'Tis The Season!

Thanksgiving is over, so I can officially start talking about Christmas. Our house transformed overnight and we have something new to be excited about! Despite the pandemic, I could not bring myself to decorate a second before Thanksgiving. I've started some holiday shopping for my family and put together my top 10 favorite toys for language development. It is geared towards the birth to three range but may be appropriate for preschool age as well! If you notice one thing about all of these toys (with the exception of one), they do NOT make noise! That's right, no noise, and that's exactly why I recommend them. These days toys have so many gadgets and sounds that it can be overstimulating. Kiddos tend to focus on the buttons and not on the actual skill of PLAY! When you're thinking of gifts this year, try to be aware of what you're choosing! "Learning" toys with all the colors, numbers and ABC's aren't always the best option!

Quick disclaimer-Many of these toys are just ideas and it does not need to be the exact one! I gave specifics so they would be easy to search and find!

1. Fat Brain Toys~Spin Again

I worked with an occupational therapist who has this toy and the kids LOVE it! It's on my son's Christmas list...really because I want it. In addition to all the language opportunities, it works on fine motor and coordinating movements to put the discs on.

Language Ideas

• Sounds & words-whee, on top, more, go, mine, yours, uh oh, colors, gear/circle, help, dump

• Identify and label colors (although I wouldn't make this the primary task!)

• Ready, Set, GO! (use a fill-in model-say ready, set and then wait for the child to vocalize!). *Check out my top 5 language strategies for more info on this.

• Following directions-find (color), put on, take off, wait, get the...

2. Fisher Price~Laugh & Learn Pig

This has always been a favorite of the kiddos I work with. The coins have animals on them, so I love to model those! Also takes the focus off colors (wink wink). Occupational therapists also love this toy because of the fine motor task to put the coins in-win win!

Language Ideas

• Sounds & Words: animal sounds, in, open, more, mine, help, out, dump, uh oh

• Following directions-put in, open, take out, give me

3. B Toys~Critter Clinic

This one may be a little tricky for the younger kids BUT that only means more repetition to ask for help! YES! We found this toy used and used our own animals to put inside. You can put anything in the doors to motivate the child!

Language Ideas

• Imitating actions: knock, knock, have animals do actions, hug animals, kiss animals, etc.

• Sounds & Words: knock-knock, open, label animals, animal sounds, actions, more, help, all done, sick, hug, kiss, byebye. SO many opportunities to model language!

• Requests: hold the items and have your child ask for them!

• Following directions: open the door, close the door, find the (animal), give me the keys,

4. Scarves!

Scarves are fantastic for movement and a simple activity especially for younger learners who may struggle with joint attention.

Language Ideas

• Peek a boo-cover your face and have child take it off, or have child cover their face

• Imitate movements and actions-ideas for songs on youtube

• Hide toys

• Put scarves in the air and watch them fall, great sensory activity for kiddos who crave that!

• Sounds & words-peek-a-boo (or just boo!), whee (scarves fall!), request more, up-up-up, down

5. Green Toys~Tea Set

Tea sets are great for pretend play! Fisher Price has a fun one also that the kiddos LOVE. I prefer this one because it doesn't have sound but the Fisher Price one has a sound that is like pouring which is pretty neat.

Language Ideas

• Imitating actions-stirring/mixing, pouring, drinking, eating, blowing on tea, feed baby

• Following directions-give me, pour tea, find the blue cup, give me the spoon, give the cup to daddy/sibling/etc, take a drink

• Sounds & words-ahh! mmm, nom-nom, hot!, cup, plate, spoon, tea, teapot, pour, drink, eat, mix/stir, more, all done, all gone

• MODEL, MODEL, MODEL!

6. B Toys~Ball Ramp

To be completely honest, ball toys drive me crazy! The balls end up all over the house. There is a brand that stores the balls in the side but I didn't have the name off-hand. However, the kids love this, I mean what's not to love?! Balls and a hammer?! Just be careful not to get whacked!

Language Ideas

• Words & Sounds-ball, hammer, mine, my turn, your turn, up, down, go, more, all done, whee, uh oh

• Work on turn taking with the hammer-it may start with short turns for the grown up and longer turns for the child

• Following directions-put ball on, take ball off, get the ball, get the hammer, give me the hammer, give me the ball, find the red/blue/etc/ ball

7. Learning Resources~Hide & Go Moo

Any farm will do but I like this farm because of the easy storage for the animals. Another one I typically recommend is the Green Toys Barn. Open ended activities like this and the tea set, allow kids to develop their own way to play.

Language Ideas

• Identify and label animals and their sounds

• Have animals do actions like jump, run, eat; Have your child imitate you

• Follow directions-find the..., put in, put on top, put behind, give me

• Sing Old MacDonald and use animals as props

• Sounds & Words-animals, environmental noises, knock knock, open, mine, help, in, out, on top, byebye

8. Melissa & Doug~Hide & Seek Farm

Melissa and Doug has a great line of puzzles with doors similar to this. I love them all but I especially love this one, because it focuses on animal sounds. It doubles as a prop for singing Old MacDonald which is a strategy to engage kiddos. I don't want to be too repetitive so this is similar to the barn strategies above. The kids love to knock-knock on the doors!

9. Lakeshore Learning~Cutting Food

Another great activity that also focuses on fine motor and coordination. The children need to learn to hold the food with one hand and cut with the other. They may need help at first especially when the activity is new and the velcro is tough! Melissa and Doug has a wooden set but the velcro does not last as long as in this plastic set.

Language Ideas

• Sounds & Words: name the fruits, actions-cut, eat, etc, nom-nom, mmm, yummy, more, all done, i'm full,

• Give 2 choices of foods to cut-do you want to cut the apple or orange?

• Have the child request the knife to cut

• Match the items to do it again!

• Be silly and mix up the foods!

• Following directions-give the apple to daddy, give me the banana, put the carrot on the plate, put the watermelon on the red plate (for embedded directions!)

10.Top Bright~Race Track

BRM! BRM! BRM! Cars are one of my favorite activities because of all of the different sounds that can be targeted. Of course perfect for Ready, Set, GO! And we can utilize that strategy of WAITING!

Language Ideas

• Sounds & Words: brm, vroom vroom, car, colors, go, down, up, whee, whoa, crash, uh oh, mine, my car, fast, slow, ramp, race

• Each have a car and do what the child does; have the child do what you do

• Take the cars to have the child request