Have you heard of the Fat Brain Toys brand? I have several of their toys and each one has a valuable play while learning concept to it. In this blog post, I'll focus on the Dimpl Digits toy. There are a few ideas I will share that can help you help your toddler be the smartest toddler on the block!
- This toy requires some finger strength from your toddler. This will help with fine motor and gross motor skills, while strengthening your toddler's fingers. I love this because I will eventually teach my daughter how to play the piano and she will have strong fingers to rock out like Billy Joel!
- As you pop one circle, you have to flip over the toy to pop it back. It is a never-ending cycle. This introduces the idea of cause and effect. Cause: you pop the circle; effect: the circle caves in.
- As your toddler becomes more familiar with the toy, she will learn to flip the circle over and start again. This helps with critical thinking skills. "How can I pop the circles again?" Even though it is so simple for us to realize this, simply tasks like these are critical to develop your child's thinking skills. Let her explore the toy and its features. Model how to play the toy, but be sure not to flip it over for her each time.
- This toys makes for a great travel toy! No batteries, no little parts and no mess.
- I've mentioned in previous posts how much I love multi-level developmental toys and this is one of them! This particular toy is numbered 1-10, in English and Spanish. Sometimes I will sit with my toddler to pop together and I'll count the numbers out loud in both languages. It also has raised dots representing each number. Once my daughter is ready to learn counting, I will have her trace her finger over the dots and count with her. On the "one" spot, there is one dot and so on until ten. So not only is she popping circles, but there's a math element to it.
- Lastly, you can help your toddler identify colors. At first, you can pop one and say, "I'm pressing on the yellow circle." Eventually, you can ask your toddler to pop a certain color, "Where is the orange circle? Press the orange circle." As your toddler starts to talk, you can point to a color and ask what color that is.
And there you have it! A simple toy by Fat Brain that helps develop your own toddler's brain! As always with my posts and suggestions, try one idea out and see what works for you. Your toddler will love playing together with you.
