Quite a few years ago I bought a unique plastic telephone type of device for my family daycare. I bought it mostly because I thought the children I care for would get a kick out of the unique Toobaloo plastic phone, but I've found it is so much more than a novelty toy.
The Toobaloo is a 7 ½" plastic tube that looks like the receiver of a phone. (the regular corded type of phone) Mine is orange and blue but recently 8 year old Sammi brought an all orange one to daycare with her.
All you need to do to use the Toobaloo is to put one of the fluted ends to your ear and the other fluted end to your mouth, as you would if you were talking on the phone. The unique thing is you can then hear yourself as you speak.
Each of my daycare children have discovered the uniqueness of this phone at one time or another and have spent a good deal of time talking into it. It isn't unusual for me to go into the playroom and find one of the children sitting with this phone and just chatting away.
They've all been a bit surprised that the voice they are hearing is there own since it sounds different in our own head than it does to others. This phone makes it so we can hear ourselves the way others do.
While this is a fun toy, there are many other uses for it as well. Sammi was telling me how in first grade they would use this phone to help them as they were learning to read. Being able to hear her own voice helped her to become a better reader, especially when she is reading out loud to others.
Not only does the Toobaloo help children learning stronger reading skills it is also beneficial for children with speech disorders. While I haven't used it in this manner I can really see how being able to hear one's own way of speaking can help to improve the way words are spoken after getting this auditory feedback.
I could see too how someone learning a different language could benefit from speaking into the Toobaloo as they practice speaking in another language. Being able to listen to your inflection of words could help in learning to pronounce them in the correct way.
The Toobaloo is top shelf dishwasher safe, but since I don't have a dishwasher I simply do a quick bleach soak as I do for other daycare toys, then a good rinse and I let it air dry.
The only con I have found with the Toobaloo is that young children do tend to like to put things inside of things and at one point my sweet Jake, when he was around 5 years old, put a small car into one end. I don't remember how I finally got it out, but I did and the Toobaloo was just fine.
The plastic that the Toobaloo is made from is a pretty sturdy variety since it has made it through 8 children playing with it at different times and levels of aggressiveness.
My daycare children have used the Toobaloo mainly as a pretend phone and to enjoy hearing themselves talking, but I think this is a wonderful tool for many other things as well.
The Toobaloo is made by Learning Loft LLC in Madison Wisconsin. I believe I paid around $5.00 for the Toobaloo at a childcare conference many years ago, but I think they are even less expensive now.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 5.00 Type of Toy: Educational
Age Range of Child: Whole Family
This exceptional learning tool lets children hear themselves as they speak softly into it while practicing their reading and speech. The result is a s...More at Discount School Supply
Epinions.com periodically updates pricing and product information from third-party sources, so some information may be slightly out-of-date. You should confirm all information before relying on it.
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.