Educational Toy Reviews provided by Keri Wilmot, the ToyQueen who is a mother and pediatric occupational therapist.
Last summer I had the pleasure of reviewing the BabbaBox from BabbaCo, a subscription based, themed arts and crafts kit, designed to bring families together completing activities and through careful preparation, taking away some of the stress and chaos of planning an activity, then having to retrieve all the necessary items. This weekend, at a blogger [...]
As an occupational therapist, when Gavin was born, I knew a lot about developmental baby toys. However, those of us that have kids know no matter how much reading you do, even if your job prior to having children involved working with kids in some capacity, babies don’t come with instruction manuals and nothing can [...]
As soon as kids around 1-year-old begin to pull themselves up to a standing position and begin to walk, riding toys for toddlers become increasingly popular. They offer a great way for kids to practice walking and developing balance, as they push it from behind, and they learn to develop coordination and the muscles in [...]
Everyday as an occupational therapist I’m teaching kids to write letters, numbers and draw pictures. For most of the children I work with who are challenged by how they hold a pencil, or the ability to pay attention, it’s a daunting task, often met with refusal, especially when I hand over the dreaded pencil and [...]
The time of year has come when the warm days here in the NorthEast are few and far between. Similar to those who can’t play outside in the extreme heat, our kids don’t go outside for recess in extreme cold. Those of us with active kids, we know that life seems to be just a [...]
Several weeks ago I finally took a trip into Boston and learned all about Lush handmade cosmetics. I am a no frills type of person. The question, “What skin care products do you use?” scares the heck out of me. I pretty much use what ever body wash is left over from our last hotel [...]
As the mother of a 3-year-old and an occupational therapist working with children throughout the day on lots of arts and crafts projects, I’ve quickly learned to manage the mess by using either Crayola Color Wonder markers and crayons that only mark on the special paper included, or simply purchasing washable markers and crayons. Using [...]
Last night as I was tucking Gavin in and he was finally drifting off to sleep coincidentally right at dusk, some yahoo neighbor of ours decided that lighting off fireworks was a grand idea. Immediately Gavin bolted out of bed with the fear of God instilled in him, “Mommy, what’s that? Is it thunder?” Bedtime [...]
Learning the letters of the alphabet can be difficult for some and easy for others. Some kids love letters, while others want nothing to do with them, leaving their parents angered and frustrated on how they are going to master this critical life skill for reading and writing. Many parents often tell me how their [...]
You might be thinking what exactly is a fidget toy? If you are like me and you have a very dynamic job where you don’t sit on one spot for very long, then a few times per year you are required to attend lectures and conferences where you need to sit still, it can certainly [...]
I have been fortunate over the past few months to work with some great companies who have been very supportive of our cause here at ToyQueen.com through offering products for review and giveaways both online and offline! These companies include ALEX, Boon, Learning Curve, and Sassy! So I thought I’d combine some of my most favorite items [...]
How many Dads out there can’t wait to buy their kids remote control cars? For all of you who have thought a 1 year old was too young, then you haven’t seen the Fisher-Price Lil Zoomers Shake and Crawl Racer. This sporty little race car moves forward or in circles, either by rolling the ball [...]
Recently Play-Doh has released new playsets that allow children to build and act out fairy tale adventures of Little Red Riding Hood, Hansel and Gretel and the Three Little Pigs using their Play-Doh. Each playset comes with: – 2 or 3 different containers with different color Play-Doh – Unique Play-Doh molds that allow children to [...]
Color Blanks by Rose Art allows both children and adults the ability to design their own unique, three dimensional plastic figurines using clay, stickers, paint and markers! There are several different Color Blank figurine kits that include themes like monsters, pets, bunnies, frogs, ducks, reindeers, snowmen, and pumpkin heads! Inside each Color Blank kit are [...]
Many of you know that I make my living daily as an occupational therapist working with children. At all sorts of events I have had the pleasure of meeting so many great people and last year at Toy Fair 2010 I met a speech pathologist, Sherry Artemenko, who writes her blog called Play on Words, [...]
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