I feel like baby is ready to start engaging and playing with some toys now! 

1. More books of course! This month we are reading a lot of short board books like...

• Brown bear brown bear and similar books. I like these ones specifically because they are short, repetitive, and also interactive for when baby gets a little older. 
  • Polar Bear Polar Bear
  • Panda Bear Panda Bear  
• Eric Carle Books
  • The Very Hungry Caterpillar 
  • Firefly Light Up the Sky
• That's Not my...
  • Puppy
  • Dinosaur

2. Sophie the giraffe generalized mouthing toy 
3. Wonder Wheel activity center (even though it's plastic, it's suctioned to the table so baby doesn't really get it in their mouth )
3. The secure -a-toy straps because baby keeps throwing everything on the floor 

Is there a huge difference in price, not really. When to factor in the guidebook's knowledge and the high quality materials and non-toxic finishes, it could end up being worth it! Overall, I like my swap outs better than what was provided, so I would personally skip this box, but it may be just perfect for you! Hope this helped you make a decision!

The LovEvery Baby Boxes were on my registry and I was soooo excited to use them! Here's my take on box number 1!

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None at this time! As far as play things or mouthing, but I would recommend this book on
​ Baby Sign Language! We started signing really early on! He books recommends beginning right away in hopes that they can start signing back around the 8 month mark! 

I was underwhelmed with this box. But in reality, baby can't really 'play' with anything at this stage. It's you interacting with them for the most part. The black and white books baby is super into! The photos they give kept baby engaged for a long time. The mittens didn't fit at all and I wish they had made them adjustable because it was a nice idea! I would have preferred the swap outs more. We shall see what the next box brings! I saved $$ by paying ahead for the whole set, so onwards we go! 

You'll notice I didn't include a total amount for the entire contents of the box. That is because if I were to do it over again and make it myself I wouldn't add anything else because that was really all the baby needed, and 'need' should be used loosely.  You can really even lump the munch mitt into box 2! 
Now, if you factor in the science behind it for the guidebook of this stage and that the materials are well made and non-toxic and all that, you can see that it could be worth close to the amount the they are charging. If those other aspects are not super important, maybe think about skipping this box and buying the things you need separately. 

This is a video of me going through the contents of the box if you wanted a closer look! 

Here's how I use it!
Expressive:

• Numbers
• Colors
• Words (in, down, open, close, pull, go, slide, coin, round, circle, big, little medium)
• Functional Phrases (put in, go down, open up, pull down, I want ____)

Receptive:

• Understanding numbers 1 2 3
• Pointing to colors
• Following directions can be simple or complex (i.e. put in, or put the big orange circle in)
• Identifying size
• Shapes (rectangle and circle)
• Matching (size and color)

Social:​

• Waiting for our turn again
• Requesting 

Fine Motor:

• Picking up coins and putting them in holes​
• Sliding the credit card
• Pulling down 

Here is a link if you are interested in purchasing or for more information!

The Funglish game is an absolute favorite for my students! They would play it every day if I let them. Funglish is a game similar to charades, but instead of acting something out to get them to guess, you can only give clues that involves using written words. One person is giving clues while everyone else guesses. The words are split by the clue giver into three categories: Definitely, Sometimes, Never.
Kids have to think about adjectives to describe their clue. The clues can be famous people, landmarks, animals, objects, etc. The adjectives are color coded to make the words a little easier to find. There are a lot of words, so it's a few minutes to set it all up. I don't use the timer with my students, but if you want to make it more challenging add that component! This is a game for more advanced children. 

Here is the link if you want more info! I feel like even though the game isn't exactly inexpensive, it is well worth it! 

This toy is usually a go-to with all my speech language kids. It is the most basic toy, but the sound this thing makes intrigues kids. They just have to hear it again and again. 
I made a video review for the sound puzzle. I use this toy often with my Early Intervention kids (0-3 years old). It's a pretty basic toy. It is a block puzzle with three different shaped blocks that make a noise as they slide down the tube. Dump them out and start again!

Here's how I use it!
Expressive:

• Single function words (i.e. 'in' 'out', 'go' 'down' 'block' 'again')
• Phrases 'go down' 'do again
• Labeling colors and expressions

Receptive:

• Identifying colors (i.e. point to/show me/get/take the blue block)
• Identifying shapes (i.e. circle, square, triangle)

Social:

• My turn/your turn

Fine Motor:

• Placing the shapes into the holes takes some accuracy and coordination

​Here is a link if you want more info about this toy!

I made a video review for the Ruff House toy. I use this toy often with my Early Intervention kids (0-3 years old). It's a pretty basic toy. It is a dog house and inside are 10 sets of different textured bones and a cute dog. 

Here's how I use it!
Expressive:

• Single function words: 'in' and 'out'
• Phrase Expansion: 'put in/put in house' 'take out/ take out house' 
• Asking and telling: "I got a ___ bone!" "I want the soft one"
• Labeling colors and textures
• Yes/No "Is this the dog? Is this the blue one?"

Receptive:

• Understanding same vs. different
• Identifying colors (i.e. point to/show me/get/take the blue bone)
• Identifying textures
• Positional (i.e. Put the dog in front of the house)

Social:

• My turn/your turn

Sensory:

• Bumpy, soft, silky, smooth, rough textures for hands and arms

Here is a link to more info! 

Zingo is one of my and the kids' favorite games! Elementary and even up to middle schoolers (and sometimes beyond) always ask me to play this game. What I love about Zingo is the simplicity. Basic turn taking skills, common objects, matching, sharing, talking, articulation, the possibilities are endless! 

How Zingo works is the chip slider gives two chips with pictures. Sometimes they match your card, sometimes they don't. If they don't you can put the chips back into the slider or give to a friend that has a match. The first one to complete their board shouts Zingo. You can play corners, rows, diagonal, etc.

Here's how I use it!
Expressive:

• Articulation of sounds
• Asking and telling "I got a ___ and a ____" or  "Does anyone need a ____?"
• Labeling "It's a ghost"
• Function of objects "What does a ghost say?" "what do you do with a bat?"
• Yes/No "Do you have a match?"

Receptive:

• Categories 
• Understanding part/whole concepts
• Understanding word associations
• Vocabulary
• People and places

Fine Motor:

• Pushing the chip into the tiny slot requires a bit of pressure and precision

Social:

• My turn/your turn
• Sharing (I don't have this chip, but you do)
• Waiting for our turn again
• Discussion of objects "I love cake! What's your favorite flavor? When is your birthday?"

This game costs about $20 and is worth every penny! Here's a link if you're interested.

I'll begin with one of my favorite toys to use with kids! This laugh and learn piggy bank is super cute and kids seem drawn to it! It has coins that fit inside a slot on the top of the pigs head, and if there are batteries and turned on, it will count as you insert the coins. I don't pay much attention to the counting though. I use this toy to get repetitions of targets in mostly. If I want the child to say 'in', which is one of the functional words we always work on first, this is perfect! I will hold up two coins and ask which one they want, sometimes I will ask them to take a color, or hold two in one hand vs. one in the other so they have to pick which has more, or which has one. 

You can touch the pigs nose and he will say some phrases and sing some songs. The nose is great for practicing saying nose, finding the child's own nose, turning things on, etc.

The key is, as you will notice will nearly every toy I review, to have the adult in complete control of the toy for the most part. If they can touch the nose, they won't be as motivated to say things like on and nose. Withholding it until you get an attempt is the key!

Modeling these targets is also important. Before you start having children use words and make requests, you have to model how to play with this and what you want them to do and say. Then you can move onto these targets and try controlling the toy, but at first, let the child play and model how to play with it; otherwise, they will likely get frustrated and end up mad at you and the toy.

Expressive

•     Verbal targets words: In, Open, colors, counting numbers, on, nose, pig, off
•     Verbal targets phrases: I want + single word [on, open, more]

Receptive Langauge

• Find the color
• More vs. less
• How many 
• Where is your nose? (body parts)

Fine Motor:

• Picking up the thin coin and fitting it in the slot is great for fine motor skills practice as well. 

This toy usually runs about $14. I will include a link here if you want to see more of it.