TOYS FOR EARLY LEARNERS
At this stage, one of the smartest decisions you can make is to have toys on hand to begin expanding your child’s independence, communication, and play skills. Not only will it set your child up for success, but it’ll allow you to move away from always having to teach your child to play appropriately, giving you more free time to take care of YOU.
If you’re ready to add a bit more firepower to your child’s learning and transform your leisure time with independent play skills, the toys below will support you in making this exciting developmental shift!
THE BEHAVIOR PLACE FAVE AT ANY STAGE
MAGNA-TILES 100 PIECE SET
If you’re ready to invest in some super fun building, this is the set for you. More tiles means more practice with those communication skills! You can also find the link to a smaller starter set below.
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LARGE WOODEN BLOCKS
These blocks are the MVP of natural environment teaching. The skills that you can work on are endless. Add in some vehicles, people, and animals to make it really fun!
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LANGUAGE BUILDER PICTURE CARDS
Our most popular tool to expand language and matching skills. Each box 350 contains pictures of common items. Teach your child new words with this pre-made set!
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VELCRO CUTTING PLAY FOOD
These toys are great for pretend play, fine motor skills, motor imitation, and so much more!
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FISHER PRICE LITTLE PEOPLE BARN
This activity is great for working on animal sounds, motor imitation, pretend play, and so much more! Pair it with blocks to create a whole community for the animals to explore!
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FISHER PRICE LITTLE PEOPLE - WITH VEHICLES
Teach about community helpers during natural environment teaching! Use these along with blocks and Magna-tiles to create stories during play!
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FISHER PRICE LITTLE PEOPLE - COMMUNITY HELPERS
Extra figurines makes it easier to model actions while playing with your child. Rather than grabbing their toy or directing their play, model and narrate your own play to increase their interest in the activity!
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THE POUT-POUT FISH
Swim along with the pout-pout fish as he discovers that being glum and spreading "dreary wearies" isn't really his destiny. Bright ocean colors and playful rhyme come together in Deborah Diesen's fun fish story that's sure to turn even the poutiest of frowns upside down.
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BROWN BEAR, BROWN BEAR, WHAT DO YOU SEE?
A big happy frog, a plump purple cat, a handsome blue horse, and a soft yellow duck--all parade across the pages of this delightful book. Children will immediately respond to Eric Carle's flat, boldly colored collages. Combined with Bill Martin's singsong text, they create unforgettable images of these endearing animals.
8 PIECE SHAPE INSET PUZZLE
Melissa and Doug wooden inset puzzles are durable and the perfect size for little hands to work on those visual-perceptual and matching skills!
DINOSAUR INSET PUZZLE
This puzzle is a favorite among all of our dinosaur fans. If your child doesn’t love puzzles, but does love dinosaurs, this is a great way to add one of their favorite things to a non-preferred learning activity.
FARM INSET PUZZLE
This puzzle is great for introducing animal sounds while you also work on scanning, fine motor, and matching skills!
VEHICLE INSET PUZZLE
This is another great option for adding in teaching of environmental sounds and motor imitation.
MAGNA-TILES STARTER SET
These are by far one our favorite toys at the center, but can be pretty pricey. If you’re not sure if your child will love them, we recommend starting with the 32-piece set. There are so many things you can do with Magna-tiles, one of which is working on requests and discrimination. Hold up 2 different colored triangles, and encourage your child to ask for their next piece by naming the color and shape!
COLOR SORTING SET
This sorting set also provides opportunities for pretend play, while also helping you teach your child to discriminate between similar looking foods.
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NO HOLE RUBBER TUB TOYS
These toys are fantastic for teaching nouns, motor imitation, animal sounds, and expanding play skills! The added bonus? They're toddler friendly, AND no holes, so they can be soaked and played with in water without worrying about mold!
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BABY DOLL WITH CRADLE
Have fun with motor imitation and imaginative play, rocking the baby, giving her a bottle, and putting her to sleep!
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PULL-BACK VEHICLES
Teach about community helpers while expanding play through motor imitation with these fun, toddler-safe pull-back cars. Bonus? Start saying "ready, set..." each time you pull them back, and teach your child "GO!" when you let go and watch the vehicles zip around!
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CRASH PAD
Does your child need a safe spot to crash? We love taking turns crashing into this crash pad, especially when we're stuck inside on rainy days!
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BOUNCY ANIMAL HOPPER
This is a Behavior Place fave. These bouncy toys come in all different themes, so you can pick your child's favorite animal to bounce around on and get some of their wiggles out!
