I really liked the philosophy on the above websites about the toys she calls 'SCLANS' toys focussing on shapes, colours, letters and numbers- I HATE these for babies!! being exposed to text is one thing- but they really don't need the alphabet for AGES!!
Each to their own, I have to disagree. These type of toys have been DS's favourite things.
His shape sorter, fine motor skills, each shape had a different colour and he had a certain order he would put them in the sorter too. Funnily enough purple was always first and he can now say purple very clearly. I'm not saying he learned the word from that shape sorter but somewhere along the line purple (and pink) have been a big hit with him.
One of his fav fav things ever is flash cards. We don't have any which are just words and I don't sit infront of him firing words like 'mozart' at him whilst he gazes on dumbfounded. All his flash cards had words an pictures, so almost like a book but every page being separate. He utterly loves them and will ask for them to be brought out over and over and over. Some are thin card, some thick, some paper. Some sets have a ring loop through one corner (which my mum did) to keep them together so they can be flipped over, some sets are loose and he takes each one and tosses them to the ground after you say the word. His choice. Again it develops fine motor skill and isn't totally focused on learning the words. A lot of it is enjoyment of looking at the pictures and asking what they are.
Another of his fav fav things ever is books, from when he was a tiny baby. If I hadn't given him so many books I swear he would have thought he was deprived.
He had large plastic letters from about 6 months (or younger perhaps but I can only remember them once he was sitting up) which he would insist you told him what the letters were, although mostly he used them to fill and dump and one in particular he used as a teether when he was cutting teeth. At around 9 or 10 months he could pick out the letter which is his name initial and would collect all of them and repeat the name of the latter over and over. He just has so much fun with them.
Foam letters that stick to the side of the bath I got when he was 12 months. I only put in the letters of his name, later on I added numbers 1 - 5, later 6 - 10 and a couple more letters to make a new word. He can identify them all now and loves to. it isn't about trying to make him clever or advanced or anything (I certainly don't think he is advanced or gifted, just a regular kid and that's fine with me), it's purely for fun.
Magentic letters and number on our fridge I've kept really high up out of his reach for fear of one of the magnets falling out and him choking on it...but recently he is demanding to play with them. I just give him a limited number and only when I am around as I still worry about the magnets! But he gets SUCH a thrill from knowing the letters, and numbers and positioning them in different ways on the fridge too. Obviously learning about magnetic attraction at the same time, but it's the numbers and letters that attract him.
TBH I don't know how he would manage to fill his day if he didn't have these books, letters, numbers, colours, flash cards etc although I really am against forcing education onto LOs, I believe play and natural learning through play are the way to go.
So...anyway...
I've rotated for a long while but rotate a lot less these days. Recently I've found less need to rotate although I do still do it with certain things.
I used to rotate the shape sorter, and two other fine motor activity toys but eventually when they came out he would be joyous for about 30 seconds then bored, so those toys have been passed on to another family.
I also used to rotate the soft toys but eventually he didn't bat an eye at seeing one he hadn't seen in a while so I just reduced them down and leave them in his play pen (prob more to make it look cosy rather than actual play things!).
He has two ride-ons and they get rotated.
I rotate the books and toys by his potties every 2-4 days depending how much attention he is giving them.
The rest of his books I've always rotated. Other wise he gets overwhelmed and just tosses them all out of the book box onto the floor wanting to read all of them but never choosing. I rotate based on which ones he hasn't read in a while and move them to storage and pick out some replacements that he hasn't see for a while. He also always has a couple of new ones on the go as it takes him a while to become familiar with them and able to read the whole way through. Just recently I've started to put a book in his cot after he is asleep at BT so he has something to read when he wakes in the morning. I change this daily.
BUT like I say there is less rotation now than there used to be. I never take his basket of musical instruments away, he plays with it daily and I'd miss it if it wasn't here.
I don't keep art materials out for him to access the way she does on that site, but her children are much older. I have a walk in store in the living room where I keep the arts and crafts things, home made play doh (which he isn't interested in), paints, pens, crayons, printing blocks and ink pads etc, stickers, coloured paper and card. Initially I introduced them as an activity, just 5 or 10 mins max, one colouring item and one piece of paper, but now he wants to choose which sort of arts to do. I have to show him each of the containers to see which he rejects and which he accepts and the one he chooses he takes to the table.
I have a set of those blank cards (pre-folded) with envelopes (from craft shops for home made cards) and some other coloured card which folds in half nicely to make A6 size cards and I often get one or two out to use for his arts activity. LOs will paint and draw on any old paper cheap, newsprint, sugar paper whatever, but I really like to have some 'nice' quality paper and card for his creations. He gets free reign as to what goes on the card etc and I store them in a file box ready to send out to friends and relations for birthdays, get wells, happy new homes etc.
So, here is a site I came across today. It's actually been put together for sensory processing disorder, but it has some great activity ideas, they are not all imaginative play ideas, but still good to refer to when trying to entertain LO.
http://www.sensory-processing-disorder.com/gross-motor-activities-for-toddlers.htmlThis one is lovely for imaginative play although DS isn't ready for this kind of level of yet, I kep it bookmarked for future ref.
http://mysmallpotatoes.com/2011/11/17/building-a-world-in-a-box/And this one...well I wish she had been my mum, her activities just look so inviting
https://happyhooligans.wordpress.com/
