A Stuffed Animal Story

Meet Fiona, she's an almost two year old Mama-in-training. She has three Jellycat stuffed animals who have become her babies: a Cat, a Pig and a Koala. "Neow" is her oldest.

"Pig" is her middle child.

And here's the youngest member of the crew, "Boowa."

Every day, these three amigos can count on healthy meals, adventures out in the world, and of course, lots of hugs and kisses before going "night night."

If you ask us, Fiona has good taste when it comes to stuffed animals. Jellycats are some of the cuddliest and most stylish out there. With the ability to sit up by themselves, they lend perfectly to being included in all of Fiona's everyday routines.

Imaginitive play allows children to explore real life relationships. Fiona cares for her 'babies' just like her Mama cares for her. Pretend play helps children absorb experiences and make sense of the world. By reenacting episodes that happen in everyday life, children are better able to manage feelings and empathize. Not to mention, research has shown that children who spend more time in dramatic play have a more advanced intellectual development. Good stuff all around!

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Stuff Kids Love: Stuffed Animals

In our new series Stuff Kids Love we explore the simple joys of children. We discuss why they love it, what they gain from their play and how you can best use the stuff they love to guide them in purposeful play. This week we are giving a big hug to our favorite friends, stuffed animals.

It’s not uncommon for kids to have a favorite stuffed animal that follows them everywhere. Many kids use their fuzzy friend as a comfort object, which gives them confidence to gain independence away from their parents. Their favorite animal is a familiar face that has no other daily obligation than to keep them company. Many people give stuffed animals as gifts for birthdays and baby showers, and they are usually one of the last things a child gives up when transitioning into adulthood.

Stuffed animals are a great way to teach kids animal recognition and foster basic growth and development. Describing the animal’s features, discussing where they live in the world and having children mimic the sounds of different animals helps form a sense of geography and encourages speech and language development.

Early speech development begins simply by making a series of sounds that helps your child strengthen oral muscles needed in more complex communication. Learning how to form their mouth around a monkey’s “ooo ooo ooo,” a cow’s “moo” or a horse’s “neigh” is a fun way to get those verbal skills started.

Role playing is another reason stuffed animals are so fun. Every child learns how to take care of themselves by watching how others take care of them. At around 18 months of age, children begin to practice their care-taking skills on their baby dolls and stuffed animals.

In our opinion, the best stuffed animals feature great sensory for children. Jellycat of London is one of our favorite brands because they are incredibly soft, have adorable faces and can withstand the test of time.

Check back later this week when we tell a "Stuffed Animal Story."

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Jellycat Bunny Winner!

To choose the winner, we added up all the comments on the giveaway post, assigned each comment a number, then used a random number generator. The number selected determined the winner!

And the winner is...

Congratulations, Kate! Happy Easter, Everyone!

More Easter Ideas

The Jellycat Bunnies and Chicks are just irresistable and fun for any age. Don't forget to leave a comment in the Giveaway Post to win a Jellycat Bunny just in time for Easter!

And if you have a baby who isn't quite old enough for candy, why not put some yellow label kids knit veggie rattles in their easter basket?! Perfect!

Jellycat Bunny Giveaway!

Are all of you as excited as we are about Spring finally arriving?

We could only think of one way to celebrate the new weather... A blog giveaway! Leave a comment in this post for a chance to win this Jellycat Bunny. He's a perfect addition to any Easter basket. We will be drawing the winner on April 1st, just in time for your Easter celebrations!