A Discovery Toy for Occupational Therapy
Written: May 27 '01
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Pros: Helps gross motor skills
Cons: expensive; purchase through a Consultant
The Bottom Line: This tugboat is a colorful toy that helps toddlers through preschool age with their developmental skills.
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| bonniesayers's Full Review: Hammer Away |
I have attended some conferences where outside the entrance are various vendors selling products. Discovery Toys is one that I have made a purchase from and thought about becoming a consultant.
At my son’s preschool classroom there are some Discovery Toys but the teacher stated she can get these items cheaper at Costco so I opted not to get started with selling their products.
I have catalogs that show Hammer Away is part of the Introductory Kit and sells individually for $24.99. They do have a delivery charge and more details on Discovery Toys are available at http://www.discoverytoysinc.com. I made the mistake of searching through an engine with just Discovery Toys and found many consultants home pages.
My almost five year old son is autistic and non-verbal with sensory integration dysfunction. He receives occupational therapy once a week at a clinic plus through the school once a week. While at the clinic I go in a room to observe through a mirror and see what products the therapists utilize for his session.
On many occasions they have brought Hammer Away in as one of three toys for my son to choose based on a talk back system. They have pictures of the items and he must pick the one he wants to play with.
The hammer is easy to grasp for him and he seems interested in lining up the green, blue, red and purple balls on top of the tugboat. Once he hammers on the ball it goes through the inside of the boat and comes out of the yellow hole on the other side of the tugboat.
He likes to pick up the ball and place it on one of the holes again to see this process one more time. This is teaching him cause and effect plus visual learning. It is a two level boat with the levels blue. The bottom area where the ball ends up has grooves to keep the ball from leaving the boat or going overboard.
The recommended age of this states nineteen months to preschool age. When the tugboat is not in use the hammer can be placed in the top level for safe keeping or you could bring the tugboat in the bathtub for playing with the balls and see them sink with the Hammer Away.
I feel since the therapist has specific toys in mind and is consistent with the choices he has each week it would not be beneficial to purchase this for the home as well, besides the cost is out of our budget.
Hammer Away can be placed on a table or the floor for play for more than one child. They can learn to take turns and choose which color they want to Hammer Away. This would be good to take to the beach for kids to play in the shade or outside on the patio.
It is not very heavy and made of durable plastic. I would suggest using adult supervision with the hammer so it is used only for the balls and not other parts of the tugboat.
If purchased when a child is at the minimum age range this would last for a longer time. You can use this for counting and learning basic colors. If you like to collect ornaments for the holidays you may be interested in the Hammer Away collectible ornament, #3533 selling for $7.99. This is 2 ½ inches long.
The Hammer Away is 13 ½” x 7 x 8” and item #1433. The therapists keep it in the box for easy access. For a parent who has a special needs child in therapy you might want to suggest this item for their patients. All little kids like a tugboat and the colors are vibrant, plus the shape of the balls are perfect for small hands as well as the hammer.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 24.99
Type of Toy: Educational
Age Range of Child: 3 to 5 Years
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bonniesayers
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Location: Los Angeles, CA
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