Is it Christmas?

My brother's back for summer hols & brought back quite a few things for him. A big thank you!!!
Magnetic words

- to help in teaching him to read. Got them off ebay (UK site). Several types being sold. I chose the "Top 100 words" & "phonics" ones cos these will go a long way.
- Phonics: so that I can move to the next level to teach him "combined letters" e.g. "oo", "an".
- Words: apart from reading the words, he can use them much later on, to create sentences. He might have difficulty with handwriting, so having magnets might work around that disability (to a slight extent).

Castanet
- to get him to exercise his palm (open/close movement loosens & streghtens hand muscles)
- to learn rhythm. Having a pair allows me to show him on mine & he follows on his own castanet.

- chose ladybird design cos he finds them cute. Also from ebay uk

Animal puzzle book
- good for hand eye, fine motor
- good for cognitive: book also aims to teach the sounds they make, the food they eat, the habitat they live in
- very few words on each page, so later, I can get him to sight simple words e.g. "it","is" (reading)

V-Smile (computer console game)
- for hand eye, faster reflexes, fine motor
- from ebay. Pre-loved consoles are much cheaper compared to brand new ones sold here.

LeapFrog Leadpad
- to teach reading

Mega Bloks

- for fine motor when putting together; also requires both hands for removing pieces; creativity

Rainbow Coloured Musical Handheld Bells

- I wanted to get the ones used by his music teacher, which are 3x larger & the child is able to "ring" the bell by pushing down on it & not just in the conventional way.

- these are still definitely useful. Since it is smaller, it challenges his fine motor. Noticed it's not "tuned" properly, but I can still use it to teach him the placement of do, re, mi, fa etc & can play the Old McDonald tune which he has learnt to sing at music class.