The experts all agree that children learn by exploring the world around them and one way that they do this is through the creativeness of play. If you’ve watched any young children at play then you’ll know that they don’t necessarily need childrens toys to interact with to learn. The most obscure object can become a source of entertainment and amusement. However, childrens toys act as stimulants encouraging your child to discover and develop new skills and have new experiences. It makes sense then to focus on toys that help your child learn in a constructive way. But how do you decide which children’s educational toys are best for your child?
The kind of stimulating educational toys that your little one will respond to best are those that allow him or her to discover and encourage their own personal learning style. Some children like to concentrate on one activity and explore all they can around that while others like to have a wide variety of choices so that they can easily move from one to another. For example, a child that likes to concentrate for long periods will probably enjoy a complicated puzzle (appropriate to their age) but a child who gets distracted easily would probably learn more with a range of simpler puzzles that get increasingly difficult.
Have you ever stopped to think about how you like to learn? Each of us has a favorite way of discovering new things. If you take a book of fiction for example, you would find that some people prefer audio books because they can more easily take in information aurally, while others need to have a book in their hands to be able to assimilate the words. Others would rather watch a play or movie of the book than read it. And others would prefer to plot out what happened in a logical way through a mind map or linear drawing rather than trudge through the detail of what occurred. While children are still developing, their educational styles change depending on their skill level, however, most have a preference for a particular way of learning.
If you can’t quite work out whether your child responds best to visual, aural, touch or logical styles of education then the best thing to do is take time to observe how they interact with the learning toys around them. Do you have to ask them repeatedly to do things or do they pick it up faster if you write it down or if you show them first exactly what to do? Or perhaps they need to know what will happen if they don’t do something before they will do it?
Once you understand what they like you can introduce a few learning toys that are focussed on that particular mode of learning. And then see how they react. Do they embrace it? Do they struggle? Once you have tested a few different childrens learning toys you will then have a much better idea of what works for your child and what doesn’t. The next step is to hunt out the kind of educational toys your child has shown a preference for. However, it is important to bear in mind that your child’s educational style is not locked in and may alter as their skills develop and their interests change.
By: Jill Brennan
Archive for November, 2009
Kids Learning Toys: How To Match Up Toys With Your Child
November 30th, 2009Cool Fun Kids Games
November 30th, 2009We all know kids loves games. At a very early age they create and play their own games for hours and hours. Kids games are great for special events like birthdays, Christmas and family holidays. There are hundreds of kids game ideas available for any occasion. If you are planning to throw a Mexican themed birthday party, consider a good old fashioned Pinata. Are you throwing a circus themed party? Play Bozo Buckets. There is a never-ending amount of cool kid games and ideas for birthday parties. You can visit www.zsuaro.com in order to find more cool kids games and ideas for your childs’ next birthday party.
In this computer age, online games are very popular, with little and big kids (adults!). For kids, online games are a great way to have fun and while learning.
Another way to add fun to a party is to have printable games. Printable games are perfect, if you are planning to host a kid’s Christmas party. Buying a printable game online is a great way to go. Printing out games allows you to personalize it for that special time of the year, ie. Birthday or Christmas.
When I was a child, playing I lived for outdoor games with friends or family. There are hundreds of cool kids games which can be played outdoors at recess or in your very own backyard. The traditional classic games such as Red Rover and Hide-And-Seek will never be out of fashion. The rules may change slightly over the years, but the concept will also stay the same.
People have been playing fun board games such as Monopoly and Life for years & years. Even with all the board game competition on the market, classics like Monopoly will never die out. Playing games with your kids is a great way to increase quality time spent with your children. If you are looking for a great kids game, check out www.zsuaro.com for some awesome game ideas.
By: Z Suaro
