Some days, when the temperature climbs to record highs, it is easy to encourage your children to stay in the shade or enjoy a cool afternoon lounging in a hammock. For these lazy days a good book, a craft, a solitary game or a science project will provide focus and wonder for your children.
Some great new items for these type of days include the new solitary brain teaser from Plasmart called Hiccup! This is perfect play for a lazy day for kids ages 6+. Hiccup! is self contained with no loose pieces, takes two hands to manipulate and has a captivating goal! My niece and nephew have been fascinated for hours on end with Hiccup! in between popsicles and dips in the pool of course!
The 4M brand of craft (and science kits) from Playwell Enterprises has a great range of kits under $15.00! These include plate painting, design your own paper lanterns, which look great around the pergola for a family get together or birthday party. Check out the great selection at The Rocking Horse we stock a super variety of these nifty little kits!
Science kits are plentiful and a specialty of neighbourhood toy stores and the selection will provide great opportunities for laughing, learning and playing together with your children. These can be easy play for a small 
group of children and a great activity for mom and dad to explore with the kids! Geyser Tubes™ are an unbelievably exciting outdoor activity. A big field is best or your back yard with access to a garden hose for clean up! The Geyser Tube™ is a loading tube for the famous Diet Coke geyser powered by MENTOS®. It’s difficult to drop the MENTOS® into the bottle before the reaction takes off and you're left soaking wet. The Geyser Tube gives you time to get out of the way of the spray. Check out Geyser Tube activities on YouTube and you’ll ‘get it’.
So stay busy, but, just as importantly stay cool, on those hot hazy lazy days of summer!
From the craziest and zaniest new toys to the retro and classic toys, we will help you find what you are looking for. Whether you're after a specific toy or have no idea what it is you're looking for, have no fear. They understand the language of "it's a thing-a-ma-bob with a whatcha-ma-call-it that's make a sound like swishy-swishy" that my son Bobby asked for." We're here to bring the fun back into toy shopping. You’ll find us at The Rocking Horse in Owen Sound, a member of Neighbourhood Toy Stores of Canada (NETS).
With the technology age upon us, it's easy to overlook some of the things we learned as kids when we're teaching our own little ones.
As a child, I remember watching my mom sitting on the couch, crochet hook or knitting needles in hand, creating beautiful scarves, sweaters, and blankets. It's no wonder that when my own daughter was born I felt the need to learn the same skills, and as she gets older, I find myself wanting to make sure I pass on all I've learned.
It surprises some of our customers that the tools I used to teach myself are the very same ones I will use to teach my daughter. All of these can be found in our store, each one for under $25. And summer gives us some valuable time to create closer knit relationships with our little girls.
Beginning with the Crochet Art Kit from 4M, with its well-illustrated instruction manual (which includes directions for left-handed learners), I was making coasters and small handbags in no time! Those basic skills led me to learn basic patterns for slippers, hats, scarves, and even intricate afghans which, by the way, make wonderful gifts! The kit includes two plastic crochet hooks, a plastic yarn needle, and seven colors of wool, which is more than enough to teach two children at once, or learn along with your child.
When the Quick Knit Loom by Creativity for Kids arrived in our store, I was quick to purchase a kit for myself. Before long, I had learned a whole new way to create handbags, hats, and scarves. Loom knitting is, in my opinion, one of the easier skills for younger kids and a great way to get that on-the-go child to sit still and concentrate for a little while! This kit includes the perfect-sized loom for making a child's hat, as well as a smaller double-sided loom that produces a long tube that can be used to make trivets, dolls, or even floor mats. Also included are a knitting hook, plastic yarn needle, thread needle, and assorted buttons and pony beads to add that special touch.
Other products I often recommend to parents wanting to teach their children these lost skills, are My Chunky & Funky Scarf kit by ALEX (which contains enough yarn for one long scarf, or a shorter one with a hat, and two chunky wooden knitting needles) and the 4M Cross Stitch Kit which has enough supplies to make a purse or pen holder and set of four coasters.
Teaching our children these valuable skills now is sure to provide them with many years of enjoyment. And what child doesn't enjoy showing off their latest piece of artwork? Imagine how much more joy they will get out of wearing it proudly every day when the colder weather arrives!
Monkey Mountain Toys & Games is a member of Neighbourhood Toy Stores of Canada and Okotoks' quality toy and game store with so much more, carrying everything from baby toys to adult board games! Come on by for some fun and laughter! We look forward to seeing you soon! ~ Krista H.
We’re back to give you information on the final three ‘Top Five Toy Picks for Children with Autism.’ Last week we looked at the first two, which were Schleich animals and My Smart Hands flash cards for learning sign language.
Melissa Stolz, Behavioural Therapist and Early Childhood Educator (ECE) with the Children’s Centre Autistic Intervention Program, is the source for our top five toy recommendations.
Melissa has taught me that some of the simplest and most unassuming toys offer amazing possibilities for working with Autistic children, as you will see from the following examples.
Schylling Nesting Sock Monkeys
Children can be very motivated by animals and for some reason monkeys seem to be one of the favourites. 
The nesting monkeys are a terrific tool for learning sizing and sequencing, from beginner through to advanced levels. Additionally, the Schylling Nesting Sock Monkeys can be used to teach recognition of emotions.
Each monkey in the set of six has a cute facial expression unique to that monkey. Melissa likes this. She finds when she is teaching what emotions are and how to recognize different emotions, her children will have no interest in what her face is doing but will be fascinated with the monkeys. She uses them to help the child identify what the most common emotions look like and how to match the facial expression to the feeling. The monkeys, from large to small, show the expressions of happy, worried, surprised, silly, angry and proud.
Lauri Number Puzzle Boards and Pegs
This is one of Melissa’s favourite toys for working on fine motor skills, spatial relations and math skills. Its 
versatility means there are numerous ways the Lauri Number Puzzle Boards and Pegs can be used to teach a variety of different skills. The number boards consist of many different parts; a large and small puzzle piece that fit together, a number piece that fits inside the small puzzle part, a set number of spots where the child would place pegs on the large puzzle part as well as large, colourful pegs.
She uses the puzzle portion of the toy to teach her children to fit simple puzzles together and as a way to learn about ‘apart and together’.
She also uses Lauri Number Puzzle Boards and Pegs for number recognition and counting. The number that is found on the smaller puzzle piece can be removed and used on its own to help your child to learn their numbers and place numbers in order. Other elements that can be taught with the use of Lauri Number Puzzle Boards and Pegs include hand and eye coordination, number printing, matching, counting, grouping and patterning.
Melissa & Doug Kitchen/Food Products
Melissa finds the Melissa & Doug kitchen and food product toys particularly useful for teaching item recognition and tool association and also uses these for ‘real life’ pretend play.
For instance, she will set up a table with a place setting and ask the child to name each item on the table 
as they hold it up. The next step will be to teach the children how to hold each item and what it is used for.
The food sets are perfect for ‘real life’ pretend play. Melissa & Doug offers a diverse range of food sets ranging from vegetables to fruit, fast food, desserts, the four food groups, even sushi and pizza. She likes to use each of these to help a child identify the names of different foods that can be found at their house.
A real plus is that a lot of the Melissa & Doug sets are either ‘put together’ or ‘cut apart’. They can be used to show how something like a sandwich is made, a cupcake or brownie is decorated or how to put toppings on a pizza. There is a set called the ‘Wooden Slice and Bake Cookie Set’ that is one of her favourites. The wooden cookies have Velcro pieces on them that help them to stay together. You put the cookies into the cookie tube and close it up, then use the knife that comes with the set to “cut” the dough into slices to be ‘baked’.
Remember that I have detailed exercises on how to use each of these toys as a learning tool, based on what I learned from Melissa. I would be happy to share this information with you, wherever you are. Just email me your request.
Toy Sense is a giant specialty toy retailer in Thunder Bay ON and a member of Neighbourhood Toy Stores 
of Canada (NETS). We offer a fun and friendly shopping environment with a knowledgeable sales staff that provides the expert advice needed to the find the ‘perfect’ toy. Our products are hand-picked by our experienced staff which gives you widest selection of the best products available at a variety of price points. Our 4000+ square foot showroom boasts over 8500 in-stock items. We pride ourselves on the quality and uniqueness of our toy selection.
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