Choosing Educational Kids Toys
for fun and learning
When selecting educational toys for kids consider their play value. The basic skills your child develops through play are often through simple toys such as building with wooden blocks, matching colours, shapes and textures - which form the fundamentals for later mathematical skills, playing with puzzles and jigsaws and free play.
Buying Educational Kids Toys - Questions to Ask
When choosing educational toys for kids, ask yourself the following questions:
- What is my child going to learn from this toy?
- Will it stimulate my child's imagination?
- Will my child use it for pretend play?
- Can my child use this toy in more than one way?
- Are these toys for children educational toys?
Play and Children Educational Toys
Play is a key way for a young child to learn and practice the basic skills they need to be independent into the future, physically, mentally and socially.
A child will happily play with everyday household objects. Providing your child with a variety of stimulating objects, toys and opportunities for play will help your child develop an understanding of different concepts, from size and balance to texture and sound.
Play builds on itself, allowing your child to build on past knowledge and experience and grow their own intelligence.
Play will be a pathway for your child to learn to share toys with other children of their own age and to gradually learn how to form relationships.
You can make your own toys such as an oven, sink, fridge or tool bench or petrol bowser using an old nappy box.
Everyday items can become educational kids toys just like in the experience of one of our mums who told us her son adores cooking for his bears and throwing them 'tea parties'.
Ideas for Educational Kids Toys
You will find numerouse kids educational toys around your house, these are just a few:
- cooking and eating equipment
- baking equipment
- dolls and stuffed animals
- broom, dustpan
- clocks
- mirror
- telephones
- watering can
- dress-up clothes and accessories- sun glasses, hats, adults shoes
- envelopes, cancelled stamps, stickers, junk mail
- keys and locks
- toolbox
- kid-sized cameras and binoculars
Educational Toys for Kids and Types of Play
Did you realise that educational toys for kids aren't limited to physical toys but includes types of play?
You can help further your child's education by engaging in role play through making observations, asking open-ended conversations, modelling how to use or operate something, and acting in role such as a doctor.
Give your child opportunities to express themselves through imaginative play and initiate conversations.
With a toddler's imagination, who needs expensive toys? Some of the best early memories of play that many children have revolve around simple toys that stimulate a child's imagination. Although there are many types of educational toys for kids that flash and make sounds, there is something about a simple household object that children are drawn to.
Perhaps it is because your child needs only their imagination to make playing with these objects such a thrilling experience.
Endless possibilities with Educational Kids Toys
Free play is one of the most important activities that a parent can provide a child.
Children educational toys for free play allow your child to use an object in different and less prescriptive ways. Such educational kids toys include:
- a matress (bounce)
- a blanket (peek a boo)
- a wooden spoon (drum stick)
- a toilet roll (trumpet music)
- a tea set (pretend tea party)
Free play activities develop your child's imagination. They can create countless scenarios and possibilities and make the impossible, possible. Like for instance animals can talk and people can be superheros.
What we adults think of as fantasy actually requires an amount of focus and concentration for young children.
Free play with your child can help develop communication and language acquisition as we are communicating. As you speak your child hears the word, understands what it means, and how it should be spoken properly.
The mind is so powerful that it registers memories actively, especially those memories that use multiple senses. And since you are acting out (kinestetic) the words (auditory) and they see (visual) the result, it's using the 3 most common sensory pathways.
Role Play and Educational Toys for Kids
It is important to provide child sized educational toys for kids, so young kids can comfortably use them. This could be a child sized sink or stove for example. You can make your own out of a nappy box, like one of our mums did or build a wooden one or buy one. Children prefer real utensils and love to imitate adult actions they have seen at home or elsewhere.
A small table with chairs is great for real and pretend meals and snacks, and for activities such as drawing or lego play.
Children re-enact events they have experienced or heard about, like visiting the dentist, going shopping, talking on the phone, or having a picnic. Providing a setting for role play helps children in making sense of their world.
Educational Kids Toys or an Education through Self Expression
Being able to express one's idea and opinions is fundamental to communication and forming relationships. Children educational toys for free play allow your child to use an object in different and less prescriptive ways
and in turn:
- Free play assists your child to express themself.
- Free play is a good time to teach kids values and moral lessons. You can teach values to your child in different ways and situations, such as the importance of sharing in a non-threatening environment.
- Free play with your child is also the time to create a bond with you.
Almost all children love to act out situations. Indeed most adults watch TV or movies - we all like a bit of fantasy sometimes.
The time that you do free play with your child is also the time of bonding and developing trust since your child recognises that you are there to listen to their views and feelings.
Creating this atmosphere of openness and communication is one of the foundations of a good relationship.
Being together shows your child he or she is worth your time and effort. It creates an atmosphere of love and trust.
Research has found that parents who use play to encourage their 3 to 4 year olds' language by using more sophisticated words saw a marked increase in their children's vocabulary.
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