Ogalala System in Play: A Wonderful World of Why Not

The first time I encountered or saw the brand Ogalala was when I was at the SM Grand Baby Fair early this year. I have no idea what's behind the name not until I attended this blogger's event. Thanks Mommy Ginger for the invite.

Last July 12, 2014 (Saturday), we attended a preview on the Ogalala Child Development Workshop at the Richwell office in Timog Avenue. Just like any other first-time moms, I'm excited to learn and take home some ideas on how to enhance my child's learning capability and to be aware of the developmental milestones as she reaches a certain age.

Here are the development milestones that we, as parents, need to watch out for, categorized by age group and presented in four developmental aspects: physical, intellectual, language, social & emotional. They didn't go through each in detail as these can all be found in their catalog. Let me share them with you here.

INFANTS (0-12 months)

Infants Development Milestones: 0-3 months, by 4 months, by 6 months

Baby A is now 19 months and looking at the chart below, I'm proud to say that she can already perform most of the milestones listed under the 24-month mark. 

Baby A can:

1. Follow simple directions - When I tell her to do the flying kiss, she will act it out.

2. Has fun imitating by talking on a play phone - look at the picture below

Baby A pretending to talk over the phone.

3. Says at least 15 words - She can say the following words: apple, balloon, crayons, dog, egg, fish, give, hat, itsy, jelly beans, kite, monkey, owl, paper, rabbit, star, spider, telephone and so much more. More than 15 words!

4. Walks independently - check!

5. Drinks from a cup - sometimes but still prone to spills

6. Kicks a ball and walk on toes - check and she loves to walk on tip toes

7. Begins to run - check, she runs really fast!

8. Able to point to body parts - check! She knows eyes, nose, ears, mouth, head, hair, shoulders, knees, toes, belly button, etc.

9. Scribbles - check, she loves drawing circles

Baby A loves to draw/scribble.

10. Recites repeated lines from books - almost there, I usually let her fill in the blanks every time I read her the book Goodnight Moon

11. Enjoys filling and emptying containers - check, so messy but we let her be because that's how she learns

TODDLERS (1-2 years old)

Toddlers Development Milestones: by 12 months, by 18 months, by 24 months

PRESCHOOLERS (3-5 years old)

Preschoolers Development Milestones: by 3 years, by 4 years, by 5 years old

GRADESCHOOLERS (6 years old and up)

Gradeschoolers Development Milestones: by 6 years, 8 years and above

Remember that these developmental milestones only act as a guide and are not made to compare our child from others because each child is unique and that they learn at their own pace and time. A child development expert named O. Ivar Lovaas once said: "If they can't learn the way we teach, we teach the way they learn" and most of the time children learn through play. Thus Ogalala was born, a brainchild of Ms. Maye Yao Co Say, to provide us with tools to enhance our child's learning as they develop their milestones. 

Ogalala line of products

Why Ogalala? It's actually a native American Indian term that means underwater irrigation system where water brings life to mankind in the same way how playing brings life to kids. An Ogalala System in Play was put together to satisfy our child's curious mind or what they call as the wonderful world of "Why Not?" questions through the quality products that they offer.

And to counter the hectic schedule of the parents, they have provided an activity schedule or a system that we can follow to maximize our play time with our kids. These sheets can be downloaded from their website too. The specific activities are listed with accompanying goals and materials needed.

Infants Activity Schedule

Toddlers Activity Schedule

Preschoolers Activity Schedule

Here's a run down of the different brands used in the activities.

Crayola - to enhance creativity and imagination

Crayola Activity Table

Baby Einstein - flash cards, books, puppets

Baby Einstein

HABA - soft toys, dolls and board games

HABA

Animal Planet - for role playing, getting to know the animals

Animal Planet

Melissa & Doug - wooden toys, puzzles, stacking blocks, art materials, etc.

Melissa & Doug

Artec and Discover Kids - science-related kits

Artec and Discovery Kids

EMCO - plastic construction toys

EMCO

Oops - soft toys, wooden toys and other playful stuff for infants

Here are some more photos taken during the event.

Ogalala Colorful Play Area

Picture with the COO of IGM, Ms. Maye Yao Co Say

Picture with the child development teachers at the Toy Kingdom, Megamall workshop. 
Left: Ms. Maia; Right: Ms. Jo.

Group picture with other mommy bloggers.

Welcome to the Wonderful World of Ogalala

So what did I learn from the workshop? Aside from getting to know more about their company, basically everything is already in the catalog and activity schedule. They would just demo some of the suggested activities listed in the activity schedule using their products and would include some parent-child participation as well.

If you are interested, they still have ongoing Ogalala Child Development Workshops this coming August to October. Sign up here for free: http://www.oga-lala.com/content/14-sign-up-form and get a closer look at their products during the event.

Ogalala World by IGM

Website: http://www.oga-lala.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/OgalalaWorld

Twitter:  https://twitter.com/ogalalaworld

Instagram: http://instagram.com/ogalalaworld

Email: info@oga-lala.com
Hashtag: #OgalalaWorld #SystemInPlay


Let me leave you with this cute video which they play at the start of their workshop.


Mommy Sally