I received these cute products, free of charge, for purposes of this review. All opinions are 100% my own.
My little bunch recently received a Wompkee package to share with you! In our package we received Welcome to the Wompkee Wood and A Very Wompkee Christmas on interactive iTunes books, The Hidden Treasure of Wompkee Wood DVD, two finger puppets, and one plush Wompkee. Wow! Can I say, they sent quite a collection of goodies?
Plush & Finger Puppets:
The plush is made from polyester fibers that are very soft with multiple textures to be felt. This may be a great occupational therapy toy to try with a child who has sensory processing concerns because you can feel several textures at once on the large ears: long fibers on the back, short smooth fibers on the inner ear, the roughness from the small Velcro in the corner, and the thickness from the mild stuffing. This is just within the ears alone! Once you reach the body the child feels more of the long fibers and an even longer puff on the chest. Twig’s bow is a rougher material and her nose if firm; the stitched eyes and brows offer even more textural sensory learning opportunities. Coming from a mother who has a child with Sensory Processing Disorder, this plush can be used for a child with textural sensory processing concerns. I recommend beginning by playing peek-a-boo with the child while you hold the plush and gradually asking the child to hold Twig to play peek-a-boo. We use Twig in this nature by having our three year-old son (who has SPD) play peek-a-boo with his baby sister. Our baby girl gets great pleasure in playing with him – it is a win, win learning experience for both children!
The finger puppets are also a soft polyester fiber. Once you place them on your finger they are easy to move in flying motions by moving your straight finger back and forth. This is great for using along with the stories or trying to get a wee one’s attention. We like them for car rides because they are very small and an older sibling can sit nearby and use the puppets to play and keep our little ones calm.
*The recommended washing care suggests “surface wash with cold water and mild soap”. I prefer they be machine washable.
Interactive iTunes Books:
We enjoyed the books. They automatically read each page to the child and allow for click/touchable animation on each page. It does get a little confusing having so many sounds going at once when the wee one get a hold of it. The book is a great teaching tool for teaching patience. “Please wait until they are finished reading in order to touch sweetie”.
The clickable animation is very cleverly designed and flows within each page appropriately. The ending page of each book has a special animation as a closer. A “wow” moment you could say! I think these are my little ones’ favorite parts.
(Note: when I say clickable, I mean using the touch screen w/ pointer finger on the iPad)
DVDs:
“THE HIDDEN TREASURE OF WOMPKEE WOOD tells the harrowing tale of how Twig, the littlest Wompkee, and her band of brave friends – led by the can-do spirit of Scout and Daisy, the wisdom of Hummer and the humor of Buster – set out on the adventure of their lives to recover an ancient glowing stone and restore the power of universal language and love to all the Wompkees.”
I was unsuccessful in getting my bunch to sit for the DVDs.
Overall Thoughts & Recommendations:
My little ones prefer to move swiftly past the “scary” parts of the stories. The conflict in each one have dramatic music that accompanies them and my wee ones don’t care for it. I should note that they are a little young for conflict from villains in their stories at age three and one.
We enjoyed the plush, puppets, and interactive books greatly.
I recommend you introduce Wompkees to your child via the interactive books affordably priced in the iTunes store!
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