When HN users recommended it
1 HN user recommended this in 2015, in 2 comments.
20072026
Each tall tick is one HN user's first recommendation. A short tick is the same user again. Click a tick to jump to the comment.
1 HN user recommended this in 2015, in 2 comments.
Each tall tick is one HN user's first recommendation. A short tick is the same user again. Click a tick to jump to the comment.
Cuisenaire rods. This is the set I have: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Legler-Multiplication-Sticks-Educati...
Lego.
Garden tools, seeds and bulbs, etc.
Sand and a tray. A bunch of different jugs and pots and funnels -- these can be used with the sand, or in the bath, or you can nail them to an outside fence to make a water chute.
Blackboard paint on a door and chalk.
Cooking.
A good magnifying lens; later decent binoculars; a robust microscope; later a decent telescope. And stuff to look at.
Playdough, both commercial and homemade.
In the UK local councils have industrial recycling facilities where they separate out a bunch of stuff that can be used for craft project. So, for example, you can find industrial sized bobbins of different shapes and sizes; fabric off cuts; some mis-shapen spectacle lenses; weird bits of plastic; etc etc. You turn up, pile stuff in a box and pay a small sum for it. You then make stuff from it. (We made fake binoculars and a race car.)
There's a bunch of sensory stuff that I thought my child would like, but it turns out I like them much more. EG: a glitter bottle. You take an empty plastic soda bottle, half fill it with clear glue, add a bunch of glitter (restrict it to two or three colours) and add a few drops of food colour. Top it up with clean water. Seal the top. Shake very well.
The theme here is fuck commercial toys. Imagination and time is what makes the difference.
Maths for Mums and Dads:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Maths-Mums-Dads-Mike-Askew/dp/022408...
http://www.amazon.com/Maths-Mums-Dads-Mike-Askew/dp/02240863...
The Number Devil is often recommended:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Number-Devil-Mathematical-Adventure/...
http://www.amazon.com/Number-Devil-Mathematical-Adventure/dp...
How young are the children? What you can do for very young children is get some small stones and paint numbers and letters on them (use child friendly paint, obviously) and then use a toy dump truck and toy loader to move them around, and start recognising the numbers and letters, and start very simple spelling and arithmetic. Or you can paint numbers onto toy cars and use paint numbers onto a car park.
Cuisenaire rods are fun and useful.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Legler-Multiplication-Sticks-Educati...
Sometimes they come with books and you probably want to ignore most of the book. (Because knowing that green + red = blue is not useful.)
You can bulk buy dice. Chessex sometimes sell "pound of dice", and these are lovely tactile clicky clacky things. You can use these for games or rewards.