Mary from OwlHaven wants to know how you use toys to help develop your child's motor skills.

BlogHer moms know how important it is to stimulate creativity and intellectual development. That's why we've partnered with LEGO^® DUPLO^® to bring you a place to share your ideas with other moms and find new ways to teach your kids in a fun and entertaining way!

Meet NieNie from the NieNie Dialogues, Mary from OwlHaven, and Stephanie from Totally Together Journal. They're here to answer all of your questions on how to get your kids to unplug and use their own imagination. Click here to submit a question.

This week we welcome Mary from OwlHaven wants to know how you use toys to help develop your child's motor skills.

My husband and I joked when our first daughter was little that she was always a few months ahead of us.  We'd buy her a new toy, watch her play with it, and realize with chagrin that she had the motor control to have handled that toy months sooner.  If her clueless parents hadn’t deprived her of the opportunity.  Thankfully she is now a capable adult, and shows no signs of being stunted by her parents’ continual underestimation of her ability.

By the time our second and subsequent children came along, we knew more about kids' abilities at various ages.  But then we had another problem:  babies who were all too eager to play with an older kid's toys-- the smaller, the better.  More than once we found a one year old contentedly chewing a Barbie shoe, and then get to reach past little Piranha teeth to scoop it out. 

That's when I really began appreciating LEGO® DUPLO®.  They are large enough for newly mobile toddlers, meaning there’s no need for hurried cleanup when the baby’s nap is over.  They rock at helping kids develop fine motor skills.  Even a one year old can build a tower, especially if a bigger person holds the tower steady as it grows. And there’s no limit to the amount of creativity they inspire in kids of all ages.  My 11 year olds – and my husband!— all have ‘big kid’ LEGO® toys.   But they still sit down and create with DUPLO® quite regularly. 

What kinds of toys do you think do a good job helping kids with motor skills?

-Mary

Mary Ostyn is the mother of 10 children ages 4-21.  She is the author of A SANE WOMAN’S GUIDE TO RAISING A LARGE FAMILY and FAMILY FEASTS FOR $75 A WEEK.  She blogs at  Owlhaven.

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