Both of these toys are by Imaginarium, a company that specializes in educational toys and books for children. They make a good majority of their toys for toddlers from wood (classic and usually preferred by this mom!) and use bright colors/designs to make their toys very eye catching for both moms and babes. (Hint: They are usually only found for retail at Toys R Us or online!)
Push and Go Panda
A simple toy, nothing complex about it. It rolls on its “feet” (wheels) but all four wheels (feet and hands) move, as well as the center wheel that is held in place by the hands and feet.
The Push and Go Panda has great high contrast with its black and white body and neon designs on its hands and feet.
There is no string attached for pulling that was one thing that baffled us about it, you have to sit and roll it along like a car but after a few tries Liam picked up on this rather quickly.
Since it is a wooden painted toy, the paint does chip slightly but no more than with normal wear and tear.
The number one selling point with this toy, as with our other Imaginarium toys….no noise! There is no noise making with this toy (except for Liam’s occasional beating of it on the ground) so it is quiet and requires no batteries to keep it going. Oh and did I mention it’s quiet?
It is great for low vision kids who need the contrast colors, and the designs on each wheel make neat illusions while spinning as the child rolls the panda along, sort of like a kaleidoscope.
Teaches good cause and effect and like most Imaginarium toys it calls for use of the imagination at an early age.
The House of Shapes Sorter
This toy is a great wooden shape sorter for visually impaired kids but I think any child would benefit from using it to learn their shapes. The key to helping the child use this toy to find the correct hole fit for each shape, is the bright neon blue colored lid with the high contrast colored shapes. The 8 wooden shapes are painted bright solid colors that stand out on the bright blue lid making it easier for them to try and fit shapes into the correct spaces. Then the lids are easily removed to pull out the shapes and start again. The child can also try and master putting their hand through the small gaps on the side of the house under the lids to fish out the shape pieces as well.
This toy definitely helps with the fine motor skills needed in early childhood and helps begin to educate them on their shapes as well.
The House of Shapes also has a bright red handle so it is easily carried around by little hands, which is all Liam ever wants to do with ours. (Fill it up other small toys that happen to fit into the holes as well and carry them around dumping them in each room he visits.)
The only flaw we found with this toy: within the first week the paint began to chip off around the holes on the blue lid where the pegs connect to attach it to the house. The paint chips also brought wit them small chips of wood as well. No other areas did this only the exact spots you see in the pictures below right next to every peg hole, but left on the floor it could definitely hurt a child to swallow them. Once all eight of these pieces broke off (4 on each lid) we noticed nothing else chipping or breaking on the toy, even after several run-ins with the wall, garage floor, and doorways. And once again did I mention this toy is a non-noise maker toy??
Memo to Mom: Always have some toys that make no noises at all, for those “need some peace and quiet or my head will explode” kind of days.
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