Do you remember the eighties, when Trapper Keepers and sticker albums were your most prized possessions? My cousin and I used to love going to this one local stationery store that sold hundreds of shiny stickers on rolls from which you could rip off however many you like. Now that I think about it, I often wonder what the point of a sticker album was…was it just to collect and admire pretty things? Or a way of expressing oneself? Turns out, this practice is not just a silly childhood pastime. There are a multitude of benefits that a baby, toddler, or young child experiences just by playing with stickers. Here’s what occupational therapists and early literacy experts have to say:
Build Vocabulary & Literacy Skillls
Jodie Rodriguez, educator and founder of the literacy blog Growing Book By Book, suggests using stickers to build your child’s vocabulary and knowledge of things they are interested in: “If you are introducing a new topic, themed sticker books can help to build vocabulary,” she writes.
If your child has a penchant for furry friends, Super Silly Stickers: Puppies & Kittens includes more than 800 stickers to play with and learn from. From eyeglasses to earrings, bowties to boots, crowns to caps, and so much more, your child will use stickers to dress up playful puppies and curious kittens, while learning to recognize the names of various accessories and fashion details along the way.
Provide a Sensory Experience
Playing with stickers can be a great way to add a sensory experience to play time. Whether using scratch-and-sniff stickers or ones that are puffy or fuzzy, stickers can help a child explore different scents and textures.
Just in time for hearts day, Super Puffy Stickers! Be My Valentine! has more than 85 puffy stickers to help your child become familiar with different sticker textures. Little ones will fall in love with coloring pages, mazes, doodles, and search and finds, all decorated with hearts, flowers, and more. If your child likes this activity book, be sure to grab Super Puffy Stickers! Baby Animals for their Easter basket.
Practice Decision Making
At Starfish Therapies, having a child choose their own stickers to play with helps with their motivation: “The thought process that goes into what sticker is pretty amazing and you can see them weighing the pros and cons of their sticker choice as they go through the sheets of stickers and decide yes/no/maybe for that sheet to narrow it down and then making the final decision,” the pediatric therapy company writes on their blog.
With Sticker Mosaic Magic, there is no shortage of sticker decisions a child can make. Whether it’s a hippo eating a popsicle by the pool or a dinosaur in a rocket ship, this incredible sticker book will help kids harness their creativity like never before. Each scene has printed numbers that show where each corresponding sticker should be placed in order to complete the design, so choosing the right sticker has never been easier.
Perfect that Pincer Grasp
According to the OT Toolbox, “Stickers are a fine motor powerhouse. Peeling the sticky little pictures requires a neat pincer grasp in order to pull up the edge of a sticker from a sticker sheet. The very tips of the fingers are needed to grip such a small area.”
With the You’re My Little Cuddle Bug: Big Sticker Activity Book, your child can peel and stick 75 large stickers, perfect for sharpening their motor skills. Featuring beloved art from best-selling illustrator Natalie Marshall, little ones will love the adorable characters as they are prompted to place the big stickers in the scenes and complete the variety of activities that highlight key learning concepts. After finishing the activities, kids can use the included press-outs for even more hands-on fun.