I love when the toys that my boys play with also teach them something. That said, not every educational toy is a winner- they have to be fun and get the kids interested, too. Educational toys are great, but they don’t do much good if they aren’t actually fun and engaging- they aren’t educational if they’re just sitting in the playroom collecting dust. So how do you know if the toy you see on the shelf is going to be a good match for your child’s current stage of development? How do you know if it’ll be too hard or too boring to use, or if they’re just not quite ready for it yet?
Instead of playing a guessing game at the store, you can sign up for HOOT! HOOT is a perfect way to get new toys that your kids will love, while keeping it fresh and making sure the toys actually have a great impact on them! HOOT is a subscription box service for kids newborn to 6, but unlike others, it doesn’t contain the same items for everyone. When you sign up for HOOT, you fill out a survey sharing things about your child such as their age, skills, and interests. Then, someone from the team of pediatric occupational therapists at HOOT hand-picks the items that get sent to your child!
HOOT stands for Hands On Occupational Therapy, so the toys are geared toward helping your kids improve skills like fine motor, gross motor, and sensory processing skills. The toys are chosen based on their ability to encourage purpose-driven play and strengthen developmental skills. The toys for HOOT boxes are chosen by their ability to help further skills and keep kids entertained at their age and skill level. They choose toys that are right on par with your child’s current level- toys that are just challenging enough to push them to grow without being so hard they get frustrated.
I ordered a box for Zac and he was sent a car-themed box with three items in it that all had a benefit {besides being really fun}!
Zac received a car matching game- it comes with a whole set of cars and it’s his job to match up the patterns, which was a fun way for him to learn about patterns and matching! He also liked lining all the cars up into a row using fine motor skills and jumping along his “path” using his gross motor skills!
Zac’s box also contained a magnetic maze game, which is one of his favorite kinds of toys right now. Our library has quite a few of these and I love that the one they sent him is the perfect size for bringing with us, too! It’s the perfect road trip toy and may even be something we bring along to restaurants.
Finally, we received a little wooden fire truck which was simple, but made me happy because it encourages his imagination. He is at this really fun stage right now where he’s really having fun playing pretend with toy cars and figures and he added the fire truck right into his games.
Zac loved his box and I love watching him play and work on skills at the same time! HOOT boxes can contain 3 or more toys and each box is $34.99. The boxes can also be given as gifts! Click here to order a box for your kiddo or as a gift for another child in your life. You can use code 5OFFBOX15 for $5 off your first box!
