An Introduction to Maileg

Why do children love to play with Maileg?

Is it because the mice in matchboxes are so cute? Is there something going on in terms of development?

Maileg's characters have a vast universe. From dancing bunnies to cuddling hippos to dollhouses and race cars, the emphasis is on delicate, small-world play with evocative detail and soft, natural materials that children like playing with.

But it's not the characters' charm that makes them so enjoyable to play with: it's the fact that they're divided into families. There are unspoken connections between the toys. You can probably guess what the back story is. Perhaps the younger brother never cleans his room, Grandpa is always sleeping in the armchair, and the baby is always hungry. Their lifestyles are almost certainly similar to yours.

Table of contents:

What is Maileg?

How do you play with Maileg?

What is Maileg?

Maileg creates fanciful dolls and dollhouses with painstaking attention to detail in their clothing and accessories (such as mice that live in matchboxes and dancing bunnies who lay on daybeds in gold tutus). Buttons, bows, blankets, and other products are all hand-sewn in delicate, muted colours and textures. As a result, a selection of toys for girls and boys that feels both homey and traditional, while also containing plenty of comedy and fairytale charm, has emerged.

How do you play with Maileg?

Almost single Maileg figure has a theme of nurturing and caring. This, combined with their fantastical accessories and props like matchbox beds, camping tents, and motorcycles, makes them ideal small-world play toys. Small world play is a smaller, more enclosed cousin of imaginative play, where children are free to imagine and narrate their own stories and dramas on a child-size scale. It allows children to explore events in their own lives, assisting them in making sense of the world.

Playing with Maileg can also be collaboration. All children love peaceful time alone with their toys, although collaboration can be beneficial at times. It is, in fact, one of the most critical ways in which we learn. Children learn through interactions with a more informed 'other,' according to social constructivists. It could be an older child or an adult, as well as a peer. Soon, there will be a blog entry on this subject.

3 Unique Places To Use Your Connetix Tiles

 Recently, we've been having a lot of fun taking our magnetic tile game to a whole new level. Here are three different ways we've used our Connetix Tiles that the kids enjoyed.

Table Frame

@mamapapabubba gave me the idea to build with a table as a framework. I removed the insert from our Edx Education water and sand table and let the kids experiment with tiling it.

The task of determining which tiles to use on the various parts of structure appealed to this group of kids. They put the Connetix Tile magnets to the test, and they passed with flying colours!

Another advantage of using a table frame was that they could get inside of it! This sparked a lot of imaginative play, and at one point, baby sis was piloting the spaceship while big bro worked on the engine.

Oven Sheet

So this one isn't quite as impressive, but the great thing about building on an oven sheet is that you can take it with you! I enjoy setting up reading and numeracy activities on an oven sheet in our porch for Big Bro; it's such a fun way to learn.

We recently completed a simple sight word assignment in which he had to read, build, and write the sight word.

For him, using magnetic tiles made it so much more fun! He enjoyed writing on the tiles and oven sheet with our Wonder Stix and then wiping them clean with a baby wipe.

Railings

Baby sis had a blast using our Connetix Tiles to decorate the rails on our outside staircase. It was such a thrill for her to be able to construct on a unique vertical surface, and the fact that it was outside added to the excitement! All of the details can be found in this separate blog.

She experimented with various tile shapes and locations with great attention. She was fascinated by how they managed to stay awake.

Her favourite part of the room was the window tiles, where we spent hours playing peek-a-boo and pretending to be an ice cream shop. 

Why should you consider buying wooden toys for children?

Early childhood, the ages from zero to six years, is the most sensitive & important developmental period in an individual's life. The brain of a human develops more during these few years than at any other stage in an individual’s life. Thus, during this brief stage of development it is significant to know the activities, games and toys that children play. 

Choosing the right toy can be quite a dilemma for parents and relatives. It becomes difficult for a new parent to enter a store or browse toys online and deciding which toys would fit their child because they do not know the advantages and disadvantages of these toys. Well! just like we as humans have changed over time, the concept of toys has also changed. When you walk into a toy store or an online store the racks and the portal is filled with battery operated toys, talking dolls, glowing characters and more. Do you think the appeal would last forever in the minds of children? 

No, according to educationists in early years and numerous researches done over the last few years, some of the best toys that we can buy for our little ones are wooden toys. There are ample of reasons to prove that it is important to play with wooden toys in early years rather than toys made of plastic or man-made materials. Some of these reasons are listed below: 

Toy Safety with respect to Plastic Toys: In comparison to wooden toys, plastic toys can break easily leaving sharpened ends that can harm a child. Wooden toys are more durable and safer in general and can be a good option with respect to safety of the child. 

Long lasting: Wood being a strong and durable material, it generally has a long life and can be passed on to younger siblings, sometimes even the next generation. That’s the reason wooden toys are normally called generational toys as they are passed on from generation to generation.

Eco-friendly toys: Wood is a renewable resource whereas plastic is not. Plastic is not biodegradable and all of us know the harmful effects of plastic on the environment.q toys made from renewable forests or planned cultivation are far more environmentally friendly.  

Problem solving and reasoning: Most of the wooden toys do not have electronic commands that tell children what needs to be done, thus allowing children to use their reasoning skills to decide on what particular activities they wish to undertake using that particular toy. 

Physical benefits of wooden toys: Wooden toys are generally weightier than plastic toys which enable the children to have awareness on what their hands are doing. The sensory feel of a wooden toy is far superior to toys made from other materials. Research has proven that children are attracted far more to wooden toys than toys made of man-made materials. 

Educational purposes- Most of the wooden toys are educational and can aid children in developing fine motor skills, cognitive abilities, language development and more while ensuring they are having loads of fun.