Self-made Toys

Actually, pictures seem to be self-explanatory but nevertheless I will provide some comments on each.
1. For developing hands and fingers of babies. We take a piece of cloth and make a small bag (alternative: we can take a sock without a pair =)), fill it with different substances: pasta, beans, buckwheat etc. We started to workout fingers when Maria was just 7 m.o. She liked it in the beginning but now, when she is already 1.1 she feels a bit bored with this toy.

2. I found some spare covers in my kitchen and made a logics game for Maria by cutting a hole in a piece of carton for each cover. She likes this game very much and is very happy when all covers fit in the right place.

3. These beads were made by my grandmother, for which I’m very grateful to her. We noticed that Maria as all women loves to make herself beautiful and loves to be in front of the mirror =)))). She became crazy when she saw I was putting my beads on. Soon she got her own beads made out of buttons of different size. They made her really happy!!! She played with her beads (which is also very good for finger workout) already when she was 9 m.o. but they still remain her favourite toy.

4. This toy I made relatively after I spotted intention of our baby to put things in holes, to put covers on top of the bottles, jars. It was exactly what she needed at that moment. Now, I think, this game should become a bit complicated: instead of big rings, buttons will be used and the hole will be much smaller, of course.

5. Absolutely top hit!!! is a house made by Maria’s father from the pasteboard. The house was papered for it to look happier =), but one can draw smth on it, write smth etc. As children psychologists say the house is needed for child’s internal development as it helps child to become more attentive. It also provides additional feeling of safety and soul comfort as the child understands it has its own place, where no adult is allowed. Another advantage of this toy – it will be suitable for many years on.

Touch-me-not

I have combined in one post three ways of spending time togetherr as they are very similar: it is mainly for observation (one cannot touch, feel it etc.), i.e. for attention training but also for fun as it does not require any great effort.

1) Bubbles, bubbles, bubbles…
This one is the most exciting and it is equally interesting for child as well as for an adult. Soap bubbles is our favourite time spending when we are in the bathroom: it is thrilling to observe colourful and multiple bubbles flying around =)). When Maria saw it for the first time, she was astonished. Now she tries to catch them but, to her disappointment, unsuccessfully.

2) Torch
This is realizable only in the dark time, which is good to do in winter period when the day time is short. We turn off the light and lie down on the sofa. I turn on a small torch and start to play with it.

Frankly, I hoped Maria would follow the light. He-he! Nothing like that… =) She needs a torch, she does everything to get it in her hands and mouth. We tried to play with it several times, but in the end seized doing that. However, maybe for some children it can become another entertainment just for a change.

3) Sun
Pity, we did not try it, as we do not get a lot of Sun in our place. The logics here is the same as with the torch: playing with the light with the help of watches or mirror. It should be interesting for small curious babies! =)

Hide-and-Seek 2

The first one (Hide-and-Seek) was described in my post titled “Cuckoo”. As it was stated earlier this game develops attention of the child; teaches him/her to concentrate. The condition necessary for playing it is child’s ability to move (creep, crawl, walk) freely.

We started playing it, probably, a bit too early, when Maria was 6 months old. Now after some training, of course, she became a professional, but in the beginning she was not very much interested in the process.

After installing some new items (soap plate holder, tissue holder, towel ring etc.) in our bathroom, we’ve got some spare boxes, which I decided to use in our games with Maria. I also took her favourite toy Minnie to encourage her to participate actively in the process. I hided Minnie in one of the boxes in front of her eyes and asked her to find it. Upon successful task fulfilment, I changed the places of boxes (again in front of her eyes). As she did well, I was gradually increasing the number of boxes. The successful result of searching Minnie is always praised by me and I can notice that Maria is also enjoying her success!

I'm sure there are many ways how to play this game. One just needs to be creative!

Airplane

Definitely children need to feel their closest people; they need to touch their mums and dads. They love also tactile games.

We play a very short but efficient game (I always manage to lift Maria’s mood with this game) calling it “Airplane”. The game is as follows: we imagine that my hand is an airplane, which slowly approaches Maria with the appropriate sound, crashes into her and starts to tickle her. LOL both of us! And then start it once again while we are not bored with it =D!

Cuckoo

Cuckoo or hide-and-seek is one of the games Maria loves the most at this age. Usually it is me who hides behind the fitball, door, blanket etc. After a while with a cry: “Cuckooooo!” I show up, but every time in different place of the thing I hide behind (sometimes, though, in the same place for the game to become more interesting). Maria is excited and laughs loudly when she guesses the exact place I peek out.

Another variant of this game, Maria also enjoys a lot, is that I cover her with a piece of cloth asking "Where is Maria?", and then remove it saying "Here is Maria". Sometimes Maria is faster than I and removes the cloth herself.

We play this game several times during the day but for a very short time. I would say that this game trains attention of the child. Moreover, I have noticed that her reaction got much better, she is faster in identifying what and where is going on.