As you may know from that to-do list for parents of kids with special needs I did, I have a thing against toy companies that rip off parents of kids with special needs. Fun and Function, which designs special needs toys, autism toys and therapy products, is most definitely NOT one of those companies. Most of their stuff is reasonably priced, creative, and just plain smart.
The site recently sent us the Mad Magnet-Match Combo Pack to check out. Developed by a speech-language pathologist, it comes with three games (Opposites, Part-to-Whole and Associations) that have magnetic tiles with images and words on them. You basically have to correctly pair the tiles with each other. For example, in the Opposites game, you place eight tiles on the board that have words like day, clean, happy, and then the player has to find the opposite tiles to go with them (night, dirty, sad). All the games also have suggestions for variations; for example, you can set up three tiles with only one correct opposite pair; the child has to identify the tile that doesn't belong.
These games are cool for encouraging Max to make both concrete and conceptual connections. I also get him to try to say the names of the images, which helps him practice vocabulary and articulation, and I spell out the words. These games are basically one of the ONLY games I can get the kids to sit down and play together, unless you count the Let's Try To Pull Out Each Other's Hair Game!, which I do not recommend. The site also has the By Kids Only line that features soft, tagless clothes for kids with sensory issues. Kids can even make their own design.
Fun and Function is offering up a $100 shopping spree to one of you, plus free shipping. To enter, just check out the site and leave a comment below about what thing (or things!) you'd most love to get for your kid. I've got my eye on their plastic scooter board.
Note, you must leave your e-mail if yours isn't on your blog as my ESP is still on the blink.
BONUS entries: After you leave your main comment, you can leave a separate one for each of the following that you have done:
• Follow LoveThatMax on Twitter.
• Tweet about this giveaway and leave a comment with your tweet time stamp (translation for Twitter newbies: click on the time below the Tweet, which shows you the URL). Try this tweet: Win a $100 toy shopping spree from @FunandFunction & @LoveThatMax, ends 7/21, http://tinyurl.com/266o62k, #SpecialNeeds #Giveaway
• Subscribe to the To The Max feed; you can do that here, or another way, and leave a comment saying how you subscribed.
• Follow this blog on Blogger.
• Join the To The Max fan page on Facebook.
• Add my button to your blog and post a link to your blog in the comment below.
• Mentionthe giveaway on your blog or website, and link back to here. Leave a comment below with the URL to the post.
• Come to our house and tell the kids to stop fighting over Max's iPad. Kid-ding!
This giveaway is open until Wednesday, July 21, 11:59 EST, and is for United States and Canadian residents. I'll announce the winner on this blog the next day and alert you by e-mail. Good luck!
And the winner is... ANewKindOfPerfect. Congratulations! I hope you and Peanut have fun shopping for stuff.
