A Piggy Bank toy is a very popular toy for toddlers. I’d like to show you several ways to use your piggy bank.

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The toy I will be referring to in this article is this one:

 

There are newer versions that are not as expensive. Check these out:

Fine Motor Skills

You child can work on fine motor skills and wrist rotation by dropping the coins into the piggy bank.  First line up the slot so that your child can easily drop the coin in without the need to rotate his/her wrist.  Next, turn the piggy bank so that your child needs to turn his/her wrist to line up the coin with the slot.

Language Skills

You can work on many different words while playing with this toy.  As your child drops coins into the piggy bank repeat “in” or “drop in”.  This is great for younger toddlers that are just learning words.  When all the coins are in you can say “all done” or “all in”.  Ask your child “where are the coins?” then say, “They are all in!”  You can also work on the concepts of open and close with the door.  This toy also sings songs, so work on singing along with your child. It’s okay if your child just makes noises to mark the words of the song. Try clapping along or make up your own motions.

Body Parts

You can use the piggy bank to work on labeling body parts. Touch the piggy’s body parts and name them.  Then you can ask your child to point to, or touch the body parts of the piggy bank.

Size Concepts

The original piggy bank came with coins in 2 different sizes.  You can sort the big ones from the little ones.  You can talk about the “big” coin with the mommy animal on it or the “little” one with the baby animal on it.

Color Matching

I really like that most of the versions of this toy come with 2 coins in each color. You can hold 1 coin and ask your child to find the matching colored coin.  At first only have 2 choices available, 1 that matches and 1 that does not.  If your piggy bank only has 1 coin in each color, find other toys or items in your house that match. Small items like these blocks  or these are perfect for color matching.

Animal Sounds

The original has animals on the coins.  You can practice saying and repeating the animal sounds with these coins.

Number Concepts

As you put the coins into the piggy bank count them.  It’s ok if you just count to 3 or 5 and start over.  Right now we are just working on the idea that 1 item gets 1 number.  You can also work on 1 to 1 correspondence by putting half the coins out and then having your child put one coin on top of each one.

 

As you can see there are many way to use this piggy bank toy.  If you or someone you know if looking for a gift for their toddler, I highly recommend a this toy!