Montessori and open play
- Renee Diaz
- Oct 24, 2019
- 4 min read
Disclaimer: I have a partnership with Roylco and have received the items listed in this post at a discount or free in exchange for my honest and unbiased experience, feedback or review.
There are also some links listed to their site, which may be affiliate.
I'm not going to lie guys, I own really cool stuff. Stuff I wish I had access to or at least even knew about, with my first child 8 years ago. Back then I knew nothing about play and I basically just let him do whatever he wanted. Little did I know that was probably a Montessori environment. I am a better teacher when it comes to baking, cooking and art. That 8 year old made bacon this morning so I'd say, we're still on pace to helping him become a successful human being. One who can make bacon. Which is necessary. Bacon. Okay, I went off on a little tangent there. My point is, I enjoy teaching the kids in all ways, hands on. And Bacon is good.
When I learned that our second child needed some therapy because he wasn't meeting his milestones on time, we entered a whole different world of play. I learned so much about how play is his main source of learning. At the same time, I had begun the search on ways to work from home and followed the trail down to reviewing for companies and Amazon. Back then, I was able to work with vendors on Amazon, which is now against TOS, and I was happy to indulge in reviewing for free product. I observed all the different therapy toys that the therapists brought to our Early Intervention meetings and asked every vendor I could find, to send us stuff we could use in exchange for a review. I knew I could add pictures and give good information about products to help the vendor showcase their product and I could give good feedback for the person purchasing. I really felt like I was able to offer a service to people back then, which kind of brought me into the blogging world now. I mean, I am honest and unbiased after all.
As time has gone on and the advertising market has changed, I've found myself in the same boat with businesses that make products I want and don't necessarily have the ability to pay for. I reviewed the spectrum of items on Amazon which is why it's easy to do it again, on an entirely different platform.
I've mentioned in posts on social media, and also in a blog post a few weeks back, that I am working with Roylco. I've had a box of their product for a few months now and I wanted to give some updated feedback now that we've had some time to really break these toys in. They're a great company to work with in partnership and I really like the products I've received from them thus far. Today I am going to talk about Softie Buttons.
I'm always looking for ways to encourage my 2 and 4 year old to use their hands differently and to strengthen muscles that I didn't know existed before a year of occupational therapy. The product itself is simple but offers a lot of creative use which, hello, is great for the Montessori family or with people who work in childcare or a preschool setting. The texture is smooth but firm and most importantly, offer some resistance when bent. The colors are mixed and most are bright.
With a reviewer background, a lot sticks with me. I see all things as a review. I test in different ways and try to find creative uses to see how what a product can withstand. In this case, I busted out my super awesome light table, for drafting from my uncle who is also a person who seems to find all the cool stuff randomly and for free (go team #zerowaste). We were able to use the Softie Buttons with the light table which held my kiddos' attention even longer. We played with the buttons to see if the colors would show through. We talked about colors, shapes and how to use tweezers. It was also a lot of fun because he's afraid of the dark and he was having so much fun, he didn't care.
We also played with pipe cleaners with different textures, which was fun for a while and he even tried to make little patterns. He did independent play for about 10-15 minutes which is the equivalent of a load of laundry from upstairs to the basement or grabbing a snack and maybe even a potty break. For me. I was talking about me finally eating. We used some tweezers I had from another toy and it now lives in the same box with the Softie Buttons. Ultimately, he made his own patterns and made little laws about how they should be set up. I obliged and went along with his games and it was a sweet moment for us to share. I'd like to mention, if you are trying to make pairs, you could maybe make a few but it's a mixed bag of shapes and colors. You'll have to get creative with patterns.
I know the little buttons aren't a big deal to some people but for me, this is huge. When you don't know what your child is capable of doing and don't know how their hands will work when they're older, you find yourself in a place of hope when you see these little hands grasp things and use a pipe cleaner or string with a button.
Overall, we thought the Softie Buttons were fun. I'm a fan of anything that will encourage my kids to play with toys they actually seek out and it's a win if it helps them to develop skills they need.
Oh hey, since I am working with Roylco, they are offering a discount on this item. It's already a cheap item so the extra 20% off makes me even happier to work with them. Use coupon code: SOFTIE20, expires 11-15-19, https://roylco.com/shop/r20207-softie-buttons/
And because Roylco is so generous, they are giving me an extra set to give away. Enter via https://www.instagram.com/honestandunbiased/
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