Today is National Neighborhood Toy Store Day. While this is a kick-off to the holiday shopping season it’s also to promote local stores that help to preserve our communities. Many stores have special events planned. I’m visiting 2 or 3 so I can play with all the great new toys. Toys contribute in so many ways to learning and kindergarten readiness: building, fitting, planning, organizing, imagining, trying, vocabulary, colors, shapes, languages and more. I’ll have to get started first thing in the morning.
Toys do indeed help with memory skills. Some toys require kids to remember a location or how parts connect or what things match. Babies learn and remember which buttons to push so a toy makes noise. Older kids remember which pieces of a puzzle go where. Lots of learning, remembering and readiness for kindergarten happens when kids play with toys.
Even as grown-ups we remember our favorite toys. I remember a doll buggy (which the cat really didn’t like), tea sets, paper doll cut-outs, a table and chairs, a stuffed bunny, and my cousin’s fire engine. What were your favorites? As your child plays with toys this weekend, share about what toys you used to really like. Depending on the age of your child, it may only be one short sentence: Mommy used to have a _____ too almost like yours. Or, you may be able to have a longer conversation about toys you played with. Ask your kids what they like about their toys and also what they don’t like.
Thank you to the artist Etcha for this incredible picture done on an Etch a Sketch…how we used to get images on our “laptops”! What toys do you remember?