#InternationalLiteracyDay

My mom always told me that I was a curious George when I was young.

I wouldn’t hang from banisters or help animals escape from the zoo, but I loved to play with just about everything. There was one toy in particular that I absolutely loved, it was called the shape sorter – a plastic cube with cut outs of stars, circles, rectangles and squares.

By the 4th or 5th try, I went from trying to jam shapes in the wrong way to matching them perfectly. Turns out, this toy taught me my first lesson in problem solving.

Aside from entertaining me for hours, I realize now that toys played a big role in the way I understood the world around me. By exercising my five senses, the shape sorter was shaping the way I thought and felt.

Self-Esteem

My mom said, “every time you got it right, you wanted to do it all over again”. Parents probably know exactly how this situation plays out. Your child loves one specific toy and wants to play with it over and over again. The underlying benefit of this repetitive act is that children become confident and their self-esteem progresses. We naturally enjoy things that we do very well and nothing compares to this feeling of accomplishment.
These memories instill life lessons in our subconscious and translates into the person we become later in life.

Parents Can Play Too

Playing with your child is very important and highly recommended. I remember every night my parents would read classic Dr. Seuss or Robert Munsch books to me during bedtime. I would sit there listening to every word and let my imagination run wild. Little did I know, I was learning!

With every high pitch of excitement and low tone of fear or sadness, your child is learning about feelings. Making this a routine every night can help your child to enhance their concentration and love for books.
Peter & Paul’s Gifts has an extensive baby gifts collection to choose from. The Red Wagon Baby Gift is one of our favourites.

This Gift set consists of a classic stacker toy to help keep your child’s hands busy, rattle crate, cozy lamby blankie and a book for story time. This basket is decorated in a beautiful steel wagon, which your keep your child playing outdoors.

The friendly team at Peter and Paul’s Gifts is here to help parents find meaningful ways to create lasting memories with their children. Send us an email at gifts@bypnp.com or give us a call at 1-800-281-4438 to find your perfect gift.