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One of my favorite things to do with my children, when they were younger, was to build things. I think I loved it so much because it was time spent just sitting with my kids, no T.V. on. Nothing but us just talking and building. What we were building did not matter and if I am being truthful, sometimes it was an unidentifiable thing we created, but the fun was being together.

Emily loved play dough and clay to create things.

Michael was more of a Lego kind of man.

And for our beautiful Elizabeth, due to her sensory processing disorder, she did not have a favorite but we were always encouraging her to participate in all of the above. Sometimes she did and it was great and other times she did not wish to participate and we tried to understand.

So when I came across these learning blocks, I immediately knew who my go to person was for help to tell you about them. And it is my beautiful 11 year old son, Michael.

He is my side kick and my assistant for toy reviews. What follows is a combination of his thoughts and mine about the building blocks called: Elemenosqueeze

They are alphabet blocks but so different from any you will find.

First off their colors are not in the primary realm of red, blue, yellow and green, but come in orange, moss green, pink and red. So this is something that, right away, caught my eye. Partially because the colors are different but mostly because the colors are soothing. It is a nice change from the traditional color options in most children’s toys.

The Elemenosqueeze blocks come in interesting shapes. Not just square, triangle or rectangle but in curved ones like a bridge, long ones like pillars and ones with rounded corners. So the building will be easy with these choices and allow for more creative play.

But aside from that, on each alphabet block there is a letter, hence the name, as well as a raised imprint of a word that starts with the letter and an animal image. Thus, the Elemenosqueeze blocks help with letter, animal and color identification while promoting fine motor skills and imagination through building.

Nice! Right? I think they feel nice in your hand and come with a zippered carrying case to take them with you. The only thing I have to say is that the case requires the blocks to be put in in a certain way to get the zipper to close. So to be realistic, it might be a good idea to take them out of the container they came in and put them in something that will allow your child to throw them in. It would just make it easier. Also, the letter “X” has an imprint of a fish on it with its ribs elevated. So just know I think they are going for X-ray here. But you may have to explain it to your children.

But other than that, the Elemenosqueeze is a perfect addition to the toy chest or the classroom, especially for sensory seekers!

Now here comes Michael.

He opens the bags and takes out some of the blocks. He immediately squeezes them and when they make a noise, he looks up at me and smiles. “Listen to this!” he says. “I love that they do this!” So the sound made is a high point in 11 year old land.

And because he is a chewer, think shirts, pillow cases and the like, he reads they are PABA free and puts one in his mouth. He is immediately happy with the fact that these can become “chewies” and continues to work with the Elemenosqueeze as he happily chews on the moss green pillar.

His final thought is actually a question “How cool is this?” And it refers to the fact that the b toys building blocks, when filled with water make some “really nice squirt guns!” “Mom, seriously these would be so fun in a pool”.

I then told him to squirt the remaining water out of the rectangle. Which he did in an unhappy fashion.

Michael gave the blocks a great rating on the fun scale!

Add the Elemenosqueeze building blocks to your sensory diet, bathtime fun, and/or the sensory table today.

Ohh, and they were also rated Best Baby Toy of 2011. So there’s that too!

I wish everyone a peaceful week.

Michele

I am happily in the process of writing my second book about Elizabeth’s life, actually it is the continuation of her story from the first book, since the first book ends at age 11. So I am using my journals, my notebooks, school records and old IEP’s (Individualized Education Plans) to plan my writing.

It is in the IEP’s that I see the notes from the OT (occupational therapist) about Elizabeth learning how to write her cursive name or manage her day at school. But it is in my journal that I read the many references to the teaching we did of life skills to Elizabeth, such as vacuuming, wiping tables or learning how to dial the phone, as well as to the basic skills of buttoning a button, zipping a zipper or snapping a snap. These are functional life skills and due to Elizabeth’s dyspraxia, ones that are very hard to teach as they are important.

I can remember the one summer, she and I agreed we would work on certain skills.

Everyday.

The skills included those of hanging a shirt, hanging a pair of pants with the hangers that have those squeezy thingies at the top, buttoning a button, snapping a snap and lastly zipping up a coat.

So we broke the skills down into steps and practiced them.

She would try each day to do the skills, some days were better than others. No surprise here as this is classic Dyspraxia. But she kept trying.

We did the skills in isolation, meaning we did them outside of the realm that was typical. Think buttoning jeans while they were on the table, not on her.

We did this for all the skills.

The idea being that she would get the skill under her belt and then we would move on to her doing the skills in a functional setting. Which is the ultimate goal of the skills. Which means doing it in the way that it will be expected to be done. So think, pants off the table and instead, on Elizabeth.

So we had our work cut out for us. But here is the part that I need to share. I struggled to find a way to teach the skills in isolation. I did not have something with a snap or a pair of pants with a great big button etc….but I did have a puzzle that contained pieces that had a snap on them, or a zipper etc. So we used this puzzle to start our teaching. The puzzle lacked a certain fun to it, a certain whimsy.

So when I came across this great toy, I had to share it with you. It has a purpose and that is called …teaching these basic skills.

And it had a gift, and it is called…it is soft and inviting. Which is very much unlike the stiff puzzle pieces we used.

And he is called, Dr. Pooch.

This guy is a super cute dog that has a purpose. He has shoes that need tied, a zipper that needs zipped, buckles, Velcro and buttons and that all needed closed, open and button, respectively. He is ready to be used to teach these skills in a great inviting way.

It is toys like Dr.Pooch that would allow the skills to be taught in a fun way, so much less stressful when you are looking at the face of a really cute stuffed animal. That is, by the way, a veterinarian dog. So he comes with a cloth stethoscope.

But putting all this cuteness aside, he is a really wonderful way to teach the basic skills, initially and in isolation. And once you get success, you can build on it and start to encourage functional skill growth.

But what a nice way to begin the process of teaching these skills

Dr. Pooch might be a really nice learning tool if these skills are on your “to –do” list of things to work on.

My beautiful Elizabeth would probably have loved a toy like this to start the ball rolling on these skills as opposed to the nice, cold puzzle pieces that we used.

She did learn the skills and we continue to review them, but maybe it could have been made more fun. He is awfully cute! And ready to help.

So, I offer, take a peek at the adorable, lovable doll and see if you think it would fit your child’s age and needs.

And with that, I wish everyone a peaceful week.

Michele

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