As the mother of a two-year-old, I, like just about every other parent, often think about what I can do to aid my child’s development. And as someone (like all of us here at BERG) who’s passionate about design and rather fond of sci-fi, I’m keen that my daughter is introduced to those things and hopefully will enjoy them too. (Incidentally, what’s the right age for an introduction to Star Wars: A New Hope? Seven? Eight? In any case, we have a few years.)
Right now my daughter is starting to be able to identify letters, and they are coming fast and furious. We already have a number of ABC books around, but I’ve recently discovered a few more that I think are must haves for a very small geek-in-training:
Star Wars ABC – Need I say more?
Charley Harper’s ABC – Beautiful illustrations that will no doubt be more appreciated by parents than by toddlers, but hey, may as well expose them to lovely design early on, right?
ABC 3D – Pop-up books are always cool, and this one is beautiful as well.
The City ABC Book – A lesson in Looking Around You and Noticing Things.
Dr Seuss’s ABC – For sheer fun, silliness and inventiveness, it’s hard to beat Dr Seuss. “Oscar’s only ostrich oiled an orange owl today,” and “Many mumbling mice are making midnight music in the moonlight… mighty nice!”
And finally, Nerdy ABC Flashcards – A is for Atom! B is for Binary Code! N is for Neuron! U is for Uvula! Brilliant.
Any other suggestions? Please leave them in the comments!
7 Comments and Trackbacks
1. Kurren said on 8 February 2011...
After the 2 years old is usually considered safe to have some screen time, you should really consider this excellent iPad apps:
Intro to Letters, by Montessorium
(http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/intro-to-letters-by-montessorium/id387232375?mt=8)
Intro to Math, by Montessorium
(http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/intro-to-math-by-montessorium/id381064973?mt=8)
2. Kurren said on 8 February 2011...
Oh, forgot about Alpha Writer, always by Montessorium
(http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/alpha-writer-by-montessorium/id394038232?mt=8)
3. Kurren said on 8 February 2011...
But also (sorry, I just keep forgetting things…) if you want to stick to paper books, we shall not forget about Bruno Munari’s excellent ABC book: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Bruno-Munaris-ABC-Munari/dp/0811854639
All of Munari work in terms of design and children education is really worth a look.
4. Matt Webb said on 8 February 2011...
Hey that’s funny, I picked up the Bruno Munari ABC book just last week! Gorgeous illustrations, really free.
5. Joshua Bloom said on 8 February 2011...
I’ve picked up some great Mad Scientist Wooden Blocks from Xylocopa for my little guy.
Check em out, really cool laser etched playthings.
http://www.xylocopa.com/product/mad-science-alphabet-blocks
6. Matt Carey said on 9 February 2011...
“the right age for an introduction to Star Wars: A New Hope?”
5. My son is obsessive about Star Wars (excellent for me!) and we let him watch it then after being asked 101 times if he could. Settling down on the sofa to watch Star Wars on a rainy Sunday afternoon is bliss…
7. Duncan said on 12 February 2011...
Our kids love they might be giants DVDs – the ABC’s are great but they love here comes the science http://www.google.co.uk/products?q=they+might+be+giants+here+comes+science&oe=UTF-8&hl=en&client=safari&um=1&ie=UTF-8&ei=fgtXTd7TAcrAhAfY-vDRDA&sa=X&oi=product_result_group&ct=title&resnum=6&ved=0CEAQrQQwBQ