While Malone is a very bright child, he has a fine motor delay. He can read and narrate stories two grade levels above where he currently is, but when it comes to putting the pen to the paper, writing the actual letters is really hard for him. This summer, we’re going to be working on our handwriting skills. But more importantly, we’re going to be doing a lot of activities that require fine motor skills. I know that if I can strengthen them, it will trickle down into his handwriting.
It is important to me to make learning fun so his fine motor skill development doesn’t feel like a chore or work. I’m constantly on the hunt for games and toys that will develop his fine motor skills without him really knowing about it. I was really excited to see the Create & Design Drill Kit at my doorstep.
Kids love playing with drills—now they can do it safely as they build fine motor skills! Children simply choose an activity card & start drilling—or use their imaginations to create original designs!
Malone was very eager to test this out. His grandfather is a carpenter and he knows that Papa uses drills all the time.
Just as I thought, this did bring some frustration for him (because of his fine motor delay). It was hard for him to align the screws just right into their holes. However, I fully believe this is just the kind of toy we need this summer and I’m hopeful that as his skills improve, his frustration level will decrease.
We also received the Giant Roller Ramps Starter Set to round out the fun.
Little builders can design and construct their very own giant roller ramps—with lots of high-action thrills built right in! Children simply snap together the large plastic pieces in any configuration they can imagine…then launch an included plastic ball and watch it twist and turn through the ramps! 17 pieces & 1 plastic ball
Malone is a tinker and loves to build things. He also loves cars, so I knew this would be a hit for him. The directions to build the ramp was easy to follow, but he needed a bit of help snapping the pieces together.
After we built a ramp from the directions in the book, Malone spent the rest of the afternoon constructing his own ramps. It was fun to see him work through the process of trial and error to see what would work and what didn’t.
The age range for this toy is set at 3 to 7 years, but my almost 2 year old daughter had a blast playing with the ramp too.
Buy: Lakeshore Learning has a full suite of products available including the ones mentioned today on their website. The Giant Roller Ramps Starter Set retails for $39.99 and the Create & Design Drill Kit retails for $29.99.
