Educational Toys

By Beverley Boorer

Most toys are educational in some respect, however the best educational toys allow a lot of interaction between the child and the toy. For instance, a wind-up toy that can only be wound up and then let go does not encourage a great deal of interaction. After winding it up, the child must sit and watch the toy do whatever it does. But a little car with no winding mechanism must be driven by the child. It can go up the side of the sofa and into all kinds of corners and crevices that the wind-up toy cannot go into. The child can build a garage from blocks or books for the car and pretend a great many things with it. The wind-up toy does not really encourage the use of imagination like the car does.

Educational toys are important to stimulate your child's imagination and also to challenge their problem solving ability. It makes them think about what they are doing and what will happen when they do it - or if they do not do it. It helps to train their small and large motor skills so that they can become skilled at doing other things. Such skills will be important to them as adults.

There are many different kinds of educational toys these days. Some help the child to develop in just one way, while others help them in several ways. Children should have access to as many good quality educational toys as possible, but even if they have only one or two that is better than none. However, children tend to find things to play with that were not really intended as toys. Plastic bottles can become toys to a child. They can be used as a shaker, for pouring water in the play-pool, to fill with sand or to roll along the path. All such activities stimulate the child in some way.

Since technology is such an important part of life these days, toddler and child laptops are a good way to educate your child. When they have been used to playing with a laptop type toy from an early age, it will be a natural progression to use one at school and then at work.

Years ago before laptops were invented one of the most favoured educational toys for boys was the building set that contained small steel rods and the tools with which to build anything from towers to bridges and from cars to planes. Many of the boys who played with such sets grew up to become engineers or mechanics. That is why it is important to give your child educational toys. They will move easily into work that is suited to them through their days of playing with educational toys.

To find educational toys such as toddler laptops and many others click here: http://www.squidoo.com/toy-store

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