10 reasons we love Spielgaben toys

I have a great set of play and learning materials to tell you about today. Have you met Spielgaben? We were sent a free set of their wooden educational toys and learning materials to review and we’ve been enjoying playing with them for weeks now. So many play possibilities! Here’s what we think of them – plus details of a special Early Bird offer you can take advantage of.

10 reasons we love Spielgaben toys

They look gorgeous

Look at those boxes of materials – they’re like trays full of sweets! No-one in our house has been able to resist picking them up and having a play – from the youngest children right through to the grandparents.

They feel great

Most of the pieces are wood, along with some knitted spheres, laces and chains. Everything is a tactile pleasure – lovely materials for little hands to explore.

They smell good

Is it wrong to like a toy because of the way it smells? I think smell is a sense that’s often over looked when we select things for our children to play with, but it adds an important extra sensory element to your child’s surroundings. Plastic toys just don’t smell as good as these real wood ones.

They’re wonderful loose parts

There were lots of ‘oohs’ and ‘ahhs’ from me and the girls when we unpacked out set – especially as there were so many resources included. As a set of loose parts or manipulatives for play and learning they offer so many possibilities, across learning subjects. Included in the set are beads in a variety of shapes, with laces; flat tiles comprising circles, semi-circles, squares and a variety of triangles; rods and rings in a range of sizes and colours;  knitted spheres with chains; a construction/balancing set; small counters in a variety of colours; and sets of natural coloured building blocks in a variety of shapes – which are my 10-year-old’s favourites.

They promote free play and structured learning

All the resources are presented in wooden storage trays, making it easy to have them out and readily available for your children to use. We’ve enjoyed having the full set on our open shelving, so the girls can grab items to include in their play whenever they want to. They’re also backed up with a rich set of learning resources. This means you can select one set or small group of the materials and use them, together with the play prompts and worksheets, to focus in on a particular aspect of maths or other learning, as appropriate to the age and stage of your children.

They spark creative exploring

The resources are open-ended and really there’s no limit to the way children could use them. My girls have been making pictures with them, using them as characters in small world play, and building with them. My 10-year-old invented a whole new game with the rods and rings, with a set of rules for competitors. My 7-year-old made herself a bead snake, which she’s been carrying around in a basket. But both girls have spontaneously also been playing around with lots of maths ideas – colour sorting, patterning, making symmetrical designs…

They come with a full set of teaching resources

Included with the materials are four user guides, 10 sets of worksheets and 65 inspiration cards. These are packed with ideas you can use to guide children through the toys, helping you get the most from the learning possibilities. The resources link to exploring counting, sorting, shapes, patterning, symmetry, tessellation, construction, size, matching, art, small world play, and more, and are a spark for all sorts of conversations.  {you can see some of the teaching resources on the Spielgaben site}

They’re perfect for hands-on learning

The materials are based on the educational resources developed by Froebel, a German educator who established the first kindergarten and whose teachings paved the way for later educators including Montessori. Paired with the workbooks and inspiration cards, they make for great hands-on leaning. You can see my daughter using some of the pages from the worksheets, working on shape recognition, matching and orientation, counting, symmetry and size. We loved that the worksheets made full use of the manipulatives, so all the learning was still hands-on and fun.

They make tidy-up time easy

As they’re designed with their own set of storage, there’s a place for everything. My daughter  – possibly for the first time in her life! – said tidying up was fun, because she loved fitting the building blocks back in their pot, like they were a 3-D jigsaw.

They’re a valuable set of resources

I would rather spend wisely and have a fantastic set of materials that will be played with year after year than waste money of toys that don’t last. I think the Spielgaben materials would make a valuable addition to any home, childcare setting or classroom.

Snap up the Early Bird offer! 

The Spielgaben resources have previously been sold in Australia, but they will soon be available in the UK and US. Because they’re being made to order and it’s a crowd-sourced launch, Spielgaben are offering a special Early Bird offer to the first 100 people to order. If you’re interested in finding out more,  head over to the Spielgaben site. You can take a look at the full set of materials, watch the videos to learn more about them, and see some of the supporting workbooks. For the Early Bird offer, click on through and pop your details in the box to register your interest.

{Disclosure: I was sent a free set of Spielgaben materials to review, but all opinions are my own and I’m happy to tell you how much we love these great resources.}