There was no winner. My son would never have broken a book binding if given the choice between a ball and a book. Like giving him medicine, giving him educational toys was similar. He was against either one in any way. Fortunately, things have changed a lot since he was a kid, around 20 years ago. Like medicines for children, educational toys have come a long way. Medicines for kids are so good-tasting that even tiny ones won’t take much of them, and learning toys have become a lot more fun. For instance, educational software for the family PC is now available.
That doesn’t mean that you can just walk into a toy department or a high-quality toy store like Toys R Us and start randomly adding items to your cart that are marked “educational toy.” When choosing educational toys, you need to be careful. Fortunately, the toy’s “educational” aspects can be concealed well behind the child’s enjoyment.
Cognitive educational toys like jigsaw puzzles, word games, Disney games, and other learning toys are great. These toys expect that the youngster utilize their creative mind. They cultivate imagination. They stimulate the child’s mind.
There is a further, more significant aspect to these educational toys and games. They’re amusing. The child learns to use their imagination and reasoning skills while having fun. These toys are the tools of play, and children learn through play. They are the learning aids.
The most important thing is to pick cognitive development skills and educational toys that the child can use. For instance, teaching a three-year-old to read or do multiplication may seem like a good idea, but interactive Disney toys, books on tape, and other toys of this kind will ensure that the child enjoys reciting the alphabet and counting numbers. The child will progress at his or her own pace with minimal guidance from you when the learning play is enjoyable. Expecting too much and too quickly will frustrate the child and actually slow down learning.
Jigsaw puzzles are one more illustration of extraordinary instructive toys. Learning how sizes and shapes relate is one of their cognitive skills. Putting the pieces of the puzzle together is another skill they teach.
The second important thing is to connect learning and educational toys to the child’s current interests. As the child grows and develops, these interests shift. Learning is much more enjoyable when it is connected to something that has already piqued the child’s interest.
It is not necessary for educational toys to emphasize thinking and learning. Toys that aid in the development of physical skills like coordination and fine motor skills fall into the second category of educational toys. Using a rattle, babies begin developing their coordination. Toys like Legos are a great way to teach kids how to use their fine motor skills to put the blocks together.
Because stored energy and growing muscles require stretching and movement, it is much simpler to encourage most children to play with toys that help teach physical skills. What four-year-old won’t ride a tricycle for miles around the dining room table or up and down the front sidewalk if given the chance? The youngster is developing strength and coordination while riding the trike, both of which are crucial for future growth.
For the same reason, children’s favorite ball games are important. The child gains strength, agility, speed, and coordination from them. They go one step further as well. The majority of ball games are team sports, so they teach strategy, teamwork, concentration, and sportsmanship. These are terrifically significant mental and profound abilities that will be essential for the kid to form into a balanced and useful grown-up. Therefore, the next time your child begins to play with a ball, consider it as a useful educational toy, Mom.
You are one of your child’s most valuable toys in the playroom. To assist in supervising your child’s use of educational toys, you need to spend enough time playing with them. You need to spend enough time with your child to keep track of what interests him or her, make sure the educational toys they play with are appropriate, and encourage them to have fun with those games.
While teaching, educational toys are enjoyable. They are distinct from schoolwork and textbooks. Educational toys do not imply monotony and work. The purpose of educational toys is to educate or develop the child.
A final point is brought up by this. The ability to monitor toys and games that do little to develop your child’s cognitive or physical skills is another important advantage of parental supervision. Some toys and games are so comprehensive that they take care of everything for the child. The child does not have to be creative, work out to build muscles or develop coordination, or do anything else. In point of fact, playing these games can actually have the opposite effect, encouraging laziness and boredom.