Christmas is coming! And as always, I am on the lookout for fun and educational gifts for my two children. Ivy is nearly 4 years old, she is very talkative and inquisitive. She loves running around, whizzing around on her scooter and singing at the top of her lungs! A lot of her play requires nothing at all, but when we do sit still she loves playing games and getting creative. Here are a few of the gifts that I have chosen for her, that are both fun and educational, so that she can play and learn every day.
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Creative Development Gifts
Ivy absolutely loves to paint. She recently had a magazine that came with little figures and a paint set and it was the first thing that she had to do. She carefully painted the different parts of the characters in a way that I hadn't seen her focus before. So this Frozen pottery set from Sports Direct will be perfect for her.
Some other things that she would definitely love and would develop her creativity and imagination would be a play dough set, small world play set, or a karaoke machine.
Language and Literacy Gifts
I can not believe that Ivy will be starting school next year, but we do need to keep it in mind and start preparing her in fun ways. This Alphabet Acorns Activity set from Learning Resources is the perfect way to start. The set is adorable, she is going to love these teeny tiny little acorns, and I love that they have both the capital and lower case letters to help with letter recognition as well as a tiny object that starts with each letter sound to fit inside. This game of opening and closing acorns and finding the corresponding objects will definitely be one that we play a lot!
Some other great language and literacy gift ideas for Ivy would be a writing set, especially something that a white board or chalk board that can easily be wiped away, a set of books to read together (I've got her this Meg and Mog set as it's her current favourite) or a little computer to help with phonics and letter recognition.
Mathematical Development Gifts
At nearly 4 Ivy is doing really well with her counting skills, so now we're ready to start putting those skills into practise. Games like this Cheeky Monkey Game from Orchard Toys put some problem solving skills into the mix and it's just the sort of challenge that Ivy needs at this stage. Now she will have to decide whether to take risks or to play it safe with the bananas that she already has. Plus it's a very cool 3D game board, unlike any other games that we have already!
Some other great toys for math development are an abacus, some fun numbers to play with, or a counting and sorting set.
STEM Development Gifts
For developing Ivy's knowledge of the world around her, what could be more perfect than the Sylvanian Families Starry Point Lighthouse. It will not only be a starting point for talking about the sea and the use of lighthouses in guiding ships, but it also contains a projector which can illuminate the night sky on her ceiling. I can not wait to see her face light up when she sees the stars all over her room. Such a great way to talk about space and constellations and I'm sure open up Ivy's mind to a world of other questions to investigate.
A few other great gifts to develop science, technology, engineering and math knowledge would be some building toys like Lego, a great magnet set, or even a programable robot toy like this Code-a-pillar!
A few other great gifts to develop science, technology, engineering and math knowledge would be some building toys like Lego, a great magnet set, or even a programable robot toy like this Code-a-pillar!
Physical Development Gifts
Ivy is a very active little girl, so we've got loads of outdoor toys to keep her busy in the summer. It's trickier in the winter when it's cold though. So I'll be encouraging her indoor activities with this Personalised Sports Bag from Bags of Love that she can use for ballet or even for swimming. It's the perfect size to fit her ballet clothes and shoes (and even a snack!) and I choose some sweet photos of her doing ballet to put on each side of it. I was even able to put text on it, so I added her name. She is going to absolutely love putting her things in this bag, and she'll be able to carry it herself easily on her back.
We're also looking to develop Ivy's fine motor skills, so these tools are perfect for playing with, or a threading set would be great too!
Personal and Social Development Gifts
One thing that Ivy can never have too many of is dolls, she absolutely loves them. This Tiny Tears Doll from John Adams will be perfect for her as it's so life like. She will be able to brush her hair and bring her to the potty. I like that she's a doll that looks her age, rather than a baby. This will make it great for me to reinforce the things that we're working on by using Ivy's Tiny Tears doll. Ivy will be able to sit still with her doll and brush her hair while I am brushing hers, and she'll be able to remind her doll to go to the toilet when she needs it.
Some other ideas for toys to develop personal and social skills are toys to encourage conversation about emotions, or a toy that they have to care for to keep it well like a Fur Real Friend.
I can not wait for Christmas now, Ivy is going to be thrilled with these toys, and I am confident that the house isn't going to be full of toys that she'll never play with again. Happy Christmas shopping!
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* This is a review post, we were sent these items in order to play with them and write our honest opinions.*
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