There are many opinions on the subject of allowing young children to play on electronic devices such as iPads, iPhones, and the like. You may or may not agree with me, but yep, my three-year old daughter has an iPad. It's a 1st generation (a dinosaur already, but she certainly doesn't mind), and it is filled with only educational games.
Our daughter is the youngest child in all of our extended family. She has cousins in grade school all the way to high school and beyond. Many of whom have iPads ... and many of these iPads were provided by the schools for study in the classroom or to take home for homework. It's the wave of the future!
When I was asked to try out Tiggly Counts and Tiggly Shapes, I was super excited! Tiggly is a company that understands early childhood education and embraces the digital age, just as I do. They have designed a line of toys that interact with their line of fun educational apps.
The toys are bright and engaging, inspired by classic Cuisenaire rods used in Montessori education. Maia loves them! As soon as I put the free apps on her iPad (and they work on that dinosaur of an iPad, by the way... thank you, Tiggly, for making the apps compatible with iOs 5.0!), she began to play.
Tiggly Counts is the first truly fun math toy for preschoolers ages 3 and older. It's perfect for Maia! Her favorite game so far is Tiggly Chef. In this game, she uses the Tiggly Counts toys to add the correct quantities of ingredients to create silly recipes. I love this game because it is teaching her early addition concepts by introducing math symbols. It also encourages flexible thinking and to follow instructions. Thanks Chef!
There are two more apps that she can use to play with her Tiggly Counts toys:
- Tiggly Adventure, where she uses the counting toys to build bridges and ladders for Tiggly's journey to deliver an apple to his grandmother. This game teaches number line concepts and improves number sense.
- In Tiggly Cardtoons, the toys allow her imagination to go wild. She chooses a counting toy to place on the screen then counts the coins that magically appear. After placing the coins in the correct spots, a cartoon appears. This game is teaching her basic math skills such as matching, counting, and equal sets.
Tiggly Shapes is a set designed for younger children (18 months to 4 years). Maia is inching up on 4 years, but she has a blast with these too! There are three free apps that go with Tiggly Shapes. Maia's favorite is Tiggly Safari. They also have Tiggly Draw and Tiggly Stamp as well, both just as fun!
I completely understand why Tiggly Counts has already won the 2014 Tillywig Brain Child Award as one of the most "exciting products that energize the mind while seamlessly blending fun and learning." These games are not only fun and engaging for my three-year old, but as a concerned momma, I know she is getting something valuable from this time spent on her electronic device. I feel good about that!
Purchase Tiggly Counts and Tiggly Shapes at Timbuk Toys in Highlands Ranch, or online at tiggly.com.
As said by Tiggly Chef, "Well, what are you waiting for?" Check them out today!
