Schoenhut® toy pianos have delighted children, collectors, and professional musicians for decades. Since the company’s founding in 1872 by German emigrant Albert Schoenhut, the keyboard’s magical overtones, hypnotic charm, and unique sound have matured from novelty to fine musical instruments. Unsurpassed in quality, pitch, and durability, each traditional model is still crafted entirely by hand and individually tuned.

The unique chime-like notes of Schoenhut® toy pianos are produced by little hammers striking metal bars, versus conventional taut wires used in full-sized models. Schoenhut® toy pianos, designed for children and built to endure active play, are appropriate for young and old alike.

Juiliard-graduate Margaret Leng Tan, an internationally acclaimed concert pianist, is an ardent fan of Schoenhut®. “Anything you can play on the big piano, you can play even better on a toy,” Ms. Tan told USA Today upon release of her CD “The Art of the Toy Piano” (Point Music).

Studies show that children who are introduced to music at an early age benefit in many ways and perform better academically. Piano playing develops creativity, enhances motor skills, and promotes social interaction and self-esteem.

Schoenhut’s® patented Learning System, with its play-by-color teaching method, was developed to encourage basic music skills and make playing simple and fun. A removable color strip fits behind the keys to guide small fingers from chord to chord. The chart adapts perfectly to full-sized pianos because keys on Schoenhut® toy pianos are of corresponding width ~ thus teaching children proper “finger stretch” from the very beginning and making the transition to a large piano easy.

Each toy piano has one to three octaves (depending on the model), compared with seven and a half on an adult piano.The Learning System Songbook contains a collection of familiar tunes.

Some fun extension activities for the Melissa & Doug Basic Skills Board include:

• Ask your child to name each of the skills that will be mastered-snapping, buttoning, buckling, zipping, lacing and tying.
• Ask your child to name the color of each puzzle piece.
• Show your child that the puzzle pieces on the bear’s arms are interchangeable. Ask your child to place the pieces in specific order from left to right. For example: Place the snap piece first, then the button, etc. Repeat the activity using the predominant color of each piece.
• Place four or more pieces in front of your child asking him/her to study them before closing his/her eyes while you remove one piece. Ask your child to identify the piece you removed.
• Time your child to see how quickly s/he is able to complete each of the skills and then undo them.

The Melissa & Doug Pattern Blocks and Board Set also includes the following fun extension activities:

• Create a linear pattern using the blocks. Ask your child to replicate the pattern. Increase the difficulty by adding more blocks.
• Ask your child to sort the pattern blocks by color. Ask your child to count the number of pieces of each color. Ask your child to name each geometric shape.

  green-triangle, red – trapezoid, blue-large rhombus/diamond, yellow-hexagon, orange-square, white-small rhombus/diamond

• Ask your child to combine tow or more blocks to replicate another shape. For example: two triangles make one rhombus. Stacking the blocks on top of each other may help your child better visualize the equivalency.
• Trace the outline of one or two of the simplier images provided on the pattern cards on a piece of paper. Place the outline on a flat surface. Ask your child to fill in the outline using the pattern blocks of his/her choice.
• Ask your child to place the pattern blocks on a flat surface and create a unique geometric design.

Melissa & Doug’s Magnetic Calendar helps teach and reinforce calendar skills and the understanding of time, years, months, weeks and days.

Some activities for the Melissa & Doug Magnetic Calendar include:

• Discuss the components of the calendar with your child. How many days are there in a week?…in a month?…in a year?
• Assist your child in setting up the calendar for the current month. Place the month, year and date magnets in their correct spaces. Fill in any holidays that fall within the month using the magnets provided.
• Talk about your child’s schedule, appointments, upcoming events or celebrations for the month. Chart these dates on the calendar using the magnets provided.
• Discuss the change of seasons with your child. Point out the magnets that can be used for charting the four seasons and the daily weather.

Extension Activities for the Melissa & Doug ABC/123 Block Set include:

• Ask your child to see how tall s/he can stack the blocks without them falling over. Count each blocks out loud as it is added to the stack.
• Ask your child to look at each block and identify the image on each of its six sides. Repeat this activity until the child can correctly identify the images on all of the blocks.
• Build a simple structure and ask your child to replicate it.
• Point to a picture on a block and ask what letter it begins with.
• Ask your child to place the blocks in alphabetical order from A to Z, and the number blocks in numerical order from 0 to 9 excluding duplicate numbers.
• Use the blocks to spell three or four letter words. For example:CAT and BOAT. Ask your child to read each word and say each letter out loud.

Melissa & Doug’s Shape Sorting Cube includes some fun extension activities you can do with your child.

• Ask your child to build a tower with the blocks. Help your child become familiar with the shapes and colors by identifying them as your child stacks the blocks.
• Encourage beginning counting skills by asking your child to count the blocks with you. Repeat the activity until your child is familiar with the numbers one through twelve.
• Once your child is familiar with the shapes and colors, ask your child to hand you a specific shape or color block.

Below are just a few fun activities you can do with the Melissa & Doug Wooden Latches Board:

• Find a specific colored door and identify the animals behind it. “Point to the red door. What animals are behind it” (rabbits)
• Find a house and identify a specific shape and/or number:
  “Which house has a circle with the number 5?” (green)
• Count the animals behind a door or window.
  “Open the latch on the blue house. How many dogs do you see?” (2)
• Identify a house by describing something on it.
  “What color is the with two circular windows?” (orange house)
• Find a specific colored door and identify the animals behind it.
  “Find the frogs. What color are the frogs? How many frogs do you see?” (green, 5)
• Find a specific shape on a house and ask who lives inside.
  “Point to the purple triangle. Who lives in this house?” (1 pony)

Melissa & Doug’s Slice and Bake Cookie Set also includes fun extension activities you can do with your child.

• Ask your child to sort the cookie toppings into four similar groups and identify the colors on each topping.
• Ask your child to make cookies to order. For example, you might request a cookie with chocolate icing on top, or two cookies with sprinkles on top.
• Ask your child to slice the cookie dough into 12 cookies, counting aloud. Now ask your child to place a cookie topping on each cookie, counting to 12 once again.
• Ask your child to count the candy circles on one cookie topping. Ask your child to count the candy circles on two cookie toppings, then on three cookie toppings. When your child is able to count all nine candy circles, ask your child to count sprinkles by color, one cookie topping at a time.
• Ask your child to prepare four or more cookies with different cookie toppings. Ask your child to study the cookies, then to close his/her eyes. Remove and conceal one of the four cookies. Ask your child to describe the missing cookie.
• Ask your child to tell a story about the cookies she/he is baking. Is there a special party, holiday or event they will be used for?

Fun extension activities for the Melissa & Doug Pull-Along Zoo Animals includes:

• Ask your child to name the colors on each zoo animal and its wheels.
• Ask your child to count the zoo animals
• Ask your child to switch the body pieces to create new zoo animals. Ask your child to name the new animals and make up a story about them.
• Set up a simple obstacle course and ask your child to pull along the zoo animals around the course. Your child’s objective is to try to keep the zoo animals upright. Increase the path’s difficulty as your child masters each course.
• Ask your child the shape of and the number of wheels on the Pull-Along Zoo.

Some fun extension activities include:

• Review all the peg colors with your child. Repeat the activity until your child is familiar with the colors. Then ask your child to hand you a specific colored peg.
• Ask your child to place the pegs in a row. Count the pegs with your child. Repeat the activity until your child has mastered counting to eight.
• Arrange four pegs in the holes on one side of the Pound-a-Peg. Ask your child to replicate the color order on the opposite side.
• Ask your child to pound in a specific color and/or number of pegs.