ToyQueen at Megabrands Toy Factory

A few weeks ago, I learned I had been one of 5 bloggers chosen to attend the Mega Bloks Rocks Mommy Blogger Event! On Tuesday, as we boarded the Air Canada flight from Boston, Montreal bound for Mega Bloks, the excitement was “building” thinking of what the factory itself would look like, as well as the curiosity of what some of the new products in development for 2010 would be.

When entering the family owned business, which will be celebrating its 25th anniversary next year, there was such a buzz in the air!  Being only three weeks away from Christmas with an intense snowstorm brewing outside, many of us felt like we were at Santa’s Workshop!  Never mind that we spent the day in the showroom, seated amongst all the new products for 2010! Talk about the ToyQueen being in toy heaven! Our name tags were even built out of micro blocks!

Megabloks

Though Mega Bloks is the number one creator of preschool construction toys worldwide, other brands included in the family are Magnext, Battlestrikers, Rose Art and Streetz. Simply, Mega Bloks is so much more than a preschool brand.  Though some products are manufactured in China, many are created 350 days a year, 24 hours per day, right at the plant in Montreal, Canada before being shipped worldwide.

In my opinion, some of the great design elements of Mega Bloks toys allow children to not only use their fine motor and thinking skills to construct with the blocks, but to then interact with the creation in fun, unique ways to promote their imagination!

For the child 6 and older, one of the greatest surprises of the day was the Streetz brand – where children construct a whole city using micro blocks! After it’s complete, miniature cars can maneuver the city.  Children are encouraged to use their fine motor skills to engage their cars in a variety of stunts like launching through donut holes.  Follow Mega Bloks on Twitter – @Megabrands

Small World Toys three piece farm animal puzzle review by Toyqueen. Showing the extra benefits that include grasping techniques and more.
For children 12-18 months, these three piece puzzles from Small World Toys are great way to promote puzzles. Small World Toys makes nice beginner puzzles with only 3 pictures and there is a visual reference underneath. Children will learn the skill by matching the piece to the actual location. For younger smaller hands, they have larger handles to hold onto as it does not take as much skill to rotate the piece into the puzzle. You may need to use hand over hand assistance, where you place your hand over your child’s and teach them to guide the piece into the puzzle. This allows you the opportunity to teach the skill of how to complete a puzzle. It may be helpful if you cover over the pieces they are not working on, so they are not visually distracted and can focus on the piece you provide them. Incorporate language into puzzles by singing songs like Old McDonald Had a Farm, give them the piece, sing the song together, and assist the child with putting in the piece before you sing the next line and move onto the next pieces. This makes the puzzle interactive. Keep extra containers from around the house handy for storage of the pieces. www.toyqueen.com