REVIEW – Special Toys for Special People: Playability Toys

The product(s) featured in this post was provided to me free of cost to me. This post has not been monetarily compensated. Please note that, as always, any personal opinions reflected in this post are my own.

Do you have a loved one with special needs? I have had a special place in my heart for those with physical and developmental challenges since I was a young girl. I began working in a children’s home for terminally ill and special needs kids while I was still in High School and worked at a summer camp for 2 weeks every summer for the same precious children. As an adult, I have worked as a Nurse for A summer camp week for adults with physical and developmental challenges for many years.
My daughter, Emma, is in graduate school to be an Occupational Therapist. She works with people with many different needs like traumatic brain injuries and strokes. She will soon be doing her field placement in a Children’s Hospital. When we had the chance to review toys and games from Playability Toys, I thought of Emma and how she could use these toys and games with her patients.
Emma and I tried out each item with her patient’s needs in mind, but these toys and games are perfect for not only Occupational Therapists, but also families with children that have special needs.

The Emotiplush Doll is a soft, plush doll that comes in boy or girl and light or dark skin. Emma chose Looey, the boy with dark skin to use with future patients. These dolls are really amazing! They have eyebrows and a mouth that can be moved into many different positions that changes the look reflecting emotion on the doll’s face. They can show 15 different emotions. There is a paper guide to what positions reflect which emotions.

There is also a storybook that features all of the plush dolls in different situations showing all of the possible facial expressions. You can read the story to someone and use the doll to mimic the facial expressions shown in the story, thereby reinforcing what facial expressions express which emotions. This doll would be useful even with younger children who are just learning what emotion is!

The Whole Picture Matching Games come in two different themes, On the Farm and Going Places.
Each game board includes pieces of the picture that match the holes in the cards. When a card is placed in just the right spot, the missing part of the picture appears! One of the holes reveals the name of the image also.

Slide, Twist ‘N Solve is a black, white and red puzzle game. Those colors are stimulating and some of the first colors babies focus on.
“The puzzle pieces are in geometric shapes and the puzzle pattern is the same underneath the pieces, so that it can easily be put together again. Each shape has a raised pattern so it is easy to identify by touch, and the colors are high-contrast making it ideal for blind and visually impaired children”
The Playability website is pretty amazing! You can search for toys and games by category or by special need. They also have highlights on each item of what the benefits of each toy or game are. Lastly, they have suggested ideas for play, which is a great idea!
We really enjoyed all of these toys and games and Emma is looking forward to trying them out with her patients. She will be taking them along to her next field placement in the Children’s Hospital.
Thank you to Playability for providing a sample for us to review!
CONNECT
PlayAbility Toys website – PlayAbility Toys on Facebook – PlayAbility Toys on Twitter