[blindkid] Fabulous new learning TOY

[Peter Donahue]

Hello Heather and listers,

    These sound like a reincarnation of Pop Beeds. Like EZ Blocks Pop Beeds 
had a hole in one end and a peg on the other. When two of the "Beeds" were 
snapped together they made a popping sound hence the name"Pop Beads ."

    They were ball or cylinder-shaped and were brightly colored like the EZ 
Blocks. The cylindrical Pop Beads  were smooth and solid or springy like an 
accordion. You could join them together in a chain, or make different shaped 
structures with them although the possibilities were more limited due to 
there being only three shaped of Beads . None the  less we played with them 
for hours. Thanks for the childhood memories.

Peter Donahue who has played with his share of Pop Beads .

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "H. Field" <missheather at comcast.net>
To: <blindkid at NFBnet.org>
Sent: Thursday, May 28, 2009 9:59 PM
Subject: [blindkid] Fabulous new learning TOY


Hello everyone,

I've decided to share my experiences with a new toy I recently purchased 
from our list's resident Discovery Toys lady Brandy. I love it so much I 
just want to tell people about it. :-)

It's called EZ-blocks. Being blind myself and homeschooling some blind 
children, I am very wary of blocks. For one thing, that horrible item which 
appears on so many test of early development "can stack three blocks. ... 
can build a tower of blocks." So many blind children aren't interested in in 
the limited play feedback from building block structures/towers until 
they're somewhat older. I sure wasn't; and even then I wanted to build yards 
for my animals and houses and garages.  Also, any blind children with 
additional issues, such as cerebral palsy, find balancing blocks and 
touching carefully to place new blocks on the tower is just not worth all 
that effort.
For another thing, ordinary blocks just aren't that interesting nonvisually. 
They're just kind of boring.

ENTER EZ-BLOCKS!

They have some truly wonderful features which make them way more than just a 
set of blocks.

Features.
1. Stable. E-Z Blocks have a slightly raised circle on the top of each block 
(Except cones and triangle roof pieces) and a corresponding groove on the 
bottom of every block. This means that the blocks don't slip off of one 
another if touched a little roughly. This also gives practice at learning 
top, bottom, under, on the top, and then physically manipulating the object 
to go in place. Unlike much dull concept learning that blind children 
experience, where the only motivation is to hurry up so that it is over for 
the day, EZ-blocks motivate the children to practise using the concepts so 
that they can build their structure. As only one side has a raised circle 
all other sides allow for use like ordinary blocks. So, children can 
progress on to more adventurous building when ready.

2. Lightweight: Blocks are plastic, which makes them light for taking places 
and they don't hurt if they fall on little people.

3. Audible. All blocks rattle. Thus, the sound varies by size and shape. 
This gives a blind child an extra characteristic to assist when memorising 
shapes, fractions etc. and is just plain fun, especially when EZ-blocks are 
a little one's first set of blocks.

4. Shapes. The set includes rectangles, and squares and cylinders, but it 
also has cones and triangles. Furthermore, they are unit blocks which means 
that two of the smaller blocks are equal to one of the larger blocks, and 
not just in length. This is also in height.

5. Colours. The blocks are bright, eye-catching strong colours. So, for a 
child with some vision the colour dimension is also very usable.

6. Grows with the child. Given the expense of good toys, I make it a rule to 
only buy toys that I can reuse with children at different ages. I'm 
currently using my EZ-blocks with three different age levels. My toddlers 
love to shake, throw, drop and occasionally stack them my preschoolers build 
with them and my 8-year-olds are using them in fractions, weighing and 
measuring. I'm also using them in math to teach "continuing the pattern'" 
and in probability.

I am so glad I bought these blocks. I was very sceptical but Brandy told me 
I'd love them and so would the children. I bought them on her recommendation 
and I have to say she was so right. In fact, I have bought a second set. The 
blocks come in their own storage bucket but I took mine out and put my two 
sets in one of those small, clear plastic storage boxes with the flip 
handles that hold the lid on. I just gave Brandy a call and she had them 
shipped right to my house.

If you buy toys then this is the best double duty toy I've seen in a very 
long time, so I highly recommend it to you.

Warmest regards,

Heather Field

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