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My favorite *SCREEN FREE* gifts for elementary children

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1) Inductive Toys

Inductive toys are my number one favorite toy right now!

You draw a black line on a large piece of paper and the toy follows whatever line you draw! There are robots, fire trucks, trains, construction equipment, pigs, you name it. They even have this adorable chameleon!

When kids get these toys they intuitively ask questions such as, “How do I get the robot to go from point A to point B? What happens if the lines cross? Will it follow a curve? A spiral? A rectangle?”. They don’t realize they are practicing problem solving by doing so. If you have more than one inductive toy you can line them up and have a race (believe me, if you have more than one kiddo they will do this automatically!).

Skills Learned: either independent or interactive play, creativity, problem solving, pre-programing, fine motor  

2) Dog Pile and Cat Stax

DogPile and Cat Stax are like playing Tetras with animals! One of my kiddos LOVES animals and this game will fascinate him because he can arrange and rearrange the animals to get them to fit. Plus, it’s the perfect quiet activity for those times you have to wait at doctor’s offices or restaurants.  

Skills Learned: independent play, visuospatial awareness, problem solving

3) Mental Blox

My kids are really good at puzzles, but aren’t quite ready for the big 3D kind. Mental Blox is kind of the next step up. It gives you a stack of image cards. Each card has a picture of a blox arrangement. You choose the challenge you want and recreate it in 3D with the Mental Blox provided. The cards start out really simply and get more challenging as you progress. You can even add on to the image shown in the card by reading the optional clues. The clues take your building skills to the next level!

Skills Learned: independent play, visuospatial awareness, problem solving, spatial object manipulation, transferring 2D representation to 3D objects.

4) Light Bright

Light Bright…Remember this one from when you were a kid? I played with this for YEARS. My parents got the genius idea to just put black construction paper on it so I could create my own scenes. I loved that, along with the pre-made images of course. If you’ve got a kiddo that won’t eat the little pegs and loves to be creative this is a great choice for them. It’s also much more portable than it was when we were kids.

Skills Learned: independent play, creativity, following directions, fine motor, one-to-one correspondence

5) Rugged Walkie-Talkies

Remember playing “fort” or “hideout” or “spy”? My kiddos still love those kinds of games but they need cool gear like this to draw it out of them. I love how far these Walki-Talkies go (10 miles!) and the fact that they have multiple channels (it makes the “spy” part much more appealing). But, honestly, I love that they don’t break or have that horrible staticky sound. Remember the crappy walkie-talkies you had to yell into and just ended up yelling across the house? Yah, I hate that kind. These are not that kind.

Skills Learned: interactive play, communication, imaginative play, creativity

6) Battleship

Battleship is a game for upper elementary kids because it requires quite a few cognitive skills to pull off. But once they are old enough, its pretty fun! There are electronic versions that make all kinds of sounds.

This one doesn’t.

You’re welcome.

Skills Learned: interactive play, following directions, problem solving, fine motor, coordinates, strategy, visualization, working memory  

7) Drawing boards

These magnetic drawing boards come in all sizes, don’t make a mess, can be used for long car rides or quiet evening activities in bed before lights out. We LOVE them and keep a variety on hand. They come in rainbow color or black and white. Our kids like to draw side-by-side and show each other their art and play games like hang man with them.

You can find magnetic drawing boards that have a variety of shaped magnets alongside the pen, but I AVOID those at all costs. Those magnets are one more thing to find laying around the house and make the board less portable.

Find the red, travel sized board here and the larger rainbow colored board here.

Skills Learned: either independent or interactive play, creativity, drawing, fine motor

8) Magnetic Building Tiles

I love this brand of magnetic tiles (Discovery) because they are very durable. I’ve had all ages use them, even infants who like to bang them on trays and watch them stick together! They are easy to manipulate and don’t looked as “dirty” as the clear plastic type can once scuffed. After dinner, we use a pile of them at the table as a family activity and everyone enjoys building together.

Skills Learned: either independent or interactive play, creativity, visuospatial awareness, 3D object manipulation, geometric awareness, STEM activity

9) Legos

Let’s just say Legos are the best! As soon as kids are past the “put everything in my mouth” stage they fall in love with Legos. I prefer the classic tubs because you can literally build anything with them. While the kits are amazing, and my kiddos love getting them as presents, lets be real, they are one trick ponies. Once the kids follow the directions and put the kit together it inevitably gets torn apart and mixed in with the rest never to be completed again.

The classic sets however, can be used with the myriad of Lego books available such as this one. You can purchase these books or, better yet, get them from your library.

Skills Learned: either independent or interactive play, creativity, visuospatial awareness, 3D object manipulation, geometric awareness, STEM activity

10) Play-Dough or Putty

The putty is a hit with the older elementary kiddos. It’s texture is stiffer than traditional Play-Dough and they have to use more strength to work it. It isn’t great for creating structures like traditional Play-Dough is (i.e. cookie cutter shapes, cars, etc.) but it’s perfect at capturing the attention of the upper elementary child. It does stick to some surfaces (like the plastic images on shirts) but is MUCH LESS MESSY than the slime the older kids all gravitate to!

Skills Learned: strengthens the muscles of the hand, can be soothing for some children, calming activity.

I LOVE Play-Dough because it captures my children’s attention for quite some time. They create and share their creations. It is fairly easy to clean up (we put down a plastic table cloth) and is washable (for the bits that end up on clothes). I have yet to have it stain clothing. Plus there are ENDLESS amount of kits available like this cute Frozen kit or this adorable fire truck kit.

There are also so many STEM activities to do with Play-Dough. A quick search will take you to pages like this one where Dayna puts together a STEM kit for her kiddo or this one where Sarah gives you 17 learning activities for the littles!   

Skills Learned: interactive or independent play, creativity, object manipulation, STEM

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Foster Care and Adoption can Transform Generations

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Image of Author Hiedi Anderson
Hiedi Anderson (Photo: Courtesy Hiedi Anderson)

By Hiedi Anderson

Foster care and adoption do more than change lives. They save lives — including mine.

I have shared before that many aspects of my childhood were idyllic: Summers catching pollywogs, fishing and camping, climbing (and falling out of) trees, riding bicycles through fields and making crafts at Vacation Bible School; Thanksgiving tables so long they snaked through three rooms at Grandma’s house and included every type of pie imaginable; and countless hours spent playing Pick-Up-Sticks, Twister and kick-the-can at dusk with cousins.

Unfortunately, there was a darker, troubling flipside to that fairytale life. People my parents trusted were deceitful and sneaky, violent and manipulative. My first death threat was at age 5, and I was only 7 when I had my head cracked open by a metal plate from the base of an old, wringer-style washing machine for being “too lazy” to hold and hang an entire load of dripping wet laundry on the clothesline (which I was too short to reach). By the time I entered my teen years, I did not think I would live to adulthood. 

“By the time I entered my teen years, I did not think I would live to adulthood. “

I got lucky in high school, though. An observant teacher took notice of something I wrote and asked me about it. I initially denied the abuse, then nearly vomited from guilt for lying to a teacher. I called her that afternoon and within minutes, she was at my house. She looked me in the eyes and told me I was strong, at a time when I felt helpless and weak. Her actions put into motion a series of events that would lead me into foster care. It saved my life.

Unfortunately, my story is just one of millions repeating over time. Right now, more than 400,000 children are in foster care in the United States. Of those, about one-fourth will be unable to reunite with birth families and need permanent, loving, safe, “forever families.” I was in foster care at a time when anyone over pre-school age was considered “un-adoptable” and thousands languished in care, simply waiting to age out of the system. I am so thankful that is no longer the philosophy. Now, homes are sought for every child, regardless of their age. And since 1995, November is recognized annually as National Adoption Month — a time to bring awareness about the need for permanency for all children and youth in foster care.

“I was fortunate. I was eventually placed with…”

Nevada is not immune to this issue: Our state has hundreds of children in foster care and there are dozens of Northern Nevada children unable to be reunited with birth families due to no fault of their own. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Children’s Bureau chose the theme “Youth Voices: Why Family Matters” to highlight the needs of older children who are less likely to be adopted. Many of those youth age out of the foster care system without positive, reliable adult connections to help guide and emotionally support them.  

Image of Department of Health Children's Bureau website. Click on image to go to site.

I was fortunate. I was eventually placed with a family who treated me as if I was adopted. They embraced all of me — stubborn, quiet, frightened. And they, along with a cherished mentor I met at independent living skills classes for foster youth, encouraged me to dream.

Flash forward three decades. I am a foster-adoptive mom of three, writer, artist and advocate. Not bad for someone who never thought she would be 18.

I am living proof that adoption offers hope today and can transform generations. For information on foster care or adoption, please visit: dcfs.nv.gov.

Note from Parents of Foster Care If you are interested in pursuing foster care, contact your local county’s Department of Child Services. Depending on your state, this department might also be called Child Protective Services, or Department of Child and Family Services.

Hiedi Andersen is a public relations consultant, writer and amateur photographer. She lives in Yerington, NV, and can be contacted at: hiediandersen3@gmail.com.

This article was originally published in the Reno Gazette Journal on November 13, 2019. It is republished here by permission of the author, Hiedi Anderson.

Image of Pie modified from Alper Cugun’s image titled Pie. Image of teacher modified from Kevin Dooley’s image titled Teacher. Both are licensed under Creative Commons Legal Code Attribution 2.0

This is what my Foster Child needs…it’s Complicated

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I found myself on the other end of an outside-the-classroom-hallway-conversation about my child. You know, the one where you get called down to your kiddo’s classroom – that one.  This time, we were at church and it was a much needed conversation with our pastor.

While potentially helpful, it was wayyyy too short to give the full picture of what my kiddo actually needed and why. Like all hallway conversations there was the element of “how much do I say?”. I only want to share what’s needed to help my child and no more, because, after all, this is his life and not mine. But, his needs are real…and complicated…so it’s easy for me to say too much in an attempt to drive home the importance of those needs.

But this rarely works.

Those hallway conversations are meant to pinpoint one specific issue and more background info just leads to more questions and more scrutiny. It doesn’t usually help. The setting isn’t right. The complexity of the issues sidetrack the original conversation and yet, more is needed.

My child needs support systems. He needs an understanding community to gather around him and be there to help. He needs others to have a better understanding of how trauma effects actions, attitudes and, in our case, a better understanding of FASD (Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder).

I went home that day wondering how I would ever explain all of this without compromising my child’s privacy.  And that’s when I found this book. The moment I finished it I wrote this letter to my pastor.

Dear Pastor,

Thank you for talking to me on Sunday.  I’m not sure how to start this letter because I desperately need to be heard, but I realize you are inundated by needs, projects and the like.

This book is the best way I have to show you what my children are like and what our home is like. Our children are young and it’s manageable now, but we are quickly headed this way and we know it. The thing is, we freely do it anyway because fostered or adopted doesn’t matter; they are our children and we love them.

And, we don’t ask for help because we know that apart from the other families that live this day-in and day-out there isn’t help to be had. So, we support each other and are there for each other. So, please know that on the rare occasion I do come to you with a need THIS is where I’m coming from.

THIS is our story and most of us who are foster and/or adoptive parents need our pastors to understand that to some extent.

Sincerely,

Sarah

p.s. It starts slowly. Please read from beginning to end.

Nervously, I placed the letter on top of “Born Broken” – the book that captures the day-in-and-day-out “stick to me like glue” kind of help my kiddo needs. The book that gives a tiny gimps of the hyper vigilance needed at all moments, the ups and the downs, the sweet times and the sporadic insanity that is our life. The book  that those who could be part of our support system really need to read.

I sealed them both in an envelope and, with a little bit of hope for more – more love, more understanding, more acceptance – I sent it on it’s way.

If you would like your own copy of “Born Broken” you can find it on Amazon here.

You Might Also Like Reading:

How to Tell what your Child Actually Needs

(Note: This post may also contain affiliate links. For more information, read my Disclosure Policy here.)

(Note: This post may also contain affiliate links. For more information, read my Disclosure Policy here.)