More Than Play
DINOROARS MONTY REX
Let the prehistoric adventures begin! Your child can take an amazing make-believe ride back to the beginning of time with the lifelike, mighty MONTY REX.
MONTY moves his head, tail and arms. And get this: He walks, responds to touch and lets out a big ROAR when spoken to! Your child will love pretending with this interactive reptile king. They can even dance together with four engaging onboard songs. With MONTY REX, your child’s imagination rules…and whether he’s exercising language development, problem solving or bonding & attachment skills, hours of fun-filled learning adventures are sure to follow.
See DINOROARS MONTY REX in action!
It’s More Than Play... This Toy Also Teaches:
Imaginative Wild Play
Empowerment
Imagination
Conceptual Thinking
Language
Cause & Effect
Fine Motor Skills
Problem Solving
Bonding & Attachment
Imaginative Wild Play
When the energy level goes up, physical activity increases and exuberance bursts out, you know you’re in the zone of imaginative wild play. Children can engage in Imaginative Wild Play with MONTY, roaring at him, and having him ROAR right back, and taking him on adventures as he STOMPS and CHOMPS!
The benefit of this form of wild play is not just the release of energy—though that is part of it. Active imaginative play allows children to show themselves in new ways and can encourage them to discover new things about the world or take on exciting challenges. Engaging in imaginative, loud and exuberant play, where kids “let loose” aids a child’s ability to express, develop and regulate their emotions during wild play in a safe and non threatening way. The extra enthusiasm and excitement of this state can both challenge them and help them overcome frustration when they are mastering a new skill or learning to cooperate and interact with friends as imaginative wild play also allows for the development of social skills of turn taking, empathy, impulse control and reading other people’s emotions. Through imaginative wild play kids gain a healthy dose of "good" power, which leaves them feeling confident, competent and connected. Co-operation and impulse control may flow naturally from that.
The paradox is that part of what is “unleashed” by wild play is wisdom about knowing when to be wild and when to calm down and engage in quiet activities. Playing with MONTY is a great way for children to help learn self control. It may also help them be cooperative, less reckless and have better impulse control and creativity.
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Empowerment
When children roar at MONTY and he ROARS right back, push the sensors to make him walk and STOMP or feed him so he will CHOMP, they know that they have actively caused those reactions. This gives them a wonderful feeling of empowerment—a sense of confidence, competence and mastery. Empowerment play begins with making an impact on the world through causing things to happen. It develops into mastering skills, discovering (and showing off) what one’s body can do and being powerful in a healthy way. The slogan for empowerment play is “Look what I can do!”
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Imagination
What would happen if you took a dinosaur to the grocery store? Would it eat all the food? What if it went to a soccer game? Would it play along? Is MONTY friendly or ferocious? Messy as a pig or neat as a pin? Because dinosaurs lived in an environment much different from the world we live in today, playing with MONTY REX encourages imagination and creativity. As your child plays with MONTY, he is imagining how a dinosaur would move and speak, where it would live and how it would interact with other dinosaurs.
Imagination encourages children to initiate their own play and stimulate their own thinking. Imagination may also help children develop visual memory. Remembering experiences and developing visual memory are important when playing and reading. A strong imagination helps children write stories, solve problems and think “outside the box” when they get older.
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Conceptual Thinking
Playing with MONTY REX, a creature from another time, helps children to develop initial understandings that time existed before they were born and that also there is a future. These concepts are abstract and difficult to grasp; however, playing with dinosaurs—creatures that lived in another time—helps a child to begin to understand the passage of time. When the seed is sown that there was life of a different kind roaming the earth, it helps children make sense of new realities and that other worlds exist outside of their own world. Understanding these concepts helps foster an inquiring mind—a mind that wants to learn more and maybe one day research other experiences both historical and maybe futuristic!
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Language
The dinosaur world uses very different language than we do! Playing with MONTY REX encourages children to make and explore new words, make up new words, make appropriate (and inappropriate) noises and assume the identity of the King of the dinosaurs! Mimicking the sound of this dynamic dino will encourage children to make and explore different sounds they could make. This experimentation is important, because processing sound is the beginnings of spelling. In order to spell, we teach children to break a word into sounds. To be able to do this, kids need to learn to sort auditory information. This begins when children hear and mimic sound.
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Cause & Effect
Touching and squeezing different spots on MONTY REX makes him spring to life with different movements and sounds. Once children make this discovery, they are beginning to understand the concept of cause & effect. Kids learn that interacting with MONTY in different ways can create different and exciting results. Understanding cause & effect not only empowers children to control their play, it helps them learn how to figure out how lots of everyday objects work—from water fountains to watches!
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Fine Motor Skills
These skills are the small, refined muscle movements needed to perform delicate tasks. MONTY REX encourages little fingers to move, squeeze, carry, stroke and touch—activities that are foundations for fine motor manipulation. Squeezing and touching MONTY REX not only gets an animated reaction, it helps children develop fine motor skills. Fine motor skills are the same skills that children will use to do all kinds of other things—from flossing to finger painting!
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Problem Solving
Problem solving is an important acquisition for life—and it begins with play. By allowing your child to make decisions while playing, he can begin to develop independent thinking and problem-solving skills.
When your child first plays with MONTY REX, he may wonder what’s stimulating the sound and movement. “What’s MONTY REX trying to tell me?” “How do I make him ROAR?” Problem solving and experimenting encourages your child to search and find answers, rather than waiting for the answers to come to him. Learning to understand the consequences of their choices helps children learn to think for themselves so they can start to make their own decisions as they grow older.
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Bonding & Attachment
Even the scariest monster under the bed would have trouble standing up to a dynamic dinosaur! MONTY REX can help your little explorer feel safe and secure—even though he has soft skin on the outside, he’s pretty tough inside! Attachment to people and playthings can help children feel loved and comfortable bonding with others. Positive attachments play an enormous part in developing the security a young child needs.
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Learn more—together!
Want to join the fun? Playing with your child can boost his learning, and it gives him more time to bond with you! Try these simple tips to enhance your child’s play experience:
- Assume the role of MONTY REX. Are you a friendly or ferocious dinosaur? Silly or serious? Take turns pretending to be different dinosaurs.
- Talk about what dinosaurs ate, when they lived and where they would sleep. Which ones liked plants and which ate meat? Would it be possible for them to eat cookies and crackers? Which dinosaurs lived on land and which ones lived in the water? This can gently encourage him to investigate the life of prehistoric animals.
- Make up different sounds for “I’m hungry,” “Hello, friend!” and “This is yummy.” Encourage your child to interpret what MONTY REX is saying.
- Build a hut or cave with cardboard boxes and blankets or sit in a closet and pretend to introduce new friends to MONTY REX. Encourage your child to move around on the floor the way a dinosaur might have done…this helps sustain fitness, develops fundamental movement skills and grows the brain.
