The United States of America celebrates Independence Day on July 4th, and to get your little ones ready for the big occasion, Melissa & Doug spotlights 5 top learning toys to help teach kids independence!
Parents and caregivers look to equip their young kids with the skills they’ll need to be successful in school and beyond. Encouraging kids to learn independence means helping them develop the skills necessary, in three general areas: cognitive, emotional, and physical.
Kids can’t tackle their personal responsibilities, perform chores, or be expected to know their schedules without having the foundation of important developmental skills: gross & fine motor, reading, numbers, sorting, imagination, social-emotional, just to name a few.
While Americans celebrate Independence Day on July 4th, give your kids a boost in developing their own path to independence through play. Scroll on for a look at five of our top learning toys designed to encourage kids’ independence!
5 Top Learning Toys to Encourage Kids' Independence
Simmer & Stir Stovetop Play Set with Water WOW! Color Reveal
JULY 4TH FUN: Satisfy hungry imaginations with Melissa & Doug Water WOW! color-changing play food stir fry! Drop play food into the pot or onto the stovetop griddle, squeeze water from the spoon or drip from the olive oil bottle, and watch colors change as food magically “cooks”!
SKILLS AT PLAY: Promotes fine motor skills as kids manipulate cooking utensils, as well as sorting, counting, and imaginative play. Helps teach kids cause and effect and patience as they work to change colors while pretend cooking.
Wooden Cutting Fruit Play Food
JULY 4TH FUN: Who wants a piece of fruit? This beautiful wooden pretend play fruit set is ready for playtime. The Melissa & Doug Cutting Fruit set includes a wooden knife and seven pieces of sliceable fruit that can be cut into a total of 17 pieces.
SKILLS AT PLAY: Kids help develop gross & fine motor skills, hand-eye coordination, and C-grip strength by manipulating the pretend play knife and food. And with so many pieces, it's a great way to introduce counting, and the concepts of part, whole, and fractions.
Scoop & Serve Ice Cream Counter
JULY 4TH FUN: Kids can scoop up some cool treats with this all-inclusive, 28-piece pretend play ice cream counter! Take orders on the reusable menu card and serve up delicious fun with this pretend play ice cream play set.
SKILLS AT PLAY: Kids can help develop hand-eye coordination and gross & fine motor skills by manipulating the play pieces. Little servers can build confidence and work on social-emotional skills as they pretend to take orders and wait on customers.
Dust! Sweep! Mop! Cleaning Play Set
JULY 4TH FUN: This six-piece play set gives kids all the housekeeping tools they need to keep it clean! Sized just for kids and built to last, the broom, mop, duster, dustpan, and hand brush are comfortable to use and easy to store.
SKILLS AT PLAY: All that cleaning requires lots of bending, grasping, reaching, squatting, gripping, and moving--all great practice to develop gross and fine motor skills, not to mention creative thinking, problem solving, and imagination. Learning the responsibility of cleaning up after themselves? Priceless!
JULY 4TH FUN: What is today? For a child, that simple question can have so many answers--and this daily calendar helps satisfy them all! Kids will feel a greater sense of control and responsibility when they help post the day of the week, date, weather, and special events on the large magnetic board for all to see.
SKILLS AT PLAY: Encourages communication and a reassuring expectation about the events in a child's life. Helps kids develop cognitive abilities such as executive functioning, decision making, future planning, and memory as well as fine motor skills when they manipulate the calendar pieces. Boosts self-esteem and provides a feeling of accomplishment!
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