sighed, “You’re the best mom in the whole wide world!”

Hardly, I thought. Yet my heart lifted. A grin tugged at the corners of my mouth as I recalled Costco cartwheels, somersaults down the hall…and her enthusiasm for life and tenderness toward me. My weariness from caring for an energetic child was replaced by delight in her and the privilege of being her mother. I’m so glad I’m her mom, I thought as I switched off the light. I couldn’t wait to tuck in Aimee next!

EXCERPT FROM CHAPTER 1 in:  Delight in Your Child’s Design, Second Edition,  Copyright 2016, Laurie Winslow Sargent. All Rights Reserved.

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Infant Play: Fun with the Zany Zoo

One toy with “Grow-With-Me” versatility is the B. Toys Zany Zoo activity cube.

Although the age recommendation from the manufacturer is 1 to 3 years old, we have seen a plethora of possibilities before age one (with supervision) since receiving it as a gift for my daughter when was just five months old.

The Zany Zoo features loopty-loo tracks with beads and mobile animals on top, as well four sides which offer opportunities for gross and fine motor development, color and letter recognition, matching, concept development (open/close, front/back, up/down, fast/slow). It is solid wood, painted (with lead-free paint) in beautiful, appealing colors, and retails at $59.99. As far as baby and toddler toys go, that can seem like a high price, but with the longevity it offers I would argue it is well worth it.

Here is how I have seen the Zany Zoo activity cube at work for different stages of development.

 

Infant play at five to six months:

Five months old and already having fun with the Zany Zoo!

My daughter loved doing tummy time in front of the side featuring several rows of wooden tiles which spin around. Each tile is painted with a letter of the alphabet, an animal that starts with that letter, and the name of the animal.

I love that some of them are not your typical alphabet book animals, such as “Carp” and “Narwhal.” She would lie in front of the toy, reaching out to spin the tiles and enjoying the cascading sound of several rows spinning at once.

As soon as she could sit up, she loved reaching for the ducks and rhinos on top of the cube, as well as knocking down the “racing animals” which zig-zag down paths cut in one side and opening and closing the doors hiding colorful animals.

Seven to ten months:

All other interest subsided in the wake of wanting to pull up. The loopty-loo bars on top of this toy offered the perfect point to grab and pull up on. (Disclaimer: this toy is not meant to act as a walker and does require an adult holding the toy down to keep it from tipping over in this case.) See the first photo in this post as an example.

Ten to twelve months:

Ten months old and finding new ways to play with this fun activity cube.

As children can stand and cruise around, this toy offers activities right at standing level (which is about all they want to do as they figure that out!).

As we head into the actual recommended ages for this toy, I am excited to continue introducing colors, letters, animal names, and early learning concepts to my child.

This toy is also so well-made and intentionally designed that I enjoy having it out in my living room so it is available for play and exploration. It meets all the criteria I look for in a toy and offers more learning and possibilities than I originally anticipated!

Now that’s a win!

 

 

Aimee Ray, co-blogger for Parenting by Faith, is an early childhood educator turned mama in Seattle, WA, with a passion for building a strong foundation for little hearts and minds. She hopes to foster the joy of early learning in young children by supporting intentional play.