Celebrating Black History Month with Special Needs Kids

What better time to teach special needs kids about diversity, tolerance, and overcoming stereotypes than Black History Month?  Black History Month is a time to honor African American authors, inventors, playwrights,  civil rights activists and all those who sacrificed much for the successes that were eventually achieved and the impact that they have had on the world.  Inspiring?  I think so!!  Read more...

Six Reasons Special Needs Kids Gotta Have Art

A picture is worth a thousand words.  To a non-verbal, special needs child, the benefits of pictures and art go far beyond words:  
Art provides special needs kids the chance to creatively communicate thoughts and feelings when they don't have the words to express them.  For example, Valentine's Day is a great time for special needs children and their families to use art for loving self expression.  Read More...

Welcome, Down Sydrome Affiliates in Action

We connect Down syndrome
organizations to each other.

Warner's Corner Toys is proud to announce that we have teamed up with Down Syndrome Affiliates in Action (DSAIA) to offer members and their families a VIP discount on our toys, therapy tools and resources!

Save 10% on purchases of $150 or less! 

Save 20% on purchases greater than $150!

Save on special offers throughout the year!

We strongly endorse and support DSAIA's mission:

"To support and advance the growth and service capabilities of the local and regional Down syndrome organizations that we serve and to be the conduit of value-driven training, programs, best practices and support for our members.
DSAIA's purpose continues to be to serve our affiliates through collaboration, resource sharing, and networking. "

We look forward to supporting DSAIA's members, mission and purpose!

Warner excitedly welcomes the National Association for Down Syndrome (NADS) to our club house! Founded in Chicago in 1961, NADS is the oldest organization in the United States serving individuals with Down syndrome and their families. Their mission is to ensure that all persons with Down syndrome have the opportunity to achieve their potential in all aspects of community life by providing information, support, and advocacy.

NADS directly supports Chicago metropolitan area families through their Parent Support Program, Mentoring Program, the Work Experience Program, and other individualized services. However, they welcome everyone to their conferences, products and publications, website including online Discussion Forum, and their information about Down syndrome. In this way, their members can be found throughout the United States—and across the globe.

For more information on NADS programs, please contact them at (630) 325-9112 or info@nads.org.

Helping Young Children Cope with Violent Tragedies

I’d like to welcome Wendy Young, LMSW, BCD  and founder of Kidlutions: Solutions for Kids to Warner’s Corner.  Wendy specializes in helping children and families cope with the little and not so little issues in their lives – anger, divorce, grief and loss, moving, etc.  Today, she shares her recommendations for parents to best help young children understand the recent violence in Newtown, Connecticut.  Thank you, Wendy!

Tragedy Unfolds
Newtown, Connecticut.  A sleepy little town less than one hour away from where I was born.  I watched in horror, with the rest of the world, as the tragedy in this small town unfolded.  The trauma surrounding these events is a heavy burden to bear for the town of Newtown, and it will undoubtedly leave an indelible mark.  Traumatologists, counselors, clergy and other supports will converge upon Newtown, to assist in helping its people begin to cope and pick up the pieces.  It will be a long road to healing. On behalf of Kidlutions, I offer our condolences, thoughts and prayers.   Read more.

Flip2BFit®: Building Relationships while Building Muscle

Flip2BFit^® is the newest fitness craze for differently-abled kids!  The game combines nutrition trivia, yoga, stretching, and aerobic exercises in a fast and fun workout appropriate for the whole family.  Players compete individually or in teams in a race through the park to meet “Springer” the dinosaur in the playground.  Crab crawl, lunge, toe touch, and do the downward dog to move your piece around the park.  Make a poor nutrition choice and you’re going to have to move back a few spaces!

Early and ongoing exercise helps differently-abled children make significant strides toward purposeful movement and increased cognitive and social development.

Gross motor skill development refers to a child’s ability to effectively use the large muscle groups that control arm, leg, and core body movement.  These muscles support their body’s ability to walk, reach, lift, throw, sit upright, and maintain balance and coordination.  Many differently-abled children experience developmental delays in their ability to use their bodies’ large muscle groups.

Motor planning also presents differently-abled children with enhanced challenges.  To understand motor planning, think about trying to cross a stream by stepping on rocks.  You need to evaluate which rocks will best help you cross the stream without falling in, right?  Then, you step, hop and jump from one to the next using your arms to create momentum and maintain balance.  You may also have to adjust course during the trip.  Differently-abled children need extra practice to develop these mental and physical skills.

Further, being overweight creates an additional layer of difficulty for differently-abled children who already work harder than their typically developing peers to accomplish activities of daily living:

·         Bathing and toileting become more difficult for the child as well as their caregiver.

·         Movement becomes more difficult thus curtailing a child’s ability to participate in playground activities, for example. 

·         It increases the potential for bullying for children who may be already be experiencing it because of their different-ability. 

·         In the long term, being overweight makes children, adolescents, and adults more susceptible to diabetes, asthma, cardiovascular disease, orthopedic problems, sleep apnea, cancer, and osteoarthritis.

Flip2BFit^® innovatively promotes the development of gross motor skills and motor planning.  “Spiderman Crawls”, for example, get the heart pumping and the big muscle groups working!  The “Praying Mantis” builds strength and balance.  “Windmills” stretch the arms’ large muscle groups.  Simple instruction and picture cards facilitate players’ success.  Success builds self confidence. 

Flip2BFit^® builds bridges between differently-abled children and their typically developing siblings and peers as they together develop coordination, strength and personal relationships.  More broadly, the family that plays together bonds together!

Heather Parisi is the CEO/Founder of Flip2BFit® and Fitness for Africa.  Her passion for children; recognition of the rapidly rising childhood obesity rates in this country; and, acknowledgement of the large numbers of starving children around the world inspired her to create Flip2BFit^® and Bakari^® .  Her goal is to promote healthy lifestyles for children and families by putting the FUN in fitness and nutrition!