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Educational Toys Help Children’s’ Learning

27 Oct 2010 by admin

We live in a day and age where children are watching TV and playing video games all of the time. Sure, it may seem as if video games and television stimulate a child’s brain, but many times kids are sitting there like zombies. Unless the television show is an educational show that doesn’t bore the child or the video game is something that involves a certain degree of strategy, they’re not getting too much out of these two things. Most of all, they are not exactly using their imaginations in a world that requires its occupants to be imaginative in order to survive personally and occupationally.

As convenient as television and video games are at keeping the kids busy and behaved, it is time for parents to rebel. The revolt begins as the child develops by using such things as educational toys. Adults use puzzles, brain teasers, and other things that require thought to keep their minds sharp. It has been shown that adults who stay on top of their game with activities that make them think are taking an active measure toward preventing Alzheimer’s. By incorporating such things into a child’s life and keeping those activities as part of their life, a parent is taking an active role in ensuring that their child’s mind stays sharp. It is also important to emphasize to that child how important such activities are as an adult so that they can take a preventive measure toward diseases such as Alzheimer’s and dementia.

Educational toys

Educational toys come in many different types and are available for children as soon as they learn how to grab things. They can be something as simple as a puppet or matching shapes. The child is forced to think and the colorful pieces that come with these toys make the activity interesting. What makes these activities even more interesting is when the parent is involved and praising the child when the child is successful.

Starting these activities early means that the child is going to get a developmental head start and will be using strategy easily by the time he or she begins kindergarten. Your child will have the mental maturity needed to make it through the world if you start stimulating their brains early and making it fun to learn. When kids don’t have fun learning is when they have learning difficulties throughout their entire lives. This isn’t always the case, but it has been known to happen. Many children loathe learning for one reason or another, so using educational toys can make it fun and rewarding.

Keeping it up

There are educational toys for children of all ages, so it is good to always make sure there are fun educational toys around the house that are age or intelligence appropriate. And yes, there are some wonderful brain teasers and other educational games on video game systems and computers. When the child reaches a certain age, using these as learning tools can be great. There are also great television programs that make a child think and make learning fun. It is just a matter of placing restrictions on how much time is spent using these electronic tools and making sure there is plenty of time that you and your child are doing fun learning activities together. By taking a time out and doing these activities with your child, you are not only stimulating their brain, but you are actually stimulating your own. The two of you are also spending quality time together in a world that makes quality time very difficult. So it is easy to see how educational toys can benefit you and your child in more ways than just learning.

Mastermind Toys offers a wide range of children’s toys and educational toys for kids of all ages.

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Toys That Enhance Learning And Language

19 Sep 2010 by admin

Language Enhancing Toys

The work of an infant, toddler, or preschooler is to play. Although it is through play that children learn, they don’t realize at the time that they are developing motor skills, logic and reasoning skills, and developing language all while having fun. Parents, of course, want to provide their children with toys that will stimulate all these areas of learning, and then some. What toys work best to enhance your child’s language skills, and at what age are they developmentally appropriate?

Important First Choices

Most infant toys focus on stimulating your baby’s visual and auditory senses. Although infants are pre-verbal, they are making sounds and are hard-wired for language, so any stimulation at this age will help as your infant develops into a toddler who is exploring language use. Reading and talking to your baby about books and toys will help him become attuned to the rhythm and inflection of language, and build a solid base on which he can develop language skills.

Toddler and Preschool aged children

Toddlers seem to learn something new every day. Language acquisition often occurs in “spurts” – one day your toddler may have just a few words, and seemingly overnight he will acquire more and more. First words are usually for objects found in everyday life, such as “ball,” “cup,” and other words for tangible objects.

Toys that help develop toddlers’ language skills are ones that engage more than one of their senses. You may find that letter blocks or puzzles with the alphabet on them great choices for providing a toddler the chance for real hands-on learning. Show your toddler how to put together letter cubes or assemble a puzzle of the alphabet, and he’ll begin to associate letters with sounds.

Although it is tempting to purchase technological toys that tout early reading and increased vocabulary as natural results of their use, complicated electronic toys are not necessary. You may find that toys that allow your child to record his own voice and play it back, or to “talk” to a pre-recorded voice on a toy telephone or other device will encourage him to speak, but don’t let that substitute for your interaction with him. Simple conversations in which you indentify animal figures, or ask questions about which shape goes in what part of a shape sorter will encourage language use.

For older toddlers and preschoolers, word scramble type board games that allow children to spell words by correctly assembling the corresponding picture puzzle will teach them to associate a written word with an object. Rhyming games are always fun and will help toddlers and preschoolers learn phonics while being silly.

Preschool and Older Children

Electronic toys may be helpful for this age group’s language skills, for building vocabulary, spelling, identifying parts of speech, and pronoun usage. Be wary of toys and software that do not encourage active learning, however. Make sure that any software you choose will encourage your child to participate in the game, not simply fill in the electronic version of a worksheet. Games that encourage your child to think critically and explore new words will enhance his language skills at this age.

Long Term Outlook

Language learning toys work best in the context of the “big picture” of language acquisition, and won’t take the place of interacting with your child, talking to him about everyday activities, and introducing new vocabulary words. Use toys that teach language as a tool, and keep it fun, and your child will find these a wonderful complement to a language-rich environment.

Katie Franklin is a researcher and writer on parenting, children and child development. She is a regular contributor at Child Development Media Inc She also contributes at Quality Toys and Hobbies

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Kids Math Games – Games Make Kids Love Learning

01 Aug 2010 by admin

Educational software is now explosively popular in school and at home. These games are amazingly still becoming wildly more popular every day. These games have captured a large share in the game market as more schools and parents have realized how well they supplement classroom education.Kids math games are a fantastic way to increase a child’s ability to excel in mathematics. Computer learning games are the most preferred media for math software because kids find them fun and exciting.

Computer based math based games are very enticing for children of all ages. They’re very easy to use and kids have fun while they work on their math skills. Teachers tend to prefer math games because children are more focused when they’re entertained and it doesn’t feel like work. Various studies have discovered that kids math games are a proven way to get kids excited to learn math. Children love to play these games because of the vibrant colors and exciting characters that teach the material.

The power of computer based math software lies in its ability to make learning enjoyable. The fact is that kids are bored with just plain numbers on paper and don’t have any incentive to learn. The creators of kids math games have tested the content repeatedly and honed the material to be as effective as possible for increasing a child’s learning speed.

There are various types of math products. Make sure the game you choose is ultimately geared for successful learning. There are also various forms of mathematics help from computer games to board games. The digital computer math software are the most efficient for successful and rapid increase in mathematical ability.

Kids math games that are played on a computer have many audio and visual aids that cater to different learning styles. This multi pronged approach to learning provided in computer software can’t be compared to non-digital products. Computer software technology has made large leaps of progress over the years, including learning software which implements the most effective learning techniques. Learning math does not need to be dull and boring. It can be fun and challenging by using kids mathematics games, where math becomes play instead of work.

Gary Martins is an Internet Marketer, Fitness Instructor, Dating Coach, and Consultant. His passions include helping other people, martial arts, video games, and learning.

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Learning Through Play With Traditional Toys

21 Jul 2010 by admin

Parents are becoming more and more conscious of the huge benefits to be found in classic, educational toys. This has been led in part by the findings of Government advisors which have created a set of guiding principles called the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS).   

These principles emphasise the critical importance of play in developing the mental and emotional characteristics in our children. Through play children learn from their environment, gather and process information, learn how to express themselves and develop relationships with adults and children. 

Children’s brains and bodies are developing all the time, even before birth. They are thirsty for knowledge and seek to learn from their environment. Virtually every experience a child has in its early years could be classed as educational. As they experience things for the first time they are learning how things feel, smell, taste and respond to touch. Every new parent actively encourages this learning process by seeking out toys that encourage children to explore and develop their skills. 

To encourage this inquisitiveness in children parents need to find toys that make use of all these skills whilst making the learning aspect as fun and stimulating as possible. Toys that encourage children to explore the world such as push and pull along vehicles, building blocks, baby walkers, activity centres and rattles will help to develop many skills and keep the child entertained in the process. Children will gain confidence by using their senses to fully explore each and every toy, and will also learn how it interacts with the environment and ‘what happens if I do this?’ 

As the progression into toddler commences, so will their desire to interact more with people and their surroundings. It is about this age that children will begin to love building things, and become fascinated with knocking them over. Toddlers will become enthralled by dressing up and role play. What little boy doesn’t like dressing up as a fireman or a doctor? This activity sees them begin to use their imagination as they start to act out scenes they have copied from the world around them. Toys that support this process such as fire engine play sets or a medical kit will bring their imagination on in leaps and bounds. 

Slightly older toddlers become intrigued by problem solving. This is where puzzles and building toys like Mega Blocks or Lego come into their own. They will also become more interested in make and do, especially messy make and do. Crayons, colouring pens, paint and play dough will be a regular feature on the dining room table and most probably the carpet. 

The onset of the school years brings a more physical development in children. Outdoor play is actively encouraged and trips to the park will become a regular feature.   Toys that encourage this development are a sure-fire hit with children, such as bikes, scooters, roller skates and skate boards. They will also require greater mental stimulation and this can be provided by the many brilliant science and nature kits that are available. 

Nowadays many toy advertisers want the customer to think their toy is the best educational toy out there, simply because it has the most bells and whistles and requires the most amounts of batteries. However the majority of these toys have little educational value as the lights, sounds and bells and whistles act as a distraction and prevent the child using their own imagination to interact with the toy. 

More and more parents are turning their backs on these ‘all singing all dancing’ toys and are discovering that traditional toys help develop their children in ways that plastic toys cannot.

Lisa Mills owns two commercially driven websites, one selling babies gifts and the other promoting educational wooden toys.

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