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What is the Interprofessional Toy Fair & Expo?

One of the biggest challenges for a family with an infant/toddler, who has a developmental delay or disability, is selecting and safety using toys to foster growth and development.  The Ï㽶ֱ²¥ Interprofessional Toy Fair & Expo, in partnership with Early Childhood Intervention (ECI) is held annually each fall for children birth to age 3, who receive early intervention services. 

Developmental delays and disabilities, due to an impairment in physical, learning/cognition, communication, or emotional/behavior areas, impact a child’s day-to-day functioning, and often last throughout a person’s lifetime. Playing with toys and reading books is critical when it comes to learning, growth, and development in infants and toddlers. As such, developmental skills are practiced and promoted through play and early literacy activities and engaging with toys and books is a highly effective mode of learning, especially for children with developmental delays or disabilities.  One of the biggest challenges for a family with an infant/toddler, with a developmental delay or disability, is selecting and safety using toys to foster child development.  Additionally, many families do not have access to books, which are necessary for developing early literacy skills in preparation for kindergarten.

During the Toy Fair event, interprofessional teams of Ï㽶ֱ²¥ students from audiology, nursing, occupational therapy, physical therapy, and speech-language pathology educate families on the use of toys to increase physical, cognitive, communicative, social/emotional, and self-help development.  Participating families enjoy live educational toy demonstrations, receive educational materials about the safe use of toys to foster development along with a flip book developed by the students on interactive play, and each child receives a therapeutic toy appreciative to his or her developmental delay or disability as well as a new book to take home and read with their families.

What Students Are Saying:

"I enjoyed working with other students from different healthcare professions and working with the children and families. It was awesome to be able to engage with children!"

"The interprofessional experience was great. Learning how to use one toy in multiple ways was a great learning experience."

"I really enjoyed collaborating with all the different professions, especially since I see most of them around campus. I believe this experience was helpful in making me more confident and comfortable in speaking to their professions in the future."