Best toys for children wearing scratch mitts

October 5, 2020

One of the questions often asked by our customers is “will wearing ScratchSleeves affect my child’s ability to play?”. The great news is that they don’t make much difference at all. The mitts of ScratchSleeves are specially designed to be large enough for children to use their hands naturally, but without being so large or bulky that they get in the way. With a bit of practice, most children will be able to play happily! We recently made a short film with 18-month-old Zack to demonstrate the ease with which a child can play wearing ScratchSleeves. He had never worn ScratchSleeves before which shows how quickly children can adapt to them. What toys, then, are going to be suitable for their age range, eczema friendly and easy to play with for little ones just starting to wear scratch mitts?

Birth to 6 months

Initially, newborns have very blurry eyesight, tending to rely on smell to find their food source. They struggle to focus on more than stark black and white contrasts. After the first few weeks, they love faces and bright colours. They aren’t really mobile besides rolling. Hands and feet are a constant source of amazement, especially when they work out they are actually attached to them! Typically they like reaching for, batting and grabbing at whatever is in range which is why playmats are so ideal. As every parent finds out, anything that isn’t tied up or down will end up going straight in their mouths once they work out how to use their hands properly!

Ideal toys for this age range are things which they can grab for, make noise with, shake about and suck on. Rattles, teething rings, softballs, unbreakable mirrors and fabric books are all ideal and easily managed with scratch mitts on. In addition, things that move, make noise and light up are great mental stimulation. This is probably why cot mobiles are so popular.

Typically, eczema won’t appear until around the 3-month mark. If it does it’s worth being aware that certain fibres may trigger it more. Itchy woollen carpets are also a dust haven so putting down a clean cotton blanket is probably wise.

6 months to 1 year

And they’re off! Rolling, sitting, bum shuffling, crawling, cruising on the furniture and pulling themselves up to standing. They have started to grasp certain words, seek out things which aren’t immediately within reach and understand how to take things in and out of open containers.

As their imagination develops they are drawn to pretend play. Plastic phones, dolls, chunky vehicles with wheels, building blocks and plastic stacking toys are winners with most children of this age. Push and pull toys, things to crawl over and large balls all help them strengthen developing muscles.

1 to 2 years

By now most little ones are walking steadily and starting to climb the stairs as well as chasing, hiding and enjoying physically active games. They start to have an understanding of what you’re saying to them, experimenting with words themselves and getting steadily more manually dexterous.

The creative play is still developing and even though they won’t yet really play TOGETHER they enjoy the company of other children and will play side by side. Great toys for this age include:

Anything creative but chunky and grippable. Large crayons, big sheets of paper, basic stamps (avoid potato printing as potato juice can be irritating), thick handled paint brushes and non-toxic washable paints.
Items for pretend play. Toy tills, dolls pushchairs, dress up clothes, glove puppets, plastic toolboxes and medical kits. A small wooden toy cooker occupied my toddler for hours at a time. He fiddled with the dials, clanked pot lids on and off, stirred with gusto, open and closed the oven door and emptied out all my spices!!
Large puzzles. Large shapes to fit into corresponding holes, pegboards, toys with moving parts like lights, knobs, switches, compartments, hooks, buttons and lids all engage their brain and help mental development as well as encouraging problem-solving skills.

Toddler boy wearing scratch mitts and playing with chunky wooden cars and car transporter lorry. The scratch mitts has obviously not getting in the way of his play. — *At 18 months Zack really enjoys the chunky cars which he can easily grip while wearing scratch mitts*.

2 to 3 years

At this age children enjoy listening to the same stories over and over (which may drive you mad). However the repetition stimulates their brain still further. It’s the same with music (and just as maddening for the adults). This is a great age to have nursery rhymes playing in the car. Lullabies at naptime can also be popular.

With the developing ear for music and repetitive sounds tambourines, maracas, triangles, basic xylophones and saucepans to drum on with wooden spoons all start to appeal too.

In terms of physical activity, running after and kicking balls, exploring slides, swings and roundabouts and crawling through or under things really take off now. The local soft play centre is heaven for them. Our advice is to take a flask of strong coffee…and possibly some noise-cancelling headphones!!

Of course, hand eye coordination is hugely important which accelerates around the 2-3 year mark. Once they reach this stage it’s worth sitting with them to play with hama beads or smaller lego to help them develop their fine motor skills. We would suggest removing ScratchSleeves to play once they reach this stage. Up until then, however, they can literally wear them around the clock and enjoy all the toys listed above unimpeded.

Here at ScratchSleeves, we don’t just share our experiences of bringing up an eczema child (and favourite allergy-friendly recipes), we also manufacture and sell our unique stay-on scratch mitts and PJs for itchy babies, toddlers and children. We now stock sizes from 0-adult years in a range of colours. Visit our webshop for more information.