reading, watching, and building blocks
i'm reading 1Q84 and i'm having weird dreams about non-japanese asians i know. thanks a bunch murakami!
in other news, my boss once told me about the disney cartoon show phinneas and ferb. over the break i got to watch many episodes with a 2-year-old flood refugee. she is super smart but she's having a bunch of problems with speech and physical development. after the flood, a company called Melissa and Doug donated a ton of wooden toys and puzzles to the church in the area. her parents are the pastors, so until the church and head-start branch is rebuilt, she's playing with most of them. if you have someone on your gift list who is 18 months to 6 years, i suggest these two AWESOME gifts from their store:
The Sushi Blocks:
http://www.melissaanddoug.com/sushi-slicing-play-set-play-food
these blocks are stackable and have velco on them. the chopsticks also have velcro. the two-year-old and i played with these for hours. at first she had a hard time unsticking the velcro, but the fine motor skills required to attach the velcro on the end of the stick had her acing physical therapy later that week when she had to use a fishing pole magnet for some tasks
The Standard Blocks:
http://www.melissaanddoug.com/standard-unit-building-blocks
no paint, only fun. the kid always went to these first. for someone older than two or three, I'd suggest the architectural blocks:
http://www.melissaanddoug.com/architectural-nesting-and-stacking-blocks
$70 is a lot for blocks, but these blocks are awesome. Amazon.com has all of these sets for a discount (~$40). this is a great company.
i was going to talk about all of the great shows i'm watching next, but talking about american horror story after posting links to toys seems somewhat inappropriate.
in other news, my boss once told me about the disney cartoon show phinneas and ferb. over the break i got to watch many episodes with a 2-year-old flood refugee. she is super smart but she's having a bunch of problems with speech and physical development. after the flood, a company called Melissa and Doug donated a ton of wooden toys and puzzles to the church in the area. her parents are the pastors, so until the church and head-start branch is rebuilt, she's playing with most of them. if you have someone on your gift list who is 18 months to 6 years, i suggest these two AWESOME gifts from their store:
The Sushi Blocks:
http://www.melissaanddoug.com/sushi-slicing-play-set-play-food
these blocks are stackable and have velco on them. the chopsticks also have velcro. the two-year-old and i played with these for hours. at first she had a hard time unsticking the velcro, but the fine motor skills required to attach the velcro on the end of the stick had her acing physical therapy later that week when she had to use a fishing pole magnet for some tasks
The Standard Blocks:
http://www.melissaanddoug.com/standard-unit-building-blocks
no paint, only fun. the kid always went to these first. for someone older than two or three, I'd suggest the architectural blocks:
http://www.melissaanddoug.com/architectural-nesting-and-stacking-blocks
$70 is a lot for blocks, but these blocks are awesome. Amazon.com has all of these sets for a discount (~$40). this is a great company.
i was going to talk about all of the great shows i'm watching next, but talking about american horror story after posting links to toys seems somewhat inappropriate.