My Son Jaxon, like a lot of other children increasingly have screens as part of their day to day life. He’s been playing a number game on my phone recently. He loves playing Homescapes and 2 for 2. Homescapes is definitely more about matching shapes whereas 2 for 2 has the additional side of matching numbers so he has to read them too.
With Christmas coming, I wanted to try and get away from toys that involved him looking at screens, whether that be something like the iPad or the television. Ideally I was looking for things that didn’t require batteries as Jaxon already has heaps of toys that need batteries and will probably gain some more at Christmas anyway. He’s definitley like his Great Grandad and loves to do things with his hands, whether that’s drawing or painting or constructing like with MegaBloks and Duplo. I love toys for him, that use logic or problem-solving skills I think that’s probably because they are both the kind of puzzles that Chris and I like. I also like ones that make him use his imagination. (I keep meaning to teach him “The floor is lava” but we don’t really have enough climbing on furniture – maybe that’s one for the summer at the park! Yes I love the imagination bit in Inside Out)
One of these toys is the Cat Buildin’ Crew Take-A-Part Buddies playset from Toy State. We received one of Jaxon and for a little while kept it as a treat to give him when his potty training progressed (This sort of worked and then he seems to have regressed but we’ll figure it out I’m sure!)
Since he was given it, he’s loved this toy. He loves taking all the pieces apart then putting them together again. Not only that he methodically lines them up in order before counting them or telling us what each part is. Occasionally he makes us all have a go including Our Sidekick who is a complete sweetheart and will take the time to play with Jaxon, when Jaxon asks him to play.
These trucks, digger and bulldozer are perfect for developing co-ordination skills. The drill is battery operated with a button that rotates both ways to undo and do up the bolts as needed.
The one that Jaxon has retails around £19.99 and is available from Morrisons, Toymaster and Debenhams. The others below retails at around £11.99 and are available from Hamley’s, Morrisons, The Range, Toymaster and Smyths.
Jaxon is also a fan of wooden toys and jigsaw puzzles. As I’ve mentioned before he’s a big fan of the Alphabet Puzzle and Sorting and Teaching Clock that we received from Baby and Play back in the Summer*. He’s been attempting to spell out his name but sometimes he gets distracted and decides to build towers in the letters! The great thing about the alphabet puzzle is that it is perfect for teaching him letters of the alphabet while it being fun. Each piece fits into the board and there’s a picture underneath that corresponds to that letter which is great. Similarly the clock helps with learning numbers and he gets a bit older will help him with learning to tell the time.
The Cat Buildin’ Crew Take-A-Part Buddy toy was received from Toy State in exchange for inclusion in this post. .
While writing this post I was unable to find the original item on Baby and Play but I have linked to John Crane who supply ABC Board, if you contact the team at Baby and Play, I am sure they will assist with further information as needed.
