Toys that have the touch

I am always on the hunt for toys that will work for Sophie.  Sophie's cerebral palsy makes it difficult for her to press little buttons but it is very hard to find toys that don't need that capability.  To find a toy with music and lights that is easily activated is a celebration in this house.

This past Christmas I came across a Leap Frog Touch Magic toy and I couldn't wait for Sophie to try it out. It just requires a very light swipe, very similar to the Ipad, to activate the music or instruments on the touch pad.  It doesn't captivate Sophie but it is definitely something she can do on her own which is fantastic.  I know that there are other versions as well, like the Learning Bus and Counting Train which I hope to find at some point for her. We have the Ocean Music School version and luckily it is a very reasonably priced toy, I paid about $15 on sale.

Sophie does very well swiping the different areas but I wish that the toy didn't turn off so fast with inactivity.  Sometimes it takes a while for Sophie to get into it and it has already turned off.  Kind of frustrating.  Other than that I love it and it is so nice to have something fun and musical that is new for her to work on her fine and gross motor skills with.

More recently I came across a toy on clearance that I had been searching for at Christmas and couldn't find anywhere.  So bonus that I found it super cheap ($7) and it has been another one that is great for her fine motor skills.

 This toy is a My First Crayola Touch Lights, it has a mess free gel pad with all different glow light colours as well as many different musical songs.  It is a really neat sensory experience for Sophie, the gel pad feels cool under her fingers and the lights and music keep her engaged.  Each time the button is pressed it changes song and colour, the button is large so I am hoping over time Sophie will learn to hit it.

I am always keeping my eyes peeled for new ideas and these ones were a hit!

Valentine's Day sweetness

Sophie is always up for a fun holiday celebration.  She loves opening presents and receiving gifts as much as her brother does.  Valentine's Day is no exception.  Since Sophie does not eat anything by mouth it isn't as easy as buying her some candy or chocolate for this holiday or any other holiday.  There are always alternatives though that are often much better anyway!

Sophie loves Elmo, almost as much as her beloved Wiggles.  So when I found this little Elmo Valentine book I knew it was perfect for my girl.  It also has some touch and feel elements which makes it even better.

Lucas is all about the speed of opening his gifts.  How fast can you get to the candy.

Sophie was happy to give Lucas the Valentine she made for him at school and Lucas thought it was very sweet.  Sophie received Valentine's from all of her school friends, along with many stickers that she can use to make crafts with.  We are so lucky to be surrounded by so much love, not just on Valentine's Day but everyday of the year.

Bubble wrap art

Sophie and I were home this afternoon waiting for the ice storm to arrive while the boys were out swimming.  Sophie has been a bit congested the last day or two so we decided we would lay low so that she can rest up before all the chaos that Christmas will bring. 

She was quite happy and seemed excited when I suggested we make some art so I grabbed some stuff and we went to it.  I have done bubble wrap painting with Sophie a few times and she really seems to like it.  The most exciting part of the prep work is pulling the tape pieces, she just loves that noise and squeals with delight.  So needless to say we pull a lot of tape pieces off the roll.

Once the paper is all taped down on her tray I let her choose the colours, she was quite happy with red and green for Christmas today and she chose to use the red first.  Next I have her help me paint the bubble wrap with her large handled paint brushes and then she does the pressing down on the paper once the bubble wrap is loaded with paint.  We got out the brayer too which she loved.  I try to let her do as much as I can by herself.  Sometimes I need to help her arms up on the tray, sometimes I just need to let her know when it is ready to go.

When we had filled the page and I thought she was worn out I started to put the paints away but Sophie kept banging on the paper.  I asked her if she wanted to do another painting and she was all smiles.  So we used some construction paper and this time added some puffy glitter paint.  I helped her roll the bubble wrap to get the paint onto the paper.  Then we went back and added the puffy paint to the original painting and used the brayer again.  We will definitely use the brayer again because she loved it so much.

We hung her paintings up on the wall to dry and we will get them displayed for Christmas.  She was covered in paint when we were all done and was pretty worn out.  I have a whole bunch of holiday craft ideas to do with the kids so I am excited to only have one more day of work before a week off!
 

A Birthday party - take 2

When we had to cancel Sophie's birthday party in March because she was too sick, we were so sad for her.  We knew that Sophie would have loved having all her friends to our house for an afternoon of fun to celebrate her birthday.  After a month of waiting for her to get healthy and then a month to find the right date, it finally happened on the long weekend.  On Monday afternoon Sophie was able to celebrate her 7th birthday with her friends.  It was all kinds of awesome.

We had a birds and butterflies theme, so all the girls painted birdhouses which was a definite hit.

 

 Each of Sophie's friends helped her open her presents.  They were all very excited to show her what they had chosen for her.  Sophie received some amazing gifts and she has been having lots of fun playing with them and reading all her new books.  It isn't easy finding toys and gifts for Sophie, but each of these girls chose really special items for her.

 

 Sophie and all the girls had a blast running under the parachute.  There is something about a parachute that just exudes fun, I have not met a kid who doesn't love it.

Five of her friends from school were able to make it and they had so much fun.  I wish I could put a photo of the group of them but I haven't received permission to post the photos of two of the girls yet, so that will have to wait.

 

 It was such a great day and I know that Sophie felt the love that was showered on her by her friends.  She is truly a very lucky seven year old.

Playing with magnets

I have been on the hunt for thick cute magnets and thick colourful foam for a while now.  They are hard to find.  I have been wanting to make Sophie some really thick magnets to play with on her magnet board.  The fun foam that you can get at any craft or dollar store is too thin for Sophie to be able to get a grip on it and I wanted to make something that she could manipulate herself.

We have a few other magnet toys for her to play with.....

The Leap Frog fridge farm is great fun.  It sings songs when pressed and tells you what your are looking at like a cow or a horse.  We sometimes play with the magnets on her magnet board instead of on the platform that they come with.  We sort them and make funny animal bodies and talk about their colours.

For Christmas my mom and dad bought Sophie some magnetic whiteboard erasers that are really thick, they found them at Scholar's Choice here and here.  There are other ones that I hope to add to our collection too.  We don't use them as a whiteboard eraser, just as a fun thick magnet that Sophie can get a hold of with some help.  We can talk about what the bird and owl is, what colour they are, make up stories with them and on and on.

We also have some magnetic dress up dolls that are really great for Sophie to practice her choice making.  She can choose what they wear or which doll she wants to play with.

Playing with a friend :)

The other magnet set we have is a Melissa and Doug animal habitats set that we use all the time.  I have photos of it being used by Sophie somewhere. :)  The magnet board in all the photos I am posting is from that set.  It is so handy and the perfect size.

Last weekend I finally finished a project with photos on magnets that I had been wanting to do for some time now. I printed some photos, used some old foam I had (since I couldn't find the nice thick colourful stuff) and bought some magnet sheets at the dollar store. It was so easy to make.  (edited to add: I used Gorilla glue to adhere the photos to the foam, it worked great formin a really good bond and didn't seem to hurt the photos at all.)

I am going to try to paint the old worn foam to pretty it up a bit.  I am going to make alot more of these with photos of family and friends.  Sophie loves to look at photos of people she knows and loves so now she can touch and hold on to those photos too.