Subscription Toy Boxes: A Smart Way to Learn
Bring your child exciting, innovative, and formative play with Skillmatics Learning Kits!
Did you wake up one day and notice that your toddler has suddenly grown a lot? That they’ve become more social and comfortable learning new words? Do you find yourself holding longer conversations with your child? Are they eager to emulate you doing daily tasks, their tiny feet following in your grown up footsteps?
Time flies when you’re raising a child, especially when you’re a working parent or raising multiple little ones. Most days are a balancing act between staying on top of groceries, staff meetings or taking care of younger or older siblings, play dates, and bills; and making memories with your little one. In the middle of all of this, it’s understandable to also wonder about your child’s well-being. “Did they eat enough?” “Should I be spending more time with them?” “Should I be doing more to help with their learning and growth?”
How do I know when my child needs external learning support?
At a certain stage, children start getting significantly more independent. It’s important to give them some measure of freedom, and reward them when they say, “I can do it!” For most children, this happens between 3-6 years and is one of the most important periods in their development. Research suggests that what children are exposed to tends to shape their outlook on life, so how you interact and bond with your child sets them up for the relationships they form later in life. Paying close attention to your little one’s habits, questions, and interactions with others can clue you in as to when they’ll need some extra learning support.
How do I find the right toys?
Children seem to grow at the speed of light, and they get bored with their toys even faster. A great way to ensure they are engaged is to practice toy rotation.
Toy rotation creates a more for a child. That’s why it’s important to group your child’s toys. For example, you can separate them into groups based on color, if they’re animals, kitchen tools, or shapes. Each group should incorporate a balance of books and toys that include sensory, memory, language, and fine motor skills. Less is definitely more. Choose 8-10 toys at a time and rotate them out frequently.
Try sorting toy groups into baskets so your child recognizes the different groups. Sort sets of toys that work well together, such as blocks, nested boxes, figures and vehicles. Pairing complementary toys keeps them engaged longer and staves off boredom by allowing your little one to discover endless possibilities, even as they go back to old favorites.
Offering a manageable number of toys also helps make tidying up fun for children. You can sing a song to help them put everything away, or have a race to see who can pick up more toys the fastest. It's important to make even the most annoying part of playtime fun while gently teaching responsibility and discipline.
I don’t have the time or expertise to make my own toy sets. What is the alternative?
Most of us lead busy lives, and don’t have time to curate the perfect combination of toys, books, and activities for our children and their age-specific needs.
That’s where Skillmatics Learning Kits come in. These learning subscription boxes are the most effective, the quickest, and easiest way to get your child exactly what they need. Best of all? They are delivered right to your doorstep.
What is a toy subscription box?
Imagine everything you need for playtime delivered right to your doorstep. To subscribe to Skillmatics, select your child’s age, and like clockwork, the right activities become available to you and your child, right when you need them. Your child is sure to be excited by the arrival of something new, and may even begin to look forward to the new deliveries!
Not only are regular subscription boxes great for helping your child reach important developmental milestones, but Skillmatics Learning Kits also contain handy guides for parents. The parent guides contain practical information on what to expect every step of the way and include tips on how to get the most from each Learning Kit. The Kits also makes playtime into a bonding exercise for both you and your child by giving you multiple avenues to explore together.
The Learning Kits grow with your child and become increasingly more complex with every kit. The play experts at Skillmatics make sure you stay one step ahead of the curve when it comes to keeping your child happy and engaged by curating activities, games, and stories for your little one right at the age they need them.
What can I expect to find in a Skillmatics learning kit?
Make playtime easy with Skillmatics’ specially curated bi-monthly learning kits. Subscription boxes are available for children between 3-6 years. Every other month, you will receive a Learning Kit packed with the relevant, age-appropriate activities. They are designed by early-childhood educators and play experts to capture a child’s imagination with equal parts learning and fun.
The following are the learning essentials delivered with every kit:
3 games and activities curated for your child’s specific age
4 double sided write & wipe activity mats that come with a dedicated pen
A colorfully illustrated original storybook
A parent guide packed with learning tips
You can expect puzzles, writing activities, matching and guessing games, building blocks, animals for pretend play, scavenger hunts…the list goes on. When you sign up, we guide you on where to start your child. We have found it's often okay to give yourself a little wiggle room with regards to your child’s specific age, depending on where your child is developmentally.
As you unbox their new toys and books every other month, your child will learn along the way. Every subscription is a fun and lively introduction to STEM, language skills, mathematics, world knowledge, problem solving, and logical reasoning. Skillmatics also designs learning toys to encourage fine motor skill development, with new writing activities such as sorting and matching, and strengthen gross motor skills with activities like search and find games.
Our educators have strategically included a variety of learning toys to introduce language in the form of letter matching games, spelling puzzles, and guessing games that help develop critical thinking. For example, reading everyday with a parent or caregiver is one of the most important ways to build early literacy, and that’s why each of our learning kits comes with an original storybook. We know how important it is to foster a love for books in young readers and are excited for you to watch them fall in love with our adorable illustrated characters and richly colored pages.
Skillmatics learning kits also include fun introductions to number recognition through puzzles and matching games. For example, we encourage counting while making a pizza, or learning addition and subtraction while counting apples on one of our large playmats. Our content-rich games and activities also introduce children to animals, places, community members, foods, and more.
Social-emotional development is crucial in developing empathy, self awareness and creating meaningful and positive relationships with others. Games such as “Would you Choose” give your children an opportunity to share their preferences while encouraging kindness, friendship, and good manners.
Introduce your child to a deeper understanding of the world around them and give them challenges and opportunities to thrive while applying themselves. A subscription to the Skillmatics learning kit will help you change the way you and your child play!
What have other parents said about Skillmatics Learning Kits?
Don’t just take it from us, hear from Alecia and Jackie about their experience with Skillmatics Learning Kits:
Alecia told us that the kit she received is “perfectly tailored to her daughter’s age,” and that “most of the activities have more than one way to play,” allowing for lots of use and new discoveries with each play. She especially likes the write & wipe activity mats and the ability to start simple with the games and then progressively add challenges and competition.
Similarly, Jackie is “smitten” with her box and loves the amount of “care and detail put into each design” of our “visually exciting educational sets.” “They make learning a pleasure,” she says, describing how her son is hooked on the sorting games, though she points out “all the games piqued his interest.”
Subscribe to the Skillmatics Learning Kits, and bring your child into a wonderful world of play and learning!