One of the most amazing things I find working with children is how much these little minds and hands take in during their first year and a half of life. At such a young age, they are able to match shapes and colors, as well as to learn to complete simple puzzles.

What makes the Ambi Lock A Block different than some traditional shape sorters, is that not only do children learn to match by shape and color, in order to get the pieces out of the box, a key needs to be inserted into the lock to open the door. Though this is hard for many toddlers, it’s a great feature that makes this toy great for a children at different developmental levels. I love how the key is attached to the box, no more missing keys in your playroom!

For young children under the age of one, who might be learning to put items into a container, but haven’t perfected the art of easily letting the pieces go, open the box with the key and use this wide open space for children to put the pieces inside.

The circle is the easiest shape to insert because it does not require any rotation of the pieces to fit. After children master this skill, next encourage them to match the square and triangle.

You might need to help your child by placing your hand over their hand to teach them how to rotate the piece into the proper position. The same is true for learning how to insert the key and turn it to open the door. Small and portable, this toy has found a permanent home in my home visit toy bag for children under the age of 3!

Schylling provided this toy free to facilitate this review. The opinions are my own.

International Playthings provided this shape sorter free for the purpose of a review.  The opinions expressed in this blog post are purely the bloggers own.

As I flipped through, I personally liked the way this catalog was organized with like items sorted by page.  Cute little sayings titled each page for different categories of toys such as – “Own Little World, The Perfect Gift, Building Imagination, Creative Minds, Little Wonders, Constructing Play, Just for Me, Explore Your World, Put on a Show, We’re on the Move, My Wish List, I Like to Pretend.”  I was much more aware of the great variety of imaginary toys sold by Constructive Playthings when I finished reading it for the 10th time!

One of the toys I picked out of this catalog I did not find when searching online that I’d like to try out is the Light & Sound Town,$39.99. I tend to always gravitate towards toys that promote fine motor skill and coordination, and this toy takes the busy box idea to a much more imaginative level as kids activate buttons that operate different vehicles.

Click the link to get your own FREE TOY CATALOG sent directly to your home so both you and your children can start your holiday wish lists early allowing plenty of time for customization if needed!

Guidecraft designer speaks with ToyQueen at ToyFair in New York city

Gary from Guidecraft previews some of their toys. Guidecraft is a creator of wooden toys and furniture for kids. They take pride in products that are more about dramatic and role play than they are about technology. There have a wooden cell phone without lights and sounds to role play being mom, dad, texting and a work environment. The laptop has moveable keys, a mirror and a magnetic background. Instead of typing, children can recreate the experience of being in an office to feel like they are involved in technology. It’s durable and a solid wood product that kids love.

Guidecraft has developed a number of wooden block sets for children. The blocks are made out of rubber wood and have round soft edges. They are an open ended construction toy. Children can play collaboratively and imaginatively together. Guidecraft has designed specialty blocks with tactile and sound experiences. They have designed mirrored blocks, as well as blocks with all different shapes and sizes. With Block Mates, children can take various pieces to add to the blocks to create animals like dinosaurs using the blocks. Blocks can be in the classroom and in the home.

They also developed fine motor and cognitive skills through the Construction Match Sort, to work on pattern recognition, shape sorting, sequencing and color matching. Children pick a card and they need to pick out the pieces that match from the pattern card and create it on the magnetic board. It has educational capabilities, but they can build with plastic pieces without the pattern card. The magnets are sonically welded in for safety.

In an effort to not become cluttered with baby items I put a lot of careful consideration into my choices.  I did not register for a full size high chair, borrowed a friend’s old travel swing and bought an Infantino playmat that folds up to be stored to save on floor space.

This morning I was thinking of a way to entertain my 2 1/2 month old so that I could get a few household chores done in his presence with the use of my own two hands! So I decided to open up the First Years “Infant to Toddler Feeder Seat.” Don’t let the name fool you, he’s not ready for food for another two months or so, but he’ll get a great deal of use of this item before then, I know it! Love it already and so doesn’t Gavin.

Within two minutes it was hooked up to my dining room chair with two straps. I would suggest a towel underneath it to cover your chair for later on when food is introduced. The seat has three positions, so I reclined it all the way back.  At 2 1/2 months, Gavin is doing well developing his trunk (midesection) strength, but he does not have the ability to sit straight up just yet without my help or side (lateral) support. Being reclined, this helps him to be well positioned so he can use his hands to play.  As his strength improves he’ll progress to a more upright position. I put him in the seat with the tray and put a few of his favorite rattles in front of him.

Voila! The recline of the tray puts the items in a better perspective for him to view them and he entertained himself for a good 20 minutes banging away at the toys.  Not to mention he played so hard and so well he’s napping and you’ve got the benefit of this blog post, too!

Check out the new rattle on the tray he got for the holidays.  Sassy has just revamped their infant rattle line and this is one of the three that I purchased at Babies R Us.  Love it! It has a spinning ball on the inside that lights up when you barely hit it, which is great for teaching simple cause and effect at such a young age.  He can easily spin the ball already if I hold it up for him and the light is great in my diaper bag when looking for smaller items that may have been hidden. My friend’s 6 year old enjoyed it as well over the holidays pretending it was an airplane and a rolling car!

So don’t let the young age of your infant and the name of the tools fool you, just because it is a “Feeder Seat” doesn’t mean it can’t be used for entertainment and fun too!

Play-Doh Burger Builder Review by ToyQueen. Your child is developing their hand strength, coordination and imagination to create hamburger combinations complete with toppings using Play-Doh!