Educational toys can combine play, social interaction, practice and new knowledge. Toys that reinforce connections between colors, shapes, words, and images will strengthen understanding of building, reading, following directions, task specialization, and motor coordination. Encourage creativity and imagination with interactive toys that complement newfound skills in alphabet recognition, writing, drawing and reading. Follow your child’s interests to reward their natural curiosity.
Everyone wants their kids to excel at problem solving, creativity, sharing, and reading. Educational toys are a great opportunity to combine play, social interaction, practice and new knowledge. You might imagine flashcards full of useless factoids as boring examples, but good educational toys are really fun, entertaining, and fit your child’s age and interests.
Toys that reinforce the connections babies already make between colors, shapes, words, and images will strengthen their understanding of building, reading, following directions, task specialization, and motor coordination. Toys you remember spending hours with as a child are your best bet, including puzzles, bricks, clay, interlocking logs or other plastic pieces, coloring books, and puppets. You’re looking for toys that appeal to different age groups and don’t work strictly one way, not necessarily ways for him to learn mechanical knowledge.
As a child’s brain develops, it is always making associations between shape, size and color. Especially pre-verbal kids need to learn things we all take for granted: round things roll away, square things stay put, hidden things can be discovered, and little things can fit into bigger ones. For example, bricks whose colors match specific shapes, such as blue cylinders and red triangles, help babies grasp objects, build sophisticated shapes with simple ones, and learn balance and stiffness. Encourage your child to arrange the square blocks in order from smallest to largest or in the rainbow from red to purple.
Older children will have finer motor coordination and more advanced imaginations. Smaller, more complicated pieces, like wooden logs, plastic snowflakes, pipes and gears, or foam shapes, will improve their building skills. They will likely invent stories to go along with their creations, such as a castle being attacked, a train coming to town, or a family going to the zoo.
Once in school age, children will benefit from interactive toys that complement their newfound skills in alphabet recognition, writing, drawing and reading. Coloring books combine information, such as the plants and animals of Australia, with creative expression. Let your child color with markers, crayons, and poster paint in specially designed coloring books so they learn about realistic and fantastic color patterns, how to mix colors, shape recognition, and connecting neat pictures to a story storytelling.
Older children are still drawn to seemingly simple games, like putting together a jigsaw puzzle. Any kit that allows for a completed project will give a creative child more confidence in their ability to create a permanent finished product. Some kits let kids design and create beaded jewelry, create their own autobiography, or create fashion ceramics like a dog’s water bowl. They’ll read and follow directions, tell their own stories, and create a gift for a dear family member. Follow your intuition about what your child already finds fascinating to reward his natural curiosity.
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