Learning toys make great gifts especially during the Christmas season. These toys can give kids something fun to do while at the same time, they help improve cognitive and other skills.
This hedgehog, cutely named Spike, is a perfect gift idea for kids who are at least 18 months old and above. The top of the toy, which is the colorful blue shell, comes off easily.
Kids can then use this space to house Spike’s removable quills when they’re not playing with them. This storage area helps keep the pieces neatly together and this can be turned into an activity that can teach a child to put away his toys when he’s done playing.
Each of these quills with this toy are in the shape of pegs and are designed to fit into a toddler’s hands. This can help a child learn how to grasp items. There are all kinds of skills and learning adventures that kids can develop with this toy.
One of these skills is color recognition. Color recognition is important because it’s what’s used to develop a child’s descriptive language ability. The spikes come in the colors of purple, red, orange and green.
Parents can help kids learn their colors through the use of games such as having them place only a certain quill color in the back of Spike. Or, they can alternate colors or instruct the child which color order to put in the back.
They can also have the child remove only a certain color at a time – such as telling them to take out only the red ones. Kids can also learn sorting skills by grouping like colors together.
This can help them to recognize patterns. The top of the toy’s shell has numbers on it. Parents can use the toy to teach kids how to recognize their numbers. For example, you can tell a child to put one of the spikes into the number four space.
This improves their directional skill as well as the fine motor skills. Plus, it helps with their hand to eye coordination. In addition, using toys that call for grasping can help a child with their hand strength.
The hedgehog toy comes in bright colors for the shell and the quills. Bright colors are known to boost learning, plus kids are easily able to tell bright colors apart, especially when they’re just now learning their colors.
The toy has a total of fourteen pieces. One is the body of the hedgehog, while the rest are the shell and the quills. An activity guide is also included that parents can use to guide their kids through fun learning times. If the toy gets dirty, it can be cleaned with a wet cloth.
