Learning is Fun!

Learning is Fun!

How to Encourage Child Development Over the Summer

School might be out, but that doesn’t mean learning has to take a pause! The summer holiday is the perfect time to help your child prepare for the upcoming school year ahead of them. Read on to discover some fun ways to keep your child engaged and develop their skills over the summer. 

Reading

Encouraging your child to read is a wonderful way to benefit them in life. Try making reading a habit for them; children thrive on stable, predictable schedules. A set plan can be a useful tool for focusing a child. Exposing your child to reading early in life can teach them that reading is fun, not a chore or a stressful task that they are being forced to complete.  

• Sturdy, cardboard books are a good starting point to introduce your little one to reading. At such a young age, words on the page are less important, so try looking for books with bold, colorful images.  
• Books take up a lot of space, so, as you start collecting books for your growing child, having proper storage is key. A bookshelf is a great way to keep your child’s books organized as their collection expands. The Harmony Book Shelf is the perfect size for your child’s nursery and gives you four adjustable shelves to store their books on.  
• When you’re deciding what books you’d like to read to your toddler, keep in mind that they are at the age where they tend to favor picture books versus word-heavy books.  
• Additionally, repetition is important at this age, so, if your kiddo loves a particular book and wants you to read it to them multiple times, do it! Not only does this clue you into what they are interested in, reading your little one the same book helps them learn through repetition, which teaches them to predict elements of the story.  
• Reading is not the only way to get your child involved in books; encourage them to be the storyteller! The benefits of writing include grammar skill development, creative thinking development, organizational thought development, and critical thinking development.  
• Having a dedicated learning space for your child can help encourage them to spend more time reading and writing; consider getting them their own desk for their bedroom! The Harmony and Soho collections each include desks that feature an ample working surface and drawers to help your little one stay organized.  

Harmony Bookshelf

Harmony Desk

Soho Desk

Indoor Play

Whether it’s rainy and gray outside or it’s just way too hot, having go-to indoor activities for your child to do is always a good idea. Games are not only a good way to break up your child’s day, they can be an opportunity for them to further develop their skills. Below are some of our favorite ideas for indoor entertainment:  

• Almost anything is a new experience for a baby, so let them explore the indoors! Sensory activities like looking at themselves in the mirror and bobbing along to music are all enjoyable options for babies to develop their senses. These activities will help develop your baby’s gross motor skills, meaning that their whole body is getting involved.  
• Once your baby’s gross motor skills have been coming along well, you can start giving them activities to do that use their fine motor skills, which involve the tiny muscles in their hands. For fine motor skill development, try giving them a ball to roll around! 
• The older your child gets, the more intricate games they’ll be able to play. Once your child is old enough, encourage your child to try making their own obstacle course, play board games, and make crafts. These indoor activities will help to foster learning and teach your child new skills.  
• No matter what age your child is at, they will need somewhere to store their toys. Include a toy box in their bedroom to keep all their toys and spare blankets secure and out-of-the-way. The Harmony Toy Box is perfect for this, as it has been designed with children in mind, offering child-safe closures and lots of storage space. 
• Perfect for indoor play, our selection of themed ride on Italtrike La Cosa's are great for practicing balance and movement.   

Harmony Toy Box

La Cosa Ride On Toy

Outdoor Play

There are countless benefits from having your child spend time outside. Getting outdoors strengthens young children’s immune systems, helps them burn off some energy, improves their motor development, and encourages a healthy lifestyle. Also, aside from the health benefits, playing outside is just plain fun! 

• During their first year of life, babies begin to explore and learn about the things around them. Your baby might not be ready for football or water slides just yet, but there are still plenty of exciting ways to get them involved outdoors!  
• Try going on a nature walk together; exposing your little one to the outdoors is a great way to develop their sensory skills. Pointing out all the different things you see and hear as you walk along the path with them is a smart way to safely engage them with nature.  
• As your little one transitions into toddlerhood, they begin to move around more than ever before, which is so exciting! During this stage, activities like drawing chalk on the pavement, kicking a ball back and forth, and blowing bubbles are fun ways to engage your child with the outdoors. Encouraging frequent outdoor free play helps your toddler stay active and strong while developing important motor skills.  
• Once your child enters early childhood, more complex outdoor activities like building blocks and learning to ride a tricycle are suitable as your child continues to develop their balance and motor skills.  
• CarePlay Grid Building Blocks are an excellent option for outdoor building blocks; not only are they fade-resistant, they are heavy duty and designed to be easily attached to each other by little hands. 
• If you’re looking for a safe, high-quality tricycle for your child, our selection of Italtrike tricycles is constructed out of kid-friendly materials and come in a variety of bright, exciting colors.   

Grid Building Blocks

Super Lucy Italtrike