A Little Wonders conversation with speech therapist Alexander Kardzhev

In today's article, we invite you behind the scenes of an exciting meeting between the creators of Little Wonders — Gergana and Borislav, and Alexander Kardzhiev — an established speech therapist and specialist in early language development and child therapy.

In his practice and on his popular YouTube channel, he places a strong emphasis on practical speech therapy, sensory integration, the impact of digital devices on speech development, and the ways in which physical stimuli at home build children's communication skills.

The conversation with him flowed extremely naturally, as an expert dialogue where the pedagogical value of natural materials meets a real-world therapeutic perspective.

🎥 Watch the full video interview and practical demonstrations HERE.

 

Why Montessori, Waldorf, and open-ended toys?

Alexander Kardzhiev: "Hello everyone and welcome to today's video. I am speech therapist Alexander Kardzhiev, and today I have Borislav and Geri as my guests. I am very pleased, it is a great pleasure for me that you are here on your own initiative and want to introduce me to your activities and the toys you offer. As far as I understand, you deal with toys that are a bit different — the Montessori method. Tell me about it."

Borislav: "The toys we offer are very diverse. Mostly, what we bet on are wooden toys, Montessori, Waldorf, creative toys — generally everything that is for child development, and we do not limit ourselves to any specific age. We are talking about ages from one year and up, all the way to the teenage years."

Alexander Kardzhiev: "That's exactly what I was going to ask — how do things stand regarding ages?"

Borislav: "Yes, we offer them for many different ages. Most of the toys are focused between one and five years old, but that does not mean at all that we don't have offers for older ones as well. We even have offers for adults on the site."

Alexander Kardzhiev: "Wonderful. Okay, and why the Montessori method? Why did you choose to emphasize it?"

Gergana: "Our Montessori toys are only a small part of the assortment we offer. We support both Montessori and Waldorf pedagogy, as the two approaches complement each other and develop different skills; a significant part of the products we offer are open-ended toys."

 

The power of wood and toys that remain for generations

Alexander Kardzhiev: "Okay, why wooden toys? Why wooden toys specifically is my next question."

Borislav: "The touch and durability of wooden toys is something that is hard to compare with other types of toys on the market. When we were younger, you probably know, seeing a handmade wooden toy was not very common — at most if there was a carpenter in the region..."

Alexander Kardzhiev: "Look, there is a 100-year-old toy right there."

Borislav: "Exactly, that's exactly what I was going to say. So as we were growing up, that wasn't very common. However, the few toys that have survived from those times — 30 and more than 30 years ago, are exactly the wooden ones."

Alexander Kardzhiev: "Okay, I have one question that just occurred to me and I didn't plan to ask you: Do you think that the lack of depreciation could lead to something in the long run that would reduce your work? You understand — you buy something that doesn't break, so people come less often?"

Borislav: "Oh, no, absolutely! We haven't even thought about having such a problem. On the contrary, people who see a toy they like, which their children like, which is engaging — and that they even like themselves — they come and buy again."

Alexander Kardzhiev: "And you have a quite rich assortment that is constantly growing."

Borislav: "Yes, absolutely. She is the person who selects the toys that are on the site."

Gergana: "Yes, that's right. I am in charge of selecting the toys, and before I choose a toy, I choose a manufacturer. The whole concept of our store is simple — to offer the best. That is why we strive to work with the best in the industry. The selection of specific items is based on personal preference, with the ultimate goal, of course, being to offer the widest possible range of products from all the manufacturers we work with. When I choose a toy, I always try to make sure it develops different skills in children and can serve for years in a family or household. Not just because it's quality, but because one or two children and different generations can use it at different stages of their development."

Borislav:"Not only that — the same toy can be played with by a child in different ways. We see this in our own children too. They play differently with the same toys over the years and over time. Their play changes in a different direction depending on where they are in their development."

Alexander Kardzhiev: "So you have one toy, you get several toys."

Borislav: "Exactly."

Alexander Kardzhiev: "That is what needs to be known."

 

How to choose toys: age or child's interest?

"My next question is: what are the most preferred toys that your customers, the parents, buy?"

Borislav: "I can't say that there is something that sells the most or the least. Everything we offer has interest in it, which for us is a very good sign, a signal."

Alexander Kardzhiev: "And do you have your own favorite product from your toys? A weakness for any one?"

Gergana: "That is a very difficult question. Since we select the brands we work with, I fall in love with every single brand and all the products it offers."

Borislav: "In that line of thought, that is a problem. That is a problem because it means we are starting to gradually get buried under a large number of toys at home. We really want to get to know each manufacturer we work with closely, to try out every single one."

Gergana: "At the very least, we are obligated to; it's our job. And of course, as people who do this, we have to be careful with the quantities."

Borislav: "For every single thing, she says: I want to get this, take it home, give it to the kids to try, see, touch."

Gergana: "Yes, but it must happen in stages, not to oversaturate them. I also think there are no most preferred toys or categories that are more preferred than others, as the choice of toys is determined primarily by the age and stage of development the child is in. And I always advise parents to be impartial in their choice — to observe their children and buy toys that are related to the child's interests at a given moment, rather than the specific age they are in. Since every child develops differently and you have to consider their interests."

Borislav: "We have twins, born on the same day one minute apart, who are like night and day — they are interested in completely different toys. And this is proof that there is simply no one child the same as another..."

 

Practice time: Live demonstrations

In the second part of the meeting, we put theory on the table. Together with Alexander Kardzhiev, we tested how specific materials stimulate fine motor skills, eye-hand coordination, speech, and the vestibular system:

Demonstration 1 - Fine motor skills and coordination

Wooden lacing toy - Sophie the Cat and Wooden lacing toy - Mrs. Bear from Millin — an ideal tool for patience, bilateral coordination, and preparing the hand for writing.

Demonstration 2 - Free play and imagination

Wooden figurines - LO basic colors from Grapat — a perfect example of open-ended play without rules, which unlocks spontaneous children's storytelling and language expression.

Demonstration 3 - Balance and sensory integration

Balance board - Wobbel Original from Wobbel — a favorite tool of therapists and children, which develops the vestibular system, body stability, and confidence in movement.

Watch the entire conversation of Little Wonders with speech therapist Alexander Kardzhiev, as well as the full speech therapy comments and guidelines for each toy in the video HERE!

Discover the featured toys and more inspiration for a conscious childhood at littlewonders.bg.