Rainbow Pebbles: First Impressions

Hi - Caitlin here! THL co-owner, pediatric physical therapist, and mom to Lena (age 3). 

(Is it sad that this is the best/only picture of me and Lena I could find from the past 6 months!?)

Okay, I'll get on topic. We started carrying Rainbow Pebbles not quite a year ago, and TBH I had never heard of them before. So, I grabbed our demo box and decided to try them out at home with Lena.

At first, I initiated play by getting the included activity cards out. We enjoyed building some of the pictures on the cards, but as usual - kids have more creative ideas of how to play!

Out came Twelve Rainbow Friends.

And pretty soon red and blue were having a slumber party with their matching stuffed animals.

Then ALL the stuffed animals had to get piled into the bed...

... so blue could go night night.

Lena immediately gravitated towards the easy to hold, colorful, simple pebbles. And as a parent, the inherent characteristics of the pebbles made it a breeze for me to loop in concepts such as size, color, and number while engaging with her in pretend play.

For example, "Lena, blue really wants a matching stuffed animal. Can you find him one that matches?" Or, "Hmm... I think that animal is too big to fit in his bed. Can you find a smaller one?" Or, "Let's find three more stuffed animals."

We played with the pebbles and friends for about 30 minutes and only stopped because it was bedtime. That's a win in my book! We now carry one set for little hands (18 months+) and one for slightly larger hands (3 years+). If you're looking for an engaging fine-motor activity, grab a set of these. I love that the cards give more structured activity suggestions, but that the pebbles on their own are also perfect for open-ended play.