Differently-Abled Toys

I was impressed the other day, when I got an email from Toys R Us that now has a shopping guide available for differently-abled kids. It is organized by skill. So if you are looking for some fine motor toys, you click on the "fine motor" button. Beyond that you are able to sort by age, gender etc. A lot of the toys that we have from the other girls work just fine for Aubrey in all of her skill areas, but every once in awhile we are looking for something specific for her and it will be a great place to look. Here is the link: http://www.toysrus.com/shop/index.jsp?categoryId=3261680

Another good place for developmental toys especially for Ds babies is "Down syndrome New Mama" blog. She has so thoughtfully put together a list of some great toys for newborns. Here is her link. I'm putting the #3 Oball on Aubrey's Christmas list!

http://downsyndromenewmama.blogspot.com/search/label/toys

Lucy's mom also put together a guide of her favorite toys. Some overlap from list to list, but she has some great ones too.

http://teenytinyhopkins.blogspot.com/2009/10/lucys-toy-guide.html

I'm having troubles getting some of the pictures to load, so here is just a list of Aubrey's favorite toys: (some with pictures--some without--if you have questions about ones without pictures, let me know)

1. Leap Frog Learn and Groove Music Table ( it helps her keep busy while practicing her standing as well as strengthening her arms as she pushes herself away from the table and back again)

2. Peg Board Puzzles (this was one with bigger knobs to get her going, now we are using the small ones to work on her pincer grasp)

3. Pots and Pans and Spoons...need I say more. She loves the noise that she can make!

4. Bumbo ( I have to be totally honest, this thing looks rediculous, but it works so well. She was able to be propped up in it from an early time and it helped her develop the muscles and skills to eventually sit alone. We also used it when we first started giving her solids as a chair)

5. Boppy (we actually have three:) She used this to sleep in especially when she was little or congested or just wanted to be propped up to see what everyone was doing. Then it sat behind her or in front of her when she was learning to sit up.

6. Water mat--this was a mat with water in it that we laid on the floor when she had tummy time. She loved pushing on the water to make the fish inside it move.

7. Lots and lots of texture books. She loves them so much and it is good for her to point and touch all that stuff.