Hello Again and Top Toys for Tots {via Playing with Words 365}

After a {too long} hiatus, I feel it is time to resurrect this blog! Baby Signs with Gina Barton moved from New York City to Connecticut and it has been a bit busy ever since.

I have a new idea for what to include on here. I feel that although I am passionate about communication, signing, and speech and language development, I am not a professional on these topics and am still learning so much. So here is the idea:

Along with updates on my classes, I want to mainly feature articles and blogs that I come across that I think are so great that are written by parenting experts, Speech-language Pathologists, the founders of Baby Signs, Inc. etc. My goal in this idea is to give you resource center of sorts for many different topics concerning children, development, parenting, signing, and much more. I hope to post every Tuesday.

Sound good? I'll add my own thoughts in here and there too.

On that note, I have come across this fantastic blog/website that I love:

Playing With Words 365

I've subscribed to her e-mail list and love reading each entry she makes. With the holidays just around the corner, I know we parents are thinking and have already started to buy toys for our little ones. Katie, the blogger, features her Top Toys for Speech and Language development in a 4 installment series.

Here are the links and her lists of toys (in no particular order) if you need a quick overview:

Part 1
1. Stacking/Nesting Toys
2. Wooden Blocks
3. Balls, balls, and more balls
4. Shape Sorter
5. Toy Phone

Part 2
6. Baby dolls (for girls and boys)
7. Baby stroller and/or grocery cart
8. Cars/trucks/trains (for boy and girls)
9. Mr. Potato Head
10. Farm Set


Part 3
11. Kitchen Set
12. Doll House
13. Doctor/Vet Set
14. Dress-up clothes
15. Sand/water play table and toys

Part 4
16. Ride on/Toy car
17. Insert Puzzles
18. Magnetic Letters and Board
19. Magnadoodle
20. Play-doh


What is so great about this article is that she explains why each toy is good for speech/language development and what areas it progresses. So please, please, please go to the links and read through it if you are at all interested in why you she recommends them. It is so interesting and I feel so much better about buying a toy for my daughter knowing the benefits behind it and that  it has a professional mark of approval. I think Santa might be bringing a Mr. Potato head this year!

Such a great read!

Happy Signing,
Gina