Why would you use a toy library?
- Have you been tempted to buy a toy because you think it might teach your child something they need to learn? Have you then found they played with it once and never again? Why use a toy library?
- Have you bought a toy because you think your child should have it? Have you then not been able to get them to play with it?
- Do you need to find ways for your child to practice particular activities? Does your child get bored using the same things to practice with?
Play is a great way to support your child’s development, providing opportunities to practice many developmental skills such as gross motor, fine motor, cognitive and language skills. However access to quality toys can often be expensive for families and knowing which toys will provide the most value to your child’s developmental needs can be a challenge.
A Cubby House Toy Library membership offers many benefits, the most obvious being the variety of tools it offers to a developing child. The library offers a diverse choice of activities, all classified carefully, that can help your child develop the particular skills you want to focus on.
As the toy library is run by EarlyEd, it also provides you with the opportunity to book appointments with early intervention staff who can provide guidance about what toys to borrow. For instance if you are working on particular language goals you could book a speech pathology appointment, they could go through the library looking for targeted games and make up ways in play to practice those goals with other play equipment. Your special educator could help you find fun ways to develop some of the cognitive areas that your child needs help with. A physiotherapist can help you trial the gross motor equipment and adapt the way you use it to help you child learn the skills they need. You can even trial the equipment with the staff before you leave.
One way to get your child more interested in activities is to book a time for child to come down and choose the toys that they like the look of. Maybe book a time to come in after childcare or school.
If you don’t have time for this and you are a Cubby House Toy Library member you can even get your child look at our online catalogue, choose that way, reserve what you want and then you can come down by yourself and pick them up. Our team of volunteers gets it all sorted and ready for you beforehand.
Joining is easy. You can pay for your membership out of your NDIS package and any early intervention appointments through NDIS, or private funding. The cost of appointments with intervention staff is the standard NDIS individual therapeutic supports rate.
Get ready for great playtime this upcoming school holidays. Become a member of the Cubby House Toy Library at Forestville today. Contact us on 9923 2727 to join now!
To find out more about the Cubby House Toy Library and view the online catalogue click here.