Review of First Vehicles by Dr Miriam at Galt
Recently Little Miss A was sent a toy from the brand new range from Galt which have been designed with the assistance of Dr Miriam Stoppard. This new range boasts 21 developmental toys for baby's first year and beyond. Each toy is designed to encourage learning through play and each comes with a play guide written by Dr Miriam with tips and advice on playing with the toy to get the most benefit, whilst still being fun for you and your child! The range includes 7 soft toys, 7 wooden toys and 7 plastic toys.
Little Miss A was sent the First Vehicles. They are a set of 3 plastic vehicles all brightly coloured and can be played with individually or joined together to play with. They are a great size for Little Miss A to be able to grip and play with and the wheels spin really easily so she is able to push them around. Even on carpet they are easy to push.
When Little Mr A was small he had lots of cars that he used to bash around, however, Little Miss A hadn't shown a huge interest in playing with them since I got them out (other than putting them in her mouth!).
When I received the toy I had a good read through the play guide to get some ideas of how to sit and play with the vehicles with her. The idea is simple but something that I think you can forget to do whilst playing! The main idea is to keep a running commentary going whilst playing as to what you are doing. This includes making car noises and stating the colour of the vehicle and what you are doing with it, how fast it is going etc. Because the cars can all be joined together you can create a 'traffic jam' with them too.
The main developmental ideas with these vehicles are conceptual thinking (i.e. learning about the concept of cars, how they move and learning the difference between a toy and the real world); learning about colours and remembering them; and manual dexterity in holding and pushing the cars, helping their gripping abilities.
Once I sat down and did the above with Little Miss A she seemed to show a great interest in the cars and really enjoyed pushing them around. I have been telling her the colours of the cars and she is showing an interest. I am hoping if I keep it up with her she will start to remember. As the blue van has a space at the back for toys she has enjoyed putting blocks and her Happy Land people in there for a 'ride' and I can really see her play and motor skills improving all of the time.
I am really impressed with the quality of the toys. They are very sturdy and I know they will stand up to a lot of play. I do really like the idea of the play guide too. Although the ideas are simple I think it is sometimes difficult, when you have a busy life and not much free time, to think how you should be playing with your child and, a little point in the right direction can only be a good thing!
At nearly 11 months old I think the vehicles are perfect for Little Miss A and, although I wouldn't have necessarily bought cars for her, she is really enjoying playing with them on their own and alongside her other toys.
On Wednesday of this week Dr Miriam will be hosting a live WebTV show talking about using play to aid children's development. I'm sure it will be well worth a watch and you can do so by clicking here. If you would like her to answer a specific question, head on over there now and leave one for her!
Disclaimer - For the purpose of this review we were sent the vehicle set above. All opinions are honest and my own and all photographs were taken by me and are not to be used without my permission.