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Nearly all reception classrooms and nurseries have a least one abacus to encourage children to learn basic counting skills. Our Melissa and Doug Abacus is a fine example of a classic child’s learning toy.
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Alongside requests for wooden number sets, we are always asked for wooden letters so we make sure we carry a varied selection that will help children begin by learning letters and then move on to recognising and spelling basic words. Very young children of around 12 months and above love the BigJigs ABC Wooden Blocks, a smashing set of brightly coloured wooden cubes which are adorned with letters of the alphabet (as well as basic shapes).
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The Melissa and Doug Magnetic Alphabet is a useful wooden box containing all the letters of the alphabet in upper and lower case. The box is divided into two compartments which will allow the children to learn about capital letters and small letters. The capitals will also help them learn to spell names, which is a fun way to introduce the concept of spelling.
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Another very popular learning activity toy is the Melissa and Doug Alphabet Stamp Set. As with most of our wooden letter sets, this one comes in a handy storage case – very important in classrooms and nurseries! – and features 56 wooden blocks with rubber stamps of letters and basic punctuation symbols and a four colour ink block. We all know how much children enjoy stamping and this clever set will encourage them to experiment with letters and spelling without even realising how much they are learning!
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We have had some very positive feedback about the Melissa and Doug See and Spell set. This is an excellent teaching aid, first of all for basic letter learning and then for basic spelling. Children respond very positively to the challenge of recognising the illustration on each wooden block and then finding the correct letters to fit into the cut outs and therefore spelling the name of whatever is on the block. This toy is definitely one for the home or the classroom and has been popular with parents and teachers for some time.
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Later on this week we will talk about many of the toys which help children to learn about the world around them, but we’ll finish for now with a reminder that we offer a discount* to nurseries and schools, so please don’t forget to tell your local teacher or nursery nurse to contact us when they need assistance choosing toys that encourage learning through play.
*Contact us at [email protected] for more details of how to take advantage of our discount scheme for schools and nurseries.
