My older son J, who is a week shy of 4 yrs old, has started to play independently. It’s been a noticeable shift from the constant demanding that I play with him every moment of every day.
Some days it’s nice, but other days I miss connecting with him.
Because of this, I’ve been looking for activities that we can do together as a team. Activities that give us the time to connect.
He has really enjoyed playing with shapes lately. He received a Tangram game in a recent kids meal from a restaurant and has been pretty obsessed with it.
I thought that the Tangrams would be it…they were going to be one of those things we could do together.
The basic concept of a Tangram is using 7 shapes to make other shapes.
The problem with our little set from the restaurant is that J had a really hard time keeping the shapes from sliding around on the table when we were trying to build.
I decided that we needed something better. When I was sent this Magnetic Make a Shape toy from The Learning Journey, I knew it would be a hit.
Since this set is magnetic, he was able to build his shapes without everything moving around and getting all messed up. It really helped his frustration level.
Some of the cards provided are hard for him to figure out, so he likes for me to sit with him so we can work on it together.
We problem solve and work out the puzzles as a team.
It’s not only great for him to learn, but it’s also a wonderful way for us to connect.
Even though some of them are challenging, there are several that he can do independently.
He chose to not let me help him with this one and instead he wanted to show me that he could do it on his own.
He was very proud of his train.
This will be one of those toys I will have in my toolbox for hard days.
I can either bring it out for him to have something to do during those times when I need him engaged in something, like when I’m making dinner.
Or, it will be something that we do together.
As much as J loves playing with trucks, it’s not really something that I like to do. So, I’m grateful for toys like this that we both enjoy!
Tell me, what toys do you enjoy playing with your kids? I need a few more in my toolbox!
This product was given to me by The Learning Journey International for a review of their product. Read my disclosure policy here.
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Amanda
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Amanda,
The Magnetic Make A Shape looks really awesome! Really helps to build motor skills besides being fun too. My daughters and I love playing Legos believe it or not. They really enjoy building things together with me. Also, we have a huge assortment of building block with letters on them and we started out by spelling their names with the blocks and they loved it. Nice post, I enjoyed reading it.
Oh yes, trucks and cars and trains… not my favorite either! 🙂 My 4 year old has a similar shapes game but he prefers to play it alone since he is super conscious about being watched while solving puzzles and the like. I sit at the table with him and do something else. Actually he usually prefers to play with toys alone (will sometimes invite me to play trucks), likes to play video games with his brother, and physical imagination play with me or my husband. He also enjoys helping us with manual labor “tasks” like filling up the bird feeders, working in the yard or garden, etc.