The ChildLinks Connection
All of the materials featured in this section are
available for check out at no charge. 
Enroll in ChildLinks today...it's FREE for families with
young children birth to five years of age.
 

On the Menu:  Deceptively Delicious - Simple Secrets to Get Your Kids Eating Good Food by Jessica Seinfeld
 

This book is filled with traditional recipes that kids love, except they're stealthily packed with veggies hidden in them so kids don't even know! With the help of a nutritionist and a professional chef, Seinfeld has developed a month's worth of meals for kids of all ages that includes, for example, pureed cauliflower in mac and cheese, and kale in spaghetti and meatballs. She also provides revealing and humorous personal anecdotes, tear–out shopping guides to help parents zoom through the supermarket, and tips on how to deal with the kid that "must have" the latest sugar bomb cereal.   

Parenting Resources:  Parenting Preschoolers with a Purpose
by Jolene L. Roehlkepartain

This book offers guidance for everyday issues, such as bedwetting, eating, lying, sibling relationships, bath time, friendships, discipline and travel. You will also find solutions to the common challenges that parents face, such as finances, isolation, job demands, guilt, sleep deprivation and unsolicited advice. This book is full creative tips and reassurance for parents seeking to nurture their preschooler.

Textured Soft Blocks for children 6 months and up.


 

Stacking Activity Cubes for children 9 months and up.
 

Toddlers develop more muscle control and are able to combine blocks, stack them or line them up. Two-year-olds may demonstrate their first attempts at building structures and show the beginnings of fantasy play.

Geokids First Blocks for children 1-2 years of age.

Around the age of three, children learn how to balance and fit pieces together to build sturdier towers, then bridges and enclosures. Threes and fours begin to recognize designs and patterns as their towers and buildings become works of art.



    Rainbow Blocks for children 3 years and up.

                                       Unit Blocks for children 3 years and up.

Child Development:  Children learn best through play and blocks are a learning tool that grows with a child's creativity, interests and abilities. Block play naturally contributes to many areas of development in addition to having limitless open-ended possibilities. 

Social Development — Blocks encourage children to make friends and cooperate. Large block play may be a young child's first experience playing in a group, while small block play may encourage an older child to work with others to solve problems.

Physical Development — When children reach, pick up, stack or fit blocks together, they build strength in their fingers and hands, and increase eye-hand coordination. Around age two, children begin to figure out which shapes will fit where and get a head start on understanding different perspectives needed to help them to read maps and follow directions later on. Blocks help develop skills in design, representation, balance and stability.

Intellectual Development — Blocks help children learn across many subjects. Young children develop their vocabularies as they learn to describe sizes, shapes, colors and positions. Preschoolers develop early math skills by grouping, adding, subtracting, gravity and balance.

Creative Development — Blocks offer children the chance to make their own designs and the satisfaction of creating structures that did not exist before. Beginning at the age of two, children may use a variety of blocks for pretend-play. Children may become life-sized actors in large block structures or use figures to create dramas in miniature landscapes.

• Talk to your infant about the different textures on blocks, describing smooth, soft, fuzzy, bumpy, shiny, hard and so on.

• Show your toddler how to build a three block tower, counting the blocks as you go. Knock down the tower and ask your toddler to help you rebuild it. Let them knock it down this time.

• Talk to your preschooler about the colors and shapes of blocks and count them as you build towers.

• Make a pattern out of blocks on the floor and ask your child to repeat the same pattern. Take turns, allowing your child to create the pattern.

For more information contact,
Martin/Pitt Partnership for Children
@252.756.1567