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Languages for Little Learners from Icklelingo
According to research, children should be introduced to foreign languages as early as possible. There are many advantages for children who learn multiple languages from an early age, these benefits are lifelong and can be hugely valuable in the future.
- Introducing your child to foreign languages can help to develop their awareness and appreciation for diversity.
- Whilst your child is learning foreign languages they will also increase their ability within English.
- It is far easier to absorb new information at an early age, young children also seem to be able to compartmentalise each separate language correctly and tend not to confuse separate languages which they may be learning.
- If children learn a second or third language at an early age they will achieve a more native grasp of the grammar and pronunciation included within the language.
- Children who learn a foreign language statistically tend to score higher within future examinations, therefore it could be suggested that learning a second/ third language could improve your child academically.
- Learning a foreign language can boost your child’s confidence and can be great fun.
Icklelingo has produced a range of books and cards aimed at children aged twenty four months plus to help develop early language skills. The Icklelingo books and cards are designed to introduce first words in a range of languages through engaging artwork. The Icklelingo books have been specifically designed to meet the needs of bilingual households and parents who are keen to introduce new languages to their children from an early age.
The Icklelingo books are available in six differing key languages including:
- French
- German
- Greek
- Polish
- Italian
- Spanish
Mums Baby Magazine put three of the Icklelingo books to the test with a talkative toddler who enjoys dabbling with new sounds. We were impressed with the quality and durability of the Icklelingo books, designed specifically for little fingers, the Icklelingo books are board books (hard, thick card pages to prevent ripping or damage) and therefore are ideal for small children.
Each Icklelingo
features twelve pages covering a range of subjects introducing children to a range of language basics including:
- Numbers
- Colours
- Clothing
- Family
- Outside
- Fruit and Vegetables
- Sea Life
- Animals
Each page features bright, colourful and bold images which will capture children’s attention. We spent an afternoon with our toddler tester and the French version of the Icklelingo book browsing through the pages, pointing out and saying words out loud together, our toddler seemed to find the books interesting and enjoyed pointing at the pictures and repeating the words learnt both in French and English.
Later in the week we once again spent time pointing to the images and were impressed to find that our toddler seemed to remember the words taught and showed great pride in being able to say the words in another language.
We have continued to make regular use of the Icklelingo books with our toddler tester, these books would be ideal to take along on a foreign holiday to enable children to access alternative languages and try out their new found skills abroad. Whilst toddlers and young children have an exceptional ability for learning, we suggest that it best to stick to one additional language to aid focus and avoid confusion.
Icklelingo products are printed using environmentally friendly ink (soya ink), the full range of Icklelingo books are available for £6.00 GBP from www.icklelingo.com
Icklelingo also produce a range of celebration cards (available in six languages and five differing designs similar to those featured within the books). Both bold and beautiful, the Icklelingo card range is ideal for sending to ‘little learners’ to celebrate achievements and occasions. The Icklelingo cards are available from www.icklelingo.com for £2.50 each.
Mums Baby Magazine were greatly impressed with the content and quality of the Icklelingo books, our toddler tester also seemed fairly impressed and therefore we give the Icklelingo book range a terrific ten out of ten!
Get Gardening, Get Green Fingers, Get Tolo Tools for Tots!
Gardening is a relaxing and mentally stimulating past time for adults and children too. Whilst safety is crucial to consider whilst working outdoors with children, as parents we tend to shy away from allowing little ones to make use of tools and implements in and out of the house due to worries over safety. With proper adult supervision (preferably on a one to one basis) and careful mentoring, we as parents can enable our children to build essential life skills. Gardening enables children to become more aware of their environment and learn how to care for and tend to the natural aspects of their outdoor surroundings.
Don’t be frightened of getting mucky! Find some old clothes for both you and your child, select a patch of the garden in which you wish to work and allow your little one/s to watch and become involved in a wonderful, family activity which is a fantastic tool for learning and offers many opportunities to build further understanding upon the world in which we live.
Gardening stimulates all five of your child’s senses, it is hugely beneficial for all involved. Here are just a few reasons for you and your little one to ‘go green and get gardening’…
- Building an understanding upon growth within the natural World.
- Teaching and practicing patience
- Encouraging your child to care for and nurture their surroundings.
- Encouraging bonding between the family as the activity is carried out.
- Learning where food comes from.
- Building an intimate relationship with the Earth
- Spending time outdoors promotes an active and healthy lifestyle, we all know the wonders that fresh air can do!
- Encourages cooperation and team work.
- Builds learning within Biology and Science from an early age.
- Reduce Stress Levels for all involved.
Tolo Toys sell a wide range of gardening tools for young gardeners. Mums Baby Magazine put three of the tools (one hand held trowel, one hand held rake and one hand held gardening fork) to the test with our toddler tester…
Each tool is made from solid steel featuring a robust, plastic handle which is easy to grip and colourful, preventing the tools from becoming easily lost within the garden. Each handle has a hole at the end for easy hanging/ storage.
Children love to mimic and copy adults, whilst many toys are designed for this very reason (such as scaled down pushchairs, hoovers and such) the Tolo Gardening Tools are full sized and also function as adult gardening tools., for this reason parents need to spend time teaching children how to hold and use the tools safely before activities within the garden are carried out. The Tolo Gardening Tools are quite chunky and should not be treated as toys.
Our toddler tester enjoyed many hours of digging, raking and turning soil using the Tolo Gardening Tools. After use, the tools can be wiped down easily and should be stored somewhere safe as these gardening tools should only be used with adult supervision.
The Tolo Gardening Tools provides young gardeners with an enjoyable, relaxing and stimulating experience which helps children to develop a wide range of skills and understanding from an early age. Mums Baby Magazine give the Tolo Gardening Tools 10/10, The Tolo Gardening Tools are available from www.tolotoys.com for £4.99 each.
Furnishing Fun with Le Toy Van Sugar Plum Furniture Collection
Spending time playing with a Dolls House is the perfect pastime to stimulate early learning. Playing with a dolls house enables children to take charge and practice control, deciding where furniture and characters are to be placed and to create scenarios and stories using characters and props. Dolls Play isn’t just for girls, neither is it just for children… Whilst as adults we not physically sit and play with dolls houses, many of us still enjoy playing ‘Big Brother’, controlling and observing characters through media such as computer games including ‘The Sims’ and ‘World of Warcraft’, both of which are hugely popular around the World.
Role Play is an important practice for both children and adults to carry out in order to make sense of the World. Children learn through observing and copying our actions, A Dolls House offers children the chance to copy and rehearse life actions in a safe environment, in order to enhance your child’s learning and experience be sure that the Dolls House used includes a range of decor and furnishings. By including furniture, decor and characters children are able to create a range of scenarios in a miniature World where the limitations and endless.
Le Toy Van’s Sugar Plum Furniture Collection is a intricately detailed, beautifully painted collection of furnishings, all of which are sized and scaled to fit the Le Toy Van Wooden Dolls Houses. Mums Baby Magazine put The Sugar Plum Furniture Collection (including six specific furniture sets) to the test with two toddlers at play with the ‘Strawberry Villa Dolls House’ (also from Le Toy Van). From the moment the furniture was included during play it was clear that the children were completely and utterly submerged in play, lost in a miniature World in which they could set the rules.
During play with our toddler testers,it was particularly interesting to observe how the children firstly began placing the furniture in particular spaces and then named that space with as a particular room. Only once they had placed a miniature oven, kettle and fridge into an area was it named ‘a kitchen’, before this the room was nameless. The children spent a great deal of time organising and placing furniture before engaging in role play as a character or doll. Without furnishings and decor dolls are unable to act as children themselves do within the home environment. Only once furniture was included within play could the dolls spend time sitting at a table chatting over a cup of tea, taking a nap in bed or relaxing in a warm bath… A child’s imagination has no limits, it is clear that Le Toy Van are aware of this as the Sugar Plum Furniture Collection is designed to a high level of detail and functionality.
The Le Toy Van Sugar Plum Furniture collection features six packs of furniture (all available to purchase separately). Whilst the packaging suggests that the furniture items are suitable from three years and upwards, Mums Baby Magazine would like to suggest that some items are kept away until your child is a little older as there are some tiny pieces such as pots and pans (dependent upon the set purchased) which potentially could be a choking hazard for young children. Otherwise, the Le Toy Van Sugar Plum Furniture Collection is a delightful addition for any dolls house which will certainly enhance play.
The Sugar Plum Dining Room Set
The Sugar Plum Dining Room set includes:
- 4 x chairs
- 1 x table (with table cloth)
- 2 x plates
- 2 x cups
- 1 x kettle
- 3 x cooking pots
- 1 x side board with functioning drawers
- 1 x picture (to stick onto the wall)
The Sugar Plum Children’s Room Set
The Sugar Plum Children’s Room Furniture Set includes:
- 1 x miniature dolls house (in two separate parts)
- 1 x buggy/ pram
- 1 x peg baby
- 1 x sleeping bag for peg baby
- 1 x cot
- 1 x set of bunk beds and ladder (these can be separated into single beds)
- 2 x pillows
- 2 x duvet covers
- 1 x basket ball hoop (with stickers to place onto wall) and ball
- 1 x skateboard (the wheels move and dolls can ride this during their free time)
- 1 x bedside table
- 1 x lamp
- 1 x chest (fully functioning lid)
The Sugar Plum Living Room Set
The Sugar Plum Living Room Furniture Collection includes:
- 1 x fire
- 1 x clock
- 1 x television
- 1 x television table
- 1 x chair
- 1 x sofa
- 3 x cushions
- 1 x rug
- 1 x telephone
- 1 x lamp
- 1 x sideboard (with fully functional drawers)
The Sugar Plum Bathroom Set includes:
- 1 x toilet (including lid which opens and closes)
- 1 x toilet mat (U Shaped)
- 1 x towel peg set (with adhesive pad to be placed onto wall)
- 2 x towels
- 1 x towel rail
- 1 x sink unit
- 1 x bath mat (fish shaped)
- 1 x bath/ shower (with functioning shower curtain)
The Sugar Plum Master Bedroom Furniture Set includes:
- 1 x double bed
- 2 x pillows
- 1 x duvet
- 1 x picture (with adhesive to place onto wall)
- 1 x bedside table/ drawer (with functioning drawer)
- 1 x bedside lamp
- 1 x vanity unit
- 1 x vanity chair
- 1 x wardrobe (with opening doors and coat hangers!)
- 1 x rug
The Sugar Plum Kitchen Furniture Set includes:
- 1 x oven (with functioning oven door)
- 1 x fridge (with fully functioning door)
- 1 x pan
- 1 x white cooking pot
- 2 x cups
- 1 x kitchen table
- 2 x stools/ chairs
- 1 x kettle
- 1 x sink unit
- 1 x rolling pin
Mums Baby Magazine were highly impressed by the level of detail put into the design and creation of the Le Toy Van Sugar Plum Furniture Collection. Each piece of furniture is brightly painted with a glossy finish. Where possible, Le Toy Van have made it possible for the miniature furniture to function as in real life and just to add that an extra essence of reality into play, Le Toy Van have used fabrics to create tactile, textured items such as bedding, curtains, pillows and rugs.
Mums Baby Magazine give the Le Toy Van Sugar Plum Furniture Collection 10/10. As explained, there are six different room collections available within the Sugar Plum Furniture Collection, whilst it would be lovely to own all six, Mums Baby Magazine found that including all six collections into a large Dolls House was excessive and seemed to overcrowd the Dolls House. We would therefore recommend ownership of perhaps four out of the six or perhaps splitting the collections for differing scenarios. We feel that ideally, it would be best to include the following setup within a dolls house:
- Kitchen
- Bathroom
- Living Room / Dining Room
- Master bedroom/ Children’s bedroom
We would therefore recommend purchasing at least four collections in order to offer your child a range of furniture for each room within a dolls house. The Sugar Plum Furniture Collection retails individually from around £14.99 upwards (according to the specific set). There are also many online retailors which offer furniture starter packs or alternatively Dolls Houses within the inclusion of a range of Le Toy Van furniture (including our online shop where we offer a range of Le Toy Van Dolls Houses with furniture included). For further information upon retailors visit www.letoyvan.com
Creating Collages Hands On!
Painting is a fantastic creative outlet for both children and parents. Whilst as adults we have adapted and learnt to make use of tools such as paintbrushes and knives to practice painting, young children much prefer a more ‘hands on’ approach when it comes to painting. Hand printing may be a little messy but it is huge amounts of fun and is a fantastic way in which to record your child’s development, and create beautiful momentos.
Hand printing is a very popular activity with little ones, be warned that once you start this activity it may be sometime before your little one is willing to stop…Although you may find yourself with realms of printed handprints, don’t throw them away as each handprint is precious and can be used to create art, gifts and keepsakes. A simple handprint can become a tree, a sunshine, a heart, a flower, a star and much more.
After painting/ hand printing allow your child’s work to dry and then cut each print out individually. If your child is old enough they could use this as an opportunity to practice cutting skills. Once cut, arrange the handprints onto backing paper as required and then stick accordingly. Collage creation enables a simple activity such as hand printing to become a three step process which offers children further opportunities to develop creative and practical skills.
Painting, cutting and sticking is wonderful fun for both children and parents, try not to worry about making mess, instead try to have fun and relax. Remember children learn when they are having fun….
TOP TIP!
Quite often painting sessions with little ones can end up becoming a race to find further sheets of paper as your little one excitedly covers their hands with paint ready to print. Rather than having to select individual pieces of paper for your child to paint upon, why not try a paper realm? Mums Baby Magazine now stock the Guidecraft Tabletop Paper Centre for only £30 (including a realm of paper over 300ft in length!)
Purposeful Play with the Strawberry Villa Dolls House from Le Toy Van
Dolls Houses are the ideal toy to stimulate and encourage role play and imagination. Sitting and playing with a dolls house allows children to freely explore scenarios building their creativity, social skills and language development. Dolls Houses enable children to practice story telling, freely bringing fantasy into reality through miniature domestic play. Whilst children may have little control over their own lives, they can exercise control through dolls house play, making decisions upon the actions and locations of the contents. Children must practice role play in order to bring dolls to life, giving each doll a character and a purpose, whilst this is great fun for little ones, it is also stimulating their intellectual development and emotional intelligence.
Traditional, wooden toys offer far more than the modern, technological gadgets which seem to clutter many children’s toy boxes. Wooden toys are built to last, they do not require batteries, are not easily broken and whilst they may not speak at the press of a button or play garish Music they are much more fun. Traditional wooden toys require active participation, play and imagination, thus children become far more absorbed and involved within play.
Mums Baby Magazine put the Le Toy Van Strawberry Villa’ Dolls House to the test with two terrific toddler testers (one of either gender). Suitable from three years upwards, the Strawberry Villa Dolls house is scaled to fit ‘Le Toy Van’ furnishings and dolls and measures 350mm in depth, 670mm in height and 610mm in width. The Strawberry Villa Dolls House arrives as a flat pack and takes approximately one hour to build. Whilst Le Toy Vans Dolls Houses are fairly easy to put together, they are sturdy and built to last.
The Strawberry Villa is one of the largest wooden Dolls Houses stocked by Le Toy Van, featuring nine blue window boxes which can be opened (five of which also have functioning shutters), and a large door which can be opened and shut. The Strawberry Villa Dolls House can be opened for interior play by lifting the roof panel to reveal a large attic space and then opening the two front panels of the house which reveal two floors connected by a large wooden stair case (the stair case be removed easily if required).
Painted and decorated with non toxic, child-safe paint, the Strawberry Villa Dolls House from Le Toy Van is an exquisitely beautiful Dolls House designed to an incredibly high level of detail. The Strawberry Villa Dolls House is the perfect toy for either gender which could be proudly passed down from generation to 
generation.
Whilst Dolls Houses tend to be stereotyped as ‘girls toys’ they are far from it! Our two toddler testers had hours of fun playing with the Le Toy Van Strawberry Villa Dolls House. Both children were fascinated by the functioning features such as the windows and doors and spent some time altering them to their requirements. Upon opening the dolls house, both children were surprised to find beautifully decorated miniature rooms which soon became kitchens, living rooms, bedrooms, playrooms and much more as the children brought the dolls house to life. Through playing with the Dolls House, the children practiced fine motor skills through manipulation of the miniature features, they also enjoyed practicing cooperation and developing their social skills through role play and the social interaction of playing together.
Mums Baby Magazine give the Le Toy Van Strawberry Villa Dolls House 10/10, We are also proud to announce that we now stock the Le Toy Van Strawberry Villa Dolls House in our online store for £169.99. This price also includes six individual furniture sets (each of which usually retails from £15.00). For further information upon this specific deal click here. Alternatively there are wide range of online stockists all of which can be found at www.letoyvan.com
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