Learning through play

I love playtime. I loved playing as a child, creating new games, imagining new adventures and exploring new places. As a mom and a teacher I see the value in play. I love how playing outdoors naturally lends itself to a world of exploration and discovery. My kids and I can be throwing a ball back and forth, when all of a sudden we see a flock of birds fly through the sky in a 'V'. The conversation quickly turns from "mommy catch" to "mommy look at the birds! Why are they flying in a V mommy?" Learning through play is something that I often tried to foster as a teacher and have translated that perspective into my motherhood role.

My family recently discovered Grippies from Guidecraft. They are tactile builders that even infants can grasp. They all have different textures for kids to explore using their sense of touch and taste - because let's be honest, EVERYTHING goes in their mouth at that age! But, the coolest feature of the Grippies is that each piece is magnetic. So, my nine month old nephew connected three pieces together all by himself! (He may also be a super child because he sleeps through the night, is happy 24/7 and smiles on demand). 

You should have seen the joy on his face when he realized he had connected these pieces together! It was a Kodak moment to say the least. I love Guidecraft for that reason. They are constantly creating new innovative toys that allow children to learn, play and create at any age.

Future engineer in training?

My son is a toddler and is a very typical boy. He does love arts and crafts (probably because his mom loves them and brought out the paints at a very early age) but his favourite activities are anything to do with dirt, diggers, things that move, trucks etc. So when I saw the Guidecraft Construction Sort and Match I knew it would be a perfect toy for Jake. Now Jake is three in November but he loved matching the pieces to create the truck on the card. There are cards with trucks and you have to find the right pieces to create the different trucks. Jake had no idea he was learning about sizes, sorting and colours all while creating TRUCKS! One of his favourites :) 

The pieces are all magnetic so they stick easily to the white board. After Jake created the two trucks in the pictures, he started to create his own which I loved. Guidecraft creates toys that give childern a platform for learning and then children can take off and create something incredible! 

I was so impressed with the quality and craftsmanship of the toys from Guidecraft. I love when my children are engaged in a toy and don't even realize how much they are learning. There is something magical when you watch a child discover and create all on their own and Guidecraft allowed our children to do that this week! Sun's out today so we are taking our toys outside! Happy almost weekend!