We are often asked for recommendations on what Orchard Toys games and jigsaw puzzles we would suggest to parents and teachers to support their child(ren) with a specific special educational need/disability.  We’ve teamed up with qualified teacher and former SENDCO, now SEN tutor Georgina Durrant, founder of The SEN Resources Blog to discover how she uses Orchard Toys games to help dyslexic children. In her experience, most people will think of someone with dyslexia as having challenges with reading and writing. A child with dyslexia may struggle to spell words correctly, find phonics tricky or reading more difficult than their peers. However, dyslexia isn’t limited to an impact on literacy. It affects people’s ability to process and remember information, which in turn makes reading, writing and spelling more challenging for them. In Georgina’s opinion, one of the best and easiest ways to support a child with dyslexia is by learning through play, and we certainly have some fantastic games that can assist in supporting a dyslexic child’s literacy skills. Here are some of her favourites and why: Wiggly Words – Georgina feels that Wiggly Words is a great way of giving children time to practise spelling...

Jigsaws are a common household staple for children and even adults, but they are so much more than a fun activity to pass the time. For children, jigsaws offer a range of cognitive, social, and even emotional benefits that all contribute to early development. In this blog, which has been guest written by Early Years Resources,  we will explore how jigsaws help a child’s development. Fine motor skills One of the most obvious ways puzzles support development is by enhancing fine motor skills. To complete a puzzle, children are required to manipulate the pieces by grasping, pinching, and moving them into place. These simple movements are essential for developing small muscles in the hands and fingers which are vital for later learning support such as writing, drawing and even using utensils. Orchard Toys jigsaw puzzles, such as First Farm Friends, are designed with chunky, wipe-clean pieces which are ideal for little hands. Problem-solving skills Secondly, puzzles can be used to great effect in developing problem-solving skills. As children work to complete a jigsaw, it is necessary for them to use critical thinking skills to determine the correct placement of each...

In the early years of their life children develop physical, emotional and cognitive skills that form the building blocks for their future learning and development. These include developing hand-eye coordination, number recognition and counting, developing language and basic letter recognition skills, learning to recognise shapes and colours and developing key social skills such as turn-taking and sharing. Educational games are also a great way to help children to concentrate, a skill that will benefit them throughout school!   We understand that when entertaining littles ones and making learning fun some guidance and support is always welcome, so our range of preschool games and jigsaws are designed with simplicity and fun to keep little minds stimulated. They feature colourful illustrations and adaptable gameplay that will make children want to play time and time again. The games can also be adapted as the children develop.  Take a look at our top educational games for pre-schoolers.   Farmyard Heads and Tails – 18 Months + Children as young as 18 months can develop their matching skills with this fun farmyard-themed game. Farmyard Heads and Tails can be used as a single player activity or a fun...

More and more importance is being placed upon times tables practice in schools, which means there’s an even greater need for children to practise their times tables at home. Take a look at some of our top tips for making times tables practice fun for you and your child!   1. Orchard Toys Times Tables Games Maybe we’re biased – but what better way to make learning fun than through playing games?! It can be hard to know how to approach teaching times tables, but our First Times Tables game can be used as a resource to help guide parents through the mechanics of teaching times tables. First Times Tables is a fantastic introduction to 2, 5 and 10 times tables and once children have mastered this, Times Tables Heroes can be used to help practise multiplication from 2 to 12! It’s got two games in one for double the fun and also includes a colourful times tables checker that can be used independently to the game.   2. Online Resources There are a number of free resources available online. Your school may even have set you up with an online programme such as...

Maths is ingrained in our everyday life, from buying shopping and following recipes to problem-solving and map reading. Before children come to tackling the more challenging aspects of maths, the first step in their understanding is learning to count and becoming confident with numbers. It’s important to keep maths fun and our counting games for children make learning to count fun for all the family! Catch and Count Counting Caterpillars Giraffes in Scarves Cheeky Monkeys Bus Stop Money Match Café Magic Maths The below games are great for preschool, Reception and Year 1. They make learning early number and counting skills fun!   Catch and Count – 3 years + Designed to promote number recognition and counting, Catch and Count features friendly sea creatures that children will love! Players spin the spinner, count the number of bubbles and collect the matching cards on their fish board.  The winner is the player with the most fish – watch out for the sneaky sharks who could eat them!   Counting Caterpillars – 3-6 years Practise counting and number sequencing in this colourful caterpillar game! Cards feature dots to count as...

Georgina Durrant (qualified teacher and former SENDCO, now SEN tutor and founder of The SEN Resources Blog) recently wrote a post highlighting her recommended resources for parents and teachers supporting children with dyslexia, which you can read here. Due to its popularity, she decided to write a similar blog post but this time focus on numeracy resources that can help children with dyscalculia. Dyscalculia is a specific difficulty with maths understanding that makes maths sums and problem-solving with numbers much more challenging. Every area of maths can be affected by dyscalculia from telling the time, to doing addition calculations. Here are some of Georgina’s favourite Orchard Toys games that she recommends to help support numeracy skill development for children with dyscalculia: Match and Count Match and Count is ideal for young children with dyscalculia who may find counting really difficult. There’s twenty pairs of puzzle pieces and the children have to count the animals and find the number piece that matches. A lovely, fun way of helping children to practise counting and make links between the written number and the number they have counted. To purchase Match and Count, click here. Catch & Count: Georgina...

Whether your little one is just beginning to recognise letters or whether they’re tackling their spellings, our literacy games are the perfect learning companions! From magic to animals, the fun themes with simple and engaging gameplay make spelling practise a funfilled experience. Here’s our top 6 literacy games: Alphabet Flashcards Alphabet Lotto Match and Spell Match and Spell Next Steps Magic Spelling Pass the Word   Alphabet Flashcards This is a great first activity to familiarise young children with letters of the alphabet! The cards are double-sided and feature a colourful illustration on one side and a letter of the alphabet on the other. They are extremely versatile and can be used to learn the letters of the alphabet or to help little learners to begin to learn words!   Alphabet Lotto Once children are familiar with associating letters with pictures Alphabet Lotto is a great next step! Children can match picture to picture, letter to picture, picture to letter or letter to letter as you race to be the first to fill your board! With 4 ways to play Alphabet Lotto can be played time and time again as children’s...

Whether it's adding colour to the jungle or outer space or practising ABCs and 123s, the versatility of colouring books has made them a timeless source of fun. They’re great at home or on the move and are the perfect addition to any travel bag. But did you know that whilst children are working on their latest masterpiece, they’re also developing a broad range of skills?   Handwriting. Colouring helps children to develop fine motor skills. These skills will help them to develop the strength to grip a pen, which, in turn, will help when it comes to learning to write. If children are already familiar with holding and using a pen, learning to write will be much less daunting!   Spatial awareness and hand-eye coordination. Picking up a pencil and putting it to paper whilst working within boundaries improves hand–eye co-ordination. Not only could this mean that children get fewer bumps and scrapes, it also prepares them for playing sport or learning to play an instrument when they’re older.   Confidence and self-esteem. Seeing their hard work pay off and feeling a sense of accomplishment...

Did you know that you can play board games with children from as young as two years old? Board games are a great way to have fun as a family and to help children learn. There are a number of additional benefits that come from playing games; they enhance a child’s natural curiosity and are a great opportunity to encourage subliminal learning. Here’s just a few skills that will benefit pre-schoolers!   Social skills Concentration Language development Numeracy and Literacy Skills Problem-solving   Social Skills As they play, children will learn about sharing, turn-taking, following rules and even working as a team, amongst many other social skills. This is great preparation for nursery and school when they begin to interact with more children. Concentration Playing board games can encourage a child’s ability to focus and lengthen their attention span. The feeling of satisfaction felt when finishing, or even winning, a game will encourage children to see more things through to completion. This ability to focus will be particularly helpful once they start learning other skills including spelling and counting. Game - Farmyard Heads and Tails Language Development Children will pick up lots of...