Toys Over Technology

Guest Blog Post by: Elise Duryea, M.A., CCC-SLP

Did you ever wonder if there was one toy that you could purchase for your child which would last them through the years and across many developmental levels? If you have sleeves of TOOBS® from Safari, Ltd, you’ve found the right tool. These small figurines cover countless categories of language vocabulary and can be used to teach the following skills:

• categorization of vocabulary and labeling items
• counting, numbers, math skills
• color identification
• cause and effect
• parts of a whole (i.e. clothing, body parts, etc…)
• prepositional/spatial skills
• verbs, adjectives, pronouns, adverbs
• sounds, words, phrases, and increased sentence production (mean length of utterance)
• grammatically correct speech which includes syntax, morphology, articles, plurals

Unlike technology that children are hooked on today, using Toobs with a child is interactive and allows the adult to vary or modify their prompts or responses based on what a child says during the interaction. When a child is engaged in an app or computer program which is developed to appeal to a large audience and encompasses general concepts, synthesized speech, and limited response times, they are forced to stay within the constraints of the program and are hearing sounds which often do not mimic those in reality. However, face to face interaction using Toobs can target multi levels of development depending upon the skills you are hoping to teach and the level the child is at. The endless activities that you can create with these figurines can be individualized from minute to minute and adapted as a child matures and progresses in their skills and abilities. With Toobs, one is only limited by their imagination as they can be used with children with many disorders or disabilities, and across a wide age range and developmental level. By using these manipulatives with a child, they learn about and experience the world around them. They learn how to read body language, react to facial expressions and tone of voice, and use language as a means of communication. There is no technology in the world that can teach these valuable skills or show your child how much you value the time you spend with them as when you sit down to play.

Elise Duryea, M.A., CCC-SLP

NYS Licensed Speech-Language Pathologist

www.eliseduryea.com

Check out an additional Safari Ltd. Blog: Why Battery-Powered Toys Suck!