What Goodies Have Just Arrived?

As you know there is always something new arriving here at The Toy Bug. Take a look at some of the new arrivals which are here in time for Christmas. They make great stocking fillers, too.

Ladybug & Bee Noughts & Crosses Game

This is colourful and fun.  Made of wood, it’s strong enough to take a good workout! This noughts and crosses games is great for teaching turn taking, logical thinking and fine motor skills. It comes with 5 red ladybug and 5 yellow bee game pieces and one wooden leaf board.

The leaf is divided into the nine boxes needed to play a game of noughts and crosses.

Magnetic Fishing Game

This game is such fun to play. It helps little ones with their hand eye coordination by providing objects for your child to pick up using the fishing rods.

The set is magnetic, so catching your fish is not too hard once you get the hang of the game. Why not see who can catch the most fish?

This set is easily stored as the fish pond comes in four easy to assemble pieces that can be disassembled at any time.

Scrubby Ducky Bath Brush

Not all games take place in the playroom…

Scrubby Ducky is a little silicone rubber yellow duck who just loves to paddle in the bath. He has soft yellow bristles underneath and is never happier than when he is brushing your skin clean. Ducky floats in the bath and he is easy for small hands to pick up and hold. 

Keep watching our What’s New section because new items arrive regularly.  There are only a few weeks left until Christmas so start your shopping now.

What’s New for 2013

Now that we are in 2013 I thought it would be a good opportunity to mention some of our products in our What’s New section.

The Jumping Frog Game is a fun and exciting game that is ideal for fine motor skills and hand eye coordination.  The game includes 20 frogs, a lily pad cup, a score pad and a large play mat.  The winner of the game is the one who shoots the most frogs into the bucket.

 

  

The Space Hopper will naturally entice a smile as your child bounces around the room plus it provides some good exercise.  Holding onto the sturdy horns as you bounce will help the kids develop core stability and balance skills. 

A great game to help with recognising and understanding the senses is called Our Five Senses.  Through observing, matching and talking about the different cards, the game will allow your child to understand how the five senses function and interact with each other.  Our Five Senses comes with 5 self-correcting puzzle play boards that are cut into 7 pieces, 1 dice and an activity book.  In addition to learning about the sense, this is also ideal for developing hand eye coordination, concentration and reasoning skills.

 

The Catch & Stick Monster Mitts are great fun and help with the development of hand eye coordination and throwing skills.  As the oversized mitts and the tennis ball both have velcro, it makes it easier to catch the ball.  With adjustable straps on the mitts they can be used by pre-schoolers and up.

As new items continuously arrive in store, I recommend you visit our What’s New section  regularly to see what else may be suitable for you and your child to explore together.

Helping With The Rules Of Board Games

Autism is explained as being a continuum and some autistic children will have some physical, emotional and mental facilities that function normally, whilst other facilities might be compromised and require boosting through practice and refinement. Common areas across the spectrum of autism that need practice and refinement include the areas of communication and social skills.

It goes without saying that one should try to think up games and activities for autistic children that will help build their communication skills and functionality. One of the best ways of improving functionality is through continual practice and repetitive action. Simple board games help an autistic child learn to count and take turns for example, and this in turn will help with social interaction and learning.

Games that focus on cause and effect are also effective and since board games thrive on routine and are often designed to be very visually appealing (think snakes and ladders), it shouldn’t be so hard to convince a child to play these games.

Visual rules can really help a child with autism learn the rules of a game much more quickly and board game visual supports are one way of speeding up the process of understanding. Here you will find a range of templates for some great games including bingo. You may also be able to visualise many of the other board games you wish to play with your child. You can print off the visual templates and start playing games with your child straight away.

Remember that “practice makes perfect”. Remain patient and soon board games will become routine and help expand your child’s social and communication skills.