February Toy of the Month: Shape SENSEation

By Joyce Lopez, Product Development

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During one of many discussions with Speech and Language Pathologist/Special Education Teacher, Marian Gericke, the topic of integrating toys and games found its way into our conversation. Marian agreed that there are many good matching toys on the market; unfortunately, most of the matching toys focus on one or two learning skills and do not offer a variety of matching and learning skills for kids, especially kids with special needs. Marian also explained that the majority of matching toys on the market are small or awkward to work with, making it difficult for some children to use them effectively.

Since Marian works with special needs kids, I asked her for a list of features that she would like to see incorporated into a matching toy:

+ Bright, high contrasting colors for visual stimulation

+ Shapes that are easy to identify

+ Multiple textures for tactile stimulation

+ Multiple patterns and contrasting colors for visual contrast and visual discrimination

+ Sound for auditory stimulation

+ Lightweight for kids with limited muscle strength

+ Large and soft shapes that make it easy for kids to grasp, hold, and manipulate

+ Suitable for individual play as well as group play

+ Simple

Equipped with Marian’s list, I set off to create the ultimate matching toy for young kids, especially kids with special needs.

+ I started with six basic shapes – Star, Circle, Crescent Moon, Heart, Square, and Triangle.

+ Thick, soft foam was used inside each of the shapes, making each piece fun to touch, easy to grasp, and easy to hold.

+ Each shape was then divided symmetrically, making each half easy to identify.

+ I added multiple tactile materials – velour, bumpy, smooth, corduroy – to each shape.

+ A distinctive rib design was added around the top and bottom borders of each shape making it easier for kids, especially for kids that are blind or kids with low vision, to identify the shapes in order to match them together.

+ High contrasting colors and patterns were incorporated into each shape making them easier for all kids especially kids with low vision to identify.

+ Velcro was added in between each of the symmetrically divided shapes making it fun and easy for kids to pull the shapes apart and match them back together. The Velcro also adds an interesting sound when the shapes were pulled apart, adding auditory stimulation to the play experience

Marian Gericke loves the final product, which we call Shape SENSEation. Because of its many features, Shape SENSEation offers parents, teachers, and therapists a variety of play ideas that promote physical, sensory, communicative and cognitive learning. Shape SENSEation also includes a handy carrying pouch that can be incorporated into group play activities.