Rockers, Ride Ons & Bikes

Rockers, Ride Ons & Bikes

Special educational needs and disabilities can affect a child's ability to learn, develop and grow - which can lead to problems later in life, as well as frustration and depression if not given the right support. Some children may have SEN because of a medical condition or disability, other children may have SEN without a diagnosis or disability. Special educational needs schools (SEN schools) give children invaluable support, education and care which is designed to work with their way of learning, offer extra encouragement and support and set them on the best path possible for their future. Baby Brands Direct know how hard SEN staff and teachers work, that's why we've made it easy to order the best educational toys for your cohort of children. With a massive selection of toys with a host of developmental benefits, Baby Brands Direct is a one stop shop for your classroom inventory. 

Children with special needs can benefit from playing with sensory toys. Children with conditions such as autism can have difficulty processing sensory information, resulting in a potential aversion and avoidance to the cause of sensory stimulation - such as loud noises, bright lights or strange textures. By introducing sensory play to a child’s day, education providers can slowly introduce sensory elements to children without them being too overwhelming. Infantino has a varied range of sensory toys that allow children to explore different shapes and textures during play, as well as introducing them to light and sound in a way that isn't too overwhelming.

The Infantino Lights & Sounds Multi Sensory and Multi Textured Balls Sets are great for small classes as they include multiple balls with unique textures, allowing kids to explore them with their hands and play together as a group. Lalaboom's sets of construction beads can also help stimulate kids' senses with their unique shapes inspired by nature. They fit together in a number of ways and the clicks as each bead fits together creates satisfying sensory stimulation to children's ears. Other sensory items available at Baby Brands Direct are comfort soothers which use audio and light to soothe and comfort little ones. Comfort soothers like the Tommee Tippee Light and Sound Sleep Aid come in cute cuddly animal designs, so they're perfect for kids to hug and cuddle as well as for nap time. 

Musical toys are a great way of bringing fun and sensory elements to play. Products with a musical element, such as Halilit’s Giant Rainbomaker, are perfect for developing auditory skills. This particular musical toy creates a soothing rain-like sound that children won’t find too overly stimulating and the need to manipulate the toy in order to make the sound helps to build fine motor skills as well as teach cause and effect. The Infantino Baby's 1st Teethe & Play Music Set combines bright coloured musical toys with teething textures, which are perfect for young children going through the painful period of teething and to naturally support the instinct to explore with mouths and gums. 

Memory games or games that help children to understand emotions are also great for SEN schools, as children with special needs can find it sometimes difficult to express their emotions and feelings effectively and may struggle with memory issues and cognitive dysfunction. French brand, Janod, have a great selection of puzzles and games that are designed to introduce the concept of emotions to children - as well as jigsaws and learning games that can help improve cognitive skills. Toys like the Janod WWF Koala Stacker And Rocker are perfect for teaching essential skills like problem solving, as well as teamwork and reasoning. Children can also develop their fine motor skills by manipulating the blocks into place. Construction toys are also perfect for this, with building blocks like those from Mega Bloks allowing children to unleash their creativity while developing key skills that will benefit them later in life. 

Activity tables and centres like the VTech Play & Learn Activity Table allow multiple children to play together, helping improve communication, social and emotional skills. By allowing children to interact during play, they can improve their vocabulary and also gain empathy and understanding of others. Such activity toys help to teach topics covered by the school's curriculum in a fun and engaging way, helping to boost knowledge in a less intensive way than being stuck at the school desk.

With over 2500 items under one roof, Baby Brands Direct offer everything SEN staff and teachers need to make their classroom experience engaging and fun for children with special educational needs. We dispatch high quality branded products direct from our on-site warehouse, so orders are able to be delivered quickly and efficiently. With multi-buy discounts and no minimum order value, teachers and staff can order as much or as little as needed to cover the requirements of their class.

Why rockers, ride ons & bikes are best sellers

Parents have a soft spot for a ride on toy – in a recent survey, bikes came in the top 10 of favourite toys (and the cycling market has seen unprecedented growth since March 2020 according to NPD). They represent a first step towards independence as any toy that you can ride on offers a chance to get going under your own steam. Balance bikes are the first step on that journey to two-wheeled independence. It will be no surprise that rockers, ride ons and bikes help children develop great balance and other physical skills, but they promote more skills that may not be so obvious straight away.

Fuel their imagination

Playing with a ride on toy helps children learn how to engage with others, to interact with them, to recognise spatial awareness and - given how popular we’ve established ride on toys can be – learn to share. They also encourage imagination and creative play – climb aboard a rocking horse or the lovable donkey that is the Little Bird Told Me Bojangles Ride on, and you can be heading down to grandma’s for cake, a knight riding off to fight a dragon, or an Olympic showjumper. There are so many possibilities.

Generations of play

Rockers, ride ons and bikes also follow a trend recognised at the 2020 US Toy Fair. The US Toy Association announced that one of the year’s trends was what it called ‘Generations of Play’, where adults and children spend time together playing. According to the association’s Genius of Play initiative, when adults and children play together, the children show better language development and problem-solving skills. It also gives parents (and grandparents) an opportunity to reminisce about their own childhoods and the toys they played with. Because small children need adult supervision, especially when learning how to play with toys in this category, it encourages one-on-one time with a parent, strengthening bonds and building trust.

No skills shortage here

Learning a new skill – whether it’s how to balance on a rocker or mastering a balance bike - takes some patience. This is a very useful life lesson. Teaching perseverance, determination and learning from your failures are valuable skills to start earning at an early age. These skills, along with learning how to share, will stand children in good stead as they go to nursery, pre-school and school. Finally, this category of toys can teach responsibility and self-reliance. For very young children, no other toy requires them to take responsibility for their own safety in the same way. They must learn to hold on in the right way, make sure they keep their balance, watch where they are going and keep themselves and others safe. And they learn self-reliance as they eventually learn to make a rocker rock or push along a ride on toy all by themselves.