If you’ve only been thinking of Hazel Baby as an infant and children’s clothing store, you have to stop in and check out their educational products. The opportunities to build early learning skills are endless.
Did you know that Hazel Baby also carries several lines of educational toys for babies and young children? I recently took some time to look through Hazel Baby’s great products and used my expertise in early childhood education to pick out what I think are the 3 best educational products for toddlers.
Alphabet Blocks
Hazel Baby takes alphabet blocks to a whole new level. I was amazed at the variety of block sets available from Uncle Goose. Alphabet blocks in Italian, Spanish, Hebrew, English, Ukrainian and Russian were just a few of the options available. Not only are they are great educational tools, these hand-crafted wooden blocks are beautiful!
Even a toddler will reap the benefits of playing with letters before they actually understand how to read or write. Using the blocks to show your child letter names and sounds, modeling how to build simple words, and using them in song play offer great benefits. Any tactile exposure to letters will facilitate pre-literacy acquisition and help with reading and writing down the road.
Puzzles
Throughout the store you will also find a plethora of table and floor puzzles for your toddler. I especially loved this floor puzzle from Shape Town. The colors are bright and the imagery is really appealing to younger children. It also includes a bonus “Can you Find?” activity.
Puzzles are an engaging and hands-on way to build problem solving and collaboration skills. They are also a great tool to help your toddler develop perseverance and stamina as he or she goes through the trial and error process of fitting pieces. As you introduce each piece to your child, take the opportunity to teach vocabulary and/or colors!
Building Blocks
There are very few things in the lives of toddlers that are more satisfying than building a block structure and then knocking it down with a satisfying “boom!” Hazel Baby has several options for all your toddler’s building needs. The tegu magnetic wooden blocks offer extra functionality through magnetic connection while still providing the classic wooden look.
Not only do building blocks allow your toddler to demonstrate their creativity, the process of designing structures helps them to develop basic physics understanding (support, weight, etc.). As they become more adept at using the blocks, you can modify the activity to make it more challenging. For example, having them roll dice to earn a certain amount of blocks will also have them practicing their numbers.
If you’ve only been thinking of Hazel Baby as an infant and children’s clothing store, you have to stop in and check out their educational products. The opportunities to build early learning skills are endless.