WWASTB - What would a speech therapist buy?
My little guy, Luke, just celebrated his first birthday. We had a small party at my family's beach house to celebrate. Obviously it was surf themed for cool dude! My husband and I were truly grateful for people to simply come help us celebrate one year of Luke and parenthood. We didn't expect anything else of our guests and told them gifts weren't necessary. But people love to buy gifts. Especially for babies. I have been to first birthday parties with mountains of presents and duplicate toys. It gave me anxiety just looking at them. Where do you put them all? How can you ever have the time to play with all those toys? My solution was to share a "Wish List" in the email invite we sent out with suggestions for people. Here are our wishes for Luke's first birthday.
#1 - Books
I love books. I love reading. I love using books in speech therapy and I love looking at them with my own little one. Personally, I don't think a child can have too many books, so they are always at the top of our wish list.
Like most one year olds, Luke is on the move. He doesn't sit like he did a few months ago to listen to a story. And that's ok! Instead he is more interested and engaged with books that have:
Textures to feel
Flaps to lift
Real photos of common objects
Short, predictable text
Some of our books in heavy rotation right now are:
I keep a running Amazon Wish List of books that I would love to add to Luke's library and shared that list in the email.
#2 - Experiences
My love language is quality time so I love a good experience gift. How does one gift an experience you may ask?
Memberships or tickets to museums, zoos, aquariums, play
Tickets for fun events
Pay for swim lessons or music classes
Passes to indoor play places like My Gym
Tickets for fun events in your area
If you live in the Baltimore area some great places that have gift options for tickets and memberships are The Maryland Zoo, The National Aquarium, Port Discovery, and The Irvine Nature Center.
#3 - The Necessities
Take this opportunity to ask for things you need and don't really want to buy yourself! Diapers, wipes, cups, socks, stain remover, you name it. Are they fun or Instagram worthy gifts? No. But that doesn't make you need them any less.
#4 - Toys
Our house is small. We don't have a playroom and our basement doubles as my husband's office since he works from home full-time. We simply don't have room for all the stuff. But I am also a speech therapist who loves to play! Play is so powerful for little ones and it's also just fun. So how do we get cool new things without the house being completely overrun by tons of toys? My solution was to create an Amazon Wish List that included classic, heavy hitters.
"Play gives children a chance to practice what they are learning." - Fred Rogers
When I was making the list I thought a lot about the toys I suggest to families. If they ask for toy suggestions I often tell them to think about the classics. Things your that your parents and even better, your grandparents played with. Those kinds of toys have been around for this long because they are quality!
Balls
Pretend play toys - farm sets, baby dolls
In case you couldn't tell by clicking on the links, I am obsessed with just about anything Melissa & Doug makes. They are *chef's kiss*. I don't think I have ever seen a toy of theirs I didn't like!
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