(Part 2) Best reading & writing development toys according to redditors

lnky

Watari is kind of a minor character. It's possible she likes him, but to be honest there isn't really much character development for him.

I think your best approach might be to tell her that you fancy watching Death Note, and you want to hear her opinion of it, what she thinks of the characters, etc. This might give you some clues.

What kind of time frame are you working with?

Personally, I think the quintessential Death Note gift is the prop notebook.

What about small, baby safe toys?

Finger puppets- a decent deal because one set would fill multiple eggs if you put one in each.

Sensory balls

Toy animals- as long as they're big enough to not pose a choking hazard

Crayons- toddler crayons come in all shapes these days!

Or if she's not big on putting stuff in her mouth, Fridge magnets if you don't already have them

I like the idea of cereal/puffs though! Can she have teddy grahams or goldfish? I know there are some dairy-free recipes for both on pinterest (Not sure if they're egg-free though)

Cus' Americans use them and therefore they're cool - even though theyre made of inferior quality paper and the cover offers no protection to the edges of the papers.

OP if youre after that yellow paper (which, I admit is way better to read off of than standard white) then you're looking for something along these lines.

But if you want them because they look cool then youre SOL in terms of trying to find them at a price comparable to what theyre sold at in the US.

I would go to Disney World for 5 days with my Honey-Bunny. We would get the Park hopper pass with the water parks and more option, and the regular dining plan. We would stay at Coronado Springs resort. It would be very fun and relaxing!

• Day One: Check in, then Magic Kingdom! We'd have burgers at Pecos Bill Cafe (the best burgers in North America, in my opinion), ride all the rides, and take hundreds of photos for my scrapbook.
  
  
• Day Two: Get up early for a before-the-park-opens character breakfast at the Norway Pavilion. The food is decent (not my favorite), but forcing my Honey-Bunny to get his pictures taken with all the princesses is priceless. Once the park opens it would be off to Future World then World Showcase in the afternoon. We'd eat lunch in the Mexican Pavillion and dinner at the Italian Pavilion (so I could practice my Italian - "Mi piace Disney").
  
  
• Day Three: Disney's (MGM) Hollywood Studios. A little "Sci-fi Diner" for lunch, ice cream from the big Dinosaur from desert, and then (after a decent break) Tower of Terror before we'd head back to the Magic Kingdom for some more rides.
  
  
• Day Four: Animal Kingdom in the morning (because that is the best time to see the animals all energetic), Donald's Breakfastasaurous for brunch, and then head out to Typhoon Lagoon for the afternoon. Then we'd have the evening to go to Downtown Disney so we could nightclub it up.
  
  
• Day Five: Cry a little because my trip is almost over, then smile as I get a big Mickey Mouse Waffle for breakfast. We'd take a quick trip back to the Magic Kingdom so I could ride the Haunted Mansion one more time before being dragged back onto the bus to go to the airport.
  
  Of course I'd have to bring A Disney Autograph Book so I could get all the characters' signatures - especially Donald's, because he is the best!
  
  Now, I am just excited for my upcoming trip! Only a few months away!

Woot! Did it without adding anything new to my wishlists/linking to nonwishlisted items :D


1.) Something that is grey.


2.) Something reminiscent of rain.


3.) Something food related that is unusual.


4.) Something on your list that is for someone other than yourself.
Tell me who it's for and why. (Yes, pets count!): It's for my roommate because I can't cook to save my life >_<


5.) A book I should read! I am an avid reader, so take your best shot and tell me why I need to read it! That or anything else my Elizibeth Hand- she is amazing. I also highly recommend her wonderful novel on mental illness, Generation Loss


6.) An item that is less than a dollar, including shipping... that is not jewelry, nail polish, and or hair related! $1.35 was the best I could do


7.) Something related to cats. I love cats! (keep this SFW, you know who you are...)


8.) Something that is not useful, but so beautiful you must have it. Both needlessly fancy brads and a coloring book (as if I weren't about to start the semester full time in a couple days. Heh. Leisure time. LOL, that's so cute.)


9.) A movie everyone should watch at least once in their life. Why? I didn't add any movies onto my wishlist because I have Netflix and I never watch the DVD's I have. But everyone should watch Fight Club, The Daparted, Memento, Requiem for a Dream, Night of the Living Dead, and- most importantly, The Lost Skeleton of Cadavra. Go watch it now! To fulfill the scavenger part of the contest somehow, here is a tchotchke from my favorite TV show ever, which has spawned 12 movies, most of which you should see.

So I could be all cheesy and pick a movie that most people have for the most points, like Avatar, Harry Potter, Pirates of the Caribbean, etc, but you know what's more important than winning contests? Revelling in the cinematic beauty that is The Lost Skeleton of Cadavra! Los Skeleton is literally the funniest movie I've ever seen. I remember my abs hurt so bad afterwards from laughing so hard for so long. My friends and I got all these inside jokes that we still use today, ten years later, that still crack us up.
Well, now that I've played it up to a standard that no movie could ever live up to (I'm sorry, I meant no movie except The Lost Skeleton of Cadavra!) so that you'll surely be underwhelmed by it, regardless of the cinematic masterpiece that it is, all I can say is, "Enjoy!"


10.) Something that would be useful when the zombies attack.

Explain.

Because destroy the brain, kill the ghoul, of course.


11.) Something that would have a profound impact on your life and help you to achieve your current goals.. There were a couple of items I could have put here instead: a die cutting machine, an accordion (want. SO. bad!!), a Chromebook, but I think what would really bestow the greatest impact on my life and help further my goals would be a serger. My birthday was a week ago and someone asked me what I wanted to happen this new year for me. I ended up writing a journal page about it, and one of the things was to improve my costuming skills and to finally take them to a professional level that I can be proud of distributing.



12.) One of those pesky Add-On items. So pesky that I made an entire wishlist just for add-ons


13.) The most expensive thing on your list. Your dream item. Why? I love the accordion and I've wanted one for years. I can't explain why. Or Jason Webley is why. Whichever answer you prefer.


14.) Something bigger than a bread box. Hello!


15.) Something smaller than a golf ball.


16.) Something that smells wonderful. I love this stuff!


17.) A (SFW) toy. I apparently have a bunch and they're all in Hebrew. I don't even speak Hebrew O_o


18.) Something that would be helpful for going back to school.


19.) Something related to your current obsession, whatever that may be.. Mixing two of my obsessions and one love all together: scrapbooking, washi tape, and steampunk. Yes.

20.) Something that is just so amazing and awe-inspiring that I simply must see it. Explain why it is so grand.


I don't know if the grandness of Cthulhu slippers needs to be explained. It's Cthulhu...but slippers! :D


Your Name Is Bonus: How about some super good-for-you Melissa supplements?

Oregon Bonus: "harvested in the waters right off the Oregon Coast."


fear cuts deeper than swords. I live you contest idea- this was really fun to do. Thanks! :D

Something like this? I have one and use it all time! It sticks to magnetic whiteboards.

you might try amazon. I had it on my wish list there and it was purchased off my wish list =) they show it currently in stock http://www.amazon.com/Doctor-Who-River-Songs-Mini-Journal/dp/B00APPHFQC/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1369150849&sr=8-3&keywords=dr+who+journal

Cheapest

other item

Glad to help! If he likes playing with magnets they have word sets like this or these that he may be interested in as well!

Oooooh!! I looooove new journals!! I keep a hardcover "journal" for alllll my work/meeting/phone notes, it is a life saver!

I like this one

This one is obviously awesome.

A little different

Love this because I'm obsessed with maps.

And this one is really cool.

Social Work

Let us know which one you pick!!

We've been able to find handy dandy note books (plus page refills), large crayons, post-it note clues, t shirts, and DVDs on Amazon of fairly good prices. My 2.5yo son is also obsessed with Blues Clues and carries a note book with him everywhere he goes. I'll see if I can find the links.


Edit:

Notebook, crayons, and post-it clues set.

First things first. Amazon has the notebook on prime for $11.89. I'm surprised at how thick the paper is. I've thrown some wet inks and the ghosting is very minimal and has never been distracting to me. Nor do I don't experience any feathering. The paper's not as good as my Rhodia notebook but I get 1.5 times the paper for $7 less, and I get a TARDIS on the page. What's not to like?

I'll have to watch that episode again and pay attention to Octavian and his issues with stone. Thank you Amazon Prime for keeping DW! The only other DW episode that really brought tears was the scene in Vincent and the Doctor where Vincent hears the Docent's praise of his work and how it influenced the world. Seeing in his eyes that his life had meaning and mattered. Great, great acting!

Shimmering seas ink - I love it! I've had it only for a week. Sometime either today or tomorrow, I'll post my review of 4 of the Shimmertastic ink samples I purchased. I'm using them with a 1.1mm stub nib. The particles add another level to the shading in the Diamine ink. The ink itself is a darker blue/gray and the particles take it to another level. I really enjoy the ink. It I had a fine or medium nib, I don't think I could appreciate the ink as much. So far I enjoy both the Blue Pearl and Shimmering Seas. Going to do an "ink off" to see which ink I prefer better. I'm thinking Shimmering Seas. I also tried Red Lustre (subdued red with gold particles) and Sparkling Shadows (gray with gold particles). In terms of cleaning, the particles clean relatively easily and require no further work than any other ink. Granted I'm using the same pen for each of them. For me, worst case scenario is switching to a NON-shimmering ink and for a paragraph or two, there will be some sparkles. Even If I was signing a legal document, I wouldn't mind. With the stub nibs, I have NOT experienced any clogging. Haven't tried with a fine or medium nib (only other nibs I have).

You've already gotten lots of great advice here, but just throwing out a couple more ideas...

• Play a game like "red light/green light" but with talking. Explain the rules of this exciting new game: when I say "talking time", you have to talk as much as you can until I say "quiet time", and then you have to be totally quiet until the next "talking time". Start out with very short "quiet times" so she can be successful, and then you can challenge her with longer and longer times as she gets better at it. Might not give you much of a break in the short-term, but at least it starts letting her practice self-control over her talking.
  
  
• Another game: the "listening game!" Challenge her to see how many sounds she can hear in different locations (the kitchen, the bedroom, the backyard, etc). Listen with her for a set amount of time (maybe show her a timer so she can see how long is left; again, work up to longer times), then discuss all the different sounds you heard.
  
  
• There are a couple good picture books on this theme that you might read with her, such as Lacey Walker Nonstop Talker, My Mouth is a Volcano, and Howard B. Wigglebottom Learns to Listen. You might also check out The Listening Walk or Silence before playing the above-mentioned "listening game."
  
  
• Maybe reframe the problem as working on listening, rather than talking less. Play some games to practice listening skills, like being a robot who follows directions (of course she gets to take a turn giving you directions too!), or listening to music and drawing/painting what it sounds like to her.
  
  
• Try some relaxation or meditation exercises - this site has some cool ideas, and there are quite a variety of apps out there too. One exercise that I love doing with kids this age is mindful eating - have her eat a chocolate chip by letting it slowly melt on her tongue, or eat an orange slice as slowly as she possibly can. Guided imagery can be fun too, though again you might have to start with something really short. Imaginations and Starbright are both collections of brief guided imagery stories; there are also recordings such as Still Quiet Place and Indigo Ocean Dreams. I've also heard good things about the book Sitting Still Like a Frog.
  
  
• Love the "brain voice" idea that others have mentioned. Maybe you could practice using your brain voices together, like agree you're both going to say the ABCs in your heads at the same time (you can kind of bob your head or something to show that you're thinking each letter, to help her go through them all slowly). Have her try singing songs in her head, reading signs or short sentences in her head, etc.
  
  
• Not exactly a long-term solution, but you could try to find her some other listeners besides you! When she's talking your ear off, tell her to go talk to her brother, or the dog, or her favorite stuffed animal. As she gets better at writing, she can write letters to friends (or you!), and journal to herself. In fact, it might be worth getting her a fun exciting diary now (something like this) even if it's a bit laborious for her at this point; at least maybe she'll be quiet focusing on her writing!