Is The Elmo Live Toy Designed To Help Your Child Talk?
Unless you’ve been living under a rock this holiday season, you probably know that the Elmo live toy is one of the hottest selling holiday toys of this shopping season, and for good reason. Not only is the Elmo live toy engaging and fun to play with, but it also has the potential to help your little one improve his or her vocabulary. How, you might ask?
Well, one of the characteristics of the Elmo live toy is the ability to interact with your child when he or she plays with it. This is not a new quality in toys but it’s one that’s becoming more and more common as the toy industry searches for ways to make their products more innovative and fresh.
And as parents become more sophisticated in their search for quality toys, the features of those toys become even more important. Parents not only want something that’s fun for their child, but educational too, and to this end the ELmo live toy delivers on both fronts!
And who wouldn’t fall in love with this little red muppet? The Fisher Price company has done a nice job in recreating the look and sound of Elmo as he appears on TV. And this Elmo can do a lot more than your typical stuffed animal! Pretend your tickling Elmo’s belly and he will laugh hysterically! Touch his nose and he will pretend that your playing the ‘I’ve got your nose’ game and ask for his nose back! Touch his foot and he will sit down and tell you a story!
One of the nice features about the 2008 Elmo live toy is that Elmo’s movements are more realistic and life-like, almost like that of a toddler. Elmo can move his legs and arms and use gestures when he tells stories.It even appears as if Elmo is really talking because his mouth moves when he ‘speaks’.
What separates this Elmo live toy from other Elmo’s of holidays past is the effect of Elmo’s ability to seemingly ‘interact’ with your child. For example, Elmo will ask for a hug and then say ‘thank you’ as if he’s received one. He’ll also become really ticklish and act as if your child is tickling him when he’s touched on his belly. This makes the interaction between Elmo and your child a very personal one, as if Elmo is responding to your child and your child only.
And this interaction is a great stepping stone to talk to your child about Elmo and some of the things that he says. For example, when Elmo says ‘thank you’ you can ask your child on what other occasions would you thank somebody, or when Elmo tells one of his stories, you can ask questions of your child about what they think will happen next in the story. And even though they may seem really simple, these little questions that you’re asking are the building blocks of children developing their own vocabulary and being able to think independently.
Now please understand- having your child in the same room with Elmo for seven hours per day is not going to help develop your child’s vocabulary (or anything else for that matter). The crucial part in helping your child is the interaction with you and the questions that you ask about ‘what Elmo says’ that will help your child develop their own ability to form ideas and answers on their own.
So if you’re a big fan of Elmo already (and even if you’re not) this years Elmo live toy may very well become the favorite of the holiday season. And don’t be surprised if your child not only has fun but also learns something new in the process.
