How Our Products Support Your Child’s Development?
As a paediatric speech therapist, I developed these suitcases in collaboration with occupational therapists to provide children with opportunities to explore while using their fine motor skills — such as operating the bridge, tunnels, and park garage — all while having fun. Through play, children naturally develop hand-eye coordination, pincer grasp, bilateral hand coordination, and finger strength, which are essential foundations for handwriting and school readiness. The suitcases include a variety of materials and shapes to provide rich sensory experiences.
Play also encourages problem-solving and persistence. Children learn by figuring out how things work — for example, navigating the parking garage in the car suitcase or matching shapes in the ocean suitcase. The ocean suitcase, in particular, offers visual perception challenges that help enhance shape and color recognition and introduce early concepts of quantity.
Our goal is to spark children’s imagination and creativity. To support this, we’ve designed matching playmats that inspire storytelling and exploration. The car playmat presents an evolving village scene, while the ocean playmat immerses children in an underwater world full of possibilities. Everyday experiences, like a trip to the beach, can be revisited and expanded through imaginative play. When play engages the imagination, learning opportunities are limitless.
The suitcases are designed to grow with your child. Adding figures, vehicles, or other accessories opens up new scenarios and encourages extended play. They’re also portable, making them perfect for travel or outings — no more boredom during waits and no stress about packing for weekend trips.
For more information about the benefits of play go to:
https://raisingchildren.net.au/newborns/play-learning/play-ideas/why-play-is-important
How do children learn through play?
Play allows children to develop creativity, imagination, fine motor skills, cognitive abilities, emotional resilience, and physical strength. It is essential for healthy brain development, providing opportunities to engage with the world, develop new competencies, and build resilience for future challenges.
During play, nerve connections in the brain are strengthened, supporting skills such as bilateral hand coordination, gross and pincer grasp, finger strength, and hand-eye coordination — all critical for learning to write. Play also enhances speech and language development, helping children expand their vocabulary, improve listening and speaking skills, and practice communication in a meaningful context. Imaginative play allows children to recreate experiences, express thoughts and feelings, and interact socially, providing a natural platform for language growth.
If you have any questions about our toys regarding your child's development, please contact Angela at info@wonderfullittlecompany.com.
Why is creative play so important?
In the 2016 study “Help your children play out a story and watch them become more creative” by Professors Sandra Russ and Louis D. Beaumont (Case Western Reserve University, Ohio, USA), research shows that creative expression begins in early childhood. Children develop creativity through pretend play, making up stories and using props to represent ideas and objects. The study highlights that the quality and frequency of imaginative play, storytelling skills, and emotional expression in early childhood are strongly linked to later creative thinking abilities.
Similarly, in my 2023 article “The Importance of Pretend Play: Nurturing Creative Thinking in Toddlers and Preschoolers” (BRAINZ magazine), I explain how pretend play is far more than simple fun. It supports emotional, physical, social, and cognitive development while nurturing creativity from the earliest years. Observing children engaged in pretend play demonstrates how deeply they can think, problem-solve, and create — all through play.
Link to article.
The Importance of Pretend Play: Nurturing Creative Thinking in Toddlers and Preschoolers
by Angela Mischkulnig, published in BRAINZ magazine in May 2023.
Observing children being engaged in pretend play is fascinating. It may appear as simple child’s play, but it is far more complex as it nurtures creativity and is a fundamental aspect of a child’s emotional, physical, social, and cognitive development. Link to article.
