BRISTOL – One big idea, and a local woman is now getting national attention for a new toy.
It uses colors and sounds to help babies reach their potential earlier.
The idea was developed by Marcia Haut of Bristol, who has years of experience as a special education teacher and developmental therapist.
The product she came up with is the Noggin Stik developmental rattle. It uses colors and sounds that help capture a child’s attention and increase focus. The Noggin Stik aims to encourage early milestones. The first is working on tracking.
“When a child sees the light, it catches their eye,” said Haut. “Babies are interested in brightly colored objects and things light up, so we take it and we teach parents to slowly left to right, work on tracking.”
The colors change.
“It lights up red, and if you tap it, it turns blue, and if you tap it again, it turns green,” Haut added.
It also has a rattle at the bottom. There are some beads in the bottom. This starts working on auditory orientation or turning to a sound.
The toy, as simple as it is, is getting a lot of attention locally and nationally from parents and professionals because of its versatility, helping to develop, among other things, attention spans, confidence, and eye to hand coordination.
“Babies’ brains are primed for development, and so these kinds of toys just really are exciting to a baby, because their brain is ready, wanting to learn new things,” said Candy Yoder of Child and Parent Services of Elkhart County.
Kotie Anglemyer’s five-month-old daughter had fun with it.
“I do see it helping her just with her focus and even like grabbing and reaching for things,” Anglemyer described.
High marks all the way around.
The Noggin Stik is available locally at Exploration Toys in Granger.
