Melissa Doug Lacing Beads Have So Many Learning Opportunities!
Melissa Doug lacing beads are one of the most fun top learning toys for toddlers in my opinion! I did not even know they existed until my friend gave them to my little girl one Morning while we were having coffee! It was the best thing ever as I got 20 minutes peace as opposed to being constantly screamed at for attention! As I watched Amelia playing with them I realised they had lots of great learning opportunities! Being a toy blogger with an interest in educating through toys I was all over them! Yep a definite thumbs up from me and I am going to show you why!!
Where to buy Melissa Doug Wooden Beads
Melissa & Doug Deluxe Wooden Lacing Beads
This Melissa Doug Lacing Beads Set comes with a wooden tray which is a brilliant place to store all the contents.
It includes 27 colored beads and 2 laces (green and purple).
As you can see the beads are all very brightly colored to catch your toddler’s attention!
The different shapes will stimulate their imagination and help with sorting.
It says recommended for 3 but I know toddlers as young as 2 can haven fun with this toy. The sooner they start the more they will learn!
Melissa Doug Wooden Beads are Brilliant for Fine Motor Skills!
One of the best fine motor skills activities for toddlers is lacing beads as little ones have to use hand eye coordination to thread each bead onto the colored string. It sounds simple for an adult but my 20 month old struggled with it initially, now she is almost 2 she can manage to get the beads onto the string. It took lots of practice but she is a determined little girl who never gives up so she got there in the end.
The string is not to thick and the hole to thread is much bigger than some of the other lacing beads I have seen! At first my little girl was quick to insert the string into the hole but she kept dropping the bead before she could finish threading it through.
Helps Toddlers Learn To Count
Melissa Doug wooden beads with numbers are great counting toys for toddlers! The beads are numbered from 1 to 10 with corresponding Roman numerals. Obviously a 2 year old cannot count but it does no harm to get them used to putting the beads in number order on the string! I always say each number to Amelia as I place it on the string to help her learn to count. I would say what comes after 2 and so forth!
You can also use these beads for math games such as where you roll the dice and add the 2 numbers together. There are so many opportunities for learning.
Melissa Doug Lacing Beads Provide Opportunity to Shape Sort
There are 5 different shapes of bead. I encourage my toddler to sort the beads depending on their shape. This is great recognition and shows she can sort according to shape regardless of bead color and number. I would encourage her by saying put all the stars together or put all the cubes together.
Can Be Used To Promote Language Development
This Melissa Doug wooden bead set is another of my favorite toys that promote language development! You can point out colors of beads, shapes and numbers. I would ask Amelia to reach me a bead with a number on it or reach me the number 7 bead. This took a while for her to get the right bead but she was able to repeat the words after me which is a fabulous way for her to learn new words.
Try and keep it simple and focus on numbers for a while or shapes for a while. If you chop and change your toddler will get confused.
Stimulate Creativity and Imagination
Watch your 3 year old design her own arrangement of beads. Will she keep all the cubes and stars together or will she break them up with other shapes. The lacing beads give her the opportunity to be inventive and do her own thing! As well as know toddlers and pre-schoolers love doing this.
Other things I love about these Melissa Doug Lacing Beads
They are excellent value for money and make a great stocking stuffer for toddlers and 3 year olds!
They are great for traveling or keeping your toddler entertained whilst dining out
The beads can be used as stacking toys or sorting toys as well as for lacing!
Two strings mean two toddlers/small kids can lace beads at the same time!
Check price of Melissa Doug Lacing Beads
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