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Deluxe Squigz: 50 Pieces of Creative Fun!

Posted on April 11, 2019 by Lubica Misevski

When you're looking for a toy that will allow your child to engage in hours of creative play, there's nothing quite like the Deluxe Squigz set to make that happen. Deluxe Squigz contains 50 pieces to allow for plenty of sticking, popping, construction fun. From building fine motor skills to teaching about cause and effect, Squigz offer hours of brain-building fun for children age three and up. 

How Do They Work?

Squigz are little pieces of silicone that are designed to accomplish big things. Each end of a Squigz piece has a suction cup. The suction cup can stick to other Squigz or to any non-porous surface, making them the perfect choice for building toys. They can be arranged together in a wide variety of creative designs, which is sure to bring a creative spark to the eyes of the child in your life. 

Teach Cause and Effect

These Deluxe Squigz are designed to be large enough for little hands to hold, making them the perfect option for teaching about cause and effect as little hands grasp and manipulate the pieces. Push the Squigz piece down, and it sticks to the surface. Pull it, and it comes away with a satisfying POP! that will be sure to lead to squeals of delight from your little one. As they manipulate the Squigz and stick them together in a variety of creative ways, little ones will discover plenty of fun and excitement. 

Hours of Creative Play

Squigz are designed to stick together on all of their ends, which means an endless combination of creative structures that can be made from these fun little toys. Each individual piece is relatively small, but they can come together to create fascinating structures. Use a single Deluxe Squigz kit that comes with 50 little pieces for your little one to connect together or, as they get older and build more elaborate structures, put together bigger kids that will allow for increased creativity. You might even find that older members of the household get sucked into this incredible range of creative play potential. 

Improve Fine Motor Skills

Squigz are the perfect size for little hands to grasp and manipulate. Since they fit together in a wide range of fun and exciting ways, Squigz will allow kids to build their fine motor skills without ever realising that they're working on a needed skill. Sticking Squigz to a non-porous surface is relatively easy, making it a great activity for kids who are still mastering those vital skills. As their fine motor skills improve, children will continue to build and manipulate with these fascinating toys, improving their capability and having more fun at the same time!

Build Visual Spatial Skills

How do these two pieces connect together? What will connecting these pieces accomplish? As your child manipulates their Squigz to create increasingly complicated structures, they'll also improve their visual-spatial skills and develop a better understanding of how different pieces can come together to create a fascinating whole. The more they build, the more they'll understand, until your child is producing creative structures that you aren't sure you could have put together. 

Squigz are designed to be the perfect size for children three and up--and "up" can include up to adult age as you discover just how much fun these little toys can be! For hours of suction cup building and fun that can be explored, pulled apart, and put back together again as many times as your child would like, there's nothing quite like this Deluxe Squigz building kit to encourage creativity and let your child learn more about their world and what they can accomplish.

You can purchase the Deluxe Squigz from Fat Brain Toys here.

Posted in Deluxe Squigz Australia, Fat Brain Toys Deluxe Squigz

Engaging Early: Importance of STEM Education Through Play

Posted on April 10, 2019 by Lubica Misevski

 

With the world constantly changing and becoming more complex, it's crucial now more than ever for young kids to grasp STEM concepts. STEM learning focuses kid's attention on science, technology, engineering, and math to build critical thinking skills and gain a greater sense of curiosity. It's never too early to start implementing STEM, starting as early as infants! 

Specially engineered educational STEM toys allow babies and children to think outside of the box, evaluate information, and figure out the solution on their own using a fun hands-on approach. This knowledge will not only help children excel in school but will also help better prepare them for their adult lives.

Benefits of Encouraging STEM Early

Sparks Creativity

STEM learning leads to innovation and new ideas. Think of all the exciting technology we've created throughout the years, the powerful human mind created it. Without this type of creativity, this new technology would not exist! Future generations will thrive by starting STEM early and coming up with new, great ideas all on their own.

Encourages Experimentation

Taking risks can lead to great outcomes. Without these risks, we wouldn't have most of the technology and products we use today. These types of innovations were created by people who live by the motto, "let's try it and see what happens!". Encouraging this type of attitude right from the womb will allow kids to be more confident in experimenting and taking positive risks during many events throughout their lives.

Teaches Problems-Solving Skills

STEM learning helps kids see the problem and then create a solid plan to solve that problem using critical thinking skills. For example, if a toddler is placing a block on his tower and it keeps falling, they will continue trying other locations to place it until it stays put. Solving the problem all on their own will build self-confidence too.

Teaches Adaptation Importance

As adults, we know that life includes a lot of trial and error. Young kids have to learn this on their own. STEM education helps teach kids how to adapt to different scenarios as they try to find a solution.

Creates Resilient Humans

Failure is an important lesson that humans have to learn. By providing kids with a safe play environment, they can fail comfortably and simply try again. No shame or judgment is involved. The value of failing is a great learning experience to embrace early on in kids' lives. It will create incredible resilience which will encourage your child to keep going when the going gets rough! Failure ultimately leads to success later on.

Lifelong Love of Learning

STEM is all about motivation, engagement, and real-world inspiration. There is a purpose behind every play session or activity, and it simply makes sense for kids! Deeper learning and engagement leads to a better understanding of concepts which results in an eagerness to learn more. Having a love for school can make all the difference in your child's life.

STEM Ideas for Infants-Preschoolers

Children are born naturally curious about the world around them, so it's crucial that we give them lots of different opportunities to learn through play. By providing innovative play at home, your child's STEM education can begin as early as you'd like! Real life objects such as a water bottle, textured paper, or even an apple can be great objects for your young child to explore (with close supervision).

Educational STEM toys are specifically engineered for your child to figure them out. Building blocks, gravity mazes, marble runs, magnets, suspension games, and wooden blocks are all terrific open-ended learning games just to name a few. For toddlers and preschoolers, baking can be a great STEM activity including them in the process of measuring, pouring, mixing, and baking to create a delicious end product. Another great real-world STEM application is a trip to a science museum or zoo! STEM learning doesn't have to be accomplished solely through textbooks later on in life, get your young kids excited about STEM toys and other hands-on opportunities today!

Kidzinc is dedicated to developing young minds through the power of play. We provide an impressive amount of STEM toys specifically for babies, preschoolers and older kids. Don't wait another day to help encourage your child to learn through the power of STEM!

Posted in STEM Education, STEM toys

Top 5 Educational Toys for Baby Girls

Posted on April 09, 2019 by Lubica Misevski

When you start choosing a gift for the baby girl in your life, there are lots of things to consider. You want to be sure that you've chosen a great present that's appropriate for their developmental level, but you also want to be sure that you've picked out a gift that will grow with them. If you're looking for the perfect educational, brain-building toy for the little girl in your life, there are several you can choose from. 

pipSquigz

PipSquigz come as a fun set of three in bright colours. They stick together, pop apart, and are the perfect texture for chewing. Sized perfectly for little hands, pipSquigz are designed to encourage hours of sensory fun for the little girl in your life. They don't just stick to each other, either. The high-quality suction cups on the toys will also attach to any nonporous surface, from baby's high chair or the restaurant table to the bathtub, a play tray during a long trip, and more. Your little one will enjoy the colours, sounds, and textures of this great toy.

Bubble Double Maze

With simple loops, colourful curves, and bright beads that are easy to move along the maze, this sturdy little toy is great for playing with at home or on the go. It's perfect for engaging little minds, encouraging the baby girl in your life to build hand-eye coordination, learn problem-solving skills, and even enhance colour recognition. The tough wooden base comes complete with four high-quality suction cups that will help it adhere to almost any surface, making it the perfect toy for high chairs, restaurant tables, and more. 

Early Melodies Pound and Tap Bench

There's nothing like a little music to help inspire brain development in your baby girl, and the Early Melodies Pound and Tap Bench is specifically designed to encourage your little one to engage musically. The hammer bench will allow your little girl to hammer fun blocks through the holes, while the wooden and metal xylophone will make a different sound with each key she hits with the hammer. In addition to building fine motor skills, this toy will help teach little ones about cause and effect and even allow her to work on a few basic melodies. 

Tobbles Neo

Tobbles Neo is the perfect combination of bright colours and adorable stacking fun. With six fun shapes to stack, each in a fun, wavy design and bright colours that will be sure to appeal to little eyes, this is a toy that will be sure to catch your little one's attention. It's a great way to build early spatial awareness skills while encouraging your little one to more fully explore the world around them. 

Klickity

This fun ball and knobs toy will give your little girl a unique sensory experience featuring clicking sounds, movements and textures. It is an ideal toy for early exploration for your little girl. Let your little one explore and problem-solve as they realise what each coloured ball and knob does. It's a great way for your little one to explore bright colours and fun textures from 1 month on while helping to build fine motor skills as they get bigger and more interested in the world around them. 

These great toys are the perfect choice for helping build educational solutions for your baby girl. She'll start out simply, enjoying the bright colours and fun textures available on many educational toys, but as she grows, she'll learn even more.

From music to problem-solving, fine motor skills to cause-and-effect, there are plenty of skills that your little one can learn when she finds these educational toys waiting for her.

For more baby toys for your little girl, please browse our collection of hand-selected educational toys for babies to 1 years of age here.

Posted in Educational Toys for 1 Year Old Girls, Toys For Baby Girls

The Benefits of Marble Runs to Your Child

Posted on April 03, 2019 by Lubica Misevski

 

Marble runs: they're simple, classic toys that have been passed down through the ages. Children have been playing with marble runs for years--and many parents are surprised to learn that they have much more than simple repetitive play value. The Hape Quadrilla, Quercetti, Geomag Mechanics Gravity Track, and Smartmax for younger children all offer a range of different opportunities to engage your child in a fascinating form of play they will be sure to love. 

Building Spatial Awareness

Getting a marble into those small spaces is not as easy a feat as it sounds, especially for small children who are still developing their understanding of how the world works. As they play with marble runs, however, kids will learn more about spatial awareness and develop those key fine motor skills that will help them take advantage of it. Even better, they won't realise that they're learning, because it will simply feel like play. 

Raising Creativity

Creativity is a key skill for kids and adults alike. In fact, many professionals indicate that they value creativity in their employees more than any other skill. That makes developing creativity in childhood critical--and your child can enhance their creativity as they play with marble runs, exploring different tracks and learning more about how they can move each piece to create a fun, exciting run. Each construction may quickly become more outlandish than the last, leaving your child with an incredible array of creative new structures and runs to explore. 

Developing Engineering Skills

In addition to creatively exploring the different arrangements of the pieces of the run, your child will be able to develop basic engineering skills as they explore how the pieces fit together. They'll learn more about cause and effect, explore how to keep their piece balanced, and learn how to improve their structures so that the marble will successfully reach the end of each track. Not only that, they'll enhance their understanding of how gravity and inertia work together to help move or stop the marble--and they'll have a blast doing it. 

Enhancing Problem-Solving

The marble is stuck--again. It ran off the track instead of staying neatly in the predetermined spot. Whatever your child's problem, they'll immediately tackle, determining how to make the right changes so that their marble runs will work better in the future. The more they interact with the track, the more they will enhance their problem-solving skills as they learn through trial and error what works and what doesn't. In many cases, this simple exercise can improve your child's understanding of how to tackle future problems, providing them with an excellent platform for future efforts. 

Improving Hand-Eye Coordination

From fitting the individual pieces of the track together to dropping the marble in just the right spot, marble runs offer an excellent opportunity for children both young and old to improve their hand-eye coordination. They'll demonstrate a solid use of fine motor skills as they put together the marble runs, place the marbles on it, and scoop them up again at the end. Even better, it's not repetitive practice. It's just a kid at play!

If you're looking for a toy that can help build both physical and mental skills for your child, marble runs are the perfect solution. Not only are they good for hours of play, they will encourage your child to think creatively and develop a wide range of STEM skills, which can then help them excel in school and in their future careers. Your child will love racing marbles down the tracks, developing increasingly complex designs or improving their understanding of the way the pieces fit together--and they'll develop those important skills at the same time. 

For the entire range of marble runs hand-selected by Kidzinc, please click here.  

Posted in Marble Runs, Marble Runs Australia

The Best Brain-Engaging Educational Toys for Toddlers Girls and Boys

Posted on April 02, 2019 by Lubica Misevski

 

When purchasing toys for toddlers, it's imperative that you search for toys that are as fun as they are educational. 80% of brain growth occurs during the first three years of a child's life and giving them educational toys that help their development is the best way to encourage their minds to explore without boring them. 

Here are seven educational toys to purchase for your toddler-aged girls and boys that they will enjoy and learn from.

If you're looking for a way to let a toddler improve their coordination and have a better understanding of music, then the Early Melodies Pound and Tap Bench by Hape is the perfect option. Made from a sturdy wood and metal combination, this musical toy will last through the physical punishment only a toddler can deliver while growing their mind. It offers two ways to play that both engage the mind and introduce toddlers to musical systems and sounds. An added benefit is that children will be able to experiment with cause and effect: pound the ball, it falls through the bench and crescendos down the xylophone!

Another colourful and engaging toy by Hape, the Wild Safari Adventure Wooden Activity Play Cube  is a combination of puzzles and mazes for your child to explore, perfect their fine-motor skills, and delve into spatial learning. Designed for children 12-months and older, this toy can withstand play for years since it's constructed of wood and colourful, water-based paint. 

If you want your toddler to grow up and be an active thinker and thoughtful scientist, then the Build and Learn XXL 100 Piece made by SmartMax Magnetic Discovery is your best option. A STEM learning device that promotes the understanding of magnetism and gravity, this toy lets children practice their spatial orientation skills by turning 2D pictures into 3D objects. In 2010, it was awarded the Toy of the Year in the Netherlands because of its high-quality and ability to show toddlers how to build, strengthen, and create their own structures.

The Bunny Peek a Boo by Smart Games was given the Parent's Choice Silver Award because it encourages strategic planning, spatial understanding, and advanced problem-solving skills in toddlers. Object permanence, puzzle solving, and logical reasoning all come into fruition while playing with this toy. Its colourful blocks are sure to keep little girls and boys interested, and with 60 different challenges to conquer, this is not a toy that will quickly disappear from a toddler's memory.

If you're looking to buy a toy that offers tactile, audio, and visual rewards for a growing mind, the Tegu 42 Piece Tints set of magnetic, wooden blocks is your next purchase. This is a toy that comes with no instruction manual nor any list of rules or regulations in how to play. This set of blocks simply requires an active imagination and the possibilities are endless. This gives your toddler that chance to explore spatially and logically while engaging their senses at every 'click-clack' of the magnets.

The Roll & Play Game by Thinkfun is your child's first chance to play a real game. With rules that are simple to understand for an exploring mind, your toddler will practice new sounds, learn about new animals, and physically express themselves in a fun way. This toy was honoured with a plethora of awards because of its ability to engage toddlers with their first opportunity to learn about play patterns in a safe way. 

When choosing a educational toy for a toddler girl or boy, engaging, interactive, and colourful toys that promote STEM learning and encourage growth through multiple intelligences are ideal. Learning while having fun is what toddler-hood is all about!

At Kidzinc we stock a wonderful range of educational toys for toddlers. Please check out our range here. 

Posted in Educational Toys for Toddlers Australia

New from Fat Brain Toys: Don't Miss These Fresh New Learning Toys!

Posted on April 01, 2019 by Lubica Misevski

 

Kids learn best through play, so incorporating puzzles, toys and games can help with a variety of skills, from critical thinking to problem-solving and even social interaction. The skills your child picks up while playing imaginative games, interacting with new toys and exploring open-ended activities will serve them for years to come. Fat Brain Toys, one of our favourite educational brands, just released these new and exciting toys for 2019: 

Twissbits Wagon: Pull, roll and move with this sturdy wagon -- it's packed with fun things to explore. Kids under the age of two will love this piece and get some active practice developing both gross and fine motor skills. The fun characters can help develop grasping and manipulation -- two skills needed for learning to write with a pencil in just a few years. The entire wagon rolls, encouraging exploration and boosting physical abilities like balance and stability. We love the bright, whimsical colours and sweet characters, too!

Whirly Squigz: These clever silicon spinners stick (temporarily) to almost any surface and prompt exploration -- kids can't resist giving them a twirl and discovering how they work. The spinning is soothing and provides sensory input while the "cause and effect" of whirling the spinners provides cognitive interaction and helps develop critical thinking skills. The Whirly Squigz invite exploration and are tough to resist!

Splitting Image Brainteaser: Designed to trigger curiosity and to develop spatial reasoning skills, these puzzles get more difficult as your child progresses through dozens of levels. Each puzzle features an increasingly complex design that needs to be duplicated; Splitting Image is engaging for kids and adults and the challenge is irresistible. Kids can develop logic and reasoning skills that will be used in math and science for years to come. A quiet, solo game, the Splitting Image set can increase the ability to concentrate on a task and to work independently; kids get a sense of achievement as each level is completed. 

They're not available just yet, but we are anxiously awaiting the arrival of these new learning toys from Fat Brain Toys around May 2019: 

Dimpl Duo: We're excited about this sensory exploration toy; it packs a lot of potential learning into one easily handled and explored piece. Let your little one learn about colour, shape, and texture as they explore this intriguing and appealing toy. Designed to be engaging for even young toddlers or babies, the Dimpl Duo can grow with your child; while they may first be intrigued by the colours, they can learn about shapes and other tactile elements over time. 

Squigz 2.0: Part character toys, part STEM-based building blocks, and all fun! We loved the look and feel of these delightfully bright pieces -- and each one has its own unique style and personality. Your child will love exploring the shapes and building something clever with these simple and charming components. Each set comes with a full lineup of character options that are designed to enhance creativity and boost fine motor skills. Like all building blocks, the squigz help kids develop fine motor skills as they stack, balance and ultimately topple over their creations. These adorable creatures will entertain your little one and are ideal for kids of multiple ages to build with and play together, too. 

Choosing toys that encourage exploration and imagination can help kids develop critical skill sets that will last a lifetime. We love the qualities that these pieces share, from the lively colours to the tactile and sensory components and inherit challenges they possess. Each of these toys helps your child develop in different ways and each is designed with durability and replay-ability in mind. 

At Kidzinc we are proud to offer you an extensive range of Fat Brain Toys. 

Posted in Fat Brain Toys Australia

WorryWoo Monsters Help to Develop Emotional Intelligence in Kids

Posted on March 28, 2019 by Lubica Misevski

 

"When little people are overwhelmed by big emotions, it's our job to share our calm, not join their chaos." (L.R. Knost) 

Children often experience big emotions that they are not always equipped to deal with. Today's societies focus on academic excellence has left little room for children to learn and fully understand emotional intelligence. Emotional intelligence encompasses awareness, understanding, and the ability to express and manage emotions. Helping children to build emotional intelligence gives them the ability to either learn to make changes to address a problem, thus engaging problem-focused coping skills, or explore emotional coping strategies to tolerate and control a problem if a change is not feasible.

Feelings serve a purpose and have evolved over time to serve us in specific situations. Letting children express and feel their emotions becomes the first piece of emotional intelligence because they have to be aware of their feelings before they can move on to learning how to properly express and control them. Building these emotional skills from a young age is a major indicator of future success. The Dunedin Multidisciplinary Health and Development Study conducted over 15 years in New Zealand brought extensive data to light that showed children who had a high amount of self-control (one aspect of emotional intelligence) fared better in life overall. The children were happier, healthier, more accomplished, and less likely to have a criminal record as adults than those that scored lower in self-control. Knowing how impactful a solid foundation in emotional intelligence can be for our children is important but it is also important to have resources available to help teach and reinforce strong emotional intelligence.

Kidzinc offers the award-winning line of WorryWoo Monsters books and plush animals. Created by Andi Green, the WorryWoos help children embrace and understand their emotions and develop emotional intelligence through play, reading, and discussion.

The WorryWoo books cover a wide range of topics that are often hard to help children understand - from greed and envy to insecurity and loneliness. Each story covers one of these topics and ends with a positive and uplifting message designed to open up discussion and communication between parents, teachers, caregivers, and the children they care for.

"The Monster Who Wanted it All" introduces the adorable, yellow monster, Zelly, who becomes so focused on the things that others have, that he doesn't notice all of the wonderful things right in front of him! Parents can spend some time discussing with their children how caring and sharing are related and how important it is to focus on the great and positive things within their lives. Then they can introduce Zelly and read his story! Having the plush to hold on to gives the child a tactile object to relate the story to and a physical object that parents can refer to as a reminder of the lessons learned in the story.

Often parents may try to use screen time or technology to calm their children when they are feeling a particularly intense emotion but the American Academy of Pediatrics has warned that using media to calm emotions may lead to a child having difficulty engaging emotional regulation for themselves as they grow. 

This book series along with its plush companions are a great way to help your child begin to gain that understanding and awareness over their emotions in a safe, media-free setting.

The WorryWoos also give parents the opportunity for one-on-one interaction with their child and the time to really discuss and learn what their child understands about their emotions and where they may need a little more help.

Kidzinc is dedicated to the development of young minds, and assisting you to develop your kids to their fullest potential, through books, toys, games, puzzles and interactive play! Our purpose is to provide you with the best educational and developmental products, sourced from all corners of the world. Kidzinc carries a full line of WorryWoos plush and books available for shipping worldwide.

Posted in emotional intelligence books, emotional intelligence toys, worrywoo monsters