Online Toy Fundraisers for your school or charity

Last week I blogged about online fundraisers, but I should have specifically mentioned online TOY fundraising.

By organizing a fundraiser for your school, you are doing more than just helping families acquire award-winning toys for their own personal use (so much healthier than candy drives! and more beneficial to their play-learning experience than wrapping paper). You are also helping children to develop important skills they can use now and in the future: critical business, financial and life skills such as money-management, customer service, goal setting and decision-making. Your school can take their rewards in toys or in cash.

Charities can also utilize online Toy fundraising.  In particular, children's charities can take advantage of earning FREE TOYS in lieu of cash.  Those toys can be shipped directly to the agenc(ies) you choose, saving you the time and effort.  (With gasoline prices mounting,  you can save a bundle by letting UPS do the work.  It's also a way of reducing your carbon footprint, as that UPS truck is already making the rounds. Go green!)

Learn more at Toy Fundraisers.

Brain-on Learning (not hands-on)

Discovery Toys has always suggested playing with your children; it's the best investment you can make. But, it's not every high school that will have this kind of investment:

"After its expected completion in July 2011, students at the renowned
Dos Pueblos Engineering Academy will be able to move from their
cramped 900-square-foot shop into the $6 million, 12,000-square-foot
building."

Read the full article on how this community is helping students understand themselves instead of solely memorizing facts, or "brain-on learning."

Literacy in the early years

Literacy includes reading, speaking, and writing.

At the Frederick Douglass Elementary School in Philadelphia (where 89% of the school qualifies for reduced or free lunch) college students from Temple University's Speech-Language program mentor underprivileged kindergartners and first graders in reading skills in an after school program. Research has shown that the poorest groups also have poor results in literacy, causing high drop out and unemployment rates, in addition to poor health.

The "Kids Write and Create Program," developed in the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders at Temple, is attempting to turn this problem around. They know that children who do not read at grade level by the end of first grade are unlikely to ever catch up, hence the focus on the youngest students.

The above article also points out the need for children to have materials that span the various learning styles: auditory, kinesthetic and visual, particularly because at the youngest ages they don't yet have the ability to translate the spoken word to the written word.

Discovery Toys can truly make a difference in this population. Not only are there fun games like AB Seas that bring fish and the alphabet to life in a lively fishing game, and CDs like Sounds Like Learning that includes songs of the alphabet, opposites and manners, or The Big Hungry Bear book and companion CD (with a narrated version of the book on it) but there's also a sequencing, storytelling game that asks the child to put sentences into the proper order.

Please contact me at billietoy"at"gmail.com if you know of grants that will provide these types of products for kids in need.

Fresh Air Fund

"We made s'mores and hot dogs over the fire. I've never cooked outside before!"

Fresh Air children are boys and girls, six to 18 years old, who live in New York City. Children on first-time visits are six to 12 years old and stay for either one or two weeks. Youngsters who are re-invited by the same family may continue with The Fund through age 18, and many enjoy longer summertime visits, year after year. A visit to the home of a warm and loving volunteer host family can make all the difference in the world to an inner-city child. All it takes to create lifelong memories is laughing in the sunshine and making new friends.

The majority of Fresh Air children are from low-income communities. These are often families without the resources to send their children on summer vacations. Most inner-city youngsters grow up in towering apartment buildings without large, open outdoor play spaces. Concrete playgrounds cannot replace the freedom of running barefoot through the grass or riding bikes down country lanes.

Fresh Air children are registered by more than 90 participating social service and community organizations located in disadvantaged neighborhoods in the five boroughs of New York City. These community-based agencies are in close contact with children in need of summer experiences in rural and suburban areas. Each agency is responsible for registering children for the program.

What do Fresh Air children enjoy?
Playing in the backyard
Laughing in the sunshine
Catching fireflies
Riding bicycles
Learning to swim
Building sandcastles
Making new friends
Simple pleasures of life away from the inner-city

If you do decide to sponsor a child, please consult my Discovery Toys website for some great outdoor toys you can play with.

Out with bake sales!

Yahoo! New York City schools have outlawed most bake sales! That's a million kids who won't be raising funds in an unhealthy way anymore.

The New York Times recently reported that the Department of Ed will use a variety of ways to limit how much sugar and fat students consume while they're at school. Not only are bake sales out, but vending machines that have sugar-laden drinks and high fat snacks will also be swapped out for those carrying low-sugar granola bars.

It never made sense to me that parents would bring in doughnuts and muffins at 9 am for kids to celebrate a class book reading party or completion of a project. Have you ever seen the cafeteria food? Or looked at what's available in the vending machines? No wonder 40% of the kids suffer from overweight or obesity. I'm glad Mayor Bloomberg and his school chancellor are paying attention. (I hope they'll soon begin to look at curriculum more closely, too.)

It is my hope that more preschools and elementary schools will look to have healthy toy and book sales now, as an alternative to unhealthy bake sales. (shameless plug: contact me to do a fundraiser).

Put the mitzvah back in Bar Mitzvah

I recently stumbled upon an article about putting the "bar" in Bar Mitzvah. Kosher beer maker, Shmaltz Brewing Co., brews up He'brew--"the chosen beer", fig- and date-infused Rejewvenator and Genesis Ale. Funny, because for years I've been thinking, "why not put the "mitzvah" (good deed) back into the Bar Mitzvah festivities.

The bar (for males)/bat (for females) mitzvah is the celebration of the passage into adulthood for Jewish teens at age 13 (that's why those Shmaltz beers are 13% alcohol). It's a time when the child is asked to consider what has brought them to this day and how they will project good deeds into their future. But, often with parties as lavish as weddings, the ceremoniousness of the occasion is lost. That's why kids like Sarah Rodriguez decided to ask attendees at her bat mitzvah to make hospital donations in lieu of gifts to her. She raised over $4000 with which she and her friends made comfort kits of fun stuff for the pediatric patients at the hospital.

Mitzvah Market is a website that offers many examples of mitzvahs for the occasion, including some involving Discovery Toys. Take a look....and let me know if this is something that interests you. I can customize toy chests or large donation baskets, or even a basket of children's books for your child to give to a worthy charity of their choice.


This is my son reading some of the books he donated with kids in the hospital waiting room.

Autism journey of Leslie & Joe

Leslie St. Jean had joined Discovery Toys as a consultant several years back. One year at the Discovery Toys convention she shared her story with us, which she gave me permission to share with you. I wanted you to hear it in her own words: Discovery Toys helped her child!

"Our Journey with autism began on June 24, 2004. My husband and I spent our 9 year wedding anniversary in a neurologist’s office looking for answers.

This is what we shared with the doctor:

'Our 2-year-old son Joseph is as cute as a button and a joy to be around, but we cannot overlook his odd behaviors. For example, when we call his name, he does NOT look at us. He does not seem to hear us. We had his hearing tested and the results were “normal”. Why does he walk on his toes? Why is he not aware of the world around him? For example, he does not acknowledge a new person walking into the room. Joe cannot play with toys appropriately no matter how many times we show him. Whether it is a ball, car, shape sorter or book, he does the same thing, spin them. When I sit down next to him to read a book, he immediately stands up and walks away. Why doesn’t he talk? Why does he not seem to understand me? He cannot follow any direction. Even simple ones like “Where’s Mommy?” Why does he jump up and down and flap his hands when he is excited? Why does he cover his ears to certain noises? Why does he make high pitched screams when he is “playing”? If kids are playing on the left side of the room, Joe moves to the right side of the room. Why does he laugh uncontrollably at nothing?'

The answer to all these questions and behaviors was AUTISM.

Autism impacts 1 in 166 children. 4 out 5 children diagnosed are boys. There is no known cause or cure for autism. It is, in my opinion, a silent epidemic. Maybe Discovery Toys can help, not just by supporting parents of children with autism like me, and children with autism like our Joe with wonderful products, tips and testimonials, but by helping us to feel able to talk about it. That’s why the foundation, Autism Speaks, must have selected its name, to bring autism out into the open.

From the moment DISCOVERY TOYS® products began arriving at my door, the door to my son’s mind began to open. But these products mean more to my family than most would ever understand.

Did Joe immediately begin to use the products like they were meant to be used? No, not even close, but at least he was interested. And interest goes a LONG way for children on the Spectrum. Because he was interested in the products, he was motivated to learn how to use them. A BIG positive!

Whenever I meet a parent who has child on the Spectrum I recommend the following products, BUSY BUGS, ROLL & PLAY and IT’S A MATCH!

BUSY BUGS was the first DISCOVERY TOY® product I opened from my Rocket Start Kit. Every child with autism has their little quirks or “stims”. Joe’s is picking up items that are the same and dropping them one by one. It actually is very impressive. Even his Occupational Therapist (OT ) has marveled at how many objects Joe can fit into his cute little hands. As I opened up the box for the first time, he screamed in excitement. His hands literally dove into the box as he picked up bugs and began running around the house dropping them. I brought him back to the table, this time only giving him 6 red bugs and the all red square card. With my hand over his, (known in the autism world as “full manual guidance”, or “hand-over-hand”), I showed him how to match the red bug to the red square. For 3 months I worked with Joe on this skill and one day he just did it; independently. He can now independently complete up to card 3!

In my opinion, ROLL & PLAY is the best “floor time” therapeutic product for children on the Spectrum. Most young children with autism are unable to talk and have audio processing issues. This means they are unable to decipher or decode what we are saying. However, many are successful at understanding and interpreting a picture. For this reason, many children on the Spectrum begin communicating through PECS (Picture Exchange Communication System). When my son was younger and wanted a drink, he was unable to verbally express his need in the form of the spoken word, “drink”, “cup” or “juice”. Instead he removed a wallet sized picture of a sippy cup from our refrigerator door and handed it to me. He was “exchanging” a picture for the item. He was communicating through pictures. ROLL & PLAY is “PECS in a box”. We have used ROLL & PLAY to teach Joe the parts of the body, gross motor skills imitation and how to follow directions, (“find something yellow”). Gross Motor Imitation is a prerequisite to expressive language (spoken words). This is also a game Joe’s big sister Renee (age 5) can play with him. Imagine having a brother very close to your age (they are 17 months apart) who has no idea how to “play”. With this product it is bridging that gap and providing a means for my children to interact!

I recommend to EVERY FAMILY of autism IT’S A MATCH! When Joseph was completely non-verbal and we had no idea what he was capable of in an academic sense. Well, through IT’S A MATCH! we found out he knows his letters, numbers, shapes, colors, and animals. It also reinforces matching, which is a HUGE educational program for children on the Spectrum. From that moment on, we changed the programs in Joe’s therapy, we kicked it up a notch and that has made all the difference. He has progressed more in the last 18 months than I thought was possible. Joe not only can identify his letters, numbers, shapes, colors and animals through matching, but he can SAY THEM!

SPLASH ROCKET has become Joe’s favorite DISCOVERY TOY® product. Therefore, it has become Joe’s “most preferred reinforcer”. What is a reinforcer? A reinforcer is the reward that Joe earns for doing what is asked. Most of this summer you could find me in my back yard with flashcards and a SPLASH ROCKET. I would show Joe a flashcard, if he was able to identity the object and say the word, (“expressive label”), I would blast off the rocket. It is his reward for doing something he finds very difficult to do. Through the efforts of Joe’s dedicated teachers and SPLASH ROCKET as a reinforcer, he is able to identify and verbally express close to 200 words!

I share my stories today to give you an opportunity to learn how autism can affect a child and how important it is to support the child and their FAMILY. [If you sell Discovery Toys] you are making a difference! You are providing these families with affordable educational products, potential reinforcers, and fantastic therapeutic tools.

Are you providing the families with a cure? No. But we are showing them that we care and we want to make a difference in their lives. And this means more to the Autism Community than you will ever know!

So how is Joe today, 2 years after his diagnosis? Well, he is a different kid. He is a child that all the preschool girls and teachers fight over. He is a quiet cute, kid with the “all teeth showing” smile. He is no longer considered to be non-verbal. My son has words, however, he is still considered non-conversational. He is just starting to put 2 words together. My favorite is “Luv Ya.” His favorite is “Sit Down!” And why is he asking me to “sit down”? …to play. And what do we play with… DISCOVERY TOY® products. Because playing with Joe everyday is the best investment I have ever made in my son’s life."

Today, Leslie is the Director of Finance of Huge Possibilities, Inc. a 501(c)(3) charity that helps teach parents and caregivers of children with autism about the huge possibilities for their child who's been diagnosed on the spectrum. Visit their site to donate.

The no-gift baby shower or birth announcement

Q: I will be giving birth soon to my second child and will be sending out birth announcements. I do not want or need any gifts because I have everything from my first child. How can I let people know?

A: Try sending something like the sample card here, which suggests your friends and family donate Discovery Toys to a charity of your choice. We'll take care of everything for you if you provide us with the name and address of the charity.

Give a book

The statistics on access to books highlight the need to significantly increase the availability of books in low-income neighborhoods. According to Susan B. Neuman in the Handbook of Early Literacy Research, while there is an average of 13 books for every child in middle income neighborhoods, there is only one book for every 300 children in low-income neighborhoods.