Grippies - Sensory Toy for Infants and Toddlers

I was lucky enough to be chosen to host  Grippies party. As part of the host kit Guidecraft sent their amazing sensory stimulating building blocks.

These are targeted to toddlers (18mo+) as a first building block. They are magnetic and easily attach and disconnect. The ball shape pieces are covered in a nice soft rubber coating that makes them less destructive if they're' whipped at your head or window by an overactive kiddo... ask me how I know! The longer connector pieces have different texture soft rubber making them easy to grip and handle. Oliver has been a huge fan since the day he first saw the toy arrive in the mail! His big brothers get in on the action all the time too!

We took our Grippies set on our recent Adirondacks get away and it was one of the favorite toys while hanging out on the screened in porch! It helped soften the pain of being told you can't explore outside on your own 20' from a lake when you're 18 months old!

If you're looking to start introducing STEM concepts and enjoy sensory and tactile exploration give Grippies a try. You'll be surprised if you check out Guidecraft's website at all the innovative and modern toys they now offer!

After our vacation and introducing Grippies to friends on our trip we shared our Grippies with our MOMS Club! They are a keeper and will be out at our playdates for a long time to come.

IO Block building and play

Thanks to Tryazon and Guidecraft, the boys and I were able to try out the new IO Blocks and share them with our MOMS Club friends. We've been using them for building, counting, and more in our weekly TotSchool besides having a fun technology and IO Block playdate. 

IO Blocks are made from a soft rubber like material and snap together in various ways. Each set has 12 shapes of blocks and those shapes comes in 6 different colors. They can be slid up and down various pieces and aren't static like legos for instance. Guidecraft calls it a friction sit system which makes perfect sense. This allow open ended play and building. The blocks pair technology with fun, hands-on building through their App. You know my boys are app obsessed just like their iOS developer dad so this was amazing. 

The block set comes with durable cards showing models an ideas of what can be built and with a blank "tracker" card. Using the app and this tracker card you can get additional ideas front he app, see a model in 3D and get custom building tips.

Here in this photo you can see the tracker card and the app displaying a model I chose. Now using the App I can get detailed instructions on how to build. I have to admit it seemed slightly complicated for me but even my 6yr old jumped in and understood it within seconds. I love that when I'm being asked if they can please play on phones I can say yes now and still insure they are doing more than just vegetating on the couch!

IO blocks have a vehicle accessory pack coming soon that the boys have seen and are begging for!  This new set of 48 pieces comes with bumpers, spoilers, cabins, wheels and more. An IO Blocks® Hero figure is included too.  

I love waking up to see them playing bright and early instead of just wanting to watch a show. 

Sharing IO With our friends! They have been loved and tested here with kids ranging in age from 15mo to 8 years old! 

Overall I'm a huge fan and love the sturdiness of this set of blocks. They have been in our house for over 3 weeks now and there isn't a day that goes by that they aren't played with. Right now here is my via as I type this post! These are equally as loved as legos here and I love that they are unique!