How Kids and Toddlers Benefit From Educational Toys?
After I started getting used to the regular parenting chores and cycles, I began to get worried about my baby’s growth and development. I went through the blue book (contains babies medical record, growth and development chart in Australia) every now and then to make sure my baby was completing all the milestones like any other average kids. I did a lot of research to find out more information on these baby milestones and during the process found out how anxious all the parents were about their kids achieving these milestones.
I then realized that I could do more than just worry about my kid’s development. I could help him develop his motor skills when he is infant and help him develop critical thinking skills as he grew up. After that I started researching on the best way to help toddlers and kids develop motor skills.
There were many ways do to so with parents spending time with the toddlers and teaching him these skills being the most obvious one. As important and good as it sounds, it can be difficult for some parents to give 100% time for their kids because of professional, financial and personal reasons.
The other option suggested by many researchers, psychologist and experienced parents was introducing fun educational toys to toddlers and kids.
Educational toys play an important role in the mental and physical development of a child. They also help to establish an environment of fun and creativity for the children. Toys come in variety of purposes and objectives. Some educational toys are designed to help kids enhance creativity while others focus on social and emotional development. Appropriate toys or combinations of them can prove beneficial for various aspects of child’s development. Some toys help kids learn problem solving skills and establishment of concepts of cause and effect.
Similarly, fun learning toys also help kids nurture the early stages of creativity and imagination. Role playing toys and turn based games improve the chances of a child learning about compromise, conflict resolution and sharing. Some kids even show early traits of independence and positive self-esteem during their play years. After a prolonged exposure to right combination of playthings, kids tend to improve their fine and gross motor skills. After scouring different toy manufacturer’s websites and catalogs, we have compiled a list of educational toys that we believe will benefit our child. And we hope it will aid our readers to achieve the shared goal of successful parenting through early years of your child.
Contents
How educational toys help kids to achieve milestones!
There are various stages of milestones for toddlers and kids and introduction of right educational toys help kids achieve these milestones.
Parents should understand that all kids are different and specials. Further, they master milestones at different pace and have different level of physical and mental development growth compared to one another.
My son got his first teeth when he was 3 months old which is very uncommon. However, he took is first steps when he was 14 months old. So, he underwent some physical development much faster compared to other average kids and took his first steps bit later. However, I ensured that I was providing the right toys to help him achieve these milestones while he enjoyed playing with the toys.
Tummy Time:
Tummy time is placing baby on their stomach while they are awake. Please make sure that the baby is supervised while lying on his/her tummy. Tummy time is highly recommended by doctors as it helps to develop the neck and shoulder muscles and strength of babies. You can introduce colorful rattles that produces sounds to keep the baby engaged while they are on their tummy. It helps them to spend more time on their tummy as well as develop essential motor skills.
Crawling:
Almost all babies start crawling before taking their first step. There are some exceptions where babies start walking directly. Babies usually start crawling when they need to reach out for some of their favorite things. Introducing these fun educational toys can encourage them to start crawling faster.
Babies First Step:
As a parent, I can understand how eagerly we anticipate this moment when our babies take their first step. Mine didn’t take his first steps till he was 14 months and I was bit worried as I had friends whose babies had taken their first step when they were only 10 months old. I introduced baby walkers which helped him to stand still and develop his leg muscles. To be honest, he started walking only after I encouraged him to walk by holding his hands. However, I can’t ignore the importance of these baby walkers which got him active and helped him develop his leg muscles.
Babies First Word:
Being a dad I wished my son’s first word was DADA but like most of the kids it was MAA. They start with these words because as a parent we continuously repeat these words in front of the baby hoping he would say them. However, we don’t usually teach them other vocabs from early age. These educational toys can also help them learn alphabets and even catch few other words.
Other Benefits of Educational Toys
Kids can learn from any toys but the extent of learning depends on the level of interaction between the two sources. These toys give kids a glimpse into the wonders of the world from a scientific perspective whilst taking into account a child’s inquisitiveness and wild imaginations. The secret to choosing the perfect educational toy for your child is to think about your child’s age and interest.
Complex educational toys, no matter how cleverly designed, are less likely to inspire learning. These complex toys will not only be a hassle to setup for the kids but will also create confusion among the parents as they go through the complex instruction manual. Let’s explore some of the benefits of introducing educational toys to kids.
Physical Benefits of Educational Toys
- 1. Keep kids active and engaged
- 2. Motor skills development
- 3. Help kids learn balance and coordination
- 4. Develop essential hand-eye coordination
- 5. Enhance visual perception
Intellectual Benefits of Educational Toys
- 1. Enhance critical thinking and problem solving skills.
- 2. Boost kid's confidence and creativity.
- 3. Help kids develop cognitive skills
Major educational toy brands such as Melissa and Doug offer learning opportunities, whilst teaching kids about the world around them or about themselves. Discovery KIDS on the other hand carry a superb line of science toys that are designed to work just like the real versions.
As suggested by them, these toys help kids develop a love for learning and the impact lasts lifetime. Children who play with the right educational toys develop better. Playing is by far the most natural form of learning.
Some of these educational toys can be expensive but they will be worth every penny you spent on them if you take into accounts the things that kids learn from them while having fun. Anything that they will play again and again over a period of time will definitely represent better value for money than any cheaper alternative.
There’s no doubting the tremendous benefits educational toys offer in helping shape a kid’s mind and sharpen their problem-solving skills. When parents provide excellent educational toys for their children dependent on specific stage of young age development, toys can actually promote healthy growth, both mental and physical.
