Counting Bears

 

This unique toy uses weight, size, and color to showcase math concepts, such as counting, estimating, addition, and subtraction. The bears give your child a physical connection to numbers that encourages the understanding of math concepts.

“My 3 year old plays with these for hours at a time. They are quite versatile, and there are a ton of activities for them posted online. We use them for math games, pre-reading preparedness, patterns, grouping, pretend play, and more. The bears are durable and well made; I know they will last through all of my children (and longer!). I would buy these again, and have already recommended them to several other parents.” – Tray Achorn, Amazon

Giggle Wiggle

 

This dancing caterpillar challenges up to four kids to place marbles on its wobbling hands without getting knocked off! This game fires up competitive kids and works to enhance motor skills.

“Not only is it challenging, but it’s silly and fun! It plays cute, upbeat music that the caterpillar dances to while you try to put the colored balls into his hands. It is super easy to assemble as all you do is pop the pieces together, and pick which color you want his bow tie to be.”

– Semperfimommy2014, Walmart

Crazy Cereal Game

 

This colorful game requires your little one to scoop out the cereal pieces that match the color of the spoon. While they race to get to the bottom of the bowl, kids are learning color recognition, fine motor skills, and hand-eye coordination.

“We love this game! It’s colorful, easy to play (or make up your own rules) and perfect when we need a little pre-meal distraction. Who doesn’t love bright colors, flashing lights and well, CEREAL? It’s great for counting, sorting, hand-eye coordination, manual dexterity and family fun. BEWARE, it will make you want to eat sugary cereal!”

– Educational Insights

Pancake Pile Up

 

Inspire your children to cook with this super fun relay game! Once kids get a hold of the spatula, they must match their pancake stack to a card and race to complete the pancake pile without knocking it over or losing an ingredient. The balancing action and sequencing make this game ideal for developing motor skills and coordination.

“Easy to explain and get the game going. Fun and active. Easy to change up the rules to accommodate different ages. Even my 2 year old granddaughter grasped the concept! Not an excessive amount of pieces to keep track of, the box is sturdy for storage after play, and kiddos use the pancakes for making me ‘breakfast’. Great game. Great price.”

– CookswithLove51, Target

Zingo

 

This bingo game tests your child’s ability to recognize words and pictures quickly, building early-reading vocabulary and recognition skills. The fast-paced game keeps the kids entertained and engaged. They don’t even notice they’re learning!

“This is really a great game for everyone. We played it for hours with out 3 year old granddaughter. It’s a twist on bingo that has a little extra feature with the way the plastic disks come out of the dispenser.” – Berniculous, Walmart

Picasso Tiles

 

Nothing sparks creativity like this completely customizable set of magnetic tiles. The square and triangular tiles can be used to build simple structures or full on castles! At its core, this is a STEM toy that both parents and children can enjoy.

“My kids love these Picasso tiles! Watching their creative minds at work is amazing. These tiles allow them to think outside the box. I get to watch their ideas come to life. They are great quality, easy to use, stay together very well and simply amazing.”

– Shelby, Walmart

Adventures in Odyssey CD Collection

 

When your usual kid’s TV shows aren’t doing the trick, Adventures in Odyssey saves the day with its wholesome stories about the adventurous people of Odyssey. With over 72 CD collections to choose from, your kids will never run out of exciting stories.

“Great product. Didn’t think my kids would like audio drama when they have DVD player, phone, iPods, iPads, etc. But they put those other things down to listen to this. Used this on a recent 6 hour drive and time flew by, even with 3 kids with ages from 7-13. All 3 really liked it.”

– Cjbias, Christianbooks.com

Sight Words Swat

 

Kids from the preschool level to third grade can grow their vocabulary with this fly swatting game. With fly swatters in hand, children are challenged to match the word they hear to the text on one of the bugs.

“This game is great! My kindergarten class LOVES it! It’s a fun fast paced way to build sight word fluency. The materials seem to be well made and are holding up to daily use after a few months.”

– Amazon

These items have truly elevated my homeschooling strategies by introducing math and reading skills as well as developing motor skills, coordination, and recognition – all without a textbook. It’s so important to put play into your child’s learning to cultivate their curiosity in a way that encourages them to explore the world around them. Education looks different for every child, so let them journey outside of the classroom!