Dog Treats Vs Poison: A Pet Health Infographic

We love our dog Lucy and for most of my life, had a dog at home - a cuddle on demand and she doesn't argue back! BLISS!

But we're always really careful about what treats we give her. Here's a handy infographic from Vet-Medic with some simple do's and don'ts!

Great Gizmos - Sensory Toys

Play and Learn with PlanToys 

Just in time for starting the Christmas lists, the eco-friendly wooden toy range PlanToys is pushing the boundaries with educational toys to make them more interactive and fun as well as flexible and responsive to children’s needs and circumstances.

The Adaptive Toys series from Plan is the latest wave of toys that is entirely dedicated to children with special needs. This highly original collection of learning toys caters for three groups of children with special needs which are cerebral palsy, autism and the visually impaired. There are lots on offer but here is just a snapshot of this great developmental toy range;

The Build-A-Robot is a complete learning experience for kids! The wooden robot includes four interchangeable heads that feature an array of emotions including happy, sad, cross and surprised for children to learn. He can also sit and stand as his chunky legs and arms are moveable to imitate a human being.

For problem solving there is the Vehicle Puzzle that encourages children to match the correct driver to their vehicle, whilst also learning how to shape sort. Each puzzle tile features a colourful background to help solve the game and all tiles interlink together to form a large floor piece. The puzzle includes a helicopter, space rocket, car and submarine for added play value.

To help develop fine motor skills, the Beehives game allows children to match the correct bee to its corresponding colour hive using the wooden pincers included. There are six brightly coloured hives that each have their own miniature bee, complete with stripes and wings. This game also helps reinforce colour recognition and counting.

 For children who are visually impaired, there is a Braille Duo that helps children learn the alphabet and number sequences. The Braille Numbers set enables kids to count to 10 with the wooden tile set that is beautifully engraved with large numbers and the corresponding Braille cells. The reverse side also contains leaf illustrations with the correct number of leaves on to help children count. The 26-piece Braille Alphabet features both the upper and lower case letters of the alphabet and matching Braille symbol, to help each child learn their letters.

These really do look like great toys, whether your child has special needs or not, sadly my children are now above the target age range however I have a younger niece and another one (niece/nephew!) on the way, so I'm sure they will creep onto the Christmas list somewhere!